April 15th, 2014
After a week in bed with flu that I thought at moments was going to take me away, I am coming back into the world and life with new eyes. I learned in Psychology of Disease that the illness is usually a gift, if we can develop the eyes to see it that way. It means that the illness came to teach us something about ourselves and our lives.
There was no shortage of time to discover what needs to stay and what needs to go in my life! This illness had an effect similar to that of fasting, where I am literally transformed, starting at the physical level and going to the mental, emotional and spiritual.
I won’t fill these pages with all of the gems of insight – thank goodness that you are spared that (LOL) – BUT do come to class, where I can only hope that you will be prompted to get closer to the gems that reside within you. Helping you to further understand the beautiful complex you, through the Yin poses, and through the discussion during the class, is my gift to share.
May you be healthy, well, and at Peace with the soul that resides within you.
Happy Mother’s Day!
April 8th, 2014
When I took Yoga Teacher Training the instructors said that the body is the mind solidified. What does that mean? This week I had a chance to experience the solidification of my mind into my hamstrings!
Monday morning I attended a 6am yoga class. My hamstrings were unusually tight, and I was not able to forward bend in a familiar fashion. Wanting to be a non-attached yogi (haha) I went through the practice observing, and asking myself what this could be. From the meridian systems I know that the hamstrings are associated with the emotion of fear. But nothing popped out at me at 6am.
A few hours later, as I felt sleepy, I remembered that I had a nightmare the night before. In the nightmare I was going to die, and no one seemed to be taking note.
Step back to the day before when we were with the accountant going over the two inevitables in life – death and taxes! Now the pieces were coming together! The mental modifications of Pantajali (listed above) were acting on me in my sleep. The mind is tender and impressionable, and it feeds the tender and impressionable body! My body reflected those impressions.
In the yoga practice today the hamstrings let go! For daily life, it is a reminder to safeguard the impressions that come to us. It is a reminder to carefully digest the impressions that come to us. And then after all of that, being compassionate with the mortal part of our Being.
Walk carefully in your life, making impressions on others that will prompt harmony, Peace and good sleep
Om Shanthi
We continue to move through the Yoga Sutras. This week we will examine the five mental modifications (listed below). Join us at the Wednesday morning Yin Yoga class where you will lengthen your body and your mind!
April 1st, 2014
Last year I bought a t-shirt with the slogan: Nature is the Mother of God
It is April, and this is the Month of Earth Day. Don’t wait until April 22nd to awaken to the gifts that Mother Nature has given to each of us. Our existence alone is a gift of Naure, each breath an exchange with Nature. How do we give back to Mother Nature? For each of us it will be different. Just honoring the connection on a daily basis, maybe at each meal you eat, is a wonderful way to increase awareness.
I want to share the Weekly Words of Wisdom this week, from Integral Yoga and Swami Satchidananda:
Nothing is permanent. An hour ago you walked into the room. Now you are an hour older. Soon, you will be one day older, one month older, one year older. Mother Nature’s qualities are ever changing. But behind the ever changing is a never-changing principle: Names and forms change, but the spirit remains unchanged and eternal.
God bless you. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti
May we all be encouraged by these words to move through our days, months, years, our lives, with the grace of knowing that we are the spirit. May we live our lives to reflect that. It is through “practice and dedication” that we begin to release the ever changing outer part of our being, and we begin to reside more in our authentic Being. Dedicate your Self to practices that allow you to resonate from the inside out! Join us for Yin Yoga, Yoga Sutras and workshops, that prompt inside-out living.
Peace, Light & Love to You
March 25th, 2014
We are continuing with the Yoga Sutras at the Wednesday Yin Yoga Class. Like any form of education, it is what you take out of the classroom and into life that is the real education. My intention during the Yin Yoga classes is to speak about specific aspects of Yoga that have added value to the way in which I experience life. I can only teach what I know to be true for me, and you can pick up what resonates with you, and leave what is not in alignment.
The resonating changes through the course of our lives. Just as a very dry plant cannot absorb much water, so our minds have difficulty at first absorbing this new language and new approach to life that Yoga offers. Teaching the Yoga Sutras, encouraging a home asana practice, establishing a regular time for meditation – all of these are gems that continue to feed all levels of my Being, and that I share with you. Right now these ideas may seem outrageous and unnecessary, and at another time you may invite all of them into your life.
When I went to my first Yoga class I practically sprinted out at the end because of the “Om-ing” and other spiritual aspects that left me feeling uncomfortable and uncertain of the reasons. Fast forward 3 years and I sprinted to a Yoga class here in Pelham, not wanting to miss the chanting at the start of the class. So what changed? Certainly not the Yoga – just my own “mental modifications”.
So, we are all on a journey. Let me journey with you by sharing the gifts Yin Yoga, the teachings of the Sutras, and holistic living.
Yoga Sutras:
Book I Sutra 5 – There are five kinds of mental modifications which are either painful or painless (Swami Satchidananda)
Dividing into five these rays of consciousness polarize as pleasant or unpleasant (Nischala Joy Devi)