Archive for the ‘Life’ Category

Winter is a time to make a new affirmation. For me, it’s a time to sit back and reflect on my true nature. Where can I have more alignment? What parts need remembering? And what parts would I rather forget?

This winter I’d like to release a paper boat down a river, a lake, or a lagoon. It can carry all the burdens of my past–those experiences that fall our way wordlessly, like snow, without asking, and remain there until the light of realization. They too have a purpose which, whether we understand it or not, make our world a gentler, more compassionate place. Only after the boat has moved away can I begin to move in a new direction forward- – that is not to say we need deny any part of ourselves. It is only to accept that ‘I’ am at the center of things that happen to me from the left and right, and that I can always stay connected to that endless resource, Me.

That is my hope and affirmation for the Holidays. That is why I want to thank all those people in my life, my spouse for one, who have stood by me through my seasons and loved me despite.

Which brings me to the snow last week: Who would have thought we’d receive these snow flurries? Watching the snow slowly unite with the grounds and the rooftops was like watching the miracle of our world from inside a snow globe, heaven and bliss put together in a noiseless, tranquil dream. Was it really happening? Were we actually witnessing this glory of winter? As I watched my front yard transform into a Christmas greeting card I was greedy for more. I could not decide which room gave a better view of the joy outside, which broad window side provided perfection. So I made my way from room to room, upstairs and downstairs trying to freeze frame the gorgeous new slumber party all around. And I decided I could not pick a prize winning entry. The views were all quite breathtaking: the burnt-orange maple with neat sides of chunky whites, the jovial crepe myrtle sporting snow studs at the tip of each bare twig, and humble grass wearing an outer planetary angelic look. Why, nature had announced ‘twas the season!’ It was time to bring out the bright blue globes of serenity, the deep green holly of abundance, and shiny red bows of more love for loved ones.

Nature had just finished off a refreshing new canvass. How about we added color of our own from our renewed selves? Watch that paper boat sail far, far away, like snow because of snow?

Here’s wishing everyone a bright green red and gold merry Christmas. May the joy be yours as much as the peace of a soft, white, magical snowfall.

Just wanted to comment on Mother Teresa’s quoate. It is so simple that’s it’s almost trouble. It would be so nice to have all these profound words of wisdom painted on our walls. That way we can look at them when we wake up and look them over once more when we lay down to sleep. Thanks so much for putting such inspiring words on the website.  It sends out exactly the message I need!

Aristotle View of the Universe

I was sitting on the couch feeling sick. Suddenly I picked up the book “SkyWatching” and started reading it. I read about how the early philosophers/astronomers Aristotle, Ptolemy then Copernicus, Keepler, and Galileo, each advanced a new understanding of the universe. From thinking of earth as being the center of the universe to the converse, Sun as the center of the universe each of these versions came with their own graphic proof, illustrating the simple yet beautiful answers to their individual inquiries. I was suddenly touched by these astronomers and their bewitching observations of the sky. For some reason, even their inadvertently faulty conclusions about the celestial bodies filled my eyes with tears.

Aristotle believed the Earth was the center of the universe and all the starts were “fixed” around it; Ptolemic even went so far ahead as to present a beautiful intricate model of concentric circles replicating his theory that the earth indeed lay at the center of this circular dimension. Each of these pictures looked like jewels because they represented the awesome human reach for something as vast as the sky and the audacity to claim that sky for posterity. Whether right or wrong these ancient knowledge seekers came alive for me that day through the pages of a forgotten book. As I flipped through them, something as distant as “sky watching,” not even within my remote range of interests, brought me in close touch with these new friends like they had been waiting to tell me their mysteries so I could delve into mysteries of my own: the deep seated blocks within my own physical, emotional and spiritual nature that held answers to my well being and were, equally, baffling. What made me so sickly? What nameless illness did I have? How could I heal myself? All of these questions I could probe without fear, even as the early astronomers probed the puzzles of their sky, our sky: Seek truth; Ask a question; Wonder; Understand; Never give up on the real possibility that a piece of the puzzle will come along leading to more pieces, so long as I trusted the question and believed that, ultimately, the universe would reply.

That is why the book fell in my lap in a perfect, chance moment of discovery. What a relief! I wasn’t alone. I was among friends who had never left; they would always be there because of their brave questions and their daring answers. From the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear, to the configuration of sickness and health, I could begin to find my own answers.

If Galileo and others could chart out a course with human hands and human vision, so could I begin to know myself.

Inspiration. Don’t we all need to be inspired by something to be able to create and be moved to do. We all need that drive inside of us that awakens us. We all would like to look at life inspired, every day. We all have experienced this at one moment or another in our lives. We all have been moved to action by an incredible song, speech, story, a book, a personal hero, an experience in life.

We all have our heroes and moments and places we go for inspiration. Although, there is always that moment where we do not seem to find inspiration. I know I have been in places where I need that extra push, and do not find my Self. It is a lonely and difficult place to be. Life at that moment seems that sinks in altogether and at once. All loses perspective, and the world loses its natural brightness. Only then is when we are able to look inside and ask…humbly. Those “dark” moments are the most important movements in our lives, because from that place is when we are prone to grow, to change.

All great saints in history have had those moments. Imagine what about us simple mortals! St. Francis of Assisi called those his dark nights. The great Queen Kunti, from the Hindu tradition, used to pray to Krishna that He brought her moments on difficulty, because those were the only times she would sincerely not forget Him. So those dark nights are not a negative thing, they are our inspiration too.

Queen Kunti with Sun God Surya

Inspired, as I have heard from the author and teacher Wayne Dyer is to be “in-spirit”. We all need to remember our spirit. And it does not matter what we call that spirit, atman, soul, energy, chi. We all need to reconnect to that constantly. We do forget that we are a soul living the experience in this body. It is easier to identify ourselves with our limited exterior. We think we are our body, jobs, our bank account, our thoughts. Those are limited sources of inspiration. We have to remember, to re-member, or become members again, to reconnect to our spiritual source. There lies the source of our inspiration. Meditation, prayer, breath, silence, contemplation, etc., all these are tools to reconnect. Yoga has been the inspiration of my life, and still is. It is my moving meditation, my communication with my atman. It is through this practice that I find my inspiration to be of service to others. Be inspired…do not forget.

God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.
Mother Teresa

Another life lesson. We are fully engaged in making the website very interactive. All of the sudden we realized how much our expectations may always lead into disappointment. We had put all of our efforts in creating the best website for our students. We had worked so much in updating it daily, increased the volume of entries, updated the calendar, etc. Then, all of the sudden the site goes down and we are left dangling. It is disappointing to think of all the people that we know come to visit and read our entries. It may lead into frustration when we things are not under our control. But, when are they, really?

Haven’t we all experienced the same feelings?  Is this common or natural? I know even coming to the teach a yoga class with the expectation in my mind that all students come to experience the perfect class. Boy! That is a heavy burden to carry. I am not always there, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. It is always a very heavy responsibility on our shoulders when we have one of the 20 students not have a great class… It is hard to be in the moment and not fall in the trap of the false ego. It is hard to stay away from my own expectations, even the expectation to be of service to everyone. It is impossible to be all that all the time. What is it one to do?

Easier said than done. All I can do is our best every time. To show up in every circumstance, just to be there, and be opened and observant to what comes up in every breath. It is not meant to be pretty all the time. It is not meant to be easy all the time. It is not meant to make us look away, but look into. That is to practice yoga.

Perfection is an unattainable concept in this world. Perfection is a spiritual quality. We do experience glimpses of it, but they do not last here. They entangle us enough to make us believe we need more of this, our drug. That is the concept of maya in yoga. We think we need more things, another puff of a cigarette, another drink, another job title, another relationship, another drop of happiness. We are all thirsty for happiness and love.

We are in the process of making our lives more spiritual, and we will miss the mark, more often than not. Compassion and truthfulness have to be close companions. These are painful qualities that are best first applied to our own selves.

If we find ourselves so engulfed in our own ego, then love others. Service to others is the best way to make love practical. We will forget that we are or not perfect, what we lack or where we fall short. There are so many people in need around who need us. We will then realize our connectivity with others – we are nor alone. Maybe the lesson is to know that we are here together for one purpose alone, to learn to love God. Just another life lesson.

Things don’t have to be difficult to be worthwhile. What better place to learn this wisdom than in a yoga class? Anyone who attended class this past Wednesday might recall the ease with which we got into Uttanasana, not in the usual way of stretching out and bending forward from the waist, but in the reverse: Sitting down and balancing on our toes, we slowly raised an already supine waist, and found that our hands had got where they needed to be, effortlessly. I thoroughly enjoyed this delicious breeze of an extension as if I’d arrived there on a magic carpet. Usually I have to try so hard with any asana, that this easy breezy discovery of a forward bend made perfect joyful sense. Of course, we followed up with some lovely planks. Yet this feel good, rewarding beginning felt super great. Thank you so much. May we have more of these, a taste of dessert right before the actual meal?

As scary as it is sometimes to try something new, I think it is all about showing up.  After being in the “Fun with the Fundamentals” class this week, something just got stuck in my mind.  It is important to simply show up how you are, and trust.

The act of coming to yoga class, with all these different moves, and words, and pictures, the Sanskrit, the breath, it is so much to take in.  How intimidating this all can be!  It is very unsettling to have all new things coming in our direction.  So many things come to my mind when this happens.  Our first instinct is to build our protective walls, they have worked for so many years, and they certainly will work now.  Although, I question if this is the way we grow?

How much do we miss in our lives from not jumping in?  What are the consequences that we are so afraid of?  Is it losing something of us in the process? Or is it simply leaving our comfort zone.  Much of that is true for me.  However, I end always jumping in.  There are these preset rules that we have made in our mind that sometimes paralyzes us – I know it does me.  It is comforting to know that I can just show up as I am.  I do not have to change who I am, and do not have to add or subtract anything to the experience.  All I need is to enter with that wonder and fascination of a new opportunity.

Yoga has a way to teach us simple things of ourselves.  It is beautiful to see how much yoga opens people’s hearts.  It is amazing to see inside their souls.  It is there that I learn so much, and cannot help them but to immediately love them.  I am always in awe to discover strong, powerful people, with such great loving intentions for their lives and others. We find this in our center, within our practice, in and out of the mat.  We learn to support each other, and learn to become a community.  We learn to care for each other.

This is spiritual live.  This is the basics of our training in this worldly experience to learn to love selflessly.  And yoga is just a tool to rediscover THAT indescribable strength inside each of us.  It is us who open that door to make it all possible.  When I take one step towards God, God takes one thousand steps in our direction.  It is my experience.

Title: Indian Classical Musicians
Location: Path of Tea
Link out: Click here
Description: INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC CIRCLE OF HAWAII

Presents

SHRINGARA NEPAL

\”Sacred Music of Ancient India\”

Friday, Nov. 13, 7:00 p.m.

Venue: The Path of Tea
2340 West Alabama

$15 in Advance
$20 at the Door

www.parashurambhandari.com
www.achyutrambhandari.com
www.indianclassicalmusichawaii.com
713.363.1106

Please join Annette Raj in welcoming Indian classical musicians from Nepal to Houston. Our fellow yogi, Babette Ackin, has worked very hard in organizing their tour.
The first time I experienced hearing Indian classical music in person, I felt, \”this is yoga.\” Please come and experience the bliss!
Start Time: 19:00
Date: 2009-11-13
End Time: 21:00

It is amazing to see how everyone’s energy affect a yoga class. From an instructor’s perspective it is very nice to see the mind being so clearly affected by the body and breath. Time after time I see people being affected by taking the time to celebrate their connection to their physical body. I am affected by my breath and physical body.

I do not know if it is just reflexes, or a second nature from years of practice. We sat down after class and talked about with one student after class about ujjayi pranayama (breathing). This is the breath that sounds like “Darth Vader”. This breath consists of closing the back of the throat, with lips touching, mouth closed, and feel the air swirling in the mount and back of throat, as in a yawn. The simple sound of the breath and the focusing the mind into the “feeling it”, creates this intense liberating feeling inside out.  The mind has no other choice than to listen in. The senses quiet down, the body intensifies its energy and vitality. The whole system starts bringing energy from the abdomen upwards. This brings attention to the abdominal cavity and its muscles, its breath, its own bandha in the first chakra, in the pelvic area.

As I was explaining this, my entire body went into a sense of meditation and introspection. It was amazing to see how a breath may affect the intensity of our own energy. It was almost like opening a door, and an invitation to the depth of my body. 

Yoga does that for me. Makes my body react in such an intense sense of looking in.  What I find is amazing, ok, most of the time. If I simply let my self look into paramatman, the Divine waiting to be rediscovered in us. It is not us, it is that connection to the Divine living inside. It is that section of us that we recognize and acknowledge in a namaste. This only makes me humble to see that when we listen in, we can hear God inside. When we sit down, with devotion, with gratitude and love, we can feel the Divine inside. Not because He/She is inside of us, but because He/She is also inside of us. Many times, we say in class that yoga is moving meditation. Yoga really gives us chance to people that have so much going outwardly, to use the body. The body is honored through each move, each pose, each breath, as a temple for the spirit. This way we can connect to the Divine also living inside of each of us. That I see in every face after class…

April Bui, Director

Our Yoga Center has always found profound interest in supporting and maintaining a sense of community.  We recently have encountered a beautiful non-profit organization that provides acupuncture for our community, and they do it in a loving way.  We asked them to introduce themselves to our yoga community.  Here is what they shared with us.  Alternatives to support our health is what we want to encourage.

Greetings! St. Teresa Acupuncture Wellness Clinic is a nonprofit organization founded with the purpose for providing alternative healthcare to the public that is safe & natural, effective, and affordable for all people and all income levels. Our clinic is a grassroots response to the rising costs of healthcare, the challenging economy that undermines so many people’s livelihood, and to the public’s growing need and demand for alternative medicine (specifically Traditional Chinese Medicine) which currently is not covered by governmental agencies or most insurance companies. We recognized a real basic need in our community for a workable system of healthcare for everyone. Thus, our vision of a compassionate and equitable healthcare service was conceived to fulfill the medical needs of all people from all socioeconomic strata and from all walks of life.

Our clinic offers comprehensive Chinese Medicine treatment including pain management, chronic fatigue, stress/anxiety, smoking cessation, addiction, sleep disorders, headaches/migraines, hypertension, allergies, asthma, arthritis, fibromyalgia, HIV/AIDS/oncology support, immune disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, neurological disorders, muscular disorders, respiratory disorders, women’s health, men’s health, and mental health.

St. Teresa is a nonprofit and nondenominational organization that is operated and supported by voluntary donations only. Treatment is offered equally to all patients and no person will be denied service due to one’s inability to donate or pay. If you have further inquiries about our services, please feel free to contact April – (713) 922-3474.