Grow into yourself

Spring has sprung!  This is my favorite time of year.  Not only are the days getting longer, but there is so much beauty with the trees blossoming back to life.  Spring is a turning point in nature from the darker days of winter to a springing forth of growth and re-emergence of life. This spark of life longs to grow and manifest into the fullest experience of itself.  But there is a period of risk anytime something undergoes a growth period. If you want to evolve and develop you have to take new challenges and allow yourself to feel vulnerable. It's easier to feel safe and protected, but that just leads to more of the same.  For real growth to occur we must go out on a limb to find the fruit.

Even our spiritual growth and development can feel vulnerable if we don't feel the support and safety of our practice.  Think of your practices as a safe harbor that you can anchor into in times of rough seas. Our spiritual path is like a boat that is meant to go on adventurous explorations. The more we can rely on what provides a save haven, the more we can give ourselves permission to go explore.  We are not meant to stay stuck in the safe zone.  There is a deep desire to discover our highest nature. It takes courage to rise to the challenge and leave the shore. The risk is worth it. Enjoy your adventure of becoming more of yourself.

Please click the link below to listen to my newest recording on how to safe enough to take a risk and grow.

Take a bite out of life

Have you ever tasted something really yummy, and before you know it, it is gone?  What happened in that time when you were devouring it? Were you actually focused on its favor and taste?

Too often we consume life mindlessly and don't take the time to really savor it.  The problem with this is that we keep trying to fill ourselves up, but never feel satiated. This empty void can never be filled up by quantity. We can only feel full when we have quality experiences that make us really appreciate this gift of life.

Today in class we talked about how to savor the rich experience of living. Please click the link below to listen to my newest recording.

Adjust your pace

So are you feeling like life is getting ahead of you and you have to catch up? What about the times that you feel stuck and feel frustrated you are not moving ahead?

There is a great quote that says, "How you do one thing is how you do everything."  This is so true for me.  The pace I have in one area of my life is often carried over mindlessly into others.  Without awareness of this pace, I could easily feel like I was run over, or conversely, stuck in the flow of life.  For example, rushing to work to get there on time could make me an anxious wreck all day. If I wasn't aware of that nervous pull, that stress would carry over into my work and the rest of the day would be a mess.

Luckily having a yoga practice helps us to become more sensitive to the flow of energy that surrounds us. Yoga is the practice of getting to know who you really are, and knowing how you are in the world. It is from that knowledge that we can make choices that are more life affirming and enhancing.  This deep inquiry gives us a greater ability to match the pace of life.

Today in class I talked about a story of how getting stuck in traffic helped me to know which way to go. Please click the link below to listen to my newest recording.

Rituals reveal the reality of your sacred self

Rituals and ceremony are the ways that we create what is meaningful.  All traditions use some form of ritual such as prayer, meditation or contemplation to connect to our highest selves. They transform what is ordinary and mundane into what is sacred and extraordinary.  It is when we use these ceremonies that we are creating a deeper commitment to uncovering the sacred within the mundane.

I found it very appropriate on this April Fool's Day, to talk about how we often get tricked into thinking that we are separate from Source energy.  The way we see ourselves is usually separate from the divine.  This dualistic viewpoint see that the ordinary is different from the extraordinary.  Conversely, yoga helps us to see that we are embodiments of spirit. This "non-dual" philosophy believes that the immortal chose to become mortal - as you.  When we create rituals in our life we are opening a portal into seeing our divine nature. Ceremonies infuse meaning into the moment. With them, the mundane, material self wakes up to see the sacred Self at its core.

We are not "other." The divine is within.

Today in class I talked about how to create rituals in your life in order to uncover your sacred self. In invite you to click the link below to listen to this newest recording.

Relationships need space and proximity

Good relationships need a balance of closeness and distance.  Even when you really love to be with someone, it is still healthy to take some time for yourself.  We are in relationship with many people in our life, but the most intimate one is with yourself.  How do you find space within? How can you find more connection to your essence?

Today in class I talked about how every good relationship needs a balance of closeness and distance.  I invite you to click the link below to listen to this newest recording.

Be a student of life

If you are not learning, then you are not growing. If you are not growing, then you are not living.

For us to enjoy this life, we need to be a student of it.  The first step to studentship is to be curious.  This inquisitive nature allows us to be open to the full possibility of what we will discover. This open-minded inquiry helps us to pay attention to the subtle things that can often be ignored.  The second step of studentship is to be committed to the discovery.  Just like we have to practice a new skill to master it, we must be consistent in our practicing of learning and apply it into our lives.

Yoga helps us to discover our hearts- to listen curiously to the ebb and flow of the energy within.  It takes dedication- an inner promise to ourselves, to uncover our inner light.  Having a teacher on this path is important because they have already blazed a path to follow, but ultimately, it is you that needs to take the steps of this journey.  A good teacher helps you know your way, but only you know if it is the right way.

Today in class I talked about how to be a student of your life.  I invite you to click the link below to listen to this newest recording.

Karma and Lila and the play of opposites

Life can be both profound and explained.

How and why things occur can sometimes be explained with "cause and effect."  Defining the world in this way is called karma.  Karma describe the causality of why things happen. For example: when "A" happens, "B" will result.  By defining the world in this way we can see patterns that help us feel more certain and secure in our lives. The problem of only seeing our lives this way is that it is too limiting.  Many things in life are too complex, too profound, to have simple black or white explanations.

The flow of our life is not so linear nor simplistic. Many times things happen "just because."  Sometimes good (and bad) events occur without a reason for it.  This experience of life without explanation is called Lila.  Lila is chance- a random occurence. It is called the play of consciousness because the divine is profound in its way of living through us. Instead of defining something as this or that, it is ALL that is possible. When we are open to all that is possible, we are open to all of our life - even the parts we don't understand.

Knowing whether karmic or lilic forces are at play is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress and struggle in your life.  Today in class I talked about how to have greater efficacy in the flow of your life.  I invite you to click the link below to listen to this newest recording.

Family is sacred

Our spiritual life is not separate from our everyday life.  Both our yoga practice and our family have a wonderful way of inviting us to live from our heart.

Living as a householder yogi is no differerent than living a spiritual life, and in fact, allows you to become even more connected to the divine.

Family = Love
The divine = Love
therefore: the family = the divine

Being in connection is the essence of both spiritual and familial relationships. Both allow you to reconnect to your divine nature in three ways:

~ You feel supported by something bigger than yourself.

~ You realize that you can love someone or something more than yourself.

~ Shows you relationships are the link between the individual and the whole.

I invite you to enjoy today's theme that discusses how the material world and the spiritual world are interwoven through the family.

How do you synchronize with life?

Have you ever had one of those moments that made you stop and say "whoa"?!  Anything that makes you stop in your tracks is the very moment that the divine says wake up and pay attention.

Although they may seem like coincidences, there are many moments that signal from the divine that you are on the right tract.

These are times that life gives us  messages that what is occuring is meaningful.  All we need to do is to get more sensitive and pay attention to these big eye-opening moments that tell us we are heading in the right direction.

Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist from the 1920's, defined synchronized as two events that seem unrelated by cause and effect that actually have a relationship based on an apparent  meaningfulness.  Most of us have had situations that make us wake up and think, "wow, what a coincidence!" - but was it really?

Please enjoy this newest recording on how we can synchronize more to the life we live.

Sometimes things in life just match up.  When we are synchronized to life, it will let us know so we can continue on that path.

Be at peace with yourself

How often do you negate your worth?  Are you uncomfortable with receiving a compliment? Do you compare yourself with others and judge yourself so often that you want to be something other than yourself?

You are not alone. In fact, the very fact that you were born human means that you have experienced this about yourself. We long to change ourselves and become something better.  But consider this, if you are in a constant state of trying to improve yourself, it's a subtle aggression towards yourself. We are too often in a state of war with ourselves. Living in conflict with yourself, trying to become something different from what you were born to be, becomes a major source of pain and suffering.

In yoga. the malas are the cloaks that conceal us from seeing our true nature as pure spirit. Our very essence is auspicious and divine.  However, this nature is concealed to us in three different ways.  One of the ways to describe the malas is  "should've, would've, and could've."  We think we should be different.  We wish we could more like someone else. We think we would be happier if we would have done something differently.  These three: anava, maiya and karma malas cover and block out light that is always within.  Our yoga helps us to dissolve and uncover these blocks so we can reveal the true worth and beauty of being you, exactly as you are.

Please enjoy this newest recording about the ways we can enhance who we are without feeling we need to fix ourselves.