Archive for the ‘Our Center’ Category

As I wake up this morning, there are all these emotions and thoughts and ideas… where do I start to be able to even

Prem Mandir, Vrindavan, India

convey these feelings. In only a few days, we are, once again, on our way to the mystical spiritual lands of India. It just hit me last night, after our satsang (group mediation)that we are visiting the inauguration of Prem Mandir(The Temple of Love) in Vrindavan, India.

I remember at the age of 6 or so, I ran downstairs, with the curiosity and determination a child can have, I walked into my loving father’s study, where he was buried in books and the reading of philosophy and positive thinking. With the deepest of desperations, I asked, “Dad, what is Love?”. I do not remember his answer; I do remember and do know, however, my search since. There has been plenty of moments of pain and deceit, many moments of crying myself to sleep. There have been deep moments of suffering. I have looked in many places for love and happiness, even in the most unlikely places. I did find moments, sparks, glimpses of what that means; none lasting or really satisfactory – I always knew there had to be more. The disappointments led to deeper discouragement and frustration, maybe anger. I gave up many times.

I was hearing of a student’s reflection on how difficult the practice of hatha yoga has become. At the beginning yoga was (arguably) an easy, fun, enjoyable “light” work out. But to many of us the more we become present and stay in asana, the deeper we connect. Is that something I am prepared to do? Yoga is indeed simple, though not an easy task. The more we pay attention, we find loads of thoughts and emotions. For many of us it is easier to stop, avoid, and/or look away. It is a very common reaction. I do it all the time, I do know! Through my many years of practice, I realize now it has nothing to do with that movement, that physical pain and discomfort, or frustration. It has little to do with my hips or my shoulder, or my knee. The physical body, as we have heard many times, is more than a structure of movement. The hands are to hold things, but also to let them go. The chest is to protect, but also to open up the heart and emotions. The legs and hips are the means of motion, movement in our lives, or to simply stand in place, grounded.

So, our physical yoga practice is exactly that, a practice of rediscovery, re-membering of who we are. The process of discovery is never easy. The path is full of ups and downs. We have given up uncountable times, as the yoga philosophy teaches, for uncountable (truly uncountable!) lifetimes. How are we to change in one class, or one posture, or in one month, or one year, or a lifetime? We do change, but maybe in ways we do not realize or expect now. Every breath done in consciousness changes something inside of us, every time. The questions is, are we able to sustain it? Are we able to persevere and find encouragement? Are we able to maintain focus? The is not a right or wrong answer, simple our sadhana (practice) is what matters. Some days are better than others. Some (many) days not so good. That is the nature of our imperfection, though we may choose to place blame outwardly.

So, what is the loving thing to do? What is Love? Where am I today in my trying to understand the incomprehensible? I do not understand intellectually anything more than when I was 6 in my dad’s study. Although, I know my heart has experience the incomprehensible through practice and perseverance. My heart has been graced with experiences of Love, as I know we all have. To keep those loving feelings present it takes perseverance, patience, discipline, remembrance, and know there is not an only way or only one time. It took me 40 years of experiences to view Love as a daily action, rather than the misconceived romantic ideal.

Yoga means connection, is the path of search for the purpose of our physical experience, our body as a temple of our spirit, the temple or instrument to find Love, Divine Love.

Organic is Better!

 Although eating conventionally grown fruits and vegetables is better than skipping fruits and vegetables altogether, it is important to minimize your exposure to the pesticides contained in conventionally grown foods as much as possible for good health. Pesticides pose various health dangers and have been linked to nervous system toxicity, cancer, hormone system effects, and skin, eye and lung irritation. Conventional farming methods are also damaging to our environment and local economies. By consuming organic fruits and vegetables, you improve your health and support more sustainable farming practices.

 How to Obtain Organic Produce

 There are several ways to obtain organic produce. You can of course continue shopping at your  grocery store or go

“When we support organic farming, our dollar supports a cause that is sustainable, healthy, and loving.”

 to Whole Foods and purchase organic foods there, but perhaps the price tags scare you away. The Environmental Working Group has created a guide that currently lists 49 items ranked from least contaminated to most contaminated. Simply by eating the least contaminated conventional produce and avoiding the twelve most contaminated fruits and vegetables or replacing them with the organic option, you can lower your pesticide consumption by nearly 80% and hopefully keep your grocery bill in check.  The twelve most contaminated conventionally grown items to be avoided from most to least contaminated are: 

• Celery
• Peaches
• Strawberries
• Apples
• Blueberries (Domestic)
• Nectarines
• Sweet bell peppers
• Spinach
• Cherries
• Kale/collard greens
• Potatoes
• Grapes (Imported)

 You can access the full list here: http://www.foodnews.org/fulllist.php.

 Another option is to grow some of your own produce. If you’ve got the space and enjoy gardening, this could be a good way to go. However, it will require some research and materials and an upfront cost to get started. Of course, you’d be saving quite a bit over the long run as a packet of seeds costs about two dollars and will yield more than the one pound you’ll get at the store for the same price.

 A co-operative, on the other hand, leaves the farming to others while you sit back and enjoy abundant amounts of organic produce. A co-operative is a community effort that supplies local and organic produce at wholesale prices. Rawfully Organic Co-op, a non-profit, is one such example. Rawfully Organic Co-op “[supports] a raw food lifestyle, our local farmers, and our local economy!” By purchasing either a half-share ($47) or a full-share ($87) on their website, you receive a huge enough amount to last you and your household at least a week, depending on your consumption and size of household.

 Another co-op in Houston is Central City Co-op. This co-op offers a variety in sizes of produce shares  that are less expensive than Rawfully Organic; however, membership is required (there are different levels of membership, some costing more than others, and you can also volunteer in exchange for membership). I recommend asking around and doing some research on the co-ops in your area.

Conclusion

 Yes, please skip the chocolate sprinkle donut and extra-butter microwave popcorn (I don’t care if it’s whole grain) for the conventional apple if you need to, but hopefully you can start introducing more and more organic foods into your diet using the methods discussed above.

As stated by Rawfully Organic Co-op, “When we support organic farming, our dollar supports a cause that is sustainable, healthy, and loving.” Go organic and achieve good health while being kind to the environment.

- Roma Singh

Sources:

http://www.foodnews.org/

http://rawfullyorganic.com/index.php

http://www.centralcityco-op.com/

From murky waters, not of murky waters

The Lotus flower is the national flower of India, as mystical as it is beautiful. Many consider this flower to be sacred, however, beyond sacred it is a powerful metaphor. The lotus can be a symbol of beauty and purity, and Divine Energy, with mesmerizing presence, anyone gets absorbed by it.

It is impossible not to evoke emotions of softness and peacefulness when looking at a lotus flower. The flower grows usually in murky ponds. One of the unique characteristics of this flower making it different from the water lilies, is that the lotus leaves grows above the water surface. The leaves of the lotus are called emergent leaves. Truly a lesson in itself.

We constantly talk in yoga about the invasion of the world around us into the world inside of us. Many times, I know I struggle with the pull and the “distractions” of the senses. It is not easy for me to maintain that constant focus in my internal remembrance of the Divine Love. Yoga also teaches us that we have seven centers of energy called chakras. These start from the tailbone area, go through the heart, the middle chakra, and finish with the crown chakra at the top of our head. The crown chakra is symbolized a lotus flower of one thousand petals.

It is comforting to think of the lotus flower to help find and maintain that balance in our lives. The flower grows, emerges, feeds, and lives of the murky water. Eventually, a beautiful delicate water emerges, with such splendor, and from an unsuspected origin. In the same way, our energy rises up, through our spine, from the lower chakras to the higher chakras, ending in the crown chakra, with the desire of the ultimate realization, God Realization.

The lesson seems simple, though no easy. We have a body, the senses, the external world, to help us. it is our job to emerge, and rise above. Our intent might be to live like the lotus flower, coming from the world, but not of the world. Our meditations may be guided by the image of a lotus flower. The soft colors, the beautiful petals, the impressive flower that opens searching, looking upwards, for that Divine Love. Its beauty does not come from the flower itself, but from its intent – reach above, humbly.

We seldom take the time to celebrate our successes. We mostly are concerned with our challenges and difficulties. Indeed our challenges are the experiences that make us grow; however, there is always to time to celebrate.

This time we are celebrating our dear yogini friend, Evalyn. She and her company have been featured in the front page of the Houston Business Journal (read entire article). Our dear Evalyn’s sacrifice and effort in her company and capacity to motivate her staff has paid off. She has been nominated for the third year in one of the fastest growing businesses in Houston. This year she and her company are within the 81 fastest growing companies in Houston for 2010.

We do have the responsibility to live in compassion of each other. We seldom stop and think how the pain, the suffering of one is the suffering of all.  Even more rare is the ocassion when we think about the happiness of one is the happiness of all. This is truly how we feel about Evalyn. She is such a special individual who shows that capacity and focus in the depth but softness of her yoga practice. Evalyn brings so much love and sincerity to her yoga practice that is inspiring to all of us!

We do celebrate Evalyn successes as they are also ours!

Congratulations Evalyn!

Yesterday we tried a new pose- new to me- the Albatross pose. It’s nice that a pose is named after a bird but when you try to albatross with your body it’s a whole new thing.

At first it looks simple enough. You bend over as if in uttanasana. You extend one leg behind and hold it there while balancing on the other. Then comes the tricky part: As you balance on one leg, you extend you arms to the left and right while bending in the extended leg closer to your hip AND bending down on the other leg as well. Done right it looks like an albatross. As for my asana, thankfully, I have no where to check– The yogi next to me blocks the mirror-I have only my inner feeling and thigh pain to use for assessment. How good am I at the Albatross pose? Ask my friend in front. She well tell you.

I plan to learn more about yoga poses and their names. That way I can write more accurately about our practice. I enjoy talking about the periphery of yoga–the essence minus the posture-such as feelings, peaceful moments, meditation, the challenge of living harmoniously: Over and over I have made connections with yoga as it manifests outside the class. At this point I want to refocus on asana. The reason being, the very basic physical movement sometimes releases a tide of hubris. One day, a couple of weeks ago, I experienced the mind body connection yoga makes. We were in the middle of the class and I was having trouble concentrating- no surprise. Suddenly during a hip rotation a knot came untied. I could feel the potent release of whatever it was I was holding– inside the tissue, inside my heart inside my brain. Instantly a change of state came over me and stuck with me throughout the rest of the class all the way to the drive home.

That’s why I want to study what we do. I want to learn why and how the body yields its own healing to the heart and mind. If my elbow, my knee, my shoulder, my thigh, my skin looks no different, why do I feel so much better? Where does this” bettering” start? I would like to know, and I plan to find out.

This is a post that was meant to happen a long time ago. The Devanand Yoga Center, although you might be tired of hearing about how wonderful it is, well, it is more than that – it is magical. It is magical because it brings so many people, ideas, hearts, souls together – in a constant act of giving.

There is no secret that economic times are affecting us all, and the yoga world is no exception. When encounter with this challenges in the almost 2 decades of existence in Houston, the yoga center has always found its way. However, the circumstances are not less magical every time. There have been many incredible people that believe in us and what we do.  Our members have reacted in some incredible ways, in all different expresions of support.

There have been immediate reactions of people providing their payments on our automatic paypal account. Many of you, regardless of the frequency of attendance, have decided to pay their monthly fee. Others, knowing that our rent increased, immediately offered to add on to their monthly fee the difference to cover the increase. Furthermore, one dear friend of the center offered to place the electric bill of the center in her credit card, thus alleviating the burden of this bill.

And it is not all monetarily. Many volunteer to input data in our database, bring water bottles as a donation. Others choose to bring votive candles and incense. There are members that offer their time and effort to recycle. Of course, I have to mention the ones that come to vacuum and clean the center so it is neat and organized in time for class. Most just come and are practice what they learn, to undertand that the happiness of one is the happiness of all. 

It is the loving actions of our members that makes this place so incredibly special. It is truly not about one person, or one or two people, it is all of us that makes this place a solace for the soul. It is the energy of the individuals and desire to open their hearts that makes our center so unique. It is you, that makes the difference in everyone’s lives.

The Devanand Yoga Center could not exist if we did not have that special spiritual energy that unites us. It is through us that we make it manifest.

Namaste!

We want to promote healthy and conscious eating. In our last vegetarian class many of us contributed with some recipe. This was Sabrina’s raw food contribution.

As you know, the moment we cooked foods, they lose their very sensitive enzymes and many times nutrients. So they more alive these foods are, the higher their nutritional value and energy.

 This is all about bringing the highest energy into our diets. Enjoy something fresh for the warm days are coming…!

Ingredients

4 broccoli stems, washed and peeled

6 inch long piece of daikon radish, peeled

2 kiwis, peeled and diced

2 large carrots, peeled

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ bunch green onions, chopped

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

¼ tsp. ground black pepper

2 tbsp water

Black sesame seeds

 Directions: Coarsely grate broccoli stems, daikon radish, and carrots and put in a bowl. Add green onions, kiwis, pine nuts, garlic, salt, pepper, and water to bowl and toss together. Adjust seasoning to taste, and transfer to serving bowl. Garnish with black sesame seeds.

Our community

The Devanand yoga center, is not a regular place for yoga, it is truly a community. Through the many years of the yoga center’s existence, the center has been dedicated to provide opportunity to participate in what a yoga commune we understand it to be. We are so grateful.

People do not seem to understand what it means when we explain this center to be a non-profit center. Our culture many times trains us is disbelieve and/or distrust. We truly are a group of individuals that wants to offer an opportunity to experience yoga non-commercially. We desire of this yoga center to be very personal. We do want the best, the most individually significant experience for each present. We do not care who the practitioner is, young, wise, in shape physically or spiritually, skin color, language, religion. We are interested in the REAL you. We want to really offer the opportunity for each to experience their true identity, our real Ego. We want to share what we have learned, and continue to learn. We want to continue to grow together, in support of each other. We understand this center is not for all. We are looking for that special person that is looking for “that” experience, that personal experience, through our body and mind, to remember our spirit.

In the Devanand yoga center we try so hard to bring an honest sentiment of caring and love to each activity of the center. We try not create expectations, because many times they bring disappointment. However, we always put our heart and soul when we are there. Sometimes it is more successful than others, and it is ok that way too. We will keep practicing…

We do think back on the many eyes, and voices, and hearts we have seen. We are so humbled to think back of all these years of seva, service for the love of others. This is our motivation to see the thousands of people that we have touched, and that have touched our souls.

Our only prayer is to continue to have the strength and clarity of mind to maintaining this space open, our center, your center. You are the special people that make this a special place. We only hope for the future; we gain motivation from the past; we want to serve in the present!

Namasté!

Vegetarianism was arguably created by the Vegetarian Society in 1840. They claim it came from the word in Latin ‘vegetus’ meaning “lively”, because this is how this diet make vegetarians feel. Vegetarianism has been in existence way before the mid 19^th century. There are entire cultures that have been vegetarians and have live that way for generations. Many of us find it very difficult to be vegetarians, or even conceive only eating vegetarian. However, we all realize the importance of eating healthy and including all the characteristics of vegetarianism (sporadically!) in our daily meals. As a society we are starting to realize, now, more than ever, the important that food has on our health, state of mind, energy levels, and most importantly on our planet. The recent nomination to an Oscar as BEST Documentary of the movie FOOD, Inc. has triggered a new wave of awareness and consideration of the different aspects of where our food comes from. It is after all, the most significant green or ecological gesture we can produce daily.

So, we thought we would add some delicious vegan soup to your repertoire. We present to you, our infamous zucchini soup.

Zucchini Soup

2 medium size organic zucchinis

¼ cup of Virgin Olive oil

2-3 cups of water

Pinch of rosemary

Pinch of pepper

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

1 tablespoon of aminos (salt replacement)

1 pinch of hing (garlic replacement)

¼ cup of pine nuts (optional, or other nuts)

Directions: Bring enough water to cover the zucchini to boil. Add the rosemary, black pepper, aminos. Place the zucchini in the water until it changes color (darker green) and become lightly cooked. Let it cool for 5 minutes until ready to be blended. Place it on the blender with cayenne pepper and hing.  Add the cold olive oil. Blend until smooth. As a touch of taste you may broil or lightly heat the pine nuts to add flavor and texture as you serve.

Yogini, writer/poet, teacher, irreplaceable friend!

I wish I had more to give you. Everyday, you offer me a way to silence my shuffle. God knows where this urban unrest comes from? Yet, in the soft amber light of the glowing candles we pause. Closing eyes is an option we can all take sometime. But what about the endless sinister suggestions that keep brewing a channel right down my middle? I am still rendering a new stop sign to that battle. “Give up already, I tell myself.” “No more tracking life, I admonish.” But I must keep admonishing myself. All the time.

Yesterday, your face looked beet root red. I concentrated on the trail of music, your brand of notes that lead us forward, and thought every new beginning made sense. For every new beginning makes a silent restoration of the past. Thus I paid homage to every ending note and stayed energized through every commencement. It would sure anatomize a new life. So when I glanced at your face and saw the flash of color spread across its horizon my hand rose tall and my arm lifted out from right underneath where will beats indifference. There I found my mystery buddy who awoke and responded to your daring happiness every time you raised or lowered the melody.

Just wanted to say I was there; I harmonized despite the battle and you showed mercy in flicking my flaws. Swept off my feet shall I say, by this Yoga!