Being and Becoming

I have this strong memory of standing at the window in my childhood home staring at the rain.  A vivid recollection as the rain fell from the roof and formed perfect drops into a growing puddle. I can recall the sound, the grayness, and the cool temperature of the glass that separated me from the elements. I don't know if I was more than a couple of years old, as I was mostly pre-verbal, but that moment left an incredible imprint in my memory. The point of this story is the person that who was watching the rain is the same person that's been watching my entire life. This is my witness-self, the eternal part of me that sees the history of this incarnation without making comment or having judgment around it. That two-year-old self is the same as the current 54-year old self...it hasn't changed. This "being" is the part of us that is transcendent and unchanging and is referred to as the paramatman, the universal or eternal soul.

Then there's this other aspect of ourselves called the jiva-atman, or the "becoming" self. This part of us is connected to why we are in this body, with the often asked question, "why am I here?". The unveiling of this question often points to our purpose or dharma. Some people ascribe to the idea that our soul comes into this body at this particular point in time with an intention or purpose. What is it that I need to experience to continue the evolution of my soul toward complete union with divine consciousness? Why have I taken this form and what is my role in this incarnation? Some may believe we have just a single experience...we're born, we live our life and when we die we head someplace other than earth that is a reflection of how we lived. And others think it's an on-going experience, coming into form so that we can learn the many lessons we need to become enlightened. No matter what you believe, the point is that most of us feel connected to and driven by a purpose. Whether or not we have a clear vision of what that purpose may be is the "becoming".

I'm lucky to have uncovered what I believe to be my dharma-that of a teacher. I have been teaching most of my life in one form or another and the older I became, the more clarity I gained that I was being called to teach and, more specifically, to teach through the lens of yoga. All of the various teaching experiences have refined and deepened my understanding of what I'm currently teaching and this became crystallized about 15 years ago...I felt I truly knew why I was here. 

So as we come to the end of 2017, I wanted to put on the wide angle lens and take a broad view of where we are, hence the theme of being and becoming. As we reflect on the past 12 months, many of the themes I've taught and written about revolve around the challenges we meet, the upheavals that come to us, the dark moments as well as the joyous and celebratory ones and how we can use the teachings from the wisdom traditions to better cope and find ease in our lives. The past couple of weeks have been about not only what are we ready to release, but of what's been put in place and is really supporting us to find integration. If we've been walking this path with any amount of awareness and intention, we've created small changes that make a difference. Some can be surrendered and others kept in place. So, as you flip the calendar to 2018, reflect on the good that you've brought into your life and how that's filled up your own well. We know that if we nurture our own selves, the abundance of that flows away from us. And when the energy is flowing from our hearts, we are free to step into the roles this life has for us.

I am so incredibly grateful to know why I'm here and to have a growing community of like-minds that want to share the ride and spread the yoga love. May all of us tap into our heart-space, breathe deeply, and serve others so that we find a more peaceful world...a world at ease.

Sacred Flow

What a week it's been, with many energies colliding and coinciding. Monday we had a new moon, a sky with darkness as the moon cannot be seen. In the lunar cycle, this is a ripe time to set intentions, planting the seeds of what we wish to see manifest in the light of the full moon. As so often happens, it might be more than a lunar cycle to see what blooms from our intentions, but we put it out there nonetheless. Also, the Solstice happened this past week, the winter in the Northern hemisphere and the summer in the Southern hemisphere...the shortest and longest days of the year. I love this time of the year in the north, as it feels as though we are being called home, to turning inward to listen to what our inner voice has to say. The day following the Solstice in the Northern hemisphere has us turning in the North direction from a Shamanic perspective. Turning to the north asks us to connect to the spiritual aspect of who we are, melding perfectly with the introspection and setting of intentions being brought forth this week. Plus, we finished the celebration of Hanukkah this past week and Monday marks Christmas day...so many occasions that revolve around light.

As Diane Booth Gilliam wrote, "The sun symbolizes your soul. In fact, the word "solstice" means sun standing still, so in a sense, we could say your soul stands still on the solstice-maybe even long enough for you to catch a glimpse of it, as some legends say you can at this divine time of year."

As we mark the Solstice, I am reminded of our time almost a year ago that we had in Iceland. It was early December and we were only a couple of weeks away from the Solstice. The daylight hours were limited to about five hours and it never truly got that light outside. The sun loomed along the horizon, never venturing overhead and the surreal feeling was as though we were in an extended dawn. It's no wonder that countries that are located close to the Arctic Circle embraced the celebration of the Winter Solstice with bonfires and gatherings represented by light. This time of year is a turning point as the days begin to lengthen with the return of the light.

I've come to appreciate the darkness as it feels like an invitation to put on a bathrobe, grab a cup of tea and snuggle into the couch. It feels like a personal invitation to withdraw and slow down for a few moments of quiet.  I am also reminded of how these sacred moments are in constant flow. The cycles of the season continue to turn and the shape of the moon shifts each day. If we pay attention, we can recognize our own personal flow that includes our breath and the blood coursing through our bodies. Our breath is in a constant cycle...in and out, on average 12 times each minute. This happens whether or not we pay any attention to it. The circulating blood in our bodies, being pumped by the constant rhythm of our hearts, is happening 60-80 beats per minute. This also happens whether or not we pay attention to it. 

One of the beautiful things about our yoga practice is that it asks us to get to know our breathing. It gives us space to sense the energy emitting from our heart and to pay attention to the signals the body is constantly sending. It teaches us to pay attention to our individual cycles, to how we feel on each day and what we need to support where we are moment to moment. If we expand this out and listen to what the cycles of nature, the seasons, and the moon are saying, we become part of the grander sacred flow of energy. We awaken to all that's around us as well as to what is within us. And when we pay attention, we may just hear our soul speak the deepest truths of who we are and how we are spiritually embodied in a human experience.

So, I hope you'll join me this time of year in making space to recognize what you're ready to let go of and what you're willing to hold onto. If you've been exploring your holistic path you may have put into place things that support you (your non-negotiables) and realized that much of what you thought you previously needed is no longer supporting you. Listen to the call of the darkness and go into your spiritual home. Turn in and tune in. 

The light in me sees and honors the light in you. Peaceful Solstice to all!

Sangha-Building a Spiritual Community

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."

~Jane Howard

For us at Desert Yoga Therapy, it's a time to say thank you for being part of our community. This past week we celebrated our first anniversary in our Rancho Mirage studio. In some ways, it feels like we've been there for much longer as so many experiences have been had over these past 12 months. 

It's been a heart-warming reflection to consider all that has happened this past year: workshops on Ayurveda, chakras, auras, intuition, ecstatic dance, kids and tweens; teacher training programs with two 200-Hour classes, advanced studies, and restorative yoga; weekly yoga classes (total attendance over 6000); 1-1 yoga therapy and 1-1 Pilates. We have instructors who are building their own business within DYT and bring great compassion to what they do.

For those who've been to our studio, you have commented on not only how beautiful it is, but how it feels welcoming and safe, a sacred place for us to be on our own journey of wellness. One of the intentions that my husband, Ed, and I had for the space was that it would be a place where people could come to be in community no matter who they were or what was transpiring in their lives. We wanted this space to be free of turmoil from the "outside" world, a place to re-calibrate our sense of self, a place to process and move and breathe. We are honored that you have allowed us to serve you in this way.

To get a sense of what this anniversary means on a personal level, I went back to some older blogs I had written about finding community. Two blogs, in particular, stood out, written in 2011 and 2015. When I left Australia and returned to the States in 1997, I left behind a community of people that I call my "heart family". These are the people in our lives who've bared witness to our journey and hold us with compassion, support, and unconditional love. I thought I would find that upon returning to the States, but instead what I seemed to be looking for was elusive. I had a few false starts, hanging out with groups of people that I enjoyed, yet lacked the depth I was seeking. On a deeper level, I was looking for a community of people that were also seeking to connect to higher purpose, who were willing to share their vulnerabilities, and support each other in finding meaning in our lives.

Something within me was calling for this and, since it wasn't coming easily to me, I thought perhaps that part of my purpose was to build community. You know the saying, "build it and they will come" which is perhaps true with the right intention, but I had many moments of sitting in an empty yoga studio waiting for someone to walk in the door. It's been a long, slow growth which has taken persistence and determination. I hold the attitude that no matter how many people turn up to practice, I will give it the same energy. And now in coming to the end of our first year in our new space, I can actually see the manifestation of this intention of building community. I love being in our studio for many reasons-the purple walls, the beautiful floor, the soft natural lighting...but what I love most are the people who walk through the doors. We often come with some agitation or heaviness of heart, and I am fortunate to see the after-effects of what happens within the classes and sessions. People leave smiling and relaxed. They engage with others and form lifelong friendships. 

My teacher, Judith Hanson Lasater, has a saying about our role as yoga teachers, and that is to "reflect the inherent goodness in people back to them".  I know that I was looking for people to reflect that back to me in my search for community, and when I turned it away from me and began to focus on how to serve others, that's when it happened. By shining my own light, other people's  radiant nature came flooding back to me.

My wish is may all of us shine our lights brightly, attract those who do the same and offer our hearts to the larger community. May this year be one of great peace and ease. And may we continue to find our individual way with support from those around us.

Pratyahara

The darkness that envelops the sky after the completion of my evening classes lets me know that the Winter Solstice is fast-approaching. Our daylight hours are seemingly short and the natural rhythm of nature is beckoning us to welcome the darkness. Although we don't quite go into a full-on hibernation, this is the perfect time to begin reflecting on the past few months and recognize that it's time to drop our own leaves...what can we release? 

My thought of the week is about Pratyahara, often translated as a "withdrawal of the senses". It's the fifth of the eight limbs of "ashtanga yoga', the eight-faceted path as described in the Sutras of Patanjali. The first four limbs: Yama, Niyama, asana, and pranayama have a somewhat physical focus being internal/external observances and ethical behaviors; poses; and the effect we have on energy through the use of the breath. Pratyahara is the pivotal point where we begin the shift from the physical body into the mind/ethereal body. By pulling the senses from the outer world, we begin to awaken the senses of our inner world. This is beautifully experienced when we practice savasana, the corpse pose, at the end of a yoga practice. The corpse represents the death of the physical body so that we can enliven and explore the interior landscape of who we are. When we engage in pulling the senses in, it pivots us towards a quieter space which is concentration, meditation, and moments of merging with Divine energy, also known as the final three limbs of dharana, dhyana, and samadhi.

I was inspired to talk about this "turning in" for two reasons: the approaching winter Solstice and having spent the past weekend teaching a restorative intensive workshop. Much of the time during the intensive we worked on creating an environment to entice and foster deep states of relaxation and we do that through drawing the senses inward. Keys to finding deep relaxation are: quiet, dark, warm, comfortable, safe, and still. When we support the body with blankets, bolsters, and blocks, then cover the eyes with a lightweight eye pillow we create the perfect circumstances for a shift to occur...from the sympathetic to the parasympathetic part of the nervous system continuum.  

It is within the state of deep relaxation that our body, mind, and spirit have the space in which to heal. This is because deep relaxation has a potent effect on our physiology. The heart rate slows down, blood pressure drops, whatever contents we have in the stomach get digested, and we reabsorb the stress hormones of adrenaline and cortisol. If we are chronically held in the vigilance of the sympathetic nervous system, our biology is impacted and our health suffers.

An example of this is a podcast I recently heard that had the story of a woman working in technology development who was always connected to some device, worked long hours, and was well embedded in the corporate hamster wheel. She began to notice that her memory was poor and she lacked clarity, so she sought medical support which found nothing structurally wrong with her brain so she was at a loss as to what was happening. Eventually, she and her husband headed to Hawaii for a holiday and upon landing, she texted a client saying that she was now available. Her husband suggested that he confiscate all of her devices for the duration of their vacation to which she agreed, but felt anger toward her spouse. However, she recounts that it was day eight when she awoke with her senses vibrantly reawakened...she noticed the texture of her sheets, the smell of the air, and the sound of the ocean. She felt she was back and her memory was as well. When she returned to her corporate role, she tried to make changes within the work environment but realized it was the environment that was "scrambling her brain"...so, eventually, she quit.

As I heard this story I thought that perhaps it wasn't all technology's fault, but the fact that she never disconnected from it. It's vital to our mental and physical health that we take time to turn in and pull our senses away from stimulation. Some of us are still distracted without technology, so let's all do ourselves a favor and shut down whatever it is that constantly tugs us away from our own heart.

Now...take a deep breath, find a comfortable position, and close your eyes. Your entire being will thank you for it!

Be. Receive. Give Thanks.

At times I hear something and know immediately that it's worth holding onto. This past week, I was listening to a guided meditation by Sarah Blondin on the Insight Timer App (free and fabulous) and she said the above statement: Be. Receive. Give Thanks. I kept repeating this phrase throughout my meditation and noticed how each word had its own gifts and imagery. I knew I wanted to share it with classes this week with the hope that each person who hears these words with little prompting, can explore what arises when silently repeated.

Be.

For me, this speaks volumes to the many practices in the wisdom traditions that support us in being fully present and in the moment. We are so easily enticed away from the now by the everyday-ness of life. We awake in the morning and so often pick up a device, checking for what has happened during our sleeping hours which can prompt us to look into what the day ahead holds. We completely skip over being right where we are.

It also feels as though "be" is about acceptance, coming to a place of being with what is happening without the need to alter, fix, or change the experience. In doing so, can we be in a state of equanimity with whatever is occurring? 

Receive.

As I sat with this word, I allowed myself to receive whatever was arising without trying to alter it. To receive the next breath, to receive the thought that popped into my head, to receive the touch of air on my skin and the sounds in my environment. What do I receive easily? What is it that I don't like to receive? In receiving, we need to stay open and porous with our yoga practice as this is often the place where not only do we let go of what no longer is serving us, but open to receiving what does.

Give Thanks.

We just celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday here in the USA. A day devoted to gratitude and feasting, so gratitude seemed to be elevated in people's awareness. A practice of gratitude is a powerful way to remind ourselves of the abundance in our lives, particularly potent when we feel less than or frustrated when things don't go the way we want. To honor this, we put up a white board in the reception area of the studio with the heading of "Today, What Are You Grateful For?". Connecting to this part of our brains helps to re-wire negativity and set positive intentions. And in challenging times, it may seem we don't have much to be thankful for, but A.A. Milne, Winnie-The-Pooh reminds us: 

"Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude." 

As a practice, find a comfortable position and begin to focus on the movement of the breath in and out of the nose. Every time the breath changes direction, repeat the phrase as though you are breathing the intention into your cells and sending it out to the wider universe. Notice what comes up when each word lands in your awareness.

Be.

Receive.

Give Thanks.

A student shared their experience with the above practice noticing how they are all interrelated. When we allow ourselves to simply be, we are able to receive what we need. And when we receive what supports us, we are filled with gratitude. I couldn't have said it better myself. Enjoy the exploration!