“Nothing comes from violence, and nothing ever could.”-Sting, “Fragile”
Over the next few months, we will begin to examine the 5 tenets of Jivamukti Yoga. Jivamukti Yoga was created by my teacher’s teachers, Sharon Gannon and David Life www.jivamuktiyoga.com. Jivamukti means living liberated; being free while on this planet and in this physical body. “Take from me all that is not free.” –Bhagavan Das
One of the 5 tenets of Jivamukti Yoga is ahimsa meaning non-violence. We can practice ahimsa in a variety of ways: managing our thoughts during road rage, refraining from using swear words or simply committing to compassion. His Holiness the Dalai Lama says: “If you seek enlightenment, or even if you seek happiness, go to the cause. Nothing exists without a cause. The root cause of happiness is compassion.”
October is World Vegetarian Month. The benefits of a vegetarian diet are vast and wide. What a perfect way to practice ahimsa. Consider the following benefits from the North American Vegetarian Society:
-Reduces the risk of major killers such as heart disease, strokes and cancers while cutting exposure to food borne pathogens;
-Provides a viable answer to feeding the world’s hungry through more efficient use of grains and other crops;
-Saves animals from suffering in factory-farm conditions and from the pain and terror of slaughter;
-Conserves vital but limited freshwater, fertile topsoil and other precious resources;
-Preserves irreplaceable ecosystems such as rainforests and other wildlife habitats;
-Decreases greenhouse gases that are accelerating global warming;
-Mitigates the ever-expanding environmental pollution of animal agriculture.
Contemplate ahimsa and how it plays out in your life. Maybe you chose one day a week for the month of October to be meat-free. Maybe you chose one full week to be meat-free or maybe the entire month. Thomas Edison said: “Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages.” If a meat-free diet is not appropriate for you at this time in your life, maybe you simply practice compassion. The Dalai Lama says: “Everybody is praying eagerly about that.”
Monday, September 29, 2008
Ahimsa
Ciao, bellas!
Denise, Erika and I travel to Italy tomorrow. My friend Amy Turn Sharp www.doobleh-vay.blogspot.com gave me the following advice in her typical Haiku style:
live hard over there baby
be safe
keep yr eyes open
kiss
eat
drink
write
Seems like good advice to me. After we indulge for three days in Rome, we travel to Umbria where we will retreat for a 7 day yoga immersion with the amazingly gifted Anusara teacher, Amy Ippoliti www.wildspirityoga.com. Amy is one of my teacher's teachers. I am eager to deepen my practice, develop my teaching skills and leave behind those things in life that are no longer serving me. We are staying in a restored castle called La Locanda del Gallo. Check it out at www.locandadelgallo.it.
I have decided to completely unplug while in Italy; no Blackberry, no laptop. Therefore, I will be blogging the old-fashioned way...in my journal. My dear friend Maria gave me a charming new journal to document my travels. I will resume my weekly emails when I return.
So...I've got the eating, drinking and writing covered. We'll see about the kisses!
Reminder: The lovely and talented Joanne will be substitute teaching on October 4th and 11th while I am am traveling. I will return to class on October 18th.
Ciao, bellas!
live hard over there baby
be safe
keep yr eyes open
kiss
eat
drink
write
Seems like good advice to me. After we indulge for three days in Rome, we travel to Umbria where we will retreat for a 7 day yoga immersion with the amazingly gifted Anusara teacher, Amy Ippoliti www.wildspirityoga.com. Amy is one of my teacher's teachers. I am eager to deepen my practice, develop my teaching skills and leave behind those things in life that are no longer serving me. We are staying in a restored castle called La Locanda del Gallo. Check it out at www.locandadelgallo.it.
I have decided to completely unplug while in Italy; no Blackberry, no laptop. Therefore, I will be blogging the old-fashioned way...in my journal. My dear friend Maria gave me a charming new journal to document my travels. I will resume my weekly emails when I return.
So...I've got the eating, drinking and writing covered. We'll see about the kisses!
Reminder: The lovely and talented Joanne will be substitute teaching on October 4th and 11th while I am am traveling. I will return to class on October 18th.
Ciao, bellas!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Little People with Chocolate Toes
"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt." - Charles M. Schulz
I just walked in the door and realized that I have chocolate cake smeared on the right arm of my cream-colored jacket. Hayden, my cousin Nikki’s youngest of four celebrated his first birthday today. As tradition would have it, he was given a massive chocolate cake to do with as he pleased. It was really too cute. After the cake massacre, I held Hayden in my cream-colored jacket without a second thought of his cute chocolate fingers and toes. I wondered why we only get to experience this cake explosion when we turn one.
My cousins have lots of little ones. I have 21 first cousins on my mom’s side of the family. Of the 21, 8 have a combined 21 children. So in my world, any normal family function consists of lots of kids running around in dresses, little suits and costumes laughing, screaming, fighting, smiling and yelling, “Mom…he touched me!” The kids rule. Today, I taught my little second girl cousins to say “namaste.” They were balloon princesses on a mission to share love and compassion throughout the world…or at least at Nana’s house. So they would run up to me, bow with hands in prayer and murmur namaste or mamaste or lamaste and then run out into their world and give kisses.
After the one year-old celebration, I met my buddy Howard. We ate cheese, drank some wine and chatted about life. At the end of this day, I am grateful. I am grateful for the people in my life: chocolate-toes Hayden, balloon princesses, my aunt whose grandchildren call her Nana and my bud Howard. No matter what our gunas are doing at any given moment, we might consider the people in our lives and how they impact us. It is huge and it is small. Especially balloon princesses and little people with chocolate toes.
I just walked in the door and realized that I have chocolate cake smeared on the right arm of my cream-colored jacket. Hayden, my cousin Nikki’s youngest of four celebrated his first birthday today. As tradition would have it, he was given a massive chocolate cake to do with as he pleased. It was really too cute. After the cake massacre, I held Hayden in my cream-colored jacket without a second thought of his cute chocolate fingers and toes. I wondered why we only get to experience this cake explosion when we turn one.
My cousins have lots of little ones. I have 21 first cousins on my mom’s side of the family. Of the 21, 8 have a combined 21 children. So in my world, any normal family function consists of lots of kids running around in dresses, little suits and costumes laughing, screaming, fighting, smiling and yelling, “Mom…he touched me!” The kids rule. Today, I taught my little second girl cousins to say “namaste.” They were balloon princesses on a mission to share love and compassion throughout the world…or at least at Nana’s house. So they would run up to me, bow with hands in prayer and murmur namaste or mamaste or lamaste and then run out into their world and give kisses.
After the one year-old celebration, I met my buddy Howard. We ate cheese, drank some wine and chatted about life. At the end of this day, I am grateful. I am grateful for the people in my life: chocolate-toes Hayden, balloon princesses, my aunt whose grandchildren call her Nana and my bud Howard. No matter what our gunas are doing at any given moment, we might consider the people in our lives and how they impact us. It is huge and it is small. Especially balloon princesses and little people with chocolate toes.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
"Within you lies the simple silence. Be quiet & listen." -Unknown
“All I am gonna do is just go on and do what I feel.” -Jimi Hendrix
Anytime I’ve ignored my gut, I’ve gotten myself into trouble. Even when my intuition has screamed loudly: ‘Danger! Danger! Huge red flag approaching’ my brain gets in the way. I begin sorting, filing, justifying and sometimes ignoring what I know to be true and right inside of me. But why?
When our gunas or qualities of nature begin to bully each other, especially good ‘ole rajas and tamas, we get confused. There is too much commotion and we can’t hear our intuition kindly trying to speak to us. When my gunas get in an uproar, I can become overly rajasic and move at lightening speed…but even sometimes that lazy, hazy tamas slips in and I can turn into a slug. I usually end up sluggin’ it when I have had weeks or months or years of frantic rajasic behavior and I simply stop. It’s as if I have no control.
Realizing that graceful and peaceful sattvic balance allows us to observe, touch and understand the truth inside each of us. Getting to that truth (and sometimes facing it) is the tough part. Whenever my gunas get out of whack, I know it’s time to settle in, clear out the clutter and quiet the mind so I can listen to that insightful teacher who is always present.
Consider some ways in your life that you can settle in, clear out the clutter and listen:
Settle In: Say no to some activity one day per week (well…except yoga). Do you really have to go to every Happy Hour, every baby shower or every dinner party?
Clear Out the Clutter: You can clear out the clutter by cleaning up your diet. Consider choosing one day a week to eat only fruits and veggies, nothing processed and lots of refreshing H2O.
Quiet the Mind: Just sit. Catch a glimpse of what arises in the mind and let it slip right on by.
I am looking forward to seeing your beautiful sattvic faces this Saturday. Bring all your gunas to class and we’ll work on balancing them in our asana practice.
“I feel there are two people inside me - me and my intuition. If I go against her, she'll screw me every time, and if I follow her, we get along quite nicely." -Kim Basinger
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Juicy. Dirty. Joyful. Scary.
“Don't strew me with roses after I'm dead. When death claims the light of my brow, no flowers of life will cheer me: instead you may give me my roses now!” -Thomas F. Healey
For many, dying is life’s greatest fear. I’ve never been afraid of death. I certainly don’t want to suffer a long, painful or gruesome death but the whole idea of dying never bothered me. I even worked at funeral home while in college. I didn’t seek out the position but as it happened, it never troubled me and it was a good job.
During my teacher training, my teacher asked us eager yogis: “What do people fear the most?” Without missing a beat, my peers responded with a resounding: “Death.” I said: “Failure.” Instead of fearing death, I’ve been afraid of life. I have been navigating numbly through this world with caution, assessing risk and asking all the right questions to avoid failure. I’ve been so busy protecting myself from failure that I am flunking life. Even in my asana practice, my fear of failure manifests itself physically. I have built up a protective shell on my back which creates added difficulty in many of the poses. My teacher calls me a little armadillo!
Because death is inevitable I’ve always thought: “What does it matter?” But it does matter…every year, every month, every week, day and minute. According to Buddha, we are responsible for our own happiness or misery which is dictated by our actions here and now. We are the architects of our own faith.
So consider living and celebrating all the juicy, dirty, joyful, scary, delightful and uncertain moments of life. Speak from the heart, tell the truth, and open up to the possibilities…even if it is terrifying…even if you risk defeat, embarrassment or a wounded heart. The risk otherwise is far greater. I’ve never feared death, but I think now I should.
“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.” –Isaac Asimov
For many, dying is life’s greatest fear. I’ve never been afraid of death. I certainly don’t want to suffer a long, painful or gruesome death but the whole idea of dying never bothered me. I even worked at funeral home while in college. I didn’t seek out the position but as it happened, it never troubled me and it was a good job.
During my teacher training, my teacher asked us eager yogis: “What do people fear the most?” Without missing a beat, my peers responded with a resounding: “Death.” I said: “Failure.” Instead of fearing death, I’ve been afraid of life. I have been navigating numbly through this world with caution, assessing risk and asking all the right questions to avoid failure. I’ve been so busy protecting myself from failure that I am flunking life. Even in my asana practice, my fear of failure manifests itself physically. I have built up a protective shell on my back which creates added difficulty in many of the poses. My teacher calls me a little armadillo!
Because death is inevitable I’ve always thought: “What does it matter?” But it does matter…every year, every month, every week, day and minute. According to Buddha, we are responsible for our own happiness or misery which is dictated by our actions here and now. We are the architects of our own faith.
So consider living and celebrating all the juicy, dirty, joyful, scary, delightful and uncertain moments of life. Speak from the heart, tell the truth, and open up to the possibilities…even if it is terrifying…even if you risk defeat, embarrassment or a wounded heart. The risk otherwise is far greater. I’ve never feared death, but I think now I should.
“If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster.” –Isaac Asimov
The word kindness has a softness, an ease about it...
“It’s easier to be generous than kind.” –Mercy Ermakov
This past Sunday I was running with my regular Sunday running buddy, Mercy and she said, “It’s easier to be generous than kind.” I don’t remember the complete context of our conversation but I do remember the profound effect that her statement had on me. In all honesty, her friendship has had a profound impact on my life and I never even realized it until she made that comment on Sunday.
Mercy and I are unlikely friends. On paper our lives couldn’t be more different. I met Mercy in a running club about two years ago and I never expected to spend so many hours with her having interesting and often random discussions…but here we are. For the past two years, we’ve met almost every other Sunday to run and in my case, to learn kindness. Mercy has unknowingly taught me about kindness.
Ever since Sunday, I have been thinking about kindness. Consider kindness in your life. How are you kind to yourself, to others and to the world around you?
Next time someone gives you a compliment, you could say: “Thank you. You are kind.” Rather than: “Oh…thanks…but I still need to lose 10 pounds.”
Be kind to your body. Instead of forcing your body into an uncomfortable pose in your asana practice, back off. Be kind. Be considerate.
Try really listening to someone while they are speaking with a genuine heartfelt sympathy and a gentle tenderness rather than thinking about what you are going to say next.
Spend one whole day using grace, pleasure, compassion, benevolence, affection and kindness as your guiding intention and disposition in everything you do and say. Note how this feels…
During the time in my life when I first met Mercy, I was rather narrowly focused on my goals, my priorities, my routine. I wouldn’t or maybe couldn’t open up to the softness, the ease, the grace of kindness, but Mercy could and she did and she asked me if I would consider meeting her on Sundays to run. And I said yes.
This past Sunday I was running with my regular Sunday running buddy, Mercy and she said, “It’s easier to be generous than kind.” I don’t remember the complete context of our conversation but I do remember the profound effect that her statement had on me. In all honesty, her friendship has had a profound impact on my life and I never even realized it until she made that comment on Sunday.
Mercy and I are unlikely friends. On paper our lives couldn’t be more different. I met Mercy in a running club about two years ago and I never expected to spend so many hours with her having interesting and often random discussions…but here we are. For the past two years, we’ve met almost every other Sunday to run and in my case, to learn kindness. Mercy has unknowingly taught me about kindness.
Ever since Sunday, I have been thinking about kindness. Consider kindness in your life. How are you kind to yourself, to others and to the world around you?
Next time someone gives you a compliment, you could say: “Thank you. You are kind.” Rather than: “Oh…thanks…but I still need to lose 10 pounds.”
Be kind to your body. Instead of forcing your body into an uncomfortable pose in your asana practice, back off. Be kind. Be considerate.
Try really listening to someone while they are speaking with a genuine heartfelt sympathy and a gentle tenderness rather than thinking about what you are going to say next.
Spend one whole day using grace, pleasure, compassion, benevolence, affection and kindness as your guiding intention and disposition in everything you do and say. Note how this feels…
During the time in my life when I first met Mercy, I was rather narrowly focused on my goals, my priorities, my routine. I wouldn’t or maybe couldn’t open up to the softness, the ease, the grace of kindness, but Mercy could and she did and she asked me if I would consider meeting her on Sundays to run. And I said yes.
"Every cubic inch of space is a miracle." -Walt Whitman
"The desire to fly is an idea handed down to us by our ancestors, who...looked enviously on the birds soaring freely through space at full speed, above all obstacles, on the infinite highway of the air."
-Wilbur Wright
I don’t know about you but there are often times when I feel as if I am scheduled within an inch of my life! In our culture, being “busy” is often regarded as being important, efficient and in demand. We fill our lives with so much minutiae that there is little space for that something amazing that just might be waiting on the periphery to slip in.
Even in our asana practice, our shoulders tend to hunch over, our bellies hang in the way of our breath and we shorten our stance leaving little room for the freedom to explore, embellish and enjoy the possibilities of the pose.
This week, we will focus on creating space in life and in our poses. Let’s work toward opening our hearts so that we can let the infinite light that shines in each of us shine out to others. Similarly, let us find space so that we can be receptive to the beauty and joy that others can share.
"Between stimulus and response, there is a speace. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom."
-Viktor Frankl
-Wilbur Wright
I don’t know about you but there are often times when I feel as if I am scheduled within an inch of my life! In our culture, being “busy” is often regarded as being important, efficient and in demand. We fill our lives with so much minutiae that there is little space for that something amazing that just might be waiting on the periphery to slip in.
Even in our asana practice, our shoulders tend to hunch over, our bellies hang in the way of our breath and we shorten our stance leaving little room for the freedom to explore, embellish and enjoy the possibilities of the pose.
This week, we will focus on creating space in life and in our poses. Let’s work toward opening our hearts so that we can let the infinite light that shines in each of us shine out to others. Similarly, let us find space so that we can be receptive to the beauty and joy that others can share.
"Between stimulus and response, there is a speace. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom."
-Viktor Frankl
Back to School
“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.” ~Kahlil Gibran
Ahhh…back to school. I’ve always loved this time of the year. Picking out interesting pens and pencils, the perfect Trapper Keeper and of course, new “school” shoes! The elementary school buildings all smell like a fresh box of 64 Crayolas while the high school gyms still smell, well, fresh. My life has always been dictated by the academic calendar. Even in my career I live and die by the first and last days of school. But as summer softly winds down, this time of the year also generates a yearning within to pause, dig deep and reflect. My brother said it best in a card he recently sent to me:
“As I rode the Towpath this morning, I was showered in falling leaves that had lost their summer green. It was a true sign that autumn is just days away. I always look forward to these transitional periods as they conjure great memories and create new opportunities…So here is to fall 2008. A time to wind down, draw our attention to inward reflection of ourselves, shed the old leaves we carry and reach an inner sense of calm and quiet…”
This is a wonderful time of the year to study, contemplate and understand the three gunas or qualities of nature in the context of our own lives:
Rajas: passion, dynamic activity, movement outward, external creativity;
Tamas: inertia, heaviness, darkness, obstinacy;
Sattva: balance, lightness, purity, movement toward the inner.
We are all mixes of the three gunas until we reach liberation. Some of us are a little more of one than the other. I tend to be (okay, I am) very rajasic…lots of activity, constantly moving and always questioning, wondering and considering. I am the one in class asking: How? Why? When? Will this be on the test? As you can imagine…seated meditation is extremely challenging for us rajasic types…I much prefer walking meditation.
Therefore, during this seasonal transition, I intend to devote more of my time looking inward…adding a bit more heaviness to life…getting grounded. I invite you to look inward, too and really explore what’s going on in there. Scary…I know!
As we go back to school this month and explore the gunas, we will consider how each rises and falls in our lives and in our asana practice; knowing when we might need more raja or when we need to pull back and let the tamas come forward, moving us toward eventual sattvic balance. Honor the divine teacher and student within you.
Ahhh…back to school. I’ve always loved this time of the year. Picking out interesting pens and pencils, the perfect Trapper Keeper and of course, new “school” shoes! The elementary school buildings all smell like a fresh box of 64 Crayolas while the high school gyms still smell, well, fresh. My life has always been dictated by the academic calendar. Even in my career I live and die by the first and last days of school. But as summer softly winds down, this time of the year also generates a yearning within to pause, dig deep and reflect. My brother said it best in a card he recently sent to me:
“As I rode the Towpath this morning, I was showered in falling leaves that had lost their summer green. It was a true sign that autumn is just days away. I always look forward to these transitional periods as they conjure great memories and create new opportunities…So here is to fall 2008. A time to wind down, draw our attention to inward reflection of ourselves, shed the old leaves we carry and reach an inner sense of calm and quiet…”
This is a wonderful time of the year to study, contemplate and understand the three gunas or qualities of nature in the context of our own lives:
Rajas: passion, dynamic activity, movement outward, external creativity;
Tamas: inertia, heaviness, darkness, obstinacy;
Sattva: balance, lightness, purity, movement toward the inner.
We are all mixes of the three gunas until we reach liberation. Some of us are a little more of one than the other. I tend to be (okay, I am) very rajasic…lots of activity, constantly moving and always questioning, wondering and considering. I am the one in class asking: How? Why? When? Will this be on the test? As you can imagine…seated meditation is extremely challenging for us rajasic types…I much prefer walking meditation.
Therefore, during this seasonal transition, I intend to devote more of my time looking inward…adding a bit more heaviness to life…getting grounded. I invite you to look inward, too and really explore what’s going on in there. Scary…I know!
As we go back to school this month and explore the gunas, we will consider how each rises and falls in our lives and in our asana practice; knowing when we might need more raja or when we need to pull back and let the tamas come forward, moving us toward eventual sattvic balance. Honor the divine teacher and student within you.
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