An amazing, mind-blowing insight that came to me yesterday is this: when your body is off, unwell, polluted with toxins or unhealthy food it colors not only your mood, but your interpretation of others and their moods, actions, and words. It taints your view of everything and everyone. So if we take care of our health and physical fitness (without imbalanced obsession) we are taking care of how we will be able to see, serve, love, and interact with others and our world.
I have known this, I have encountered it before: seeing how on the days when I mentally felt like garbage, my interpretation and opinion of my self in the mirror was very dissatisfied and poor I realized how malleable our perceptions are. And I have known that all layers of being inter-penetrate and are one, but this is the first time this exact observation hit me over the head with its actual experience in my life. And I couldn't be more grateful!
So yet another reason to eat good, clean vegan whole-foods, drink lots of water, practice daily yoga, and listen to our bodies needs and requests... It alters our entire experience of life, relationships and ourselves! Minimize the toxins, live lighter and freer, and enjoy this wild and precious life!
Take good care of each other and don't cling to the reactions of others, even the ones you love most. Keep a broader perspective to avoid fixating on a passing mood or moment as if it were the end of everything. Moods and opinions and even what else we share are crystallized moments, relics reflecting a vast interaction of phenomena and history and reaction to sensory experience, including physical and mental states, all colliding in this very moment. Don't grab on and freak out and think that the ship is sinking. Give yourself and others permission to ebb and flow, grow and change, express and absorb.
Yet again, taking a little space around actions and reactions makes our experience of life clearer, more satisfying, less stressful, more beautiful.
Showing posts with label insights. Show all posts
Showing posts with label insights. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Learning about love~
Love is said to be the feeling-tone of the universe. It is also called bliss or bliss consciousness. It is our goal, as yogis, to expand our sense of Self to include all beings, all of existence. Union, the meaning of yoga, is this, a visceral recognition of the quantum oneness of all that is.
Our culture doesn't equip us for this. We learn that love is something that is conditional, tempermental and exclusive. We are allowed to love our family members, our pets and our "one true love", and to an extent our friends. There is no allowance to be in love with others, or to care too deeply about our neighbors, strangers, or animals that are considered "useful" for food or other "uses".
This leaves the one Self shattered into bits and pieces. Why can't we love and respect the life of others. Why can't we be extremely generous with neighbors, strangers, or other species without being considered wrong or inappropriate? Why can't we fall in love with everyone we meet, without wanting anything from them? The one Self that is the entire universe, the one Cosmic Consciousness, also called God by many people, is in ALL equally. Omniscient, omnipresent, invisible and everywhere simultaneously, equally in trees, people and animals of all shapes and kinds, rocks, the earth herself.
Our society encourages a disconnected pity more then sympathy. What about empathy? If we take a moment to imagine ourselves in the same situation as the people, animals, or planet, I mean really think for a minute, we can feel a little of what they may feel. How would we change our reactions? Would we stop supporting the exploitation of children for cheap labor in coffee and coccoa fields by supporting fair trade chocolate? Would we purchase only fair trade teas to end the exploitation of women in the tea lands? Would we think again about paying for someone else to slit an animals throat (or worse) for us to eat it? Or change our minds about how acceptable we think wool is when we know that the world's major suppliers rip large areas of flesh off of the sheep without anesthetic?
Part of the course of enlightenment is is shining the light of consciousness to all the dark places within us, making peace with what we find. We also have to shine that light on all of the dark corners of our lives externally, learning the truth behind what we purchase, therefore vote for. We need to know where it came from and where it will go. In this truthfulness and open search for justice, we find an integrity developing. And from there, unconditional love arises, because we can see what others may see and relate to what they feel. We can empathize, see ourselves in them, and them in ourselves.
Some say that unconditional love arises in response to a recognition of the divine in another. We love that holy essence, the universal being. We can be in love with anyone and everyone, for me that means feeling strong, unconditional love for them. But ultimately we recognize that the love is not coming from them or because of them, but in reaction to finding our Self there, the love comes from within us, the other is a mirror of the Divine source and essential substrate of the entire universe: one ecstatic, fluid ocean of pure conscious love-bliss, of which we are all a drop.
Our culture doesn't equip us for this. We learn that love is something that is conditional, tempermental and exclusive. We are allowed to love our family members, our pets and our "one true love", and to an extent our friends. There is no allowance to be in love with others, or to care too deeply about our neighbors, strangers, or animals that are considered "useful" for food or other "uses".
This leaves the one Self shattered into bits and pieces. Why can't we love and respect the life of others. Why can't we be extremely generous with neighbors, strangers, or other species without being considered wrong or inappropriate? Why can't we fall in love with everyone we meet, without wanting anything from them? The one Self that is the entire universe, the one Cosmic Consciousness, also called God by many people, is in ALL equally. Omniscient, omnipresent, invisible and everywhere simultaneously, equally in trees, people and animals of all shapes and kinds, rocks, the earth herself.
Our society encourages a disconnected pity more then sympathy. What about empathy? If we take a moment to imagine ourselves in the same situation as the people, animals, or planet, I mean really think for a minute, we can feel a little of what they may feel. How would we change our reactions? Would we stop supporting the exploitation of children for cheap labor in coffee and coccoa fields by supporting fair trade chocolate? Would we purchase only fair trade teas to end the exploitation of women in the tea lands? Would we think again about paying for someone else to slit an animals throat (or worse) for us to eat it? Or change our minds about how acceptable we think wool is when we know that the world's major suppliers rip large areas of flesh off of the sheep without anesthetic?
Part of the course of enlightenment is is shining the light of consciousness to all the dark places within us, making peace with what we find. We also have to shine that light on all of the dark corners of our lives externally, learning the truth behind what we purchase, therefore vote for. We need to know where it came from and where it will go. In this truthfulness and open search for justice, we find an integrity developing. And from there, unconditional love arises, because we can see what others may see and relate to what they feel. We can empathize, see ourselves in them, and them in ourselves.
Some say that unconditional love arises in response to a recognition of the divine in another. We love that holy essence, the universal being. We can be in love with anyone and everyone, for me that means feeling strong, unconditional love for them. But ultimately we recognize that the love is not coming from them or because of them, but in reaction to finding our Self there, the love comes from within us, the other is a mirror of the Divine source and essential substrate of the entire universe: one ecstatic, fluid ocean of pure conscious love-bliss, of which we are all a drop.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Feet as an expression of integrity in consciousness
Freeze. Notice your feet. Are they equally and evenly touching the earth? Are your legs crossed? Try this while you are standing, while you are walking. Just notice the quality of awareness and the degree to which your feet twist or do not press into the ground actively with every step.
This is like a physical representation of how conscious you aren't in the moment. We resist Reality, the way our feet resist the floor. We can activate our feet, and feel the corresponding blossoming upward and opening of the chest. The degree to which we engage the feet is the degree to which the heart/chest can open. It is the degree to which we can be free and compassionate.
In our asana practice we should strive. Strive for engagement, strive for eveness, strive to activate. In shavasana, we relax fully, and the degree to which we can open, relax, transcend is the degree to which we were able to strive, work, strengthen. The harder we push without strain is the harder we can let go.
The we open up physically the more we can transcend the physical in meditation.
It all starts with the feet, our foundation, telling us how our relationship to the divine Consciousness is. Are we really open and accepting of everything life brings? Watch your feet and take the challenge to embrace life entirely.
This is like a physical representation of how conscious you aren't in the moment. We resist Reality, the way our feet resist the floor. We can activate our feet, and feel the corresponding blossoming upward and opening of the chest. The degree to which we engage the feet is the degree to which the heart/chest can open. It is the degree to which we can be free and compassionate.
In our asana practice we should strive. Strive for engagement, strive for eveness, strive to activate. In shavasana, we relax fully, and the degree to which we can open, relax, transcend is the degree to which we were able to strive, work, strengthen. The harder we push without strain is the harder we can let go.
The we open up physically the more we can transcend the physical in meditation.
It all starts with the feet, our foundation, telling us how our relationship to the divine Consciousness is. Are we really open and accepting of everything life brings? Watch your feet and take the challenge to embrace life entirely.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
The Power of Yoga.. To change your perspective in daily life
A lot changed when a child is born. I knew that I was signing myself up for a challenging-yet-exquisite experience. I look at everything in life as a means to Self-realization, so my daily life, my relationship with my son, and the change I've made to care for him are no exception.
However, what I never thought about were the effects of practicing yoga formally much less then I had been. I was practicing 6 days each week pretty solid for at least 3 years, and almost everyday for 4 1/2 years when my son came. Now I rarely practice when I am not at work (due to the fact that my son needs supervision and attention), and to be an almost-stay-at-home mom, I reduced my work week to four days.
It took me a while to realize, but I really feel it on the days when I don't practice. And I don't mean just physically, although I am conscious of the compression in my spine I start to feel increasing if I don't redirect the posture properly with very frequent reminders. I mean that that sense of loving-bliss and patient resillience I have come to be is tested by the normal circumstances of life faster and faster the farther I am away from my last practice.
I am thankful for this opportunity to experience the power of daily yoga, then to have had it taken away, and to be able to feel the changes. I am aware that daily practice is incredibly neccessary if one really wants to transcend all of the pitfalls and negative habits of the human experience. If we want to be free from suffering, to live life from the still, loving center of consciousness, then getting to the point of being able to practice on our own and practicing in between classes is key.
I feel my mind heavy with junk, with sediment, and I feel the overthinking wearing me down in between sessions. I am not as loving, in fact I can fall prey to negatively perceived sensations that set off a cacade of energy blocking thoughts, actions and experiences, which drag my energy and mindset down.
Doing even 10-15 minutes of thorough sun salutations every morning, utilizing ujjayi breathing could be enough on the "in-between days". Over time, we can easily guide our own asana practice, and use group classes as a well to drink from once a week to keep us energized, creative, in-touch and on-track.
For a while I felt this slowly edging in, and I thought doing daily meditation would help clear and recenter me. Its not that meditation wouldn't work, but that for me, the difference between meditating "cold" or right after an asana practice is so profound that I have absolutely no desire to sit unless I am in the "right" state of mind, even if I have the desire to have the desire.
I think that my small, almost daily, window (a.k.a. nap-time), during which I have to fit all of the computer work that goes into running Enlighten and numerous projects, will be best used to include an asana and meditation practice on the three days each week that I don't teach classes. This is a more important self-discipline I feel then struggling to sit for ten minutes, when I can very clearly feel the alignment of my physical and energetic layers are off and need adjusting, so that the prana can flow as it should. Yes, this is what I feel, and its what you can detect with your senses too, and much more, simply by practicing yoga everyday. It may be 3 hours some days or only 15 minutes a day, but any bit helps expand your consciousness. Then there will come a time when you will know how much it takes to get yourself to the place where you are able to walk taller, meditate joyously, and live from your heart with an extraordinary amount of loving-bliss and brilliant creativity that allow you to be successful at all levels of life.
However, what I never thought about were the effects of practicing yoga formally much less then I had been. I was practicing 6 days each week pretty solid for at least 3 years, and almost everyday for 4 1/2 years when my son came. Now I rarely practice when I am not at work (due to the fact that my son needs supervision and attention), and to be an almost-stay-at-home mom, I reduced my work week to four days.
It took me a while to realize, but I really feel it on the days when I don't practice. And I don't mean just physically, although I am conscious of the compression in my spine I start to feel increasing if I don't redirect the posture properly with very frequent reminders. I mean that that sense of loving-bliss and patient resillience I have come to be is tested by the normal circumstances of life faster and faster the farther I am away from my last practice.
I am thankful for this opportunity to experience the power of daily yoga, then to have had it taken away, and to be able to feel the changes. I am aware that daily practice is incredibly neccessary if one really wants to transcend all of the pitfalls and negative habits of the human experience. If we want to be free from suffering, to live life from the still, loving center of consciousness, then getting to the point of being able to practice on our own and practicing in between classes is key.
I feel my mind heavy with junk, with sediment, and I feel the overthinking wearing me down in between sessions. I am not as loving, in fact I can fall prey to negatively perceived sensations that set off a cacade of energy blocking thoughts, actions and experiences, which drag my energy and mindset down.
Doing even 10-15 minutes of thorough sun salutations every morning, utilizing ujjayi breathing could be enough on the "in-between days". Over time, we can easily guide our own asana practice, and use group classes as a well to drink from once a week to keep us energized, creative, in-touch and on-track.
For a while I felt this slowly edging in, and I thought doing daily meditation would help clear and recenter me. Its not that meditation wouldn't work, but that for me, the difference between meditating "cold" or right after an asana practice is so profound that I have absolutely no desire to sit unless I am in the "right" state of mind, even if I have the desire to have the desire.
I think that my small, almost daily, window (a.k.a. nap-time), during which I have to fit all of the computer work that goes into running Enlighten and numerous projects, will be best used to include an asana and meditation practice on the three days each week that I don't teach classes. This is a more important self-discipline I feel then struggling to sit for ten minutes, when I can very clearly feel the alignment of my physical and energetic layers are off and need adjusting, so that the prana can flow as it should. Yes, this is what I feel, and its what you can detect with your senses too, and much more, simply by practicing yoga everyday. It may be 3 hours some days or only 15 minutes a day, but any bit helps expand your consciousness. Then there will come a time when you will know how much it takes to get yourself to the place where you are able to walk taller, meditate joyously, and live from your heart with an extraordinary amount of loving-bliss and brilliant creativity that allow you to be successful at all levels of life.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Yoga insights
Guru~ may I be a guru to those that I can be of use to. May I be able to shine the light of unconditionally Loving-Awareness and celebrate the Self in all. I am here to be of service. I-AM here to enrich the earth & beings around me, it is my delight and joy to be useful to others.
Freedom~ true freedom is freedom from the tyranny of the ego, and consciously deciding how to live. Self-control with loving-awareness, living joyfully, compassionately and consciously is bliss. Running amok, packing it all in, quantity over quality and doing anything, anytime, anywhere is not real freedom; it perpetuates ignorance, ignore-ance and contributes to suffering.
Love~ "prem" or "priya" is the love of a mother for her only little baby. Some love Existence/God like a lover loves Beloved. Some love like a friend loves a Friend. Some enjoy the relationship as a subject loves a King. Some experience It as a Parent-child relationship. While I enjoy moments of lover/Beloved occasionally, I very often explore, sample, delight in Life with the holy wonderment of a child. I spend the vast majority of my time loving Life/Earth/God as a mother loves her only precious child, seeking to tenderly serve and pour unconditional Love into all. How do you Love the world?? I am not special, you too have an essence of unconditional loving-awareness. The way it manifests is effected by our age and stage in life's journey.
Practice~ we have to practice. It is as simple as that- check in every day. We can't think its a good idea and not do it. We just have to do it, to the best of our ability, each day. Compassion and consciousness need to be practiced everyday, and with that little effort, big transformations grow!
Dedication~ dedicate everything to something meaningful- to God, to serving others, to compassion and freedom from suffering for all, to unconditional Love and pure consciousness, the the Greater Whole... When you dedicate everything, something inside ignites, and life really responds.
Remember that we are all one. When we serve others we serve our Self.
"It is in the shelter of each other that the people live" ~ Irish proverb
may you be free from suffering and find your bliss and Love, may my offerings serve your path to freedom and Love-bliss. To ALL, everywhere.
Lokah samasta sukhino bhavantu.
Freedom~ true freedom is freedom from the tyranny of the ego, and consciously deciding how to live. Self-control with loving-awareness, living joyfully, compassionately and consciously is bliss. Running amok, packing it all in, quantity over quality and doing anything, anytime, anywhere is not real freedom; it perpetuates ignorance, ignore-ance and contributes to suffering.
Love~ "prem" or "priya" is the love of a mother for her only little baby. Some love Existence/God like a lover loves Beloved. Some love like a friend loves a Friend. Some enjoy the relationship as a subject loves a King. Some experience It as a Parent-child relationship. While I enjoy moments of lover/Beloved occasionally, I very often explore, sample, delight in Life with the holy wonderment of a child. I spend the vast majority of my time loving Life/Earth/God as a mother loves her only precious child, seeking to tenderly serve and pour unconditional Love into all. How do you Love the world?? I am not special, you too have an essence of unconditional loving-awareness. The way it manifests is effected by our age and stage in life's journey.
Practice~ we have to practice. It is as simple as that- check in every day. We can't think its a good idea and not do it. We just have to do it, to the best of our ability, each day. Compassion and consciousness need to be practiced everyday, and with that little effort, big transformations grow!
Dedication~ dedicate everything to something meaningful- to God, to serving others, to compassion and freedom from suffering for all, to unconditional Love and pure consciousness, the the Greater Whole... When you dedicate everything, something inside ignites, and life really responds.
Remember that we are all one. When we serve others we serve our Self.
"It is in the shelter of each other that the people live" ~ Irish proverb
may you be free from suffering and find your bliss and Love, may my offerings serve your path to freedom and Love-bliss. To ALL, everywhere.
Lokah samasta sukhino bhavantu.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)