flower seed head (ckg photo)

For Sean P. O’Rourke (1985-2009)

This has been a season of death. On Saturday, three young men died in a tragic car accident. One of them was the son of a long-time friend and writing group buddy, a member of the extended “Penelope Writers” family.

Watching the faces of the O’Rourke family as they followed the coffin wrenched my heart. What sadness! Sadness heaping upon sadness these past three months.

What’s a YOGINI to do?

It’s healthy to feel emotions, to give them space to exist and pass through. It’s not so beneficial to hold onto them or to stifle them — though that is EXACTLY what I’d often like to do. Sometimes I just want to wallow in negativity, feeling sorry for myself, feeling a victim to circumstances, wishing the world would shake its collective head and join my sad little pity party.

Fortunately,yoga and meditation are such life-changing tools that these depressing emotions can flow through me as if they were rain water washing through sandy soil. I don’t need to IDENTIFY with and embellish the stories that coincide with these emotions. I cringe at how I did exactly that in the past though!!

FURTHERMORE, science is now clearly showing the plasticity of the mind that yogis have claimed for hundreds of years. I’ll collect some of this research in a future post, but for now, check out Buddhist priest, Mathieu Ricard’s take on happiness and mind training from TED. Some call Ricard the “happiest man alive” because of the results of his brain scans.

I’m sure many of the readers of LY have seen these sorts of changes happen in their life. How have you dealt with overwhelming grief?  Have you noticed any effects of your practices on your emotional life? Please share them with us!

Mathieu Ricard’s blog is also enjoyable as well as thought provoking. The link is a page translated from the French.

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Orange Chysanthemum (ckg photo)

I am so grateful that yoga is in my life, teaching me to appreciate each moment fully so that when life jigs its inevitable  cruel dance tugging at me to partner-up, I can connect with my breath and remember that there is a beautiful, calm, loving place within me. Through continual practice I have found it is possible to live more deeply—beyond the “rat race of survival.”

One way is to awaken each morning with awareness centered on the first inhalation.  Then, exhaling, invite a smile to fill your face.  Even on the mornings when you don’t feel like it, SMILE and BREATHE.  You embody the essence of happiness. Let that be your first prayer and intention.

As you move through your day observing the gardens and lawns that may be shriveling, remember that the sky has blessed us nearly every evening with glorious sunsets whose pinks, purples, and apricot splash in gay abandon overhead.

Spending an evening enjoying a sunset is yoga in action!  With every inhalation try to radiate some of the colors of the sun.  Open your heart to the people around you, whether at work, at home, or on the beach.  Be aware of how your color enriches every one of those lives –and many more that you are unaware of.  You are a child of the universe; every sun salutation celebrates that.

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While we were releasing into savasana during tonight’s class in Westfield, D. read from Jill Bolte Taylor’s book, MY STROKE OF INSIGHT. I remembered the video I’d seen some time ago and the awe and maybe a little jealousy that I’d felt at Dr. Taylor’s experience. D. commented that the section she read to us reminded her of her experience in corpse pose: the way body boundaries disappear and sometimes it feels as if the body itself disappears as we recognize ourselves as magnificent bundles of energy.

After all, nirvana is what we are after isn’t it? Or is it? Nirvana is a term that floats around in the pop culture and we know that we should be achieving it at yoga class BUT…..do we really expect to ever experience it? Have you ever thought, maybe it’s just too darn much effort and trouble. It’s easier – safer – to simply stick to the practice of asana or some non-taxing meditation practice.

It’s not like we actually know anyone who has ever experienced nirvana anyway. I mean, sure, we’ve read STORIES about some extreme individuals in India, Tibet, or Japan, but c’mon, but this is the 21st century and we’re too busy checking our Twitter updates to have time for nirvana.

The ancient sage, Patanjali writes, in Yoga Sutra III.43:

bahirrakalpita vrttimahavideha tatah prakasavaranaksayah

When outside things no longer condition mental activity, the veil over the light of understanding is rent asunder and a state of liberation appears. (trans. Bouanchaud)

How much of your activity is driven by mental chatter or sensory stimuli? Can you cut through the crap, so to speak? What would it take? If you did, would find nirvana…or some other state?

I invite you to watch the video from TED and ask yourself if nirvana is the goal of your practice. Or is it performance as we postulated earlier. Is there any difference?

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If you have been practicing for any amount of time, you’ve probably asked yourself, what is the goal of all this mat-work? Is it to become a bit more “bendy?”

My answer is that BENDY is an offshoot of a good practice. You should begin to see real changes in your everyday life after a couple of months of yogic practice. The people around you should begin to notice that YOU HAVE CHANGED.

I remember quite vividly, Mike saying to me that I had become a “kinder, gentler” version of myself.

HUH? answered. It took a while for me to recognize the SELF that was emerging. How beautiful and wonderful to evolve. Truly this is a gift.

The world is evolving as well, just as individuals are moving through samsara on journeys filled with peace and love. I share with you an amazing video of two rock stars in my world: an interview by Boulder’s green blogger yogi, Waylon Lewis on his elevision with eminent Buddhist scholar, Robert Thurman. They tackle the question, Does the Dalai Lama matter? and in the process discuss world peace, Tibet, Buddhism mixing it all up with some humor and light. I don’t know what Waylon did to Bob, but the usually staid teacher was in rare form, telling silly jokes that of course the Laughing Yogini LOVED.

I’d love to hear your response. Do you or others see any change in you? Do you believe the world can change? Is peace possible?

elevision – Robert Thurman: Why the Dalai Lama Matters from elevision on Vimeo.

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Ahh, back home from the 13.5 hour drive from North Carolina. Feels sweet. The air smells delicious thanks to clover blooming in our overgrown yard. With the windows open, all is cool and lovely. I’m back on my ‘puter – yippee – and catching up on emails (I’ve lost count), phone messages (13!), snail mail (boxes!).

Our neighbor, Phil, stopped over to update us on the latest neighborhood happenings. There was a water main break in the village and we need to boil water for drinking. We’ve popped a bottle of our own sweet Malbec to celebrate the safe journey and to unwind.

Since I don’t drive on highways (yes, I failed my driving test seven times!), I spent a lot of time during the way home in the back seat, practicing pranayama and meditating on emptiness. Thinking a lot about aging, and the dissolution of the body and mind.

I can hear the yoga studio calling, calling my knotted up body.

In the meantime, here is a video that immediately reminds me that the day is neither fun nor not-fun. It is simply what it is and our minds choose to look at it negatively or positively. It’s a rendition of  “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” sung by Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole that I found on YouTube.

What is it about Hawaii that invokes mellowness? Maybe it’s the hang loose mudra!

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Happy Fourth of July to American yogins everywhere.

Beyond the flashy fireworks and barbecue festivities, this is a day to reflect upon the meaning of freedom and to celebrate the birthday of our country. Revolutionary War soldiers certainly felt as if Colonial powers were impeding their lives and their freedom. For many of us however, the celebration is checkered by a history that was often cruel and pocked by the nether aspects of  humanity.  For instance,  the culture and political community that existed on the continent was nearly obliterated.

How can we reconcile the shame with the pride?

Have you taken time today – even ten minutes – to ask WHO AM I while sitting in silence and listening to whatever burbles into consciousness? I feel truly free when connecting with my SELF, the Source of energy and life itself. Does the past impede your present life or can you free yourself to live truly open to this present moment? Have you ever felt truly free?

Some thoughts to pepper your practice:

Do you feel constricted in your life?

Can freedom be achieved in every single asana? What is the key?

Is there a place or a practice that helps you move and act beyond shame and pride? Do you even think that this is possible? How does this relate to freedom? Is freedom a worthwhile endeavor? What do you consider more important?

What are the chains keeping you from living the life that is YOURS?

Is personal or spiritual freedom possible without political freedom? What price are you willing to pay for each of these liberations?

How can a sense of lightness, humor, and joy infuse the challenge of becoming more free?

Here is a five minute sacred pause meditation from renowned teacher and author of RADICAL ACCEPTANCE, Tara Brach, that was created by OMEGA.

When I watch the fireworks tonight in Swansboro, North Carolina, I’ll think of the struggle for personal/spiritual freedom that this community is dedicated to and I’ll clap for y’all at the first appricot squiggle bursting overhead.

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Think your life is too small? Think you need to do something significant, something with impact, something for your children to remember you by? When we start spinning our thoughts in this direction, it’s usually a sign that we need to to chill, breathe for a bit, and as Jen Louden, virtual life coach diva, says in her short film on making meaning, that we need to redirect ourselves and take a SIMPLE STEP toward one desire.

The entire plan is very yogic! We teach SMALL STEPS, whether it’s diet, your practice, your actual asanas, meditation, lifestyle… take it easy and institute one step at a time. Feel the ripples. Let them integrate, then go for the next piece of action.

We teach LOOK AT WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW. LOOK AT WHAT YOU ALREADY DO. Meditation can help this process; through silence your knowledge will surface. What you need to know will be there. How many times have I ended my meditation and sat in awe at what had surfaced for me? It’s the insights gained that draws me to the cushion over and over again.

Journaling, whether in writing or artwork or both, can be another fantastic aid to uncovering your present state. I can’t count the number of times I had an aha moment while doodling in my journal. Those moments when I’d say: OH, so that’s what I’m REALLY thinking!

‘Nough said! check out COMFORT QUEEN should you wish for more of Jen’s practical wisdom.

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A sense of abundance is deeply connected with a sense of gratitude. Here I broaden the topic to include developing a sense of abundance in life. Really life is too short to live any other way, isn’t it?

I practice my lovingkindness meditation using repetition of the four line mantra:

May I live without fear.

May I live in happiness.

May I live in physical health.

May I live in ease of well-being AND ABUNDANCE.

The final two words (AND ABUNDANCE) are my tweak on the traditional phrases translated from the PALI by Sharon Salzburg. I pray for the sense of abundance to fill my life because from there I can learn to love my life and other’s lives.

The Christian term for abundance is GRACE. May I live in a grace-filled life! How beautiful that sounds. Isn’t that exactly what we want in our deepest self? And it’s a SENSE of abundance, it’s nothing physical that will satisfy this longing…only the sense that we are living abundantly that satisfies. This is the root of our power, our confidence, our joy.

Are you ready to turn your thoughts away from a poverty-mentality? How’re you going to look at your cup? I know mine’s more’n half-full. Wanna share?

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I am back home after spending a week with my nearly ninety-year old folks on coastal North Carolina. Lots to catch up on, (email, wash, sleep) so today I’ve put together a collage of videos on the topic of enlightenment. If you have a link that you think we’d enjoy, please pass it on in the comments section.

I’d really like to see the way women teachers address enlightenment, but am still searching for those videos. Do any exist? Is enlightenment a topic women are concerned with? Or is the problem that women meditation teachers are few and far between?

Anyway, glad to be back – I missed y’all! Thanks for the comments that arrived while I was engaged with doctor appointments, outfitting the house with safety bars, cleaning, shopping, and other stuff that one day I too won’t be able to do by myself.

Everyone we meet is our teacher and every moment contains the possibility of enlightenment.

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Steven’s video is a little hokey, but I love the homemade quality. And I love watching him outside snowshoeing, since the weather here in Fredonia is conducive to a long white walk today. About the content though — what do you think? How much do we believe that we can effect events in our lives due to how and what we think?

I have a bumper sticker that quotes the Buddha: WHAT WE THINK WE BECOME.

Is there evidence in your life of thoughts actualizing? When does this NOT happen? Or do you think it’s 100% fool-proof?

How does yoga effect daily thought patterns? Does what you eat have any repercussions in your actual daily life or on what you think about? Are there other habits you can foster to improve your thinking, such as getting enough sleep, meditating regularly, speaking positively?

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