Passage meditation

Eknath Easwaran is known for helping establish Passage Meditation. Pick an inspirational passage, memorize it. Say it over and over when you need guidance the most...it's a concentrated effort to find peace. It's a form of dharana, focus with concentration.

CPR/AED certified

For the job at S&FE I am required to be CPR/AED certified and I got that today! Hooray! I feel that this is an important thing to know anyway, to be prepared in an emergency. The class was taught by a wonderful instructor and everyone there was eager to learn as was I. I'm going to miss my dummy...I think I was growing fond of him by the end of class.

Yoga is the evenness of mind

I began reading the Bhagavad Gita in August. In September, I opened up an emotional floodgate. My svadhyaya was taken in a new direction, away from yoga books. I was, and am still, unsure where that new track is taking me. But I'm trying to do explore it with the utmost care and personal awareness that I think I can extend. Meanwhile, now that I am getting a grip around my new path, I picked up the Gita again.

And, of course, Self-realization is the second chapter (the first being the one that describes the setting of the Gita). It's the chapter that helps set up the rest of the Gita, starting with learning to detach from desire and aversion, and control the senses of the body. And break from Ego. This Summer, I feel as though I was getting there. Taking steps to be more involved in my community, to concentrate on the things important in my life. Keeping my mind steady, calm.

Now, I will continue to strive for Self-realization, but it seems I need to get into my Ego a bit and enjoy some kind of desire to live my life right now. My mind is not steady, but I come to the conclusion that I am experiencing waves...like of yin and yang...too much of something I was not ready for exploded into a new mindset. Once that paradigm is undercontrol, I can refocus back to what I was doing so well before. And now with a new awareness that I will strive to act on my desires in a way that celebrates the Universal Self.

Branching

I have many pots stirring on my yoga stove. I currently teach at Yoga Vermont. Next month, I plan to offer a community yoga class to benefit my son's primary school PTO. I also plan to offer classes at my friend's health club again (as I did last Fall).

AND I'm trying to get classes at another health club! I have an interview tomorrow. I'm not nervous, funny thing. The Wheel turns as it Will.

I am getting CPR/AED certified THIS Friday and going to another yoga workshop on Dhrana/Dhyana. In March I plan to get my Yoga Alliance registration to be an official "RYT" (read as: paid money tot he big conglomerate that everyone recognizes as a funtional body but it's really not).

Next thing I need to do it MARKET MYSELF. I think I can do that.

Call us out!

This morning, Rev. Mary's Prayer of Confession seemed to ring a bell for me. Something that I strive to do for myself, and try to refrain from getting deep into with others around me:

"...we are so caught up in our own agendas that we cannot see your bigger picture...Call us out of ourselves, and direct our attention above the turmoil and drama of our own small lives."

One thing I attempt to do often is not get "sucked into" the drama of other people's lives. Oh, I'm not good at it yet. It's hard to not listen when someone begins to gossip. And I have started it myself, aching to tell someone something that I learned, even if it has no significant bearing on anyone's life! I reflect back to the post I wrote last year on satya, truthfulness. Many times, I do not feel good about it after, and I try to remind myself from refrain the next time I find myself seduced by juicy gossip.

There is also drama around us all of the time. My most memorable instances are when I'm shopping, and women are shopping and just talking inanely about ...nothing! It is something to them, maybe. But the drama about it is intensified when they begin to make their own assumptions and twists to stories. Or, if I am in a meeting, invariably, someone has to add their own personal story to a point of business we are discussing. Everyone is polite and lets that person go on about something irrelevant to the meeting. And it takes us of track.

Just like getting off track when you are trying to be steadfast in your meditation, or your humanitarian efforts, or anything. I just continue to keep in mind what is the bigger picture for me; getting in touch with my Universal Self.

And I thank Rev. Mary and the families at MBCC for helping me form a path toward my goal.

Thanksgiving

I am thankful for...

• My loving husband. Who has finally come around to his senses about his health and my hyoga...and we are connecting more now, than ever.
• My children. Sometimes I get frustrated, I think about how easy it would be to do whatever I wanted if they were not here. But then I think about how empty my life would be without them. My love for them is fulfilling and all-encompassing. I live for their hugs and kisses everyday.
  
• My mother is in a good place. Good job, good relationship. I am happy for her.
• My sisters and brothers finding their own happiness in different ways.
• My in-laws who sometime irritate me, but have hearts of gold and love my kids (almost) as much as I do.
• YOGA...oooooom. I am thankful that I found yoga, its philosophy, and am practicing it regularly.
• Dancing and singing. I enjoy dancing almost as much as yoga, and I don't care who catches me singing aloud out of tune.
• Reverend Mary. I am SO thankful that a pastor can listen and help put my thoughts into a meaningful order, without criticism or "preaching". I can talk WITH her, and not be talked "at" by her.
• My cat Phoebe, who has more patience than ANYONE I know. And her undying love for me. And how she follows me around the house.
  
• Lake Champlain. A large body of water that provide serene meditation opportunities, and lots of fun with the boys in the Summer!
• Warm coats and mittens. I am thankful for a home, food on the table and warm clothes to get me through the Winters.
• Wood stoves. Oh, man. They rock!
  

Love, Rescue Me

A song I have enjoyed in my high school days, and am enjoying again that I heard it sung by a young church choir in Ireland. Writen and performed by U2, inspirational in its own way.

Love rescue me
Come forth and speak to me
Raise me up
And don't let me fall.
No man is my enemy
My own hands imprison me.
Love rescue me.

Many strangers have I met
On the road to my regret
Many lost who seek to find themselves in me.
They ask me to reveal
The very thoughts they would conceal.
Love, rescue me.

And the sun in the sky
Makes a shadow of you and I
Stretching out as the sun sinks in the sea.
I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said, love, rescue me.

In the cold mirror of a glass
I see my reflection pass
I see the dark shades of what I used to be.
I see the purple of her eyes
The scarlet of my lies.
Love, rescue me.

Yeah, though I walk
In the valley of the shadow
Yet, I will fear no evil.
I have cursed thy rod and staff
They no longer comfort me.
Love, rescue me.

Sha la la la etc.
I said love, love, rescue me.

Yeah, I'm here without a name
In the palace of my shame
I said love, rescue me.

I've conquered my past
The future is here at last
I stand at the entrance to a new world I can see.
The ruins to the right of me
Will soon have lost sight of me.
Love, rescue me.

Straying...away on track

The past two months have been tumultuous. I felt a real calm around me this Summer with my yoga, reading, thinking, writing. But coming out of my introspective Self was a hunger. Something I could not put my finger on. Something was happening inside. Angry talks with my husband shifted my focus to getting out of my shell. And lo, and behold! My husband began to support what I was looking for.

Being a wife and mother come with an image of what everyone expects. And I was living in that image. But it was not MY image. I know the girl I was, the girl inside this woman. She's a bit crazy, and wild. She is caring and passionate. I am now learning to merge what I need and want together in a way that celebrates my family and my inner Self.

Beyond your self

"A human being is part of the whole, called by us "universe," a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." -Albert Einstein

Easwaran's comments: None of us see life as it is, the world as it is. We all see life as we are. We look at others through our own likes and dislikes, desires and interests. It is this separatist outlook that fragments life for us - man against woman, community against community, country against country. Yet the mystics of all religions assure us on the strength of their own experience, if only we throw away this fragmenting instrument of observation, we shall see all life as an indivisible whole.

I am continuously amazed at Albert Einstein's insight into existence despite the contribution he made to physics that overrides humanitarianism.

Partner Yoga Poses

I was browsing Sugar's blog recently and found a bunch of nice partner yoga poses. I want to remember them: http://www.fitsugar.com/tag/Partner+Yoga

Esp. for the Girl Scout yoga I am teaching in a few weeks.

MAHA MRITYUNJAYA

(Victory over the great death):
Aum Trayambakam Yajamahe
Sugandhim Pusti Vardhanam
Uvarukamiva Bandhanan
Mrtyor Muksiya Mamrtat

Translation: I meditate on and surrender myself to the Divine being who embodies the power of will, knowledge and action. I pray to the Divine Being who manifests in the form of fragrance in the flower of life and is the eternal nourisher of the plant of life. Like a skillful gardener, may the Lord of Life disentangle me from the binding forces of my physical, psychological, and spiritual foes. May the Lord of Immortality residing within free me from death, decay and sickness and unite me with Immortality.

Meaning: It is a healing and nourishing Mantra - the heart of the Vedas. The healing force awakened by this mantra sends forth its ripples from the body to the mind to the soul. It strengthens power of will, knowledge and action, unblocking the flow of enthusiasm, courage and determination. The vibration of this Mantra awakens the internal healing forces while attracting nature's healing agents, creating an environment where the forces of both converge. This Mantra is an invaluable resource for healers and teachers. It connects us to the healer within and helps us receive the full nourishment from food herbs or any discipline undertaken for our total well being. The mantra removes physical, mental, and celestial ailments. It gives victory over Death, suffering, and disease. The Maha Mrityunjaya mantra removes obstacles and brings happiness to life.

The change of boiling points

Why is it that change only occurs after a boiling point has been reached? Why do people have to get to a point where anger, emotions, turmoil occurs before they will change?

More on Asteya

I'm up early. 3:30am. Abundant energy. I look in my inbox and there is another thought from Easwaran that is a great follow up to yesterday's thought.

"An attitude to life which seeks fulfillment in the single-minded pursuit of wealth--in short, materialism--does not fit into this world, because it contains within itself no limiting principle, while the environment in which it is placed is strictly limited." -E.F. Schumacher

Easwaran's comments: The very air we breathe is not inexhaustible. If we love our children as we profess to, we should remember that the air is limited, exhaustible, a perishable member of the family of life. Treat it gently. Treat it with care. Don't blow fumes into the air or dump poisons into the rivers and oceans just because it increases profits. Don't fan overconsumption by buying things you do not need. It is not only corporations who carry the responsibility for pollution. Insofar as we tell them, "Produce all you want! We'll buy whatever you make," the rest of us are responsible too.

It is a wise commentator on today's world who points out that we do not inherit from our parents: we borrow from our children. Let us do all we can from today onwards to ensure that our children's children will live in a world unthreatened by radioactive waste and chemical pollution.

Need I say more? Practice asteya. Practice non stealing.

Asteya: the more you give, the more you get

Easwaran's daily thought today reminded me of Yoga Sutra 2.37: wealth comes to one practiced in non-stealing

"Unto those that hath shall be given, and they shall have abundance: but from those that hath not shall be taken away even that which they have." -The Gospel according to Saint Matthew

Easwaran's comments: This is a strange paradox, a little-known secret. Jesus isn't speaking of worldly goods. He is speaking of a very rare kind of treasure: the more you draw on it, the more you will have. The more patient you are with people, for instance, the more patience you will have. The more generous you are today, the more generosity you will have tomorrow. The more love you give, the more loving you become. The principle can be stated in the plainest of terms: if you are selfish with your love, the scant security you cling to will be battered by life. But if you give of yourself freely, your security will be unshakable. Your joy will be limitless. You will always have more to give.

Non-stealing is a concept many people only practice on a material level. It is considered a sin, or unethical. And there are punishments and laws against most material theft. But what about stealing from Nature? We only have a finite amount of air to breathe, or clean water to drink. Sure there are laws on how much pollution can be pumped into our environment, but it does not keep people from using too much, not giving back.

And what about stealing someone's else's time and energy? Many people do not realize that they steal energy. They talk too much without letting you talk, also. Or they constantly ask to come over and visit. They find that people stop wanting to be with them because they are sapping people's strength.

Once you practice non-stealing on all levels including material, spiritual, emotional...you will start to find peace in yourself. Give out to others without seeking something from them. A smile, to start. Maybe someone will smile back. When you show that you are trustworthy, people will put trust in you. When you love others, you will be loved back.

More methods of Yoga

Found an email Kathy sent last year. More forms of yoga you can practice...although I will have to research some more to understand them all (ie taraka yoga?)

• karma yoga: the path of self-transcending action
• bhakti yoga: the path of self-transcending love-devotion
• jnana yoga: the path of wisdom
• raja yoga: the royal path of meditation
• hatha yoga: the forceful path of bodily transformation
• mantra yoga: the path of numinous sound
• taraka yoga: the path of light
• tantra yoga: the path of ecstatic realization
• sahaja yoga: the path of spontaneity