Life isn't always easy. But you can find something to see as meaningful, purposeful, or beautiful, even in the painful moments. Even when in agony, you can connect to you inner peace.
One simple trick is to remember: Breathe (with your whole body), feel everything (physical senses, emotions, energy, inner + outer), and then let it go. Use that to cultivate presence.. To become grounded and clear as opposed to scattered. When clear, add: Respond honestly (in harmony with your inner sense of rightness).
Breathe, Feel, Release... Respond honestly.
Mindfulness triage to practice in easy and comfortable times, so that it becomes available to you automatically in times of inner war.
Much love, for all that is... L
Showing posts with label natural method. Show all posts
Showing posts with label natural method. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2013
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Sometimes It's Lonely To Be Extraordinary
I am probably one of the most cheerful people you'll ever meet. I am quick to laugh and even quicker to smile. And it's all genuine, baby. I have joy in my life, even when I don't have immediate happiness, but most moments or most days I have happiness and joy. The difference being that happiness is all pervasive and in response to the total experience in the moment, joy is a deeper satisfaction that can be there like the sun in your heart even when you are less then thrilled about external or internal circumstances- like a stomachache or migraine or a break-up or car accident or your music being inadvertently and irrevocably lost.
I wear my heart on my sleeve, it has always been a quality of mine, and I think at times like this its clear function is to be useful to others, should they be able to see anything of their own experience within mine. I hope this is useful in some way to bring ease to others... This is about the down-side of living fully, which actually is like a pebble in the ocean of bliss. However, when you step on the pebble or stub your toe pretty badly on it, its easy to feel pretty sorry for yourself. I'm here to say, first of all, there there, it sucks and I know because I have been there. Secondly, don't linger there more then a moment, because everything else is so amazing and it beakons you forward to ever expanding states of wonderment, so really, self-pity is a waste of your precious time and energy.
Being an individual, while I hold to this day that it is THE path to the greatest happiness, highs, adventures, satisfaction and fulfillment in life, isn't always easy. I can easily see why people choose to hide into the shadows and conform at all costs, if no other reason then to feel like that aren't alone. Ahhhhh... the oxymorons that fill reality. If we duck underneath the blankets of conformity and hide our true extraordinary identity to fit in, we'll never still quite feel like we do fit. When we finally say screw it and throw off the pretentious masks, we will feel free, and find greater fulfillment. But there are some tough things that happen when we do this.. once we pass through them, we become even happier and feel connected to others in new, more real and deeper ways then we ever imagined...
THE EARLY CRANKY STAGES OF CONSCIOUSNESS:
I remember getting very pissed off, getting on a soap box. Hell, I can get up on that soap box at any moment if I don't watch it, if I am in the right company. Seriously, anyone who is conscious knows that, no shit, politics, bureaucracy, our food system, TV, our whole culcture has a lot loop holes and none of it is designed or functions to do anything that it is supposed to do for whomever it is supposed to be doing it. This was what happened, when I started to wake up, become more conscious, get informed and make empowered choices for my liffestyle and health. You may have gone through an angry phase too, you may be pretty pissed at "the man" right now. I recall time that feels so far away from who I am now because it is common. I was a bitter and militant little vegan warrior, man was I pissed. I am still not okay with the attrocities of the factory farming industry. But instead of being bitchy and turning everyone away like a barking dog, I choose to opt out, I believe in the boycott, man. I live sweetly and happily, healthfully, and without supporting that cruelty. I have inspired more vegans since I stopped being pissed off and started just living in line with my truth. In fact, I never inspired one before, now, several, who in turn inspire others. That's a huge impact! Instead of pissing and moaning about how you hate Walmart and then turning around and shopping there, put your money where your mouth is. The only color "the man" sees in America's heartless capitalistic system is green, baby. So vote with your buck. Don't whine about having too few bucks, because if you only have a few votes, then you had better use them even more thoughtfully!!
So hopefully you will learn to turn the fire of your anger into joyous passion for the wise, compassionate and conscious choices you decide to make. In your passionate joy, you WILL catch more flies with honey then your piss and vinegar, I assure you!
WHEN YOU DISCOVER WHO YOU ARE, THOSE WHO WANTED YOU TO BE WHO YOU AREN'T WILL GET BITTER AND RUN:
Family and friends alike with which you had bonds over habits that fall by the wayside as you move forward and become more self-aware, will either attack your new ways of seeing the world, accuse you of being a punk or hippie, or simply stop being part of your life. This is a difficult experience, but neccessary. The truth is that we have to learn that nothing is solid and permanent. We aren't a solid object, we are a constantly changing river. So as we change, our energy changes.. think of it as frequency, or as a color or a chord. As our texture changes, the textures we will be attracte to will change. It makes good sense, of course, but it is hard to let go. Letting go of people we thought we'd always have a deep bond with is very painful, but here is the lovely part- we let go of the connections that are keeping us stuck in the mud and not mutually beneficial, and we will find that new, deeper, more inspiring connections will have room to arise. This is really satisfying and amazing. This isn't just something that happens when you first commit to being completely uncompromised in who you are, oh no! It keeps happening over and over, but generally gets easier to handle and relatively painless in most circumstances. As much as you lose, you will gain so much more love and connection then you ever really had.
YOU HAVE TO SEE YOURSELF EXACTLY AS YOU ARE, IN ALL YOUR BEAUTY AND FULLNESS, IN ALL YOUR VULNERABILITY AND SHAME:
As you become more awakened to who you are and who you aren't, you will see more nakedly the underlying emotions that motivate and motivated your choices. You see fatigue, disappointment, loneliness, lack of self-esteem where they raggedly poke and jab you. You see your desire for acknowledgement, attention, connectedness, love, respect. You see yourself in the past and may feel pretty foolish about your actions and motivations. You may see yourself right now and feel pretty foolish about the motivations of your actions. And sometimes you will still choose those actions. And sometimes you just won't. You'll begin to see that we are all in similar boats and that every action has a motivation, maybe its pretty simple and pure, maybe its pretty selfish and screwed. We are all motivated somehow, or else no one would do a damn thing! We want happiness, fulfillment, to love and be loved. That comes with being alive, if you don't want that stuff, are you going to care about living..? Perhaps, if you are REALLY conscious, but for the rest of us, we shoudln't feel stupid for wanting to love and be loved, or wanting genuine connections with other beings, or wanting to be known and appreciated for who we truly are instead of who we think we should be or who others want us to be.
EXTRAORDINARY BEINGS NEED EXTRAORDINARY EQUALS, WHICH MEANS YOU NEED TO FIND RARE GEMS AND NEEDLES IN HAYSTACKS:
I'm not the only person dealing with the realization that finding people to really deeply connect with is like winning a miraculous lottery. But the universe specializes in this sort of thing. It is hard not to feel discouraged at times, but the truth is all things are possible. Trust, I am sooooooo incredibly thrilled and ready to be blown away by meeting my amazing equal, I am ready for an extraordinary man to sweep me off of my feet. Under no circumstances should we ever compromise or feign interest or true connection where it doesn't exist just to numb the loneliness. Swami Nirmalananda always said that deep happiness with just a touch of melancholy is the perfect recipe for fast spiritual evolution. There is something powerful about longing. So worry not. Without self-pity, but with strong longing, we do attract the kind of beings we want to know and be near, that want to know and be near us. Patience is a bitch of a lesson, at least for me, when it comes to passion and finding real love...
IT IS ALWAYS WORTH BEING YOUR EXTRAORDINARY SELF:
" If you’re not aware that what you put out
Is what you get back
That you make the world through the way you act
You can’t harness the awesome power of that fact" ~Ani Difranco (If Yr Not)
We have to be ourselves. If we fight it, we fight the truth, and the truth has a funny way of resurfacing over and over, no matter how hard we try to swallow it down, bury it, burn it, disconnect from it, kill it... it can't be destroyed. The little bit of difficulty or pain we have to face is nothing compared to the indescribable freedom of finally being fully alive without all the heavy-ass baggage of inhibitions and other junk hanging around our necks.
Even when you are lonely you are never alone. And by being yourself you will find more people you truly connect to. And you will inspire people around you to live more passionately everyday. You will brighten lives with your very existence. Smile to the moon, breathe the fresh air in like love itself, see the trees at dusk silently witnessing you with total compassion. All of nature bends around you in tender loving embrace. You have loved ones, you have friends, and you will have all you deserve. Everything will come in its perfect timing, like the changing of the seasons, and the broader your perspective, the more you see how all the pieces fit and why you couldn't have what you wanted at the time. You will get better then what you wished for. Better then you could have created is what the universe will meld into place for you. Just believe in the beauty of life and it will come to be.
"What comes is better then what came before" ~Cat Power (I Found a Reason)
I wear my heart on my sleeve, it has always been a quality of mine, and I think at times like this its clear function is to be useful to others, should they be able to see anything of their own experience within mine. I hope this is useful in some way to bring ease to others... This is about the down-side of living fully, which actually is like a pebble in the ocean of bliss. However, when you step on the pebble or stub your toe pretty badly on it, its easy to feel pretty sorry for yourself. I'm here to say, first of all, there there, it sucks and I know because I have been there. Secondly, don't linger there more then a moment, because everything else is so amazing and it beakons you forward to ever expanding states of wonderment, so really, self-pity is a waste of your precious time and energy.
Being an individual, while I hold to this day that it is THE path to the greatest happiness, highs, adventures, satisfaction and fulfillment in life, isn't always easy. I can easily see why people choose to hide into the shadows and conform at all costs, if no other reason then to feel like that aren't alone. Ahhhhh... the oxymorons that fill reality. If we duck underneath the blankets of conformity and hide our true extraordinary identity to fit in, we'll never still quite feel like we do fit. When we finally say screw it and throw off the pretentious masks, we will feel free, and find greater fulfillment. But there are some tough things that happen when we do this.. once we pass through them, we become even happier and feel connected to others in new, more real and deeper ways then we ever imagined...
THE EARLY CRANKY STAGES OF CONSCIOUSNESS:
I remember getting very pissed off, getting on a soap box. Hell, I can get up on that soap box at any moment if I don't watch it, if I am in the right company. Seriously, anyone who is conscious knows that, no shit, politics, bureaucracy, our food system, TV, our whole culcture has a lot loop holes and none of it is designed or functions to do anything that it is supposed to do for whomever it is supposed to be doing it. This was what happened, when I started to wake up, become more conscious, get informed and make empowered choices for my liffestyle and health. You may have gone through an angry phase too, you may be pretty pissed at "the man" right now. I recall time that feels so far away from who I am now because it is common. I was a bitter and militant little vegan warrior, man was I pissed. I am still not okay with the attrocities of the factory farming industry. But instead of being bitchy and turning everyone away like a barking dog, I choose to opt out, I believe in the boycott, man. I live sweetly and happily, healthfully, and without supporting that cruelty. I have inspired more vegans since I stopped being pissed off and started just living in line with my truth. In fact, I never inspired one before, now, several, who in turn inspire others. That's a huge impact! Instead of pissing and moaning about how you hate Walmart and then turning around and shopping there, put your money where your mouth is. The only color "the man" sees in America's heartless capitalistic system is green, baby. So vote with your buck. Don't whine about having too few bucks, because if you only have a few votes, then you had better use them even more thoughtfully!!
So hopefully you will learn to turn the fire of your anger into joyous passion for the wise, compassionate and conscious choices you decide to make. In your passionate joy, you WILL catch more flies with honey then your piss and vinegar, I assure you!
WHEN YOU DISCOVER WHO YOU ARE, THOSE WHO WANTED YOU TO BE WHO YOU AREN'T WILL GET BITTER AND RUN:
Family and friends alike with which you had bonds over habits that fall by the wayside as you move forward and become more self-aware, will either attack your new ways of seeing the world, accuse you of being a punk or hippie, or simply stop being part of your life. This is a difficult experience, but neccessary. The truth is that we have to learn that nothing is solid and permanent. We aren't a solid object, we are a constantly changing river. So as we change, our energy changes.. think of it as frequency, or as a color or a chord. As our texture changes, the textures we will be attracte to will change. It makes good sense, of course, but it is hard to let go. Letting go of people we thought we'd always have a deep bond with is very painful, but here is the lovely part- we let go of the connections that are keeping us stuck in the mud and not mutually beneficial, and we will find that new, deeper, more inspiring connections will have room to arise. This is really satisfying and amazing. This isn't just something that happens when you first commit to being completely uncompromised in who you are, oh no! It keeps happening over and over, but generally gets easier to handle and relatively painless in most circumstances. As much as you lose, you will gain so much more love and connection then you ever really had.
YOU HAVE TO SEE YOURSELF EXACTLY AS YOU ARE, IN ALL YOUR BEAUTY AND FULLNESS, IN ALL YOUR VULNERABILITY AND SHAME:
As you become more awakened to who you are and who you aren't, you will see more nakedly the underlying emotions that motivate and motivated your choices. You see fatigue, disappointment, loneliness, lack of self-esteem where they raggedly poke and jab you. You see your desire for acknowledgement, attention, connectedness, love, respect. You see yourself in the past and may feel pretty foolish about your actions and motivations. You may see yourself right now and feel pretty foolish about the motivations of your actions. And sometimes you will still choose those actions. And sometimes you just won't. You'll begin to see that we are all in similar boats and that every action has a motivation, maybe its pretty simple and pure, maybe its pretty selfish and screwed. We are all motivated somehow, or else no one would do a damn thing! We want happiness, fulfillment, to love and be loved. That comes with being alive, if you don't want that stuff, are you going to care about living..? Perhaps, if you are REALLY conscious, but for the rest of us, we shoudln't feel stupid for wanting to love and be loved, or wanting genuine connections with other beings, or wanting to be known and appreciated for who we truly are instead of who we think we should be or who others want us to be.
EXTRAORDINARY BEINGS NEED EXTRAORDINARY EQUALS, WHICH MEANS YOU NEED TO FIND RARE GEMS AND NEEDLES IN HAYSTACKS:
I'm not the only person dealing with the realization that finding people to really deeply connect with is like winning a miraculous lottery. But the universe specializes in this sort of thing. It is hard not to feel discouraged at times, but the truth is all things are possible. Trust, I am sooooooo incredibly thrilled and ready to be blown away by meeting my amazing equal, I am ready for an extraordinary man to sweep me off of my feet. Under no circumstances should we ever compromise or feign interest or true connection where it doesn't exist just to numb the loneliness. Swami Nirmalananda always said that deep happiness with just a touch of melancholy is the perfect recipe for fast spiritual evolution. There is something powerful about longing. So worry not. Without self-pity, but with strong longing, we do attract the kind of beings we want to know and be near, that want to know and be near us. Patience is a bitch of a lesson, at least for me, when it comes to passion and finding real love...
IT IS ALWAYS WORTH BEING YOUR EXTRAORDINARY SELF:
" If you’re not aware that what you put out
Is what you get back
That you make the world through the way you act
You can’t harness the awesome power of that fact" ~Ani Difranco (If Yr Not)
We have to be ourselves. If we fight it, we fight the truth, and the truth has a funny way of resurfacing over and over, no matter how hard we try to swallow it down, bury it, burn it, disconnect from it, kill it... it can't be destroyed. The little bit of difficulty or pain we have to face is nothing compared to the indescribable freedom of finally being fully alive without all the heavy-ass baggage of inhibitions and other junk hanging around our necks.
Even when you are lonely you are never alone. And by being yourself you will find more people you truly connect to. And you will inspire people around you to live more passionately everyday. You will brighten lives with your very existence. Smile to the moon, breathe the fresh air in like love itself, see the trees at dusk silently witnessing you with total compassion. All of nature bends around you in tender loving embrace. You have loved ones, you have friends, and you will have all you deserve. Everything will come in its perfect timing, like the changing of the seasons, and the broader your perspective, the more you see how all the pieces fit and why you couldn't have what you wanted at the time. You will get better then what you wished for. Better then you could have created is what the universe will meld into place for you. Just believe in the beauty of life and it will come to be.
"What comes is better then what came before" ~Cat Power (I Found a Reason)
The Water Isn't Going to Drink Itself.... (poem)
The water isn't going to drink itself, kids,
happiness won't bite you, don't fear.
The groceries aren't going to shop for themselves,
and the dishes aren't going to disappear.
Fulfillment doesn't come on accident,
Life isn't going to live itself,
You can get pissed about your circumstances,
and just decide to collect dust on the shelf.
You can decide to live in playful joy, or
You can see the world with cynical eyes
You can choose to explore and live and love
or to suspect everyone and everything of lies
It is all up to you how you live
just know that you ALWAYS have a choice
that only you can decide for yourself
if you will be mute or have a voice
You can pound your fists and pitch a fit
say it isn't fair and you're sick of it
or you can simply grow up and begin
and see that life is only ever what you make of it
Happiness isn't found in some magic time
without work or chores or wants or needs
the only place where happiness is ever found
is simply in wherever and whatever you happen to be
happiness won't bite you, don't fear.
The groceries aren't going to shop for themselves,
and the dishes aren't going to disappear.
Fulfillment doesn't come on accident,
Life isn't going to live itself,
You can get pissed about your circumstances,
and just decide to collect dust on the shelf.
You can decide to live in playful joy, or
You can see the world with cynical eyes
You can choose to explore and live and love
or to suspect everyone and everything of lies
It is all up to you how you live
just know that you ALWAYS have a choice
that only you can decide for yourself
if you will be mute or have a voice
You can pound your fists and pitch a fit
say it isn't fair and you're sick of it
or you can simply grow up and begin
and see that life is only ever what you make of it
Happiness isn't found in some magic time
without work or chores or wants or needs
the only place where happiness is ever found
is simply in wherever and whatever you happen to be
Monday, April 30, 2012
May 2012: Don't Hide Your Light Under a Bushel
May 2012: Don't Hide Your Light Under a Bushel...
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us... There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you..." ~ Marianne Williamson
Enlightenment is about becoming more conscious, about being our unique Selves completely, not about hiding, or conforming, even to a yoga community's standard or expectation. We are alive to be individuals, to lose all the layers of non-self: all of the conditioned-beliefs that we unconsciously absorbed and never questioned, all of the fears and mirages of inadequacy we acquired along the way. As we peel back these layers we find the light of our heart revealed, our individual charm, skills, passions and personality, and as we live fully and vibrantly, we give ourSelves like a gift to this world.
How do we peel back the layers? Mindfulness.. being present. How do we acquire that skill? Practice.. in daily life, especially perhaps, through our yoga and meditation practices.
Reality is laden with oxymorons, and the big one here is that mindfulness develops our objective observation skills.. the more objectively we observe ourselves and our world, the more we know ourSelves subjectively. The more we know ourSelves subjectively, the more we can understand others and universal principles.
I use capitalization carefully... the capital S on Self means our deepest or highest Self.. the Self connected to the whole, the Self without all of the non-self baggage and obstacles attached longer. The self is the whole package before we begin develop mindfulness and along the way, where the ego (non-self) still gets the better of us. But although we are all basically in this boat, as soon as we begin practicing mindfulness, the Self outshines the self increasingly so. We spend more and more time feeling whole and confident as opposed to chaotic and blocked.
You are doing no-one a favor by supressing your creative force and individuality. Just note that this doesn't mean that we should have or do whatever we want at the expense of others.. that means harming animals, the earth or other humans with our choices. However, dressing how we wish, living passionately, following our hopes and dreams, enjoying the company of like-minded people, achieving spiritual and material success through being ourSelves completely may piss off people who are jealous or insecure, but it will not harm them. People will get jealous or feel threatened by your brightness at times, all successful people experience this. But those who may feel that way and are ready to take responsibility for their own happiness will be INSPIRED and live more passionately because you helped them see their own potential.
Happiness is a responsibility! You have to cultivate it! Living your life isn't passive, it is active!! LIVE VIVIDLY! If you die with regrets or only ever having lived halfway you can blame no one but yourself!! You aren't dead until you are dead, so don't sit around feeling sorry for yourself.. embrace your reality fully here and now in each moment and rise to all of the magnificent opportunities you will begin to notice! Namaste!!
<3~ laura
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us... There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you..." ~ Marianne Williamson
Enlightenment is about becoming more conscious, about being our unique Selves completely, not about hiding, or conforming, even to a yoga community's standard or expectation. We are alive to be individuals, to lose all the layers of non-self: all of the conditioned-beliefs that we unconsciously absorbed and never questioned, all of the fears and mirages of inadequacy we acquired along the way. As we peel back these layers we find the light of our heart revealed, our individual charm, skills, passions and personality, and as we live fully and vibrantly, we give ourSelves like a gift to this world.
How do we peel back the layers? Mindfulness.. being present. How do we acquire that skill? Practice.. in daily life, especially perhaps, through our yoga and meditation practices.
Reality is laden with oxymorons, and the big one here is that mindfulness develops our objective observation skills.. the more objectively we observe ourselves and our world, the more we know ourSelves subjectively. The more we know ourSelves subjectively, the more we can understand others and universal principles.
I use capitalization carefully... the capital S on Self means our deepest or highest Self.. the Self connected to the whole, the Self without all of the non-self baggage and obstacles attached longer. The self is the whole package before we begin develop mindfulness and along the way, where the ego (non-self) still gets the better of us. But although we are all basically in this boat, as soon as we begin practicing mindfulness, the Self outshines the self increasingly so. We spend more and more time feeling whole and confident as opposed to chaotic and blocked.
You are doing no-one a favor by supressing your creative force and individuality. Just note that this doesn't mean that we should have or do whatever we want at the expense of others.. that means harming animals, the earth or other humans with our choices. However, dressing how we wish, living passionately, following our hopes and dreams, enjoying the company of like-minded people, achieving spiritual and material success through being ourSelves completely may piss off people who are jealous or insecure, but it will not harm them. People will get jealous or feel threatened by your brightness at times, all successful people experience this. But those who may feel that way and are ready to take responsibility for their own happiness will be INSPIRED and live more passionately because you helped them see their own potential.
Happiness is a responsibility! You have to cultivate it! Living your life isn't passive, it is active!! LIVE VIVIDLY! If you die with regrets or only ever having lived halfway you can blame no one but yourself!! You aren't dead until you are dead, so don't sit around feeling sorry for yourself.. embrace your reality fully here and now in each moment and rise to all of the magnificent opportunities you will begin to notice! Namaste!!
<3~ laura
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Finding Your Gifts and Letting Them Blossom Fully in Your Life
I have been around the block yogically speaking... I mean, I have tried many different modes of practice and integrating practice into my lifestyle, into my worldview, into my heart...
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us... There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you..." ~ Marianne Williamson
I started with a very ascetic mode of practice and viewing life, and while parts of it fit, and the universal mindset of yoga always fit, it just denied all creativity, all passion, the drive of the heart, which to me, always leads to Truth. Unconditional Love and Truth are my path, no matter how hard I tried to suppress my light, my style, my passions, they always would shine through. Not only will they shine through, but they are attractive and inspiring to others. Others say I brighten their day or make a difference in their lives!! What an enormous honor and humbling opportunity to grow.. so why would I suppress that? Why do most people suppress their passion, their individuality, their creativity?...
For the sake of fitting into a mold called "normal", I suspect. Conformity comes at a very high price. It is basically akin abandoning your soul. Abandon everything that makes you YOU and live just like industry will have you- eating engineered garbage and thus getting sick and depressed, eating out of big pharma's expensive hand, and consuming egregious amounts of disposable plastic objects made in sweat-shops in China to fill the deep spiritual and emotional void developing inside. Is it worth being sick or slowly dying inside the rest of your days to think you feel like you fit in, just so that you can complain to the next guy about the weather and how much life sucks? Is this not the truth if you look at it with unclouded eyes and an open mind?
When we become more ourselves and give us to that path of individuality, we will lose our connection to some people, sometimes even family members. But the only connections that will fall away are the ones that are not real soul connections. They may be rekindled later, or they may not. I have hurt when dear friends have shunned me during dark times because my positivity has flown in the face of their depression. Many people have rejected me in many ways because I am "too damn happy" for them. It stopped hurting me, because I started to see what I saw as a teenage girl... I never cared too much for conforming, and always followed my heart, it was my greatest wisdom and gift that I think I was gracefully born with... people warned me not to be so open to other people so that I don't have my heart broken, and I, in my teenage ferocity, said, "I'm right following my heart, why should I change because they are assholes?" Why should we sell ourselves short because others are not open to us? No reason! Why should we not shine because others are afraid to shine? No reason, in fact, we may inspire others, give them the courage to open up and really live, really love, just because we are uncompromised in our uniqueness.
While why is covered, how is the topic I wanted to discuss, how to figure out what it is we are, truly ARE... what positive qualities automatically surface over and over again? What do we feel naturally passionate about, drawn to, in the world, in others, what do we love to learn about or feel we cannot get enough of? That is our starting point.
From there, allow yourself to dream, allow yourself to speak with all different sorts of people in all different sorts of places. Let your passions and ideas grow. Don't be afraid for some ideas to flesh out and most ideas to lead only to other ideas, this is how it all works. Open up. Be brave. Be fearless- fear is the opposite of being fully alive.
For me, I used to try to shut up and not talk so much. Sometimes that isn't a bad idea... like when watching a movie, or listening to someone, or really hearing a song, or really being in the moment with nature, or sharing close contact with a loved one.. then I will shut up, blissfully and naturally... but if it weren't for my ability to paint with my words, I wouldn't be me, I wouldn't benefit from the knowledge and inspiration I has been granted by so many amazing beings. My business survives and now grows and thrives by the connections made by being me and speaking to others. I have found loves, found friends, found knowledge and found my Self through connecting with other beings, especially other human beings. Other parts of mySelf have been unlocked by knowing other people, again, because I was myself and spoke from my heart with no self-consciousness or restriction. Relationships, especially the major romantic relationships in my life, have each unlocked a space within myself I never knew about.. for one the major factor was travel... for another it was music... love of beauty, intelligence, art, nature, and playfulness are part of the very fabric of me.
I have been blessed with a mind that puts things together like no other. I look at the world in a very unique way. Some would say its a very Aquarian thing. Sometimes my creative perspective leads to momentary confusion on my part, or misunderstanding with others, but mostly it leads me to live in a very free, unconstrained way. I fulfill my societal obligations with the least hassle possible, and live as my free-spirited Self, carving my own path through this lifetime. This is why I am the kind of person that works for herself. I have been blessed with the ability to put all of my natural qualities together and carve it out into a beautiful career serving the world and growing as a person all the way.
We all may not be meant to work for ourselves- it has ups and downs!! Yet, we all have this ability to put together our passions into a satisfying, gratifying, inspiring and extraordinary way of life. Our career ideally will challenge us and honor our needs so that we can stay nourished, refreshed and whole, but it isn't "who we are". Our hobbies, our choices outside of the office, what causes we are active with, what we choose to do with our time on this earth describes us. Let the way you spend your time be worthy of you as a person. Pour your love into your lifestyle.
We all have to eat, clean the house, make a living financially, and interact with the world. HOW we choose to fulfill these roles is unique to us, and shouldn't by any means be compared to any societal standards of expectancy or normalcy. It may take time, but live as your Self, and you will attract like-minded beings, you will form your own tribe. Maybe what satisfies you is very simple, maybe very wild and adventurous. As long as you are not kidding yourself, not saying, "I would do this, this or that if I could, but..." BUT NOTHING!! This is your life, happening one moment at a time! Don't resign to shrink into the corner and let others live. LIVE FULLY! Live Vividly!! Follow your passions! Think of good reasons not to.. I bet you will find more compelling evidence to live then slowly dry up and blow away!
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us... There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you..." ~ Marianne Williamson
I started with a very ascetic mode of practice and viewing life, and while parts of it fit, and the universal mindset of yoga always fit, it just denied all creativity, all passion, the drive of the heart, which to me, always leads to Truth. Unconditional Love and Truth are my path, no matter how hard I tried to suppress my light, my style, my passions, they always would shine through. Not only will they shine through, but they are attractive and inspiring to others. Others say I brighten their day or make a difference in their lives!! What an enormous honor and humbling opportunity to grow.. so why would I suppress that? Why do most people suppress their passion, their individuality, their creativity?...
For the sake of fitting into a mold called "normal", I suspect. Conformity comes at a very high price. It is basically akin abandoning your soul. Abandon everything that makes you YOU and live just like industry will have you- eating engineered garbage and thus getting sick and depressed, eating out of big pharma's expensive hand, and consuming egregious amounts of disposable plastic objects made in sweat-shops in China to fill the deep spiritual and emotional void developing inside. Is it worth being sick or slowly dying inside the rest of your days to think you feel like you fit in, just so that you can complain to the next guy about the weather and how much life sucks? Is this not the truth if you look at it with unclouded eyes and an open mind?
When we become more ourselves and give us to that path of individuality, we will lose our connection to some people, sometimes even family members. But the only connections that will fall away are the ones that are not real soul connections. They may be rekindled later, or they may not. I have hurt when dear friends have shunned me during dark times because my positivity has flown in the face of their depression. Many people have rejected me in many ways because I am "too damn happy" for them. It stopped hurting me, because I started to see what I saw as a teenage girl... I never cared too much for conforming, and always followed my heart, it was my greatest wisdom and gift that I think I was gracefully born with... people warned me not to be so open to other people so that I don't have my heart broken, and I, in my teenage ferocity, said, "I'm right following my heart, why should I change because they are assholes?" Why should we sell ourselves short because others are not open to us? No reason! Why should we not shine because others are afraid to shine? No reason, in fact, we may inspire others, give them the courage to open up and really live, really love, just because we are uncompromised in our uniqueness.
While why is covered, how is the topic I wanted to discuss, how to figure out what it is we are, truly ARE... what positive qualities automatically surface over and over again? What do we feel naturally passionate about, drawn to, in the world, in others, what do we love to learn about or feel we cannot get enough of? That is our starting point.
From there, allow yourself to dream, allow yourself to speak with all different sorts of people in all different sorts of places. Let your passions and ideas grow. Don't be afraid for some ideas to flesh out and most ideas to lead only to other ideas, this is how it all works. Open up. Be brave. Be fearless- fear is the opposite of being fully alive.
For me, I used to try to shut up and not talk so much. Sometimes that isn't a bad idea... like when watching a movie, or listening to someone, or really hearing a song, or really being in the moment with nature, or sharing close contact with a loved one.. then I will shut up, blissfully and naturally... but if it weren't for my ability to paint with my words, I wouldn't be me, I wouldn't benefit from the knowledge and inspiration I has been granted by so many amazing beings. My business survives and now grows and thrives by the connections made by being me and speaking to others. I have found loves, found friends, found knowledge and found my Self through connecting with other beings, especially other human beings. Other parts of mySelf have been unlocked by knowing other people, again, because I was myself and spoke from my heart with no self-consciousness or restriction. Relationships, especially the major romantic relationships in my life, have each unlocked a space within myself I never knew about.. for one the major factor was travel... for another it was music... love of beauty, intelligence, art, nature, and playfulness are part of the very fabric of me.
I have been blessed with a mind that puts things together like no other. I look at the world in a very unique way. Some would say its a very Aquarian thing. Sometimes my creative perspective leads to momentary confusion on my part, or misunderstanding with others, but mostly it leads me to live in a very free, unconstrained way. I fulfill my societal obligations with the least hassle possible, and live as my free-spirited Self, carving my own path through this lifetime. This is why I am the kind of person that works for herself. I have been blessed with the ability to put all of my natural qualities together and carve it out into a beautiful career serving the world and growing as a person all the way.
We all may not be meant to work for ourselves- it has ups and downs!! Yet, we all have this ability to put together our passions into a satisfying, gratifying, inspiring and extraordinary way of life. Our career ideally will challenge us and honor our needs so that we can stay nourished, refreshed and whole, but it isn't "who we are". Our hobbies, our choices outside of the office, what causes we are active with, what we choose to do with our time on this earth describes us. Let the way you spend your time be worthy of you as a person. Pour your love into your lifestyle.
We all have to eat, clean the house, make a living financially, and interact with the world. HOW we choose to fulfill these roles is unique to us, and shouldn't by any means be compared to any societal standards of expectancy or normalcy. It may take time, but live as your Self, and you will attract like-minded beings, you will form your own tribe. Maybe what satisfies you is very simple, maybe very wild and adventurous. As long as you are not kidding yourself, not saying, "I would do this, this or that if I could, but..." BUT NOTHING!! This is your life, happening one moment at a time! Don't resign to shrink into the corner and let others live. LIVE FULLY! Live Vividly!! Follow your passions! Think of good reasons not to.. I bet you will find more compelling evidence to live then slowly dry up and blow away!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
We Are NOT Under Attack: stop taking everything personally
This is a topic that surfaces frequently because nearly EVERYONE does it at one point or another, and it is not at all productive. I still do it, and now I see myself doing it and sort of laugh, even if I'm uncomfortable at the same time. I encourage you to develop the same regard for this highly egoic behavior.
A break-up: you are totally in this amazing relationship and suddenly the other ceases to be as connected, shut down completely and or runs away. It simply must be a reflection of their regard for you, your worth as a person and as a mate, right?
Correspondence: you call, text, or email someone, and don't receive instant response, the other person must have been offended or is certainly rejecting you, right?
Moods: someone gives you a dirty look, acts snobishly, or is unusually abrupt with you or unenthusiastic in speaking with you. Friends or strangers, the teller at the bank, the person at the Taco Bell drive-thru, your mom- you must have done something in their eyes to have made them mad at you or they must not think you are as good as them or something, right?
Rejection: that someone you are romantically interested in doesn't know that you exist... You must be totally ugly and unlovable, right?
In each moment, every single person has his or her own set of filters in his or her own mind, running all information and experiences through those filters colors the interpretation of the meaning. We see what we want to see, or what we see as bent through the lenses of our minds. What are these filters made of? Each person has his or her own chain of experience- unique head-stuff, insecurities, plus the history of individual life experience and experiences that day and at that very moment. We are such intuitive beings that we pick up on the energy of others- even subtle discomfort, irritation, dissatisfaction and the entire gamut of human emotions, but we make the mistake of thinking that they all must be directed towards us. That is where we go wrong and cause unneeded hurt to ourselves and others.
What if that someone ran away from the relationship because they were truly frightened to feel something so deep? What if that person is just genuinely busy, having a hectic time and happens to be unable to write back for a while? Maybe someone's mood is sour because they have a headache, their blood sugar is very low or high, they are self-conscious, or upset at something that has nothing to do with you? Maybe that person doesn't notice you, but maybe they are intimidated by you, or assume you are in a relationship? To every situation there are infinite possibilities. If we choose to take everything personally we only give ourselves an off-putting, negative, paranoid, insecure vibe, which actually will repel the positive people and situations we are hoping to attract.
Next time you are sure the world is out to get you, try and broaden your perspective to include the other possible permutations of the situation. If you don't want someone to be upset with you or reject you, don't reject them by assuming they dislike you every time they breathe in a way that isn't in line with your expectations. Dispel your expectations when you can because they will lead to disappointment, unless they can roll with the unfolding of truth/reality moment to moment.
Believe in yourself, in your goodness, in your lovable qualities, in the fact that you do the best you can each day. When you stop acting like a victim or feeling scared of the opinions of others, you can actually grow in confidence, patience, and beauty every day...
A break-up: you are totally in this amazing relationship and suddenly the other ceases to be as connected, shut down completely and or runs away. It simply must be a reflection of their regard for you, your worth as a person and as a mate, right?
Correspondence: you call, text, or email someone, and don't receive instant response, the other person must have been offended or is certainly rejecting you, right?
Moods: someone gives you a dirty look, acts snobishly, or is unusually abrupt with you or unenthusiastic in speaking with you. Friends or strangers, the teller at the bank, the person at the Taco Bell drive-thru, your mom- you must have done something in their eyes to have made them mad at you or they must not think you are as good as them or something, right?
Rejection: that someone you are romantically interested in doesn't know that you exist... You must be totally ugly and unlovable, right?
In each moment, every single person has his or her own set of filters in his or her own mind, running all information and experiences through those filters colors the interpretation of the meaning. We see what we want to see, or what we see as bent through the lenses of our minds. What are these filters made of? Each person has his or her own chain of experience- unique head-stuff, insecurities, plus the history of individual life experience and experiences that day and at that very moment. We are such intuitive beings that we pick up on the energy of others- even subtle discomfort, irritation, dissatisfaction and the entire gamut of human emotions, but we make the mistake of thinking that they all must be directed towards us. That is where we go wrong and cause unneeded hurt to ourselves and others.
What if that someone ran away from the relationship because they were truly frightened to feel something so deep? What if that person is just genuinely busy, having a hectic time and happens to be unable to write back for a while? Maybe someone's mood is sour because they have a headache, their blood sugar is very low or high, they are self-conscious, or upset at something that has nothing to do with you? Maybe that person doesn't notice you, but maybe they are intimidated by you, or assume you are in a relationship? To every situation there are infinite possibilities. If we choose to take everything personally we only give ourselves an off-putting, negative, paranoid, insecure vibe, which actually will repel the positive people and situations we are hoping to attract.
Next time you are sure the world is out to get you, try and broaden your perspective to include the other possible permutations of the situation. If you don't want someone to be upset with you or reject you, don't reject them by assuming they dislike you every time they breathe in a way that isn't in line with your expectations. Dispel your expectations when you can because they will lead to disappointment, unless they can roll with the unfolding of truth/reality moment to moment.
Believe in yourself, in your goodness, in your lovable qualities, in the fact that you do the best you can each day. When you stop acting like a victim or feeling scared of the opinions of others, you can actually grow in confidence, patience, and beauty every day...
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Mourning the Mirage
I believe in love. I believe that two people can stay together for a very long time and truly remain in love with each other. I also believe that finding this kind of love is a birthright, but that most people jump the gun and miss the mark. I don't know about there being just one... I tend to see romantic relationships as a progression, and an opportunity for growth, perhaps ending up at one that works for the long haul... or perhaps just relationships of varying lengths throughout our lifetime... the answer to this probably varies for each person's life story.
Most, if not all, people have the strong urge to pair up- to find someone, a partner, to share life with. We all want someone to love us just the way we are, through thick and thin, someone to have fun with, to be intimate with, to curl up with, a friend, but so much more. And no one wants to get old alone, right? We want a partner in life especially perhaps so that we are not lonely when we are old and so that we do not die alone.
I think all too often, because we are so excited to find this someone or a someone that fits the bill, we take our good intentions and excitement too far and we meet someone that we like alright, and in our heads we try to make the square peg fit into the round hole. We kind of convince ourselves that this person is exactly what we want and need, because, well, they are here now. We sell ourselves a dream, we compromise, or settle as people often say.
Human beings are very excellent at rationalizing things. We can even rationalize ourselves into love. My theory on falling in love is that we see this person we have met, and we know or perceive some things about them, but there are many gaps where we simply do not have information. Our mind superimposes our own feelings, wishes and views upon them, filling in these gaps and creating a connection to them as being who and what we perceive them to be- filled with our own ideas as much as or more then the reality of who they actually are.
When the "honeymoon stage" wears off, I think we begin to see someone as a little bit closer to what or who they are, as opposed to the image we have built in our minds of who we imagined them to be that we actually fell in love with. Then we may fall in love with the more real version of who they are, or we may say to ourselves, maybe even to them, "you've changed. I wish you would be the same as when we first fell in love.", "Why are things so different?", "What changed?" We may be pleasantly surprized, and form a solid relationship based on two people caring about each other, growing as individuals and growing together. This is the ideal scenario, and it certainly can and does happen.
Sadly, more often we are incredibly let down when we reach this point. But because we had such a strong connection and investment in who we thought they were, we stay. We also stay often times because no one wants to be lonely, or be the bad guy or girl that breaks a heart. So we drag out a relationship that we are not happy in well past the point of realization that this is not working and is over. This describes a lot of marriages and relationships, unfortunately. We have all seen it and or been there: the couple that bickers over nothing, shows no signs of being in love, caring, touching or even intimacy. It is the zombie-ghost-image of a couple. No one wants it, but so many people settle for it for fear of social disapproval, for fear of hurting the other (even though nothing would hurt me worse then being unwanted and strung along), for fear of being alone (as if there are no other people in the universe or as if sleeping alone might kill you instantly).
People are clingers, we are. We get attached to an idea of reality and like to stick to that better then owning up to real truth because we are scared little beings. We seem so mighty when we raze a landscape of trees to build a strip mall, or when we kill each other with giant, crazy weapons for very archaic or materialistic motives, but when it comes to the one-on-one scale, and our inner workings, we are very fragile and frightened creatures.
Many break-ups and divorces are a long time coming before they come, and this whole experience is why... we were never in love with each other, but in love with the idea we had of who the other was. When we woke up and saw this other person for who they actually were, we realized we weren't really connected.
Knowing this can help make handling break-ups easier. We begin to see that instead of losing "the one" we are moving forward and one step closer to finding someone we are genuinely in love with. We have to recognize the image we had of our partner is what we were in love with and who we are missing. We can have great fondness or even love for the person we actually were with... in time we may develop a very deep friendship. And we can move forward, and with great care we can listen deeply and honestly to our hearts and let ourselves fall in love naturally, instead of rushing it or forcing it.
Even very conscious people will most likely superimpose some of their own wishes upon the reality of the being they are with at the start, but when that image fades, it is possible to recognize the difference between fantasy and reality and love reality when it sets in. It takes discernment, patience, and compassion. It takes honesty and strength to be upfront with ourselves, because love is an interesting thing. We can choose to be loving people, and to widen our circle of compassion to include all beings, all life, the entire universe, but romantic love is a fickle thing. True romantic compatability, being "in love" as it is called, I believe is a very subtle thing. It is based on energy and vibrations... either two beings are harmonious or not, and the depth of their harmony determines the depth of their relationship. If as two beings progress through life, as both evolve and change, if their energetic vibrations remain harmonious through all of the transformations, then they will happily be able to stay together. There are likely to be times when they are not harmonious here and there, but harmony can be cultivated, and these patches where they do not resonate beautifully should be brief. Too many people remain trapped and held back out of fear, when this is actually stunting both people tremendously; mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually....
We can strive to become as aware as possible, to avoid these pitfalls, to own the truth of our life situation with strength and integrity, out of respect for ourselves and for each other. We can let go of trying to change the other person to fit the ideas and images we projected onto them or wished for them to fulfill and we can allow ourselves to either move on or fall in love with the actual person we are with. Any move made in honesty, compassion and integrity with reality will enrich both people's lives for the better, even if pain is part of the process.
Most, if not all, people have the strong urge to pair up- to find someone, a partner, to share life with. We all want someone to love us just the way we are, through thick and thin, someone to have fun with, to be intimate with, to curl up with, a friend, but so much more. And no one wants to get old alone, right? We want a partner in life especially perhaps so that we are not lonely when we are old and so that we do not die alone.
I think all too often, because we are so excited to find this someone or a someone that fits the bill, we take our good intentions and excitement too far and we meet someone that we like alright, and in our heads we try to make the square peg fit into the round hole. We kind of convince ourselves that this person is exactly what we want and need, because, well, they are here now. We sell ourselves a dream, we compromise, or settle as people often say.
Human beings are very excellent at rationalizing things. We can even rationalize ourselves into love. My theory on falling in love is that we see this person we have met, and we know or perceive some things about them, but there are many gaps where we simply do not have information. Our mind superimposes our own feelings, wishes and views upon them, filling in these gaps and creating a connection to them as being who and what we perceive them to be- filled with our own ideas as much as or more then the reality of who they actually are.
When the "honeymoon stage" wears off, I think we begin to see someone as a little bit closer to what or who they are, as opposed to the image we have built in our minds of who we imagined them to be that we actually fell in love with. Then we may fall in love with the more real version of who they are, or we may say to ourselves, maybe even to them, "you've changed. I wish you would be the same as when we first fell in love.", "Why are things so different?", "What changed?" We may be pleasantly surprized, and form a solid relationship based on two people caring about each other, growing as individuals and growing together. This is the ideal scenario, and it certainly can and does happen.
Sadly, more often we are incredibly let down when we reach this point. But because we had such a strong connection and investment in who we thought they were, we stay. We also stay often times because no one wants to be lonely, or be the bad guy or girl that breaks a heart. So we drag out a relationship that we are not happy in well past the point of realization that this is not working and is over. This describes a lot of marriages and relationships, unfortunately. We have all seen it and or been there: the couple that bickers over nothing, shows no signs of being in love, caring, touching or even intimacy. It is the zombie-ghost-image of a couple. No one wants it, but so many people settle for it for fear of social disapproval, for fear of hurting the other (even though nothing would hurt me worse then being unwanted and strung along), for fear of being alone (as if there are no other people in the universe or as if sleeping alone might kill you instantly).
People are clingers, we are. We get attached to an idea of reality and like to stick to that better then owning up to real truth because we are scared little beings. We seem so mighty when we raze a landscape of trees to build a strip mall, or when we kill each other with giant, crazy weapons for very archaic or materialistic motives, but when it comes to the one-on-one scale, and our inner workings, we are very fragile and frightened creatures.
Many break-ups and divorces are a long time coming before they come, and this whole experience is why... we were never in love with each other, but in love with the idea we had of who the other was. When we woke up and saw this other person for who they actually were, we realized we weren't really connected.
Knowing this can help make handling break-ups easier. We begin to see that instead of losing "the one" we are moving forward and one step closer to finding someone we are genuinely in love with. We have to recognize the image we had of our partner is what we were in love with and who we are missing. We can have great fondness or even love for the person we actually were with... in time we may develop a very deep friendship. And we can move forward, and with great care we can listen deeply and honestly to our hearts and let ourselves fall in love naturally, instead of rushing it or forcing it.
Even very conscious people will most likely superimpose some of their own wishes upon the reality of the being they are with at the start, but when that image fades, it is possible to recognize the difference between fantasy and reality and love reality when it sets in. It takes discernment, patience, and compassion. It takes honesty and strength to be upfront with ourselves, because love is an interesting thing. We can choose to be loving people, and to widen our circle of compassion to include all beings, all life, the entire universe, but romantic love is a fickle thing. True romantic compatability, being "in love" as it is called, I believe is a very subtle thing. It is based on energy and vibrations... either two beings are harmonious or not, and the depth of their harmony determines the depth of their relationship. If as two beings progress through life, as both evolve and change, if their energetic vibrations remain harmonious through all of the transformations, then they will happily be able to stay together. There are likely to be times when they are not harmonious here and there, but harmony can be cultivated, and these patches where they do not resonate beautifully should be brief. Too many people remain trapped and held back out of fear, when this is actually stunting both people tremendously; mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually....
We can strive to become as aware as possible, to avoid these pitfalls, to own the truth of our life situation with strength and integrity, out of respect for ourselves and for each other. We can let go of trying to change the other person to fit the ideas and images we projected onto them or wished for them to fulfill and we can allow ourselves to either move on or fall in love with the actual person we are with. Any move made in honesty, compassion and integrity with reality will enrich both people's lives for the better, even if pain is part of the process.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
How to Gracefully Survive Transformations (should you ever need some ideas)
I cannot say when I experienced my first personal revolution.. when I decided to follow my heart instead of my head, or my parents, or what is considered the "normal", "logical", or "proper" path... We all come to crossroads in life, when we feel how heavy the weight of our choices are, that everything will never be the same again based on our decisions, or when we experience the death of a loved one or loss of a relationship or even the loss of a plan or dream that meant everything to us. Life will never be the same again...
This ties in with our teaching theme for April.. Healing, letting-go and growing in the experience of loss...
Even if death is not the loss we are experiencing, any time a chapter or era in our lives comes to a close, it is a small death. It is the "death before we die" that Rumi speaks of. Who we thought we were is no longer who we are. Life is different now. Our future has changed, our possibilities are very different. We are not that person that lived in that reality, we are somehow new and different.
This can lead to a feeling of disintegration, literally dis-integration. In time we re-integrate, we become grounded again, in our new, present circumstances. When the ground shifts beneath the feet, it sends you down to your knees. There is a deep sense of surrender. Just like the weakest moments spent before vomiting, we tend to be broken open, not physically so much as emotionally. Completely surrendered to what will happen.
'Okay!!!! Please!!!!!! Just get it over with, let is go, c'mon.... Oh I can't take this!!!!!!'
The suffering is the greatest when we resist or fight it, so the first thing to realize is that no amount of denial or refusal is going to change reality in this moment. We are better off opening ourselves to it fully, resist nothing.... which means feeling the raw, searing pain of our circumstance.
In the case of a break-up, for example- there is the sting of embarassment, of betrayal, of rejection; the punched-in-the-gut feeling of love that is not returned or the grimy, clinging feeling of the desperate grasping of one who wants you to be in love with them when you are not, anger, frustration, the shattering of something you thought would last longer or always be there, and more depending on the specific dynamic you are experiencing. This is not easy stuff, not for the faint of heart... but it is real. We have all or will all experience heartbreak in various forms at some time or another. Most of us will have our hearts broken in various ways numerous times during the course of our lifetime.
After accepting the reality, we can let ourselves have permission to feel, space to process, time to mourn. I like to give myself 3 whole days all to myself to feel whatever I need to feel, including self-pity, agony, sadness, depression, desperation, whatever. I cry out loud, I lay all the right music to get me sad or indignant or clear and happy again. I sing my heart out, I cry some more, I walk outside, I sleep a lot.. whatever I need. Then, day by day after that, I turn my focus deeper and deeper into the rest of my life- instead of clinging to what happened and what isn't anymore, I focus on what is and pour myself into that.
Remember that you are not the first person to feel what you feel, you are joining almost every being on the planet in one way or another. We all have loss, pain, sadness and fear at sometime or another. In this way we can develop our compassion and empathy. Suffering makes us love more.. as our heart breaks, it splits wide open, and as long as we embrace and not deny our experience, it heals wider then ever, we are capable of greater and greater love and compassion. Whenever I go through heartbreaks and difficult times, I wish for a heart big enough to swallow all this pain and love ever more then before.
So after a few days of heavy-duty processing and accepting, we can work on moving forward. Pour youself into your life as it is. Do good things for others, because it makes one feel so much better. We are at our best when we unselfishly help others. Take care of yourself too, mind, body and heart. Find a balance between doing good for others/being with others, doing your work, and taking care of yourself and being alone. Time alone is the space that allows us to come back to our Self. It is as if we are a foam cushion and life in the busy world is the ass sitting on us, we need to have time alone to bounce back into our shape, or else we will get carried away from who we are by life's little distractions.
"I won't let love disrupt, corrupt or interrupt me anymore" ~ Jack White
We tend to let ourselves get molded into other shapes by our relationships with others, not just romantically but also by friends, family, co-workers. We pick up positive and neagtive habits. The ones that inspire us and bring us good health or help us to be more creative, fulfilled or compassion we can keep, they are us. The ones that drag us and those around us down, like gossiping, complaining, judging, excessive cursing, impatience, smoking.. these habits can go, they cannot be who we are at our essence, because they make us feel mean, depressed, or seperated from our iner greatness or health. So whenever we go through a transformation in life, we can reflect on what habits we have that are ready to leave us- the ones that keeps us seperated from our happiness, health, creativity and confidence.... and we can build stronger connections to the qualities and habits we have that are healthful, helpful, inspiring and being out our confidence and very best. Journalling this is helpful.. since we are a new person coming through a transition, clarifying to ourself who this new one is can be very grounding and clarifying, helping the transitional chaos to begin to subside.
Try not to dwell on the past... make peace knowing that you (and others) do the best they understand how to do in each moment given their awareness and inner experience. Don't worry too far ahead. Try to take things one day and one moment at a time. Your life will take a new shape and that shape will become clear to you very soon.
*****Remember to practice yoga and or meditation, during the most stressful times, try to practice everyday to help you process the energy. I know that this is CRUCIAL, absolutely MANDITORY for me if I wish to stay together as much as possible and suffer the least I can manage during difficult times. My reactions to others are more harsh when I do not do this.
Taking care of your body's needs, likewise, makes the process easier. If your mental and emotional state is precarious and tender, you can at least keep a comfortable, healthy body. Make sure to get extra sleep whenever possible; eat clean, vegan foods, as much organic and raw as possible; drink plenty of pure water, kombucha, herbal teas, and minimal to no coffee, alcohol or other intoxicants that will pollute your body and cloud your experience.
Give yourself completely to the experience, and trust that it will all work out for the highest and greatest good of all involved. Trust in the unfolding of reality, in the benevolence of the universe. If you send positive energy out, positive energy will come back to you, so keep your chin up, your mind open and your hopes high ( with no hard expectations!!). You have survived thus far so you shall survive this. One basic rule is that everything is in a state of constant change in life, so know that this will change, will not last forever.. and believe that life will get better then ever. Believe it and it will, as long as your mind is open to flow with reality as it unfolds. Good luck and blessings!
with <3, laura
This ties in with our teaching theme for April.. Healing, letting-go and growing in the experience of loss...
Even if death is not the loss we are experiencing, any time a chapter or era in our lives comes to a close, it is a small death. It is the "death before we die" that Rumi speaks of. Who we thought we were is no longer who we are. Life is different now. Our future has changed, our possibilities are very different. We are not that person that lived in that reality, we are somehow new and different.
This can lead to a feeling of disintegration, literally dis-integration. In time we re-integrate, we become grounded again, in our new, present circumstances. When the ground shifts beneath the feet, it sends you down to your knees. There is a deep sense of surrender. Just like the weakest moments spent before vomiting, we tend to be broken open, not physically so much as emotionally. Completely surrendered to what will happen.
'Okay!!!! Please!!!!!! Just get it over with, let is go, c'mon.... Oh I can't take this!!!!!!'
The suffering is the greatest when we resist or fight it, so the first thing to realize is that no amount of denial or refusal is going to change reality in this moment. We are better off opening ourselves to it fully, resist nothing.... which means feeling the raw, searing pain of our circumstance.
In the case of a break-up, for example- there is the sting of embarassment, of betrayal, of rejection; the punched-in-the-gut feeling of love that is not returned or the grimy, clinging feeling of the desperate grasping of one who wants you to be in love with them when you are not, anger, frustration, the shattering of something you thought would last longer or always be there, and more depending on the specific dynamic you are experiencing. This is not easy stuff, not for the faint of heart... but it is real. We have all or will all experience heartbreak in various forms at some time or another. Most of us will have our hearts broken in various ways numerous times during the course of our lifetime.
After accepting the reality, we can let ourselves have permission to feel, space to process, time to mourn. I like to give myself 3 whole days all to myself to feel whatever I need to feel, including self-pity, agony, sadness, depression, desperation, whatever. I cry out loud, I lay all the right music to get me sad or indignant or clear and happy again. I sing my heart out, I cry some more, I walk outside, I sleep a lot.. whatever I need. Then, day by day after that, I turn my focus deeper and deeper into the rest of my life- instead of clinging to what happened and what isn't anymore, I focus on what is and pour myself into that.
Remember that you are not the first person to feel what you feel, you are joining almost every being on the planet in one way or another. We all have loss, pain, sadness and fear at sometime or another. In this way we can develop our compassion and empathy. Suffering makes us love more.. as our heart breaks, it splits wide open, and as long as we embrace and not deny our experience, it heals wider then ever, we are capable of greater and greater love and compassion. Whenever I go through heartbreaks and difficult times, I wish for a heart big enough to swallow all this pain and love ever more then before.
So after a few days of heavy-duty processing and accepting, we can work on moving forward. Pour youself into your life as it is. Do good things for others, because it makes one feel so much better. We are at our best when we unselfishly help others. Take care of yourself too, mind, body and heart. Find a balance between doing good for others/being with others, doing your work, and taking care of yourself and being alone. Time alone is the space that allows us to come back to our Self. It is as if we are a foam cushion and life in the busy world is the ass sitting on us, we need to have time alone to bounce back into our shape, or else we will get carried away from who we are by life's little distractions.
"I won't let love disrupt, corrupt or interrupt me anymore" ~ Jack White
We tend to let ourselves get molded into other shapes by our relationships with others, not just romantically but also by friends, family, co-workers. We pick up positive and neagtive habits. The ones that inspire us and bring us good health or help us to be more creative, fulfilled or compassion we can keep, they are us. The ones that drag us and those around us down, like gossiping, complaining, judging, excessive cursing, impatience, smoking.. these habits can go, they cannot be who we are at our essence, because they make us feel mean, depressed, or seperated from our iner greatness or health. So whenever we go through a transformation in life, we can reflect on what habits we have that are ready to leave us- the ones that keeps us seperated from our happiness, health, creativity and confidence.... and we can build stronger connections to the qualities and habits we have that are healthful, helpful, inspiring and being out our confidence and very best. Journalling this is helpful.. since we are a new person coming through a transition, clarifying to ourself who this new one is can be very grounding and clarifying, helping the transitional chaos to begin to subside.
Try not to dwell on the past... make peace knowing that you (and others) do the best they understand how to do in each moment given their awareness and inner experience. Don't worry too far ahead. Try to take things one day and one moment at a time. Your life will take a new shape and that shape will become clear to you very soon.
*****Remember to practice yoga and or meditation, during the most stressful times, try to practice everyday to help you process the energy. I know that this is CRUCIAL, absolutely MANDITORY for me if I wish to stay together as much as possible and suffer the least I can manage during difficult times. My reactions to others are more harsh when I do not do this.
Taking care of your body's needs, likewise, makes the process easier. If your mental and emotional state is precarious and tender, you can at least keep a comfortable, healthy body. Make sure to get extra sleep whenever possible; eat clean, vegan foods, as much organic and raw as possible; drink plenty of pure water, kombucha, herbal teas, and minimal to no coffee, alcohol or other intoxicants that will pollute your body and cloud your experience.
Give yourself completely to the experience, and trust that it will all work out for the highest and greatest good of all involved. Trust in the unfolding of reality, in the benevolence of the universe. If you send positive energy out, positive energy will come back to you, so keep your chin up, your mind open and your hopes high ( with no hard expectations!!). You have survived thus far so you shall survive this. One basic rule is that everything is in a state of constant change in life, so know that this will change, will not last forever.. and believe that life will get better then ever. Believe it and it will, as long as your mind is open to flow with reality as it unfolds. Good luck and blessings!
with <3, laura
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Expand into Nature + Walk Until Your Mind Shuts Up
There is a monstrous difference in our energy when we are indoors versus being outdoors in nature. Even if you don't think of urban or suburban sidewalks as 'nature', being outside period invites our energy to return to its natural expansive state.
The Yoga Spanadakarika calls the state of self-consciousness and ignorance we typically live in a "constriction of shakti", or life energy. When we are in a state of yoga, or harmony, our shakti is expansive, we are unbound. It makes perfect sense to describe it this way: if you watch your experience, when you enter inside from the outdoors, even more noticeably when you enter a public place with chaotic energy, such as a mall, and feel your energy. When you are anxious or uncomfortable in any way, watch your energy, the sensations you experience. Feel how your body tightens up, draws in towards the center, tenses. Our creativity is restrained, our attitude is not as positive, our confidence is often retreated within itself. When we are feeling whole and harmonious, we tend to feel open, light, free, inspired, creative, bold, literally expansive. When we go outside, we can feel this shift, from the walls and ceilings constricting our energy to the buoyant lightness, freedom as we unfurl and merge with the sky. This is perhaps a very poetically subjective way to state the experience, but try it for yourself when you are in a sensitive state of awareness.
Being stuck in our thoughts is another form of constriction of shakti. As we withdraw into our own heads, we withdraw from our connection to the world and beings around us. As we become more openly aware of internal and external at once, more present, we expand once again to a more natural state and frequency of our energy. Walking briskly outdoors, while consciously feeling posture, breath, air, and drinking in the scenery with your eyes. Every time you notice that you are participating in thinking and the inner conversation, as soon as you are aware, come back to even just a moment of taking in the scenery with your heart and senses wide open, only space, no thoughts. You can't push the thinking out, but you can get used to not paying attention to it unless its functional. This allows you to tune your attention to a different wavelength- the wavelength of being present. After you walk a while and practice this, you will find more and more space in between the thoughts pervading your mind. You will feel less constricted, less congested, less cluttered and flustered, and instead calmer, more focused, more peaceful, energized and grateful. It depends on how long your mind needs to settle in, but 20-60 minutes is best.
Touching nature is always beneficial for our state of mental and physical health. Try to make some sort of contact everyday, with fresh air, sunshine, movement outdoors, and walk everyday if you can. Walking is the greatest natural anti-depressant. Whenever you feel stressed, just get outside and walk until your mind shuts up.
The Yoga Spanadakarika calls the state of self-consciousness and ignorance we typically live in a "constriction of shakti", or life energy. When we are in a state of yoga, or harmony, our shakti is expansive, we are unbound. It makes perfect sense to describe it this way: if you watch your experience, when you enter inside from the outdoors, even more noticeably when you enter a public place with chaotic energy, such as a mall, and feel your energy. When you are anxious or uncomfortable in any way, watch your energy, the sensations you experience. Feel how your body tightens up, draws in towards the center, tenses. Our creativity is restrained, our attitude is not as positive, our confidence is often retreated within itself. When we are feeling whole and harmonious, we tend to feel open, light, free, inspired, creative, bold, literally expansive. When we go outside, we can feel this shift, from the walls and ceilings constricting our energy to the buoyant lightness, freedom as we unfurl and merge with the sky. This is perhaps a very poetically subjective way to state the experience, but try it for yourself when you are in a sensitive state of awareness.
Being stuck in our thoughts is another form of constriction of shakti. As we withdraw into our own heads, we withdraw from our connection to the world and beings around us. As we become more openly aware of internal and external at once, more present, we expand once again to a more natural state and frequency of our energy. Walking briskly outdoors, while consciously feeling posture, breath, air, and drinking in the scenery with your eyes. Every time you notice that you are participating in thinking and the inner conversation, as soon as you are aware, come back to even just a moment of taking in the scenery with your heart and senses wide open, only space, no thoughts. You can't push the thinking out, but you can get used to not paying attention to it unless its functional. This allows you to tune your attention to a different wavelength- the wavelength of being present. After you walk a while and practice this, you will find more and more space in between the thoughts pervading your mind. You will feel less constricted, less congested, less cluttered and flustered, and instead calmer, more focused, more peaceful, energized and grateful. It depends on how long your mind needs to settle in, but 20-60 minutes is best.
Touching nature is always beneficial for our state of mental and physical health. Try to make some sort of contact everyday, with fresh air, sunshine, movement outdoors, and walk everyday if you can. Walking is the greatest natural anti-depressant. Whenever you feel stressed, just get outside and walk until your mind shuts up.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Yoga Saves My Life!
I have noticed for years that on my days off, I feel off. By the time the weekend is over I don't at all feel like myself. My ego flares up fearfully taking every subtle fluctuation of my loved ones moods as a threat to my being loved. Things don't roll off my back so well. I feel less strong and confident. My digestion isn't as well as usual. Every week, I crawl to my first class of the week humbled and seeking refuge. I walk away like a new human, freshly risen from the ashes of yesterday and remember myself.
I usually don't practice on my days off. It stems from my days of teaching about 29 classes a week myself. On the 7th day, I needed a break in self-defense. Then came my precious child, and I had this being that needed my whole attention and wasn't down with hanging out for an hour while I adjust my attitude on the yoga mat.
Well, my boy is bigger. And I only teach 7 classes each week. And on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays I need to start practicing, with my son at my side. He needs to grow up seeing what yoga practice does for me. He can join in or watch or do his own thing, but I need this. I feel the difference, the aggregation of garbage and misdirected flow of energy building up by Monday afternoon. Why have to do damage control after every weekend? Why not do what it takes to align my body, my heart, my mind everyday? Why not be my best self, feel my best everyday?
My practice has transformed my relationship to myself, to the individuals, to the world, and has saved me from a lot of suffering. It honestly and without exaggeration has saved my life. It has vastly improved my experience of life, my outlook, my whole world. An hour or even less each day is a small price to pay for incredible health, physical fitness, mental clarity, inner peace, deep satisfaction and an abiding joy that permeates my every experience.
What effects do you get from yoga practice? How often do you practice? Would practicing everyday change your life?
I offer numerous free videos on the Natural Yoga Method YouTube channel, please see the link on www.enlightenAmsterdam.com and let me know your requests as well.
Gratefully... LH
I usually don't practice on my days off. It stems from my days of teaching about 29 classes a week myself. On the 7th day, I needed a break in self-defense. Then came my precious child, and I had this being that needed my whole attention and wasn't down with hanging out for an hour while I adjust my attitude on the yoga mat.
Well, my boy is bigger. And I only teach 7 classes each week. And on Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays I need to start practicing, with my son at my side. He needs to grow up seeing what yoga practice does for me. He can join in or watch or do his own thing, but I need this. I feel the difference, the aggregation of garbage and misdirected flow of energy building up by Monday afternoon. Why have to do damage control after every weekend? Why not do what it takes to align my body, my heart, my mind everyday? Why not be my best self, feel my best everyday?
My practice has transformed my relationship to myself, to the individuals, to the world, and has saved me from a lot of suffering. It honestly and without exaggeration has saved my life. It has vastly improved my experience of life, my outlook, my whole world. An hour or even less each day is a small price to pay for incredible health, physical fitness, mental clarity, inner peace, deep satisfaction and an abiding joy that permeates my every experience.
What effects do you get from yoga practice? How often do you practice? Would practicing everyday change your life?
I offer numerous free videos on the Natural Yoga Method YouTube channel, please see the link on www.enlightenAmsterdam.com and let me know your requests as well.
Gratefully... LH
Monday, February 27, 2012
On Unconditional Love
The everyday kind of love in the yogic view is tainted with attachment. This doesn't refer to affection, it refers to the conditions we consciously or subconsciously apply to the relationship. I will love you as long as you fulfill x, y, and z. I will love you as long as you want to marry me, or do as I want, or give up what you do that rubs me the wrong way. I will love you as long as you obey me, let me control you, or as long as you give me everything I want.
We apply these conditions to all relationships unknowing, for example, we can get upset with our children because they may not want to submit their will to ours at all times. But is it reasonable to expect them to always submit their choices or even their comfort to our own? This truly is what we ask of them! Or in romantic relationships, we can often ask our partner to change to keep us liking them. We break down what it is to be ourselves and ask each other to play roles and put on masks. Is that healthy?
Even more subtle, the expectation for the other to love us back in the same way we love them is also a condition. It is a pretty subtle one indeed, yet it is a condition. If you have ever been in love you will know that it cannot be willed into being, it cannot be controlled, it doesn't happen by choice. It is completely natural, it is all feeling and not at all rational. If I am in love with you, it doesn't influence you being in love with me. There can be times in life we experience it. And depending on the unique situation, it can be very rich teaching grounds for both.
Don't ever feign love. Don't ever deny it. Do your best to guard it from conditional attachment. Let it be pure and unconditional, and it will fill your whole life with joy, light, and amazing experiences. It will expand your heart and consciousness exponentially.
We apply these conditions to all relationships unknowing, for example, we can get upset with our children because they may not want to submit their will to ours at all times. But is it reasonable to expect them to always submit their choices or even their comfort to our own? This truly is what we ask of them! Or in romantic relationships, we can often ask our partner to change to keep us liking them. We break down what it is to be ourselves and ask each other to play roles and put on masks. Is that healthy?
Even more subtle, the expectation for the other to love us back in the same way we love them is also a condition. It is a pretty subtle one indeed, yet it is a condition. If you have ever been in love you will know that it cannot be willed into being, it cannot be controlled, it doesn't happen by choice. It is completely natural, it is all feeling and not at all rational. If I am in love with you, it doesn't influence you being in love with me. There can be times in life we experience it. And depending on the unique situation, it can be very rich teaching grounds for both.
Don't ever feign love. Don't ever deny it. Do your best to guard it from conditional attachment. Let it be pure and unconditional, and it will fill your whole life with joy, light, and amazing experiences. It will expand your heart and consciousness exponentially.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Don't Wait Until Death to Appreciate the Here and Now
When we hear the frightening news of cancer or another ominous health crisis, for ourselves and our loved ones, we suddenly shift gears. We change our ways. We prioritize. When. We or a loved one receives the statement of "how long we have left", we open our eyes and hearts and start to share more freely how we feel. We love more fully, we live more fully. We tell the truth, we play harder, we lighten up, while feeling the very heavy sentence of how fleeting this precious life is.
What the hell is wrong with us?! Why don't we just live like that everyday? In the last few years I have sharply moved in this direction, and still haven't perfected it. But I do try my damnedest to express my love, gratitude, honest thoughts, and do my best to be present as much as possible. It has transformed my world. Some people run or are skeptical because this level of raw kindness and love is simply unheard of in everyday life. I'm okay with that. And I'm not special. Only in the fact that I have the inner freedom to live like this without fear of repercussions. Anyone can do it, we can decide at any time to just open our hearts and to tell everyone the good things we see in them when we notice them.
It empowers people, it strengthens them, it brightens their day and world. At the same time, the very amount of kindness and love we give genuinely without motives is the very amount we receive back. This is just how it works.
We never know when our time in this life will be up. Heaven forbid, we never. Know when we will last see the face of our most precious loved ones. Treasure them everyday. Treasure life everyday. Be quick to be kind, compassionate, sweet, loving, and grateful. You'll live an amazing incredible existence, whether you have 30 days or 30 years or more to go.
Love is all that lives on when we are gone... The memories that we create in the hearts of others.. Love is everything and everything is love.
Every moment is a miracle. Life owes us nothing and we receive so much everyday. Life is an adventure, filled with opportunity, simple and majestic experiences filled with delight. Enjoy this beautiful, bittersweet and brief life!!
What the hell is wrong with us?! Why don't we just live like that everyday? In the last few years I have sharply moved in this direction, and still haven't perfected it. But I do try my damnedest to express my love, gratitude, honest thoughts, and do my best to be present as much as possible. It has transformed my world. Some people run or are skeptical because this level of raw kindness and love is simply unheard of in everyday life. I'm okay with that. And I'm not special. Only in the fact that I have the inner freedom to live like this without fear of repercussions. Anyone can do it, we can decide at any time to just open our hearts and to tell everyone the good things we see in them when we notice them.
It empowers people, it strengthens them, it brightens their day and world. At the same time, the very amount of kindness and love we give genuinely without motives is the very amount we receive back. This is just how it works.
We never know when our time in this life will be up. Heaven forbid, we never. Know when we will last see the face of our most precious loved ones. Treasure them everyday. Treasure life everyday. Be quick to be kind, compassionate, sweet, loving, and grateful. You'll live an amazing incredible existence, whether you have 30 days or 30 years or more to go.
Love is all that lives on when we are gone... The memories that we create in the hearts of others.. Love is everything and everything is love.
Every moment is a miracle. Life owes us nothing and we receive so much everyday. Life is an adventure, filled with opportunity, simple and majestic experiences filled with delight. Enjoy this beautiful, bittersweet and brief life!!
Friday, February 24, 2012
Live Like You Mean It
So many people, too many people, are so paralyzed by self-consciousness, worrying what others will think of them, or how they will view them. Its sucks us dry of all joy and confidence to obsessively worry about our compliance to social norms and cultural fads.
It is purposeful and important to consider the direct and indirect impacts of our actions on other beings, such as our purchases, words and actions. However, there is a line that doesn't need to be crossed. If we creatively express ourselves, if we dress how we want to dress, style our hair the way we like, if we have fulfilling hobbies like making or listening to music, drawing, singing, dancing, or any other non-harmful activity or form of self-expression, why should we overanalyze what others will think of us? That is where we kill the very essenc of what makes us unique individuals.
Why wouldn't we all just be carbon copies if we were meant to conform to one set standard or worldview? The purpose, in my opinion, of being individuals, is to become the fullest expression of this unique vessel of universal consciousness. If we are each one drop of water in the ocean of the Universe, then we should fully experience be that drop of water with all of our heart and soul. If we are going to live this brief life then why not live it fully? Why hold back from non-harmful expression and experiences? Why stay locked in one corner of potential because we think that we can't or shouldn't or don't deserve to live boldly and joyfully?
Everything that exists has an equal right to happiness, freedom from suffering, and the experience of its own consciousness. That includes you. It is a delusion to go too far in one direction- one's own happiness over all others or the hypothetical happiness of others over one's own. The truth is that when we are happy in our hearts, truly and deeply, we radiate the warmth and light of that joy and it infects all around us. This is not a lofty ideal or metaphor. This has been proven directly in the experience of so many people since time began. This is a fact in my own direct experience, it may as well be scientific. If we supress our oen happiness, even if we think we are doing it for others, we are going to end up causing unhappiness, stagnancy, or in the least discomfort. Afterall, 85% of our communication is through body language. We can feel each other's moods, read each other's feelings and energy, see it in faces and eyes, and even posture. And our interpretation is so subconscious that most people don't even know they are doing it.
So yet again, the case for living like you mean it, living in a way that brings about deepest joy, inspiration, creativity and confidence is the highest path. It is the highest path in the sense that it not only brings more joy into the world through our own experience, but also spreads joy to others.
When we oppress ourselves it is easy to spit in disgust or distrust at ideas of reaching for the stars. However, if you aren't going to bother to follow your own inspiration and greatest potential, what is the point or purpose of living? Why use this precious life halfway? Life is too short and beautiful to waste!! Live fully! Live vividly! The world truly awaits your unique contribution... 3~
It is purposeful and important to consider the direct and indirect impacts of our actions on other beings, such as our purchases, words and actions. However, there is a line that doesn't need to be crossed. If we creatively express ourselves, if we dress how we want to dress, style our hair the way we like, if we have fulfilling hobbies like making or listening to music, drawing, singing, dancing, or any other non-harmful activity or form of self-expression, why should we overanalyze what others will think of us? That is where we kill the very essenc of what makes us unique individuals.
Why wouldn't we all just be carbon copies if we were meant to conform to one set standard or worldview? The purpose, in my opinion, of being individuals, is to become the fullest expression of this unique vessel of universal consciousness. If we are each one drop of water in the ocean of the Universe, then we should fully experience be that drop of water with all of our heart and soul. If we are going to live this brief life then why not live it fully? Why hold back from non-harmful expression and experiences? Why stay locked in one corner of potential because we think that we can't or shouldn't or don't deserve to live boldly and joyfully?
Everything that exists has an equal right to happiness, freedom from suffering, and the experience of its own consciousness. That includes you. It is a delusion to go too far in one direction- one's own happiness over all others or the hypothetical happiness of others over one's own. The truth is that when we are happy in our hearts, truly and deeply, we radiate the warmth and light of that joy and it infects all around us. This is not a lofty ideal or metaphor. This has been proven directly in the experience of so many people since time began. This is a fact in my own direct experience, it may as well be scientific. If we supress our oen happiness, even if we think we are doing it for others, we are going to end up causing unhappiness, stagnancy, or in the least discomfort. Afterall, 85% of our communication is through body language. We can feel each other's moods, read each other's feelings and energy, see it in faces and eyes, and even posture. And our interpretation is so subconscious that most people don't even know they are doing it.
So yet again, the case for living like you mean it, living in a way that brings about deepest joy, inspiration, creativity and confidence is the highest path. It is the highest path in the sense that it not only brings more joy into the world through our own experience, but also spreads joy to others.
When we oppress ourselves it is easy to spit in disgust or distrust at ideas of reaching for the stars. However, if you aren't going to bother to follow your own inspiration and greatest potential, what is the point or purpose of living? Why use this precious life halfway? Life is too short and beautiful to waste!! Live fully! Live vividly! The world truly awaits your unique contribution... 3~
Habits of Unhappiness
Some of the most amazing people in my life, some of the most beloved, seem to have a difficult time becoming satisfied with life. They don't seem to see their own value, their own unique spark, and they are so used to feeling unhappy that they seem to be stuck there.
We get so accustomed to a worldview and a way of life that even if it is miserable, or a prison, we somehow feel safe with its familiarity. We are so stuck in the groove of feeling a certain way, that we just let it keep perpetuating, even when it no longer describes our current experience of life.
I have encountered the same experience within myself. I used to have extremely poor self-image. I used to look through magazines just to sink deeper into self-loathing. It was a strong, ugly, miserable groove to be stuck in. Years later, almost tracelessly freed from that self-hatred, and actually quite happy with myself inside and out, those old familiar feelings were triggered by a current experience that recalled memories from that time in my history. Nostalgia for other circumstances and experiences from that time and place brought the familar pangs of dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Yet this time, when I witnessed the urges and experiences, I found that these feelings no longer described me, in fact they felt like a dried husk of the former reality. They weren't me, or my actual experience. Just the memory of an old habit. Witnessing that, they fell away.
There is great power in the practice of just witnessing that we learn on the mat. It is the fundemnetal practice of the yoga path. It broadens our perspective and gives us the ability to extricate our sense of who we are from what we experience. We then have a choice on how to view the world, our life, ourselves.
To all beings trapped in unhappiness, take heart. Focus on what is GOOD, beautiful, meaningful in your life. Don't hold on to negativity, let it pass through you. Take good care of your body, because an unhealthy or polluted body will cause great discomfort that drags down the cheeriest of hearts. What you admire most in others is what you are. Your heart is your greatest asset and worth, your worth is not derived from external circumstances like money, possesions, or appearance.
Thoughts and habits are not US, they aren't who we ARE. We are loving-consciousness. We ARE the compassionate witness, that which is deep within and beyond all life circumstances. Through the practices of yoga we connect with THAT and we are transformed as we blossom fully into our greatest potential as individual beings, wholly interconnected yet totally unique. In connecting with our deepest Self, our surface habits can freely transform to aid us in our path to complete happiness and freedom from suffering. Be dilligent, patient, and firm but loving, and it will happen. Happiness can become your new worldview and habitual state of being.
Blessings to you, and to all beings... ~Laura
We get so accustomed to a worldview and a way of life that even if it is miserable, or a prison, we somehow feel safe with its familiarity. We are so stuck in the groove of feeling a certain way, that we just let it keep perpetuating, even when it no longer describes our current experience of life.
I have encountered the same experience within myself. I used to have extremely poor self-image. I used to look through magazines just to sink deeper into self-loathing. It was a strong, ugly, miserable groove to be stuck in. Years later, almost tracelessly freed from that self-hatred, and actually quite happy with myself inside and out, those old familiar feelings were triggered by a current experience that recalled memories from that time in my history. Nostalgia for other circumstances and experiences from that time and place brought the familar pangs of dissatisfaction and unhappiness. Yet this time, when I witnessed the urges and experiences, I found that these feelings no longer described me, in fact they felt like a dried husk of the former reality. They weren't me, or my actual experience. Just the memory of an old habit. Witnessing that, they fell away.
There is great power in the practice of just witnessing that we learn on the mat. It is the fundemnetal practice of the yoga path. It broadens our perspective and gives us the ability to extricate our sense of who we are from what we experience. We then have a choice on how to view the world, our life, ourselves.
To all beings trapped in unhappiness, take heart. Focus on what is GOOD, beautiful, meaningful in your life. Don't hold on to negativity, let it pass through you. Take good care of your body, because an unhealthy or polluted body will cause great discomfort that drags down the cheeriest of hearts. What you admire most in others is what you are. Your heart is your greatest asset and worth, your worth is not derived from external circumstances like money, possesions, or appearance.
Thoughts and habits are not US, they aren't who we ARE. We are loving-consciousness. We ARE the compassionate witness, that which is deep within and beyond all life circumstances. Through the practices of yoga we connect with THAT and we are transformed as we blossom fully into our greatest potential as individual beings, wholly interconnected yet totally unique. In connecting with our deepest Self, our surface habits can freely transform to aid us in our path to complete happiness and freedom from suffering. Be dilligent, patient, and firm but loving, and it will happen. Happiness can become your new worldview and habitual state of being.
Blessings to you, and to all beings... ~Laura
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Two Feet Firm on the Earth
I have learned the hard way that there is an easy way to find a lot of freedom, confidence, and peace, almost instantly...
Our posture seems so irrelevant when reflecting on our mental-emotional state, but every layer of our being is interconnected and interpenetrating.
Our foundation, the way we touch the earth with our body, the way we connect to the ground, determines the way energy can and will move through our whole system. It changes nerve function, digestion, water regulation, bloodflow and more. It is the meaning of the word "asana", the word for pose in Sanskrit- our seat, our connection to the Earth.
Whenever you sit, put your weight into your HIPS, not your spine, pressing into the chair or ground a bit. Lift your chest and open it with comfortable effort. Feel the buoyancy return to your center. Try not to cross your legs, but if you do, take turns to remain even or cross to the side you normally wouldn't. Otherwise leave your feet flat and gently pressing downward, which helps to keep your chest open.
When you stand, press through the forefoot and heel evenly, leaving the arches floating. Notice if you shift your weight to one side more then the other. Evening out will retrain your body and help you to overcome imbalances that actually can mess with your entire muscular-skeletal alignment. Pressing through your feet and evenly left-to-right, allow your chest to be open and navel to engage gently toward the spine to neutralize your pelvis. It sounds like work, and can be at first, but it is well worth it.
When I feel slugglish, frustrated or insecure in any way, I notice that fixing my connection to the earth, my posture, makes it all but disappear, instantly, or at least pretty rapidly at worst. It is worth it to apply ourselves to find a healthy, free, quick fix with no negative side-effects to remedy the dark side of our unhealthy modern world.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Our posture seems so irrelevant when reflecting on our mental-emotional state, but every layer of our being is interconnected and interpenetrating.
Our foundation, the way we touch the earth with our body, the way we connect to the ground, determines the way energy can and will move through our whole system. It changes nerve function, digestion, water regulation, bloodflow and more. It is the meaning of the word "asana", the word for pose in Sanskrit- our seat, our connection to the Earth.
Whenever you sit, put your weight into your HIPS, not your spine, pressing into the chair or ground a bit. Lift your chest and open it with comfortable effort. Feel the buoyancy return to your center. Try not to cross your legs, but if you do, take turns to remain even or cross to the side you normally wouldn't. Otherwise leave your feet flat and gently pressing downward, which helps to keep your chest open.
When you stand, press through the forefoot and heel evenly, leaving the arches floating. Notice if you shift your weight to one side more then the other. Evening out will retrain your body and help you to overcome imbalances that actually can mess with your entire muscular-skeletal alignment. Pressing through your feet and evenly left-to-right, allow your chest to be open and navel to engage gently toward the spine to neutralize your pelvis. It sounds like work, and can be at first, but it is well worth it.
When I feel slugglish, frustrated or insecure in any way, I notice that fixing my connection to the earth, my posture, makes it all but disappear, instantly, or at least pretty rapidly at worst. It is worth it to apply ourselves to find a healthy, free, quick fix with no negative side-effects to remedy the dark side of our unhealthy modern world.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
To Be Leaned On Makes Us Stronger
I realize as I am blessed by the love and respect of others when they choose to lean on me or share with me during difficult times. It reminds me of what I believe is a Sarah MacLaughlin song "Prayer of St. Francis" (which I imagine comes from the actual prayer of St. Francis). It is so beautiful and so true.. "To understand is to be understood"...
That which we want to receive we have to give to others- love, patience, understanding, compassion, generosity... And when we are leaned on, it makes us stronger. When we give we get. When we receive, it is natural to pay it forward. The light, the glow, only grows. There is no shortage of goodness, love, kindness- the more it is given the more it expands, spreads, and arises expansively from the deepest center of our being.
In humble gratitude and deep loving-kindness towards all life... Namaste.
That which we want to receive we have to give to others- love, patience, understanding, compassion, generosity... And when we are leaned on, it makes us stronger. When we give we get. When we receive, it is natural to pay it forward. The light, the glow, only grows. There is no shortage of goodness, love, kindness- the more it is given the more it expands, spreads, and arises expansively from the deepest center of our being.
In humble gratitude and deep loving-kindness towards all life... Namaste.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Peaceful Anarchy
Most people think of selfish anarchy, outwardly centered. This is not the anarchy that I know and practice. Hi, my name is Laura, and I am a peaceful anarchist.
My teachers had a Guru who called himself the Anarchist Swami. Swami Nirmalananda believe and lived and taught that we should all be independent (literally inwardly dependent). We should follow our own conscience in life. That to me is the definition of anarchy- not accepting outward rule, but governing oneself in line with the truth of the heart.
It will guide us to be authentic, fully-expressed humans, that do not perpetuate harm of other beings. It will assist the full blossoming of our individual purpose and potential, while encouraging community, compassion, and respect. It fosters intelligence, a questioning attitude that leads to discovery of the broadest truth, and eliminates the blind following that destroys all goodness and evolution in the world.
It is not always easy to follow the heart (or back of your mind if you prefer it) but with practice it will not steer you wrong. Every time I have ever given myself to my heart it has always proven not just doable, but amazing, incredible, nothing short of dreams coming true in ways I couldn't have consciously planned. It requires bowing the head, the rational outlook, to the heart-felt way of life. This is the way to live life like you mean it. Why deny unconditional love? Why ignore inspiration? All brilliance, all that is ever really wonderful in the world unfolds naturally from love, from the heart, the conscience. Conscious conscience. That is the new anarchy. And in this way, I am an anarchist for life, baby! Namaste!!
My teachers had a Guru who called himself the Anarchist Swami. Swami Nirmalananda believe and lived and taught that we should all be independent (literally inwardly dependent). We should follow our own conscience in life. That to me is the definition of anarchy- not accepting outward rule, but governing oneself in line with the truth of the heart.
It will guide us to be authentic, fully-expressed humans, that do not perpetuate harm of other beings. It will assist the full blossoming of our individual purpose and potential, while encouraging community, compassion, and respect. It fosters intelligence, a questioning attitude that leads to discovery of the broadest truth, and eliminates the blind following that destroys all goodness and evolution in the world.
It is not always easy to follow the heart (or back of your mind if you prefer it) but with practice it will not steer you wrong. Every time I have ever given myself to my heart it has always proven not just doable, but amazing, incredible, nothing short of dreams coming true in ways I couldn't have consciously planned. It requires bowing the head, the rational outlook, to the heart-felt way of life. This is the way to live life like you mean it. Why deny unconditional love? Why ignore inspiration? All brilliance, all that is ever really wonderful in the world unfolds naturally from love, from the heart, the conscience. Conscious conscience. That is the new anarchy. And in this way, I am an anarchist for life, baby! Namaste!!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Weathering the Ups + Downs and Staying Open
In order to blossom, that requires us to allow ourselves to be open. We have to stop ignoring our experience, our mental-physical-emotional experience day in and day out. We have to witness the highs of joy and ecstacy and the lows of emotional and physical pain with openess. It is intense. But anthing short of that is to die a little to life.
We have to witness our urges, our longings, our feelings, and let them show us the truth. Once you are in-love, you forever know what it feels like to be in love. The glow of timeless being togetherness, savoring of closeness and fulfilment of desire. But we rarely acknowledge that what is also part of that love is the sweet agony of longing, the painful tearing at the soul in parting, and the depth of loneliness before we find that love or when it perishes, not to mention the ecstatic bittersweet pain of longing for each other throughout the development of the relationship.
Where typical Americans are encouraged to become hardened to the raw intensity of experience in order to become more efficient, more rational, more conformed to social norms and mores, the truly conscious person goes in the other direction. Can we remove every barrier between us and reality in all its raw, fearsome, swe-striking, ambrosial beauty? Can we forge ourselves in that fiery intensity of sensation and become open to the world? This enables us to feel everything, to miss nothing, to find inner peace in all circumstances and gives us the strength to live the truth of our hearts and thus an extraordinary life with no regrets.
It requires us to witness it all. The raw, dull ache of loneliness or longing. The sharp tearing of loss. The flush of fire in embarasment and anger or injustice. The open, expansive joy of loving. The feelings of aliveness that comes in all of this. This is real life, this is reality; not the sanitized, vaccuum-sealed consumer friendly version of life that serves corporate bottom-lines well, which we are sold in our ridiculous culture. Happiness doesn't come from giving in to conformity, it comes from knowing and following your very own heart.
Stay open. Witness your experience. Talk to others or rest in stillness on your own. Connect with nature. Use powerful hobbies like music and art and writing to move the energy through you and allow it to become a creative force. Out of the force of our experience in life comes all inspiration and art. From stillness arises insight, from insight arises freedom.
We have to witness our urges, our longings, our feelings, and let them show us the truth. Once you are in-love, you forever know what it feels like to be in love. The glow of timeless being togetherness, savoring of closeness and fulfilment of desire. But we rarely acknowledge that what is also part of that love is the sweet agony of longing, the painful tearing at the soul in parting, and the depth of loneliness before we find that love or when it perishes, not to mention the ecstatic bittersweet pain of longing for each other throughout the development of the relationship.
Where typical Americans are encouraged to become hardened to the raw intensity of experience in order to become more efficient, more rational, more conformed to social norms and mores, the truly conscious person goes in the other direction. Can we remove every barrier between us and reality in all its raw, fearsome, swe-striking, ambrosial beauty? Can we forge ourselves in that fiery intensity of sensation and become open to the world? This enables us to feel everything, to miss nothing, to find inner peace in all circumstances and gives us the strength to live the truth of our hearts and thus an extraordinary life with no regrets.
It requires us to witness it all. The raw, dull ache of loneliness or longing. The sharp tearing of loss. The flush of fire in embarasment and anger or injustice. The open, expansive joy of loving. The feelings of aliveness that comes in all of this. This is real life, this is reality; not the sanitized, vaccuum-sealed consumer friendly version of life that serves corporate bottom-lines well, which we are sold in our ridiculous culture. Happiness doesn't come from giving in to conformity, it comes from knowing and following your very own heart.
Stay open. Witness your experience. Talk to others or rest in stillness on your own. Connect with nature. Use powerful hobbies like music and art and writing to move the energy through you and allow it to become a creative force. Out of the force of our experience in life comes all inspiration and art. From stillness arises insight, from insight arises freedom.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
The Ebb + Flow of Consciousness
Some days, the mind is naturally clear and we feel very refreshed and present. Some days it seems like it is impossible to get out of the endless stream of subjective thoughts. It can be frustrating. Remember this, there was a time when you weren't even aware that your consciousness was absorbed only in your thinking. You are far ahead of that place now.
Judging ourselves for not being present is still not being present! So smile to yourself, stop over-analyzing (still thinking!!) and break it down to the basics. Come back to the breath. Feel the breath. Witness the breath in each moment.
In fact, witnessing is all we need to do to be mindful, which includes witnessing the thinking, as well as the physical, emotional, and environmental sensations/experiences in each moment. Accept what you find. Trust in the process. Let your consciousness expand naturally. We cannot intellectually force enlightenment. There is no peace in bitter force.
Every moment in presence, we expand our consciousness. Let the ebbs and flows happen, watch them, witness yourself becoming whole, drop by drop.
Judging ourselves for not being present is still not being present! So smile to yourself, stop over-analyzing (still thinking!!) and break it down to the basics. Come back to the breath. Feel the breath. Witness the breath in each moment.
In fact, witnessing is all we need to do to be mindful, which includes witnessing the thinking, as well as the physical, emotional, and environmental sensations/experiences in each moment. Accept what you find. Trust in the process. Let your consciousness expand naturally. We cannot intellectually force enlightenment. There is no peace in bitter force.
Every moment in presence, we expand our consciousness. Let the ebbs and flows happen, watch them, witness yourself becoming whole, drop by drop.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The real power of Yoga- why daily practice is key!
Coming together as a community to practice is powerful. Practicing once or twice at the studio each week is important to learn under the guidance of a professional, and to ensure that a practice center can remain open. But what about the weekend, the days in between, and the snow days? Natural Yoga is intended to be practiced everyday, it is intended to empower you to integrate practice into your lifestyle.
The word used for practice is sadhana, indicating spiritual practice, which in the Indian context is inseperable from life. Life is spiritually-infused, a journey of the soul in the body through the manifest world.
Don't depend on being at the studio to practice Yogic ways, anymore than one should only practice piety in church. Coming to the studio is to learn techniques, create community and to become inspired More deeply. Practice everyday- mindfulness of the breath and posture all day and aanas and/or meditation for at least a few minutes, and you WILL feel a great difference.
When we practice, we go deep within to the fountainhead of life energy, we touch the ground of Being or Source as it connects within us. To touch this is powerful, deeply healing and inspiring. Touch it once a week, and you will feel a difference. Touch it once a day, and you will transform. Touch it multiple times each day, and you will feel nothing short of miracles unfolding around you and through you.
We are having a workshop that will help you to establish daily practice of Natural Yoga on April 21st. Please inquire if you are interested or stay tuned for more info. You may request information by emailng naturalmethodyoga@gmail.com or by calling/texting 518 866 3621.
The word used for practice is sadhana, indicating spiritual practice, which in the Indian context is inseperable from life. Life is spiritually-infused, a journey of the soul in the body through the manifest world.
Don't depend on being at the studio to practice Yogic ways, anymore than one should only practice piety in church. Coming to the studio is to learn techniques, create community and to become inspired More deeply. Practice everyday- mindfulness of the breath and posture all day and aanas and/or meditation for at least a few minutes, and you WILL feel a great difference.
When we practice, we go deep within to the fountainhead of life energy, we touch the ground of Being or Source as it connects within us. To touch this is powerful, deeply healing and inspiring. Touch it once a week, and you will feel a difference. Touch it once a day, and you will transform. Touch it multiple times each day, and you will feel nothing short of miracles unfolding around you and through you.
We are having a workshop that will help you to establish daily practice of Natural Yoga on April 21st. Please inquire if you are interested or stay tuned for more info. You may request information by emailng naturalmethodyoga@gmail.com or by calling/texting 518 866 3621.
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