BE STILL

 What is holding you back? 👀

What are YOU holding onto that it is time to be free of. Are you living a repetitive, habitual version of yourself or are you living a TRUE you?... How do you find the "answers" to these inquiries?...STILLNESS,....In my life, so far (still going... 50 plus...) I have had and am still HAVING so many wonderful opportunities and I will forever be a student of life. Recently I have been 'REMINDED' that the reason that I love walking on the beach at sunrise, or free diving and moving slowly under water, or walking in nature and listening to snow fall, or simply watching and/ or listening to the the slow and steady respiration of a sleeping child or animal.... is because it is so quiet.....but, what I remember is ....

I love these things because I love meditation, and meditation is:

sitting in stillness. THIS is the "secret" that is not so secret,... the answers are right there... Already inside... we simply have to be QUIET. In the quiet, we Hear...

The whispers of wisdom, When our minds are filled with chatter, it is a great challenge to listen and observe ourselves,.. and even the observation of how wiggley we can be just TRYING to be still, can be a great lesson. We SAY we want truth in the world, but do you really? The truth is right behind the chatter... so, be STILL and sit with yourself....

There are many versions of YOGA in our day and age,...Yoga takes us on a path, a great journey, ... inward... the journey to/in/of SELF. The asana practice (asana = seat or being steady and at ease) ... These shapes that we make with our bodies are meant to purify the "body" but truly, sitting in stillness with ourselves,....that is where the light is.

What light?

The light that always resides within you,..

It is just beyond your darkness and we vacillate between this darkness and light,...What is NOT important is the story of the darkness but the constant returning to the light. I read long ago,.. what makes us yoga practitioners is not the "perfection" of a shape or asana,.. but the coming back to the pose when we "fall" out of it,... The coming back to our breath when we are distracted by our own chattering mind,... It is in the coming back that we REMEMBER the truth,.... the essence of who we are, ... the light never goes away, but are you quiet enough to see the light, to feel, experience, and sit with the light. Yogi's are activist, we believe and stand for what is right. We read in the Gita about our purpose, our dharma. I believe that when we recognize our gift(s) and follow our path, we will be reminded of our similarities to all beings. When we let go of the end result and simply offer from our hearts what we have to offer, JOY can shine through... It has always been there, the joy, the peace, the contentment. Over the course of our lives, whether you are 50, 90 or 15, we develop patterns and habits. These habitual patterns create grooves in our being and it can become hard to see beyond and outside of these grooves. We can become self created prisoners of our own making.

What can I do?....SIT. Sitting is the way,... sitting with yourself. Meditation. How can you sit with yourself? Just start. Right now, Sit, Be Still and Focus. We are fortunate that through all of the shifting in 2020, we have not lost the opportunity to sit with ourselves, you can even "sit" with others, whether it is in person or virtually. (there are great guides, to support your journey, even right here on FB, Satsang) ... Try a minute, find a quiet spot,... CREATE a quiet spot....and then sit, get REALLY comfortable and lengthen your spine, elevate your hips and lower your knees ( this can be accomplished by sitting on a pillow, a folded towel or blanket), close your eyes and focus for a moment on your breathing. Now, just let the clouds in the mind move away so that the sky is clear. The next step is to simply OBSERVE... Without judging or trying to do a 'GOOD' job,... just sit... with your best teacher,....SELF. and after,.. recline and stay still, rest. We say we want peace and well being but, we have to PRACTICE. This is not a NEW concept, a new THING to "learn",.. This is training to simply shed away the old layers, habits, patterns, stories and REMEMBER the amazing being that is ALREADY inside,... filled with light. It is not EASY, but it IS simple. It takes time to unravel and get to know yourSELF, THIS is the journey,... and when you lose your "balance" and "fall out" of the "pose/asana" or feel the intensity of this life fill you with fear and doubt,... simply breath, sit, become still and focus,... start over again....

Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu

namaste'