BE FEARLESS!🕉❤

This blog, consists of other people's words this week, 

worthy of sharing. 

🙏

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?. . .Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us. . .  It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, 

our presence automatically liberates others."   (M. Williamson)

"Fear is a ubiquitous emotion experienced by all beings in varying degrees. All fears originate from our perceptions and past experiences (karmas). Some fears keep us alive and are necessary for our survival. We refer to these fears as instinctual. Other fears keep us from living a fully expressed life, keeping us bound and enslaved. Often an isolating force, these fears widen the gap between our self and others, preventing our divine Self from emerging.

The Taittiriya Upanishads teach that, “until we realize the unity of life, we live in fear.” When we are unsure about the world around us, we typically react in a negative and defensive way, as we interpret the unknown as posing some threat to our comfort or security. Whatever word we use to describe this feeling of insecurity or uncertainty, our reaction is usually rooted in fear. Steeped in our dread, we see the world from a dualistic viewpoint and label things as good or bad or you are this and I am that. Utilizing objects, old ways of thinking and/or our tendencies (gunas) to disengage from the terror we are feeling reinforces the separation of the self from the experience. As a result, we empower the fear that further cocoons our divine Self, distancing us from our innate intelligence, strength, and confidence. If done over a lifespan or the course of many lifetimes this behavior creates mental impressions on the subtle body referred to as samskaras. These impressions deepen through repetitive action, like circling the same path over and over, resulting in a conditioned mundane existence.

As yoga practitioners we have an opportunity to get to the root of our fear and eventually free ourselves of these mental confines and samskaras. Since our body is made up of our karmas, utilizing meditation, asana, pranayama, diet and high intention gives us insight into where we resist the Self. This physical inquiry can resolve our karmas back to their source, opening us up to resolution, healing and subsequent freedom.

With meditation we have the ability to witness our inner landscape, investigating the origins and depths of our fears. As love is the opposite of fear, we notice where we lack in self-love through the observation of our thought patterns and internal dialog. In order to resolve our fears, we must love ourselves enough to face and understand them with a compassionate awareness and a non-judgmental heart.❤

Asana practice helps us further connect to the root of our fears because it allows us to feel the sensation of tension and tightness housed in our bodies. It also affords us the opportunity to observe our fearful reactions to certain postures and the mental and emotional discomfort they elicit. Through asana we are able to explore the edges of what is known and unknown allowing us to uncover resistance in the mind and body. This may be especially apparent with lunges, back bending and other asanas that release the psoas (“so-az”), as this is a key muscle to our fear reflex. Working to release the psoas and stretch the front of the body can provide insight into our emotional state. Important to our postural stability, the psoas links both sides of the lower back to the front body ending at the lessor trochanter, deep inside each hip.

Pranayama practices like nadi shodhana not only clear our energetic channels (ida, pingala, and sushumna), but also stimulate the frontal lobe, the command center to our emotions and personality. It balances both sides of the brain and calms the mind and nervous system. When balanced neurologically, we are less reactive to whatever fears we might be experiencing.

A vegan diet also provides a means to be free of fear. When factory farmed animals are in preparation for slaughter they release stress hormones and other chemicals as a response to the fear of their own death; when we subsequently eat their meat, we consume that fear – one bite at a time. Choosing a diet that doesn’t create fear in other beings will have a direct impact on the fear we experience in our lives.

Incorporating these practices coupled with the high intention of facing what scares us will cultivate familiarity. This familiarity develops the courage needed to change our deeply ingrained responses and relationship to our fears. Once we realize that what we fear is not real but a mental construct, we soften and embrace the totality of life. No longer inhibited and bound by fear we are ignited with a drive to live life courageously. Free and at ease with all that is within us and around us, we are steadily, joyfully and fearlessly connected to the earth" (Giselle Mari)

FALLING APART

HAPPY EARTH DAY! ( In my opinion, we should honor mother earth CADA DIA - every day!) but It's nice that the earth has a day, like lots of other things have special days!

So,....first off, let me begin by saying,.... I am SOOO appreciate of ....many things during this time,... daily meditation ( Thank you, Jeffrey C), my amazing nearly 6 foot mini me ( who is ... much wiser than I am sometimes ), thankful for dear, dear friends, students who are courageous to jump into the tiny zoom square! I appreciate the birds ( if you've been in the Yoga Tree zoom studio... you know what I mean!) I appreciate that Caroline doesn't yell at me while I practice harmonium! I appreciate this gorgeous weather ( if you are in the appalachian mountains right now, you know what I mean!) I appreciate music, and laughter and I appreciate my parents, Poseidon, books and many, many more "things" and people...but,.let's get on with it ... I am typing today,...

to share some thoughts and what I feel to be "wisdom",... I must give credit to an old friend: a wrinkled, battered, barely held together, BOOK! It's FALLING apart literally and... I'll quote a little here... There is a term for how we react when the rug is pulled out from under us, when we feel we have "lost" things that are "good". Here's where some direct quoting comes from Pema Chodron..."We've been thrown out of the nest, We sail through without a clue as to what's going to happen next. We're in no man's land: we had it all together ( uhm... or DID WE?) ...things were working nicely, when suddenly...." "We don't know what's going to happen next or even where we are.

Then we re-create ourselves. We return to the solid ground of our self-concept as quickly as possible" "Our whole world falls apart, and we've been given this great opportunity. However, we don't trust our basic widom mind enough to let it stay like that. Our habitual reaction is to want to get ourselves back-even our anger, resentment, fear or bewilderment. So we re-create our solid, immovable personality as if we were Michelangelo "chiseling ourselves out of marble.....Instead of struggling to regain our concept of who we are, we can touch in to that mind of simply not knowing, which is basic wisdom mind......When everything falls apart and we feel uncertainty, disappointment, shock, embarrassment, what's left is a mind that is clear, unbiased, and fresh. But we don't see that. Instead, we feel the queasiness and uncertainty of being in a no-man's-land and enlarge that feeling and march it down the street with banners that proclaim how bad everything is. We knock on every door asking people to sign petitions until there is a whole army of people who agree with us that everything is wrong......." In this way we USE our emotions,...."we use them to try to make everything secure and predictable and real again, to fool ourselves about what's really true. We could just sit with the emotional energy and let it pass. There's no particular need to spread blame and self justification. Instead, we throw kerosene on the emotion so it will feel more real." SO,... enough quoting WHEN THINGS FALL APART,... If you've read this far, you are interested or aggravated (ha, either way, yay!) . We all are having our own unique experience with life at the moment, and do not take this quoted text out of context ( or do if you need to.... it's up to you really). As a Yogi, I am ALWAYS practicing, ... not "perfecting"... we PRACTICE as yogi's but,..as yogi's, we are activists and stewards,... care-takers, care-givers, we are in service but we also OBSERVE,...so...

why did I take the time today to write this? I could have been listening to the birds while I snuggled my dog and looked at the flowers and ate yummy vegan food and had inspiring conversation with my son while preparing for zoom Yoga, listening to music,... HA.... you get the drift! So, I was just PAYING attention today and thought it would be good to shake the container a bit, maybe shift the attention a little bit, ... maybe I'm saying, "hey out there, just be aware that when things fall apart, we are sometimes so busy to pick up the pieces and put it all back together ,... we get so damn caught up in the emotional self, that we,...well,... maybe we forget,... that things needed a little shake up and it's time to pay attention,... let go of what hasn't been working, take a deep breath and look inside,... absolutely stand up for what you believe in and research and learn,....but also,... don't be in a crazy hurry to just get it all back to how it used to be,... and I do not mean the state of affairs, or economy, etc.... I am talking about inside YOU! ... only YOU know what's going on inside of you...." well, ... there you have it,... NOW,.... I'm off to look at flowers, listen to music with my dog, get my ass kicked at checkers one more time and take my own advice about just being happy for space. ( not between us,... but in my mind). If you are curious,

My intention is to share peace, and if you read this far and you are still really perplexed, join us for class.

Your silence gives permission

Your silence gives permission....


Satya is the Sanskrit word for truth. It also refers to a virtue in Indian religions, referring to being truthful in one's thought, speech and action. In Yoga, satya is one of five yamas, the virtuous restraint from falsehood and distortion of reality in one's expressions and actions.

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silence gives consent..... If one does not object to or stand up against         something that one does not like or agree with, then one is complicit in permitting it to          happen. People like to pretend they are outraged by these policies, but when they do nothing to stop them, their silence gives consent.

fearless, kind and giving

Yoga master, B.K.S Iyengar decodes the sutras in his book, Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. In his interpretation, he states, “This sutra asks us to rejoice with the happy, to be compassionate to the sorrowful, friendly to the virtuous, and indifferent to those who continue to live in vice despite our attempts to change them.

know thyself

KNOWING YOURSELF......

The moment is....NOW,... you are dressed in your favorite movable clothing, on a special "magic carpet" costing anywhere from $10-$200....The room is dimly lit and you are flanked by stretchy, seemingly advanced practitioners of a great art form. The music is soft and unfamiliar, the scent is light but calls to mind what a far off land rich in wisdom may smell of.  The temperature is pleasant and the decor simple but evokes a joyous and peaceful response.  A voice comes from somewhere nearby and suggests that you start to contort your body in a manner in which you are unsure that you will be able to enter, no less exit... Your mind considers this and the obvious alternative, going to the bathroom or being reminded of a sudden emergency of having a latte'..... 

You decide to attempt to venture into this geometric shape that the instructor asks you to make with your body,... You look around and everyone seems to know exactly what to do EXCEPT YOU! ... How could it be?....You begin by following the instructions and ... whoa! low and behold, you almost look like your fellow yogi,... Suddenly, a warm, sensation works through your foot,... No, wait,... those are pins and needles because your foot is beginning to FALL asleep! and suddenly you are reminded of a time when your cousin Joey played a joke on you as a child and you start to relive this past experience, ... Oh no! your thoughts shift and you start tripping down memory lane, ... Oh! and then,... the instructor,... the horrible torture guide that she is...asks you to further cause discomfort to yourself and maneuver another portion of a limb into a place you are CERTAIN it was not intended to be...EVER! ......

and then,... the TEACHER... asks you to BE STILL,... in this annoying syrupy voice..... you sneak a peak and the other practitioners all seem to be perfectly happy and at ease,... some making sounds that appear to support the fact that they are actually ENJOYING themselves.... geeez!  What are you doing here?

Why did you decide to come to YOGA today !!!!????

and herein lies the ultimate question?

To stay or not to stay?.... You have to stay in the class,... it would be FAR too dramatic to get up and leave the CLASS! AAaaahhhh.... 

but, you could gently and slowly back out of this POSTURE... OR,..

you could stay.....So,... you first,... TAKE A DEEP breath,... and sit with yourself,... wait,... so many voices in that head trying to make a decision! ....stay, go, bagel, coffee, the dog, oil change, purple shirt, next year, last week,... oh my! 

So,... the decision is to release thoughts and open to the possibilities of sitting with yourself in this asana ( yoga seat/ yoga posture) or knowing that it is not the correct time( body or mind or spirit or hamstring) to stay and carefully, while breathing, release and exit gracefully from the shape.  Sitting with yourself in a shape ( yoga pose) can be VERY enlightening,...I mentioned in a blogpost the relationship with self,... this is where we are here.  Can you sit with yourself,... release the chatter, clear the screen in the mind,... calm yourself, release from sensory awareness, breath,.. observe.  I bring up the alternative ( exiting the posture ) because I truly believe sometimes, we need to just dissolve the ego and listen to the body,...( or that chattering little mind!) therefore, I remind students to HONOR where they are... and knowing thyself is  

the beginning of wisdom.  There is POWER in BOTH,...obviously as we become more FLEXIBLE in MIND ( the body is hopeful to also follow), we able to see more clearly that discomfort, challenge, these things PUSH our boundaries and here we are...BOUNDARIES...

should you stay or "SHOULD YOU GO?"

well.....Limits are, in my opinion a little less pliable... As compared to a "boundary".  Therefore my point here,...*wait, I am getting there! ha! My point is on the mat, we FIND our boundaries, sometimes our limits,... the boundaries, I feel,.. are set but you can negotiate at times with said boundaries.... We, as humans, constantly have our boundaries "tested",... this occurs on the mat ( because most things on the mat are reflecting or will be reflected OFF the mat in our daily lives),...So, "should you stay or should you go"? The next time you find yourself in a precarious position....This question MAY rise up...As yogi's, we realize there is great power in the KNOWING, great wisdom boils up at this crucial moments,... can you be AWAKE enough to SIT WITH YOURSELF,....? to LISTEN and to discern, ... through  the many voices that may be present and make a choice/decision for your HIGHEST good, in that moment to STAY OR GO.... The lessons will come,... even if you push them away,...they will continue to TRY to come to you.  Spending time with yourself on the mat, provides an opportunity to get to know yourself more deeply,... thereby giving rise to a chance to hear something to that MAY inspire you to get to know thyself a bit better.

.....take a deep breath, swing your leg around your neck like a scarf and relax.......peace!

 Namaste'

shine bright !

Good morning!  I have been asked many times in the past, "What type of Yoga do you teach?'....Some of the inquirers have vast knowledge of the practice and are interested in the lineage from which I was trained, or a teacher, a specific discipline of Yoga.  

Other interested parties have HEARD of Yoga and the variations but are asking questions that are more broad in nature,... With the availability of information now in our world and the popularity of the word "YOGA", some of the questions posed are of a different nature and the aspiring yogi is investigating what could possibly be included in the time spent "doing" Yoga.  

I have been sharing the practice of Yoga for 2 decades now and practicing myself for years beyond that.  In the framework of the teachings, sharings and self study ( we are ALWAYS students), my own needs and interests as well as the needs and interests of the students, have shifted... As is life, the only constant is CHANGE.  

Now, after 20 years of teaching, I feel the calling to offer a deeper training in this amazing art, science, study, practice.....In designing an "outline" (in the truest sense of the word), I reached out to one of my dearest friends and asked for her assistance in establishing the foundation ( due to her heartfelt passion in this area and EXPERTISE in sharing for many years)...I also had great support from another amazing person, as inspiration and a good motivator to "put it on a spreadsheet! " In the designing of a course a study, much time is spent considering, "What is it I would like to convey to a student?".  What can I share that has been pivotal in my own life and what do I see as supportive for a student to enhance and deepen their connection with self....( because here is where it all lies).  Once, long ago on an international flight, my son fell asleep and I found myself chatting with the woman next to me for quite a long time.  She was very interesting, a bit older than me and had alot of insight and wonderful things to discuss.  We talked for HOURS and as we landed and prepared to disembark, she looked at me and wrapped it all up ( not intentionally but nonetheless, it was a significant moment in life for me personally).  She said, " Life is really about relationships".  To this day, MANY years later, I find this to ring true in my daily life, my work life, my personal life and so on.  The first relationship of importance is the relationship to and with SELF.  This is where I just get EXCITED,... because THIS is what Yoga is about,....

Part of the beauty in considering "relationships" is that individually we can live in such illusion and unless we take time to slow down and sit with ourselves, we could live in a falsehood that our lives spiral out of control for no apparent reason whatsoever 

Relationships afford us the amazing opportunity to LOOK at ourselves HONESTLY,....There are SOOO many avenues to venture down in regards to this subject but for the purpose of this entry, let's just narrow the information....Yoga, ... especially practice "on the mat" allows for us ( the practitioner,... if we are open to it) the space to be authentic.  We are forced, on the mat to be with ourselves, deeply,... there is no one to blame ( you will definitely TRY to blame the teacher in your mind, but ultimately that will get you NOWHERE...ha,...) but we are faced with our strengths and weaknesses, we collide with our inner selves, we share a seat with our past and future, our monkey mind... We sit still with our tight hamstrings and inflexible thinking.  In today's day ( 2020), we have CONSTANT opportunity for distraction,... we have to seek out time to be with ourselves, to be still.  We CAN, ( and many do) AVOID this time with self,... but, at what expense....

And now,... let me throw confusion in here,... Yoga, as well as bridging the gap between self and self,...allows us to see the oneness.... We are able to acknowledge that we are not alone in our struggles, particularly in a class where many are battling judgement, ego, limits, boundaries, thoughts and so on.  We have a common thread that joins us and that connectedness in community soothes the wounded soul.  As we see ourselves clearly and look directly into our own being,... the relationship with self reveals truth.  There is really no where to turn or run and hide when you deeply set the intention to be present on your mat.  If you discipline yourself and make a commitment to continue to unite with your SELF... a great veil will be lifted.  The depth of the relationship with self can be very healing ( and very scary ) but, if you get to know YOURSELF,... your authentic self,... THEN,... As you are involved in relationships, there will be a sense of peace within.....Will you be completely at ease in all situations? Is this the key to INNER peace?.... No, sadly, no this is not the only answer,.. but it is crucial part of the journey,... As we lift the veil of illusion and get to a deeper place of understanding self, all of the interactions that we have will reveal levels of understanding....thereby deepening the understanding of your own consciousness.  

How do we tie this thread into the questioning of "what type of Yoga do you teach?".  My intent is to share a beautiful practice with those who are interested in the very intense journey of sitting in stillness with self and feeling at peace.  I have practiced and studied with a variety of "teachers" across the globe and made a choice to blend together a fabric of Yoga teachings that is eclectic.   I have worked with a vast majority of practitioners over the 20 years that I have been teaching and I try to weave together what feels right in the moment, for the audience involved, based on my own background... This is what I can do be be authentic in my teaching.  I am a forever student, ... working daily to clear the chatter in my own mind, to work to understand my inner relationships,....and in so doing create a compassionate heart with which to offer guidance on the great journey.  I have always been a passionate person.  I am a lifelong student... I try to be reminded that even as my experience hopefully allows me to encourage others, I am brought amazing lessons daily that come in the form of relationships.  So, in closing, ... what type of Yoga do I teach?  The Yoga that allows you to journey inward and shine brightly forth.

The universe has a plan

Happy and THANKFUL.... As YOGI'S ... 

we INTEND to  "PRACTICE"  gratitude  daily! 

Today, I must call attention to a dear student.... Her name is Allie, and multiple times a year, she is responsible for an ear to ear grin upon my face!  The universal force that draws people together is AMAZING, it is beautiful and then to feel that connection 9 years later.... POWERFUL! Today, I simply call attention to those forces in our lives, those people in our lives, that bring a smile, warm our hearts, remind us of the goodness on the planet!  Thank you Allie, and to all the beings on the planet that offer light in our lives!