Steady Practice

"You should not be practicing to have a “good” practice, but instead to keep steadiness within yourself. Practice happily regardless of whether it is “good” or not. Sometimes some postures will not be possible, but when you accept the good and the bad and everything becomes equal for you, that is yoga."   

(R. Sharath Jois)

The above quote by R. Sharath Jois has been floating around lately and I thought I would share it as well. I can't express enough how important his words are. Remembering that it's the attributes and strength of character we bring to our mats that carry more weight versus how we perform and execute each asana. Obviously, it doesn't mean we don't still study and learn to more deeply inhabit the postures we practice, but going deep doesn't always mean being as flat as a pancake or as light as a feather. Everything equal. Embracing it all. Even in the mist of heaviness, ache, and stiffness. 

More Monday Inspiration: Strength in Motion

I love this video clip with principal dancer Tamara Rojo. Some of what she talks about really parallels with the trails and tribulations of longterm yoga practice and others differ. At any rate, I love hearing personal accounts from those who are the best at what they do. Absolutely lovely and inspiring. She is not only strength in motion but also a culmination of practice in motion. Think of all the work that went into what she has done. Beautiful. 

Monday, Moon Day, Inspiration

"Begin where you are. Where else IS there?

If pain, sorrow, regret, confusion or fear are appearing in your present experience right now, do not turn away, do not use the labels ‘dark’ or ‘negative’, do not assume any kind of cosmic deviation or ‘sin’. For these are sacred and intelligent life-movements, all, undivided from the vastness of creation, waves of the limitless ocean of Self. They are your beloved children, all, forgotten movements of yourself, longing for your warm presence - a moment of undivided attention. “Remember me!" they cry, one last time, and will you ignore them today? Or will you finally accept your birth right? Will you remember that everything you long for is already appearing, disguised as everything you reject?

Will you remember that you cannot be anywhere other than Home?”

(Jeff Foster)

 “Complaining continues to create the vibration of what you don’t want. Today, take your focus off of what is wrong and focus on what is right and how you desire things to be. Put all your love, energy, mental power and decision making towards what you want and do not entertain thoughts that are to the contrary. You are MORE responsible for the way you feel than your environment, circumstances or relationships. Step towards Love today, step towards the solution.”

(Jackson Kiddard)

“When you start to really know someone, all their physical characteristics start to disappear. You begin to dwell in his energy, recognize the scent of their skin. You see only the essence of the person, not the shell. That’s why you can’t fall in love with beauty. You can lust after it, be infatuated by it, want to own it. You can love it with your eyes and body but not your heart. And that’s why, when you really connect with a person’s inner self, any physical imperfections disappear, become irrelevant.”

(Lisa Unger, Beautiful Lies)

“Enlightenment is a demolition project. It simply shows you that everything you ever believed was true isn’t.”
(Adyashanti, Emptiness Dancing)

What are the Benefits of Mediation?

 Simple explanation

More complex explanation

Ashtanga Yoga by Luiz Veiga

Let the Practice be the Guide

“Now be silent. Let the One who creates words speak. He made the door, He made the lock, and He also made the key.”

(Rumi)

Practicing and teaching I've experienced resistance  on various levels in myself and have observed it in the students I assist on a daily basis. Sometimes the resistance we face comes across quite clear as it screams at us for attention. Other times it sneaks up without a warning dressed in disguise. Resistance. It's always around lurking. I've been fascinated with the topic in that I've felt it on a personal level over the past six months. It seems to run in cycles often making itself known more prominently at certain times than others. What I have found is acknowledging its presence no matter how much you wish it wasn't there, even in the mist of feeling to simply show up takes every bit of energy you have, there is an opportunity for growth in the struggle. Afterward, when the clouds have cleared usually on the other side of it a wellspring of growth and expansion awaits. 

Allowing what is to be is one of the most arduous of internal practices we face on and off the mat. Because after we have experienced our honeymoon period from attaining the "goodies" of yoga practice have worn off some of the most extensive work is about to begin. This is the yoga. The goodies only give a small taste of the true experience. A fractional glimpse into the eye of the proverbial storm, but we have to go through the storm at some point and resistance is part of that storm. 

Not all situations will be ideal. There will be days our bodies will feel stiff, and our minds will  feel as if it sits within the depths of hell. In turn we may experience apathy and boredom as we are seduced by our expectations of how things should be. Of course, this is the play of the mind and the craving of the ego. There is really is no need to judge when resistance crops up because it is inevitable. However, what will we put in its place? A question worth contemplating. 

I know for me the practice has evolved and changed over the years. In the beginning there was an abundance of excitement and enthusiasm. Everything felt new and every challenge was something that motivated me to tread forward. I still feel this to some extent but more and more the focus rests in the quiet unchanging part of myself because after while the realization that the body is in a constant state of flux and ultimately impermanent is experienced. Change is always happening and acknowledgement of that makes the ride all the more graceful. The important thing to remember is the effort and steadfastness we put forth to practice as we rest in this quiet space of awareness is more important then any of the postural goodies we can acquire. Even in the mist of injury, apathy, boredom, fatigue, and depression, all these struggles must be faced head on and there is really no need to wish it were different. Everything in time passes. Grace happens when we let go of the need for it to be any other way. 

As a teacher it can be one of the most honest discussions I can have with a student. No, it won't always be easy, and no it won't always be fun, but I will tell you, it will be worth it. 

“Underneath all of your desires is a truer desire—the longing for the truth, the longing to be free. This realization can be profoundly liberating because it makes all other desires irrelevant. Getting what you want no longer matters as much as truth. Whether you are comfortable or uncomfortable in the moment no longer matters because what matters is the truth. What matters is Oneness.” 

(Nirmala, Nothing Personal)

Stockholm Spring Summer

Sweden's glory comes alive in the spring and summer. I know, I know, I'm always saying it! There is something about living through winter's darkness that makes one appreciate the flip side. It seems to be in the design. In winter, amnesia sets in as it feels like I will never see the light of day or feel the warmth of the sun again. Alas, in due time the blossoms bloom and the sun says hello.

My favorites spots are walking on Djurgården and catching lunch at Rosendal. Not too far from where we live, David and I like to walk to Drottningholm and enjoy the grounds that surround the palace. With so many green areas in and around the city natures abundance never feels too far away. No doubt, I truly appreciate Stockholm's urban planners. Maintaing the natural views and vistas of the surrounding areas are important for the city's inhabitants as I do my best not to take the beauty of it all for granted.

Friday Quote: On Love

“Love is not selective, just as the light of the sun is not selective. It does not make one person special. It is not exclusive. Exclusivity is not the love of God but the “love” of ego. However, the intensity with which true love is felt can vary. There may be one person who reflects your love back to you more clearly and more intensely than others, and if that person feels the same toward you, it can be said that you are in a love relationship with him or her. The bond that connects you with that person is the same bond that connects you with the person sitting next to you on a bus, or with a bird, a tree, a flower. Only the degree of intensity with which it is felt differs.” 

(Ekhart Tolle)

“There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you—of kindness and consideration and respect—not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had…” 

(John Steinbeck)

"Thank You Mother India" - 3rd Global Campaign with Yoga Gives Back

www.yogagivesback.org

Monday Inspiration: Patience

Patience and Love agreed o meet at a set time and place; beneath the twenty-third tree in the olive orchard. Patience arrived promptly and waited. She checked her watch every so often but still, there was no sign of Love.  

Was it the twenty-third tree or the fifty-sixth? She wondered and decided to check, just in case. As she made her way over to the fifty-six tree, Love arrived at tree twenty-three where Patience was noticeably absent.  

Love waited and waited before deciding he must have the wrong tree and perhaps it was another where they were supposed to meet. 

Meanwhile, Patience had arrived at the fifty-sixth tree where Love was still nowhere to be seen.  

Both begin to drift aimlessly around the olive orchard, almost meeting but never do.  

Finally, Patience who was lost and feeling quite resigned, found herself beneath the same tree where she began. She stood there for barely a minute when there was a tap on her shoulder. It was  Love. 

..................................

"Where are you?" She asked. "I have been searching all my life."  

"Stop looking for me," Love replied, 'and I will find you."

Friday Quote: George Harrison

“From the Hindu point of view each soul is divine. All religions are branches of one big tree. It doesn’t matter what you call Him just as long as you call. Just as cinematic images appear to be real but are only combinations of light and shade, so is the universal variety a delusion. The planetary spheres, with their countless forms of life, are naught but figures in a cosmic motion picture. One’s values are profoundly changed when he is finally convinced that creation is only a vast motion picture and that not in, but beyond, lies his own ultimate reality.” 

(George Harrison)

Transformation Through Yoga: Russel Brand

Russel Brand talking very candidly about life and transforming through yoga. 

Who Can Relate?

Somedays I wish I had an off switch, haha.

Jörgen Christiansson

During the first week of June we had the pleasure of hosting Jörgen Christiansson at Yogayama to share his wisdom and insight in regards to the practice of Ashtanga yoga which included a week of Mysore practice, but of course. Jörgen is the only Swedish certified teacher and to have him back in his homeland under these circumstances made it extras special for those native to Sweden and also to those who are not, hahaha. He's a hands on teacher who honors the tradition in a way that runs deep within him. Living in L.A. and teaching at his own center Omkar108 Yoga take the time to visit if ever in the area. For those in Sweden who missed the opportunity to practice with him he'll be back next year in early June. It's time Sweden celebrated this Swedish teacher who has spent the last few decades traveling the world and studying yoga.

Many thanks to you Jörgen! See you next year if not before! 

☮

Urban Hippie

Believe in the beauty of your dreams. 

Ashtanga Yoga Workshop in Sarajevo

“The purpose of all the major religious traditions is not to construct big temples on the outside, but to create temples of goodness and compassion inside, in our hearts.” (The Dali Lama)

The week before last I had the pleasure of being invited to Sarajevo to teach a weekend Ashtanga yoga workshop at Prana Yoga Studio in the heart of the city. Before my arrival I was filled with curiosity in regards to Sarajevo, remembering the complex history, horrors, and atrocities that happened there. Even to this day I don't understand it fully, however during and since my visit, I have gained deeper understanding. Remnants of the war are mostly gone but still visible and knowing what I know now I am fascinated by the strength and determination of the human spirit. No matter what, life moves on. Still, on some level, I have to ask myself, how could this have happend in my lifetime? How and why wasn't there more done to help stop the senseless killings? It haunts me.

Nonetheless, there are those who desire to move on from a higher state of consciousness. One reason why both Mike and Aida have touched me so deeply. Being the very first Ashtanga yoga center in the city they have truly broken ground in giving those the tools to reach greater awareness through the practice. It's needed, and even in the rise of skepticism they have one by one touched those with their sincere offering to give and enlighten the people of Sarajevo ready to take the leap. They're doing it and it's so inspiring!

Not only was the group willing to take the plunge, discovering all the practice has to offer but  also we had participants not only from Bosnia, but Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia together in one room making it happen.

T H A N K   Y O U 

♥

Below are a collection of Instagram(s) I took while in Sarajevo. 

Mike and Aida, 

The beautiful couple who own Prana Yoga Studio in Sarajevo

 Catholic Church

 A Mosque in the City Center

 Orthodox Church

 Orthodox Church

 Sarajevo Skyline near "Old Town" 

 Sarajevo Theater

Monday Inspiration: A Life Well Lived

"If you are not living on the edge, you're taking too much space." 

Let's Make Some Ghee

Ghee has many health benefits. Lubricates the joints, keeps vata imbalances in check, and nourishes the nervous system to name a few. Why not give it a whirl! 

Friday Quote

“Just as we are entranced by television, we are entranced by the mind. Have you ever noticed how similar television is to the mind? Just like in the mind, on television, something new is always appearing to grab our attention. Because the mind’s job is to scan the environment and notice anything new and different, it is no wonder the mind finds the constant change on the television screen engrossing. 

In the real world, on the other hand, life unfolds slowly and organically. If you took a video camera with you on a 30-minute walk and left it on, you’d have a really bad movie. Can you imagine renting that at Blockbuster video?—“Life at Normal Speed.” Just notice how attracted the mind is to special effects, drama, and speeded-up versions of life. Even though our thoughts and fantasies are the basis of our suffering, we become engaged with them because, like television and movies, they are entertaining.” 

(Nirmala, Nothing Personal)