Change the Channel

(Revised from April 2009)



One day 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, images 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. Earth Day this past week was a timely reminder to do just that...connect.



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!

Feet

(This is a revised blog from 2009)

With the onset of spring here in the Northern hemisphere and the weather inviting us to spend more time outdoors has brought 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.


I love the practice of standing barefoot and imagining that the soles of our feet are able to send energetic cables right into the middle of the earth. In return, the earth's energy travels back into our soles and through our body and out the crown of our head connecting us to the heavenly realms of infinite space. It's as though we are the conduit of this vital force simply by being in our body and walking upon the earth.

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.

31 Flavors

You're at the store and you see the latest cover of Yoga Journal with a practiced yogini striking the perfect pose and you think...?

Some people might think, "Wow, that looks really hard. I could NEVER do yoga". Or, "Wow, that looks beautiful. I hope one day that I can strike that pose". Or, "I'd love to do yoga just because they wear such comfortable looking outfits". Or, "Wow...what the heck is that?".

When people say that they practice yoga, we often flash on the image that dons the cover of yoga magazines. We think of the flexibility that is often exhibited, how lean the yogi looks and what a physical undertaking it appears to be. But did you know that yoga has six systems?


Hatha
Raja
Bhakti
Jnana
Kriya
Karma

Hatha yoga is the umbrella term that covers all the different styles of yoga that are the mainstay of our yoga paradigm. Vinyasa, restorative, gentle, ashtanga, Anusara, Iyengar and Bikram are just a few of the types of classes you'll see on a typical yoga menu. Postures, breathwork and relaxation are the construct for many of these styles.

So, what are the other five systems?

Raja means royal and adds concentration after body and mind are cleansed and trained to stay calm and centered. It includes the eight-faceted path of yoga (yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyhara, dharana, dhyana and samadhi).

Bhakti is the yoga of devotion. A new wave of enthusiasm has been expressed in the Western yoga world through the practice of kirtan (keer-tan), a call and response method of music and singing that opens the heart to the Divine. Music and yoga festivals have sprung up across the country, such as Bhakti Fest and Spring OMmersion that gather like minds in a celebration of music, yoga and dance. Check out the above link to the upcoming festival in Joshua Tree this April. This practice is not limited to kirtan, but is also the practice of selfless love, compassion, humility, purity and the desire and serious intention to merge with the Divine.

Jnana yoga is practical philosophy/metaphysics. It is both theory and practice. Jnana Yoga uses the intellect as a tool to understand that our true self is behind and beyond our mind. It is a quest for the self by direct inquiry into "who we are." It is, however, a mistake to think that the source could be found with the intellect alone. For the purpose of self-discovery, Jnana Yoga probes the nature of the self through the question: Who am I?

Kriya yoga is the yoga of action designed to rid the body and mind of obstructions. Kriya Yoga is a complete system including mantras, meditation, and other techniques towards controlling the life-force and bringing calmness and control over body and mind. These practices were the foundation of the Self-Realization Fellowship founded by Parmahansa Yogananda.

Karma yoga is the yoga of selfless service. It is the giving to others and the Divine without ego, attachment or expectation. Charity work is often a reflection of the practice of karma yoga.

(Reference: Zentrum Publishing's Self-Realization.com)

With so many items on the menu, which practice do you choose? As I have walked down this ever expanding path of yoga, I use the guidelines of Raja yoga to follow a lifestyle that encompasses the eight-faceted path. One of the main thrusts of yoga is to find what echoes within your own being. What is it that speaks to you? That feels right? Is it experiencing your body and breath through movement? Is it connecting to that deeper place within? Is it finding a sense of calm amid chaos? Or is it all of that?

Whatever it is...take that first step and begin to explore to find it.

Lag Time

The practice of yoga is about enhancing our awareness and experiencing the connection between our body, mind and spirit. Many instances exist in which we experience this connection within the same moment.

We see the face of a golden retriever puppy and our heart melts. We have an argument with somebody and we feel our teeth clench, a tightness in our stomach and our shoulders rise. We get a phone call that we didn't get the job and we slouch forward and hang our heads. We catch an early morning sunrise that infuses light and color stretching across the sky and we have no words as our breath has been taken away.

Our senses perceive, our bodies react, our spirit soars.

But, when traumatic events happen all of these deeper connections might not occur simultaneously. We see the ravages of Mother Nature; a loved one passes away; we get a medical diagnosis that we weren't expecting; we lose our job; our beloved pet dies. In these moments of life that seem to hold unbearable challenges, we do what we need to do in order to get through it. We donate money, we volunteer, we grieve, we job hunt, we set a course of action.

My thought for the week is the idea that there is a lag time between traumatic events and their full unfolding. We get through the obvious but fail to recognize an undercurrent of emotional upheaval that comes with it. It may not even show up until days, weeks or months after the initial event. Here are a couple of examples of what I'm geting at...

My father passed away when I was 19 years old and I went through a tremendous grieving process at such an unexpected loss. Many years passed (24 in fact) when during a yoga training, I felt a different kind of grief over his death that seemed to arise from some deep place within my cells and soul. It was another layer of grief that had been stuffed down so deep, that it wasn't until years later that I was ready for it to surface and meet it face to face.

Another example is when my husband, Ed, had a heart attack in 2009. He went through the physical trauma of open heart surgery and recovery, yet it wasn't until we were in Australia some 4-5 months later that the emotional element of the event truly hit him.

With all this being said, the point is to always hold ourselves in a compassionate embrace. That the interwoven strength of our physical body, to our emotional/mental selves to our deeply held spiritual being cannot be denied, much less ignored. Our yoga teaches us to be with what is...whatever it is. To know that all feelings are valid and that healing on the different layers of our being takes time.

All of us are healing from something. Honor what it is and recognize that it is part of our human experience and there is no greater practice than the practice of love and compassion. Try it on yourself and see what happens.