Greetings everyone,
Change begins within. I love that saying.
When we are occupied with the everyday happenings in our lives, I wonder how often do we turn our attention inward? It's so easy to get distracted by our own "to-do" lists that they can overwhelm and occupy our awareness. It's like covering up with layers of blankets, almost like putting on a suit of armor that keeps us away from our inner world. Imagine putting on this suit each and everyday...year after year. Do you ever take off a layer and turn inward?
Why would you?
It is said that our true selves lie deep within us. It is ignited from the moment our life begins and as we grow and change and adapt to our environment, we sometimes forget this connection, this quiet and sacred space. By becoming quiet, we once again connect to that inner light, wisdom and voice. We step away from the chatter of the mind and listen to the wisdom being held in our inner knowing.
It is during these quiet moments of connection that we have our purest and truest insights. This in turn, helps anchor us to the external often busier outer world and puts us into a humble place of perspective and gratitude. Call it meditation, prayer, reflection or "quiet time". Call it whatever label suits you.
So my thought for this week is to turn the volume down on the outside world and the volume up on the inside world. Sit. Breathe. Be.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
When the Unexpected Happens...
Greetings everyone,
This past week has been one of "when the unexpected happens, how do I handle it?" kind of week. My husband, Ed, hadn't been feeling that well for a few days. Not all the time, just on and off. Last Sunday we went to the emergency room to get things checked out. By 5:00 pm on Monday, he was coming out of anesthesia for a double bypass surgery. Yes...the unexpected had happened to us.
This past week has been a surreal experience and I continue to be thankful firstly to the family and friends who have been unconditionally supportive through sending love, healing energy and positive intention in our direction. Secondly, I hold my heart in open gratitude for the practice of yoga.
I recently told a class that yoga is whatever you want or need it to be. For some, it's a way of stretching and strengthening their bodies. For others, it's a spiritual practice. Some use its many tools to handle challenges both emotional and physical. Over the past six years, I have been deepening my practice to support me as a way of living. I know that the regularity of my practice has been the foundation for me to be in stressful situations and able to maintain a sense of hopefulness and the possibility of a joyful life. I'm not saying this current challenge hasn't been taxing and overwhelming. It has. Yet everyday I get up and sit in meditation, breath and say thank you to the universe.
My husband is about to come home and is healing beautifully. He has no permanent damage to his heart and is expected to continue to live a vibrant life. He, too, practices yoga and has called upon it during his initial recuperation. It makes me emphasize that the time to create this support is BEFORE the drama arrives. That way it's there when you need it.
I hope this weeks message finds you all well and perhaps finding even see you in a yoga class this week!
This past week has been one of "when the unexpected happens, how do I handle it?" kind of week. My husband, Ed, hadn't been feeling that well for a few days. Not all the time, just on and off. Last Sunday we went to the emergency room to get things checked out. By 5:00 pm on Monday, he was coming out of anesthesia for a double bypass surgery. Yes...the unexpected had happened to us.
This past week has been a surreal experience and I continue to be thankful firstly to the family and friends who have been unconditionally supportive through sending love, healing energy and positive intention in our direction. Secondly, I hold my heart in open gratitude for the practice of yoga.
I recently told a class that yoga is whatever you want or need it to be. For some, it's a way of stretching and strengthening their bodies. For others, it's a spiritual practice. Some use its many tools to handle challenges both emotional and physical. Over the past six years, I have been deepening my practice to support me as a way of living. I know that the regularity of my practice has been the foundation for me to be in stressful situations and able to maintain a sense of hopefulness and the possibility of a joyful life. I'm not saying this current challenge hasn't been taxing and overwhelming. It has. Yet everyday I get up and sit in meditation, breath and say thank you to the universe.
My husband is about to come home and is healing beautifully. He has no permanent damage to his heart and is expected to continue to live a vibrant life. He, too, practices yoga and has called upon it during his initial recuperation. It makes me emphasize that the time to create this support is BEFORE the drama arrives. That way it's there when you need it.
I hope this weeks message finds you all well and perhaps finding even see you in a yoga class this week!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Feet
Greetings everyone,
With the onset of spring and spending time outdoors coming into greater awareness and focus, it brought me to the thought for this week.
Feet.
Think about the last time your feet actually touched earth. Soil. Dirt. Not concrete, tile, carpet, shoe-beds or socks. We live in a society that is smoothly paved for easier movement. We certainly notice potholes in our roads, but how often do we notice the actual earth under our feet?
Our feet connect us to the earth in the most primal way. We have a huge number of nerve endings in our feet and motion detectors within our joints to give us feedback on unstable ground. But from a yogic perspective, our feet are the reminder that we are supported by the earth-always.
If you need to feel yourself in a amplified place of presence, kick off your shoes and walk barefoot in sand, soil or grass. Or really go crazy and get into gardening bringing this amazing tactile experience into your hands as well. That's right...I said it..."take off the gardening gloves and get some dirt under your nails". Not only will you connect to Mother Earth, but your soul will send a message of gratitude and remembrance.
I hope you make it into a yoga class this week-shoes off!
Peace and Namaste',
Jayne
With the onset of spring and spending time outdoors coming into greater awareness and focus, it brought me to the thought for this week.
Feet.
Think about the last time your feet actually touched earth. Soil. Dirt. Not concrete, tile, carpet, shoe-beds or socks. We live in a society that is smoothly paved for easier movement. We certainly notice potholes in our roads, but how often do we notice the actual earth under our feet?
Our feet connect us to the earth in the most primal way. We have a huge number of nerve endings in our feet and motion detectors within our joints to give us feedback on unstable ground. But from a yogic perspective, our feet are the reminder that we are supported by the earth-always.
If you need to feel yourself in a amplified place of presence, kick off your shoes and walk barefoot in sand, soil or grass. Or really go crazy and get into gardening bringing this amazing tactile experience into your hands as well. That's right...I said it..."take off the gardening gloves and get some dirt under your nails". Not only will you connect to Mother Earth, but your soul will send a message of gratitude and remembrance.
I hope you make it into a yoga class this week-shoes off!
Peace and Namaste',
Jayne
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Change the Channel
Greetings everyone,
A week ago, I was in the gym beginning a workout with a client. As I stood next to her treadmill, one of the many TV's were on and the one in front of her was tuned to some news station. What I saw next, really hit me as a thought for the week. CHANGE THE CHANNEL! Even with the sound being turned off the TV, the images alone set a definite tone of fear, death and destruction. There were, count them, four images on the screen at the same time. I noted to my client that each one of them was about some terrific disaster. I then said, "what a great way to begin the week".
Our thoughts and words hold power.
If we don't have something to anchor us into a positive frame of mind, then the constant bombardment of negativity will lead us down a path of dis-ease and ill-health. I'm not suggesting that we become ostrich-like and bury our heads. What I'm saying is to stand firm in our connection to what is here and supporting us...Mother Earth and the greater universe. Perhaps we should be standing buried up to our ankles in the earth, grounding us into a fundamentally magnificent connection.
My question to you this week is this. What do you do to practice keeping yourself in a positive and optimistic mind-set when we are challenged to think that the sky is falling?
Of course this connection leads me to the practice of yoga which has a set of guiding principles that keep us focused on the idea that if we look deeply inward and peel away obstructions we finds something quite simple. Love.
If you're curious and wanting to learn more...come to a class and step onto the path of yoga. It is so much more than lengthening muscles. It's expanding our consciousness and connections. I hope you enjoy a beautiful week!
Peace and Namaste',
Jayne
www.desertyogatherapy.com
A week ago, I was in the gym beginning a workout with a client. As I stood next to her treadmill, one of the many TV's were on and the one in front of her was tuned to some news station. What I saw next, really hit me as a thought for the week. CHANGE THE CHANNEL! Even with the sound being turned off the TV, the images alone set a definite tone of fear, death and destruction. There were, count them, four images on the screen at the same time. I noted to my client that each one of them was about some terrific disaster. I then said, "what a great way to begin the week".
Our thoughts and words hold power.
If we don't have something to anchor us into a positive frame of mind, then the constant bombardment of negativity will lead us down a path of dis-ease and ill-health. I'm not suggesting that we become ostrich-like and bury our heads. What I'm saying is to stand firm in our connection to what is here and supporting us...Mother Earth and the greater universe. Perhaps we should be standing buried up to our ankles in the earth, grounding us into a fundamentally magnificent connection.
My question to you this week is this. What do you do to practice keeping yourself in a positive and optimistic mind-set when we are challenged to think that the sky is falling?
Of course this connection leads me to the practice of yoga which has a set of guiding principles that keep us focused on the idea that if we look deeply inward and peel away obstructions we finds something quite simple. Love.
If you're curious and wanting to learn more...come to a class and step onto the path of yoga. It is so much more than lengthening muscles. It's expanding our consciousness and connections. I hope you enjoy a beautiful week!
Peace and Namaste',
Jayne
www.desertyogatherapy.com
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
I got nothing...
Greetings everyone,
As I sat down to write this weeks message I had nothing. I was blank. Then I thought to myself...wow...I'm trying to find nothingness everyday when I meditate and here I am, in the middle of the day looking for something and all I got was nothing. And of course, that has now led me towards the thought for this week which has nothing to do with nothingness, but with layers of transition.
What I mean by layers of transition is our ever evolving understanding of something in particular. As an example, when you begin yoga, you are presented with so many new ideas, breath awareness and poses, that it's all a bit big and overwhelming...nothing subtle about it. But as we continue to practice things that are initially unfamiliar begin to become more known as we peel away the layers of their complexity. We gain a subtle awareness that was lying within all along and it is time and persistency that allows us to see things in greater detail.
This can be applied to anything...playing tennis initially we just try to meet ball and racquet and as we progress we look to less obvious changes such as grip, spin and placement. The same can be said for any physical endeavor, intellectual pursuit or spiritual connection.
As we commit to any practice we can find ourselves in a deeper place that initially seemed unfathomable. So why not this week, look to the next layer of discovery in whatever you're committed to doing...work, pleasure, relationship, nature or yoga!
As I sat down to write this weeks message I had nothing. I was blank. Then I thought to myself...wow...I'm trying to find nothingness everyday when I meditate and here I am, in the middle of the day looking for something and all I got was nothing. And of course, that has now led me towards the thought for this week which has nothing to do with nothingness, but with layers of transition.
What I mean by layers of transition is our ever evolving understanding of something in particular. As an example, when you begin yoga, you are presented with so many new ideas, breath awareness and poses, that it's all a bit big and overwhelming...nothing subtle about it. But as we continue to practice things that are initially unfamiliar begin to become more known as we peel away the layers of their complexity. We gain a subtle awareness that was lying within all along and it is time and persistency that allows us to see things in greater detail.
This can be applied to anything...playing tennis initially we just try to meet ball and racquet and as we progress we look to less obvious changes such as grip, spin and placement. The same can be said for any physical endeavor, intellectual pursuit or spiritual connection.
As we commit to any practice we can find ourselves in a deeper place that initially seemed unfathomable. So why not this week, look to the next layer of discovery in whatever you're committed to doing...work, pleasure, relationship, nature or yoga!
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