Balance

Most people get a fair amount of fun out of their lives, but on balance life is suffering, and only the very young or the very foolish imagine otherwise.

~George Orwell

For every ying there is a yang - for every good deed there is one that may not be so great. Life is balance and balance it life. Having a life filled with happiness and joy is possible, but knowing and understanding that happiness is something worth fighting for.

Yes - at times it can be hard - but that is balance. Each trial we have will teach us a new way to be happy. When you are feeling low always remember the lowest low is only a precursor to something great and that in the darkest moment is when we find how important faith is and when we see a new level of clarity. Clarity that shows us what we're really made of.

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony.

~Thomas Merton

Meditation

"I am balance. I am centered. I am grounded."

Come to a comfortable seat, adjusting the flesh from your sitting bones and find yourself grounded where you are. Breathing in deeply all the way down to your belly and exhale completely. With each breath begin to count back from ten all the way down to the number one - each time you find a though enter your mind, allow it to slip away and in stead offer up your own mantra.

Today I choose, "I am balanced. I am centered. I am grounded."

Know that your mind is a working machine, so do not become angry with yourself if outside life keeps gnawing at you. Just simply breathe and bring your attention back to your mantra. Wether you sit for five minutes - which is a very reasonable time for a beginner - or an hour, follow the cadence of your breath and your voice filling in the spaces between your breaths until you fill the room with you.

Breathe and let go.

The light and spirit inside of me, honors the light and spirit inside of you.

~namaste

Living life limitless

"Limitations live only in our minds. But if we use our imaginations, our possibilities become limitless."
~ Jamie Paolinetti

As children it's easy to see 1000 different ways to spend our day. When the sky gives us rain, we splash in the puddles. When the air turns cold and snow piles up we build forts and have snow ball fights.

Children look at this difficult weather and make it into a joyous occasion and then they grow and we see it as a burden. We limit the world around us.

It's easy to get caught up in the humdrum of life and become so focused on one pinpoint spot in time we lose sight of all the wonders around us, and all the wonders that are inside of us. There is no right and wrong - there are only mistakes that teach us how to do it better the next time. Life is filled with fascinating lessons that we go through each day and what we get out of them should help us to see that the possibilities really are limitless.

All you really need is faith in yourself, the will to work harder than you ever have and embrace the passion that flows through you - and then you will see the glass ceiling wasn't really there at all.

"We all have possibilities we don't know about. We can do things we don't even dream we can do"
~Dale Carnegie

Meditation

"I am free to be the person I want to be. The possibilities in my life are limitless."

Find a quiet spot to lie down - if the weather permits it, outside would be perfect. Lie on your back in savasana with your shoulder blades rolled onto your back, allow your feet to fall open naturally and your hands to rest on the ground next to you, palms open to the sky.

Allow your eyes to soften. Allow your jaw to relax. Feel your body sink into the ground below you. Notice each point of your body that is connecting with the earth and realize that you are safe, you are grounded, you can let go. Then begin to chant either in your mind our out into the air that surrounds you - "I am free to be the person I want to be. The possibilities in my life are limitless."

Breathe in and out the millions and millions of possibilities that surround you and the opportunities you can have it you simply ask. You are free to be the person you want to be. Your life is limitless.

Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Salute)

Come to stand in tadasana (mountain pose) with your feet hip width distance apart. Stacking your knees over your ankles, hips over your knees and shoulders over your hips - inhale - swan dive upwards, drawing your arms out to the side all the way above your head. Keeping your fingers wide and your hands active, gently bring your gaze to your hands.

On your next exhale, draw your hands together at your heart in Anjali Mudra (prayer mudra) and slightly bow your head.

The light and spirit in me, honors the light and spirit in you

~Namaste

Simply You

“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.” ~John Jakes

It's easy to allow those we care about sway our thought process. Allowing their fears and anxieties come through and carry over to our own lives. But the truth is, on the road to happiness, you must take care of yourself first.

Some may say this is a "selfish" or "greedy" idea to have, but this is not the suggestion you see yourself better than those around you. No, it is a statement that if you don't stand your ground about the things that are the essence of you - you will never be the person you were born to be.

"OM"

The simplest mantra. The perfect sound. OM has not specific meaning, yet it means everything thing. It speaks of God, it speaks of you, it cleanses the air - it is the perfect mantra to clear away the cobwebs and clutter around our true self.

Pronounced A-U-M, each letter sung out through and through. It begins and ends most other mantras. It is many parts - yet still a whole, just like you. According to Sharon Gannon and David Life - the founders of Jivamukti, "The word OM beautifully expresses the four states of consciousness; jagrat (waking), swapna (dreaming), sushupti (deep sleep) and turiya (samadhi)... Each part of the symbol for OM represents a different state of consciousness."

That is why the very essence of OM is here to help you on your path. It is everything, just like you.

Anjali Mudra

Placing your hands together, at your heart and pressing your thumbs into your sternum - Anjali Mudra is synonymous with Indian Culture. Used to greet people hello and good-bye and it is the most common mudra used in meditation and most often accompanied with a bowed head.

In simplicity we will find freedom. The freedom to live, love and learn and the freedom to be ourselves.

Easy pose - Sukhasana - is when you come to sit in a simple crossed legged style. This pose has many benefits from stretching your legs and knees to helping you ground yourself. Finding easy pose may not be that easy, but once you find yourself centered - perhaps sitting on a blanket or a block. Pressing your hands together at your heart, allowing your eyes fall to close and inhaling deeply then releasing OM from the debts of your being.

Let go of the tensions of life.

Let go of the expectations of others.

Find your inner guru and just be.

~Namaste

Fear = Transition

I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong - Benjamin Franklin

The biggest fear that ruins life is that our dreams will end in failure. We move away from scary situations, clinging onto comfort and the illusion of stability instead of reaching for our dreams assuming that bravery is lined with ease, but not understanding that failure is just a lesson brought on to teach us what we are truly capable of.

The only true way to fail is to give up completely - if you have a dream or a goal and you keep working towards it, one day you will reach that goal. It may take hours, it may take years - but nothing worth having has ever been easy to obtain.

Bravery is pushing past your fears, it is to keep moving even when you're afraid. Strength is knowing that our imagination holds the trailers to our future and this moment is the future we were worried about yesterday.

AUM VAKRATUNDAYA HUM - Ganesha Purana

It is said if you repeat this mantra 1008 times it will bring you strength and healing. It will help when things aren't working either on a personal or universal level. Locally or internationally, this mantra - and Ganesha - is here for you when our minds drift off to bad places; become negative; depressed; or we feel simply discouraged by every day life. Turning towards Ganesha will help you move back to the brighter path in your life.

Abhaya "Fearless" & Varada "Giving or Welcome" Mudras

Abhaya "Fearless" symbolized protection, peace and dispelling fear. The Right hand is held at shoulder height with your palm facing outward. "I come in peace" it is a gesture that shows the hand is empty of weapons and a sign of friendship and peace.

According to Buddhist History, the Buddha made this gesture right after receiving enlightenment.

Varada "Giving" or "Welcome" mudra symbolises charity and compassion. It is the mudra of accomplishment of the wish to devote oneself to Human Salvation. Almost always made with the left hand, it can be made with the arm hanging neutral or your palm sitting up and open on your knee.

The five fingers symbolize: Generosity, Morality, Patience, Effort and Meditative Concentration. This mudra is rarely used alone.

Crow - "Bakasana"

Crow, or Bakasana, helps to strengthen wrist, forearms, and abdomen. It improves your balance - yet crow can be a rather scary pose. Balancing all of your weight onto your two hands, with your face inches away from the floor can feel daunting and like a recipe for disaster - but crow teaches us how to let go, to be free and to fly. When you are properly aligned there is nothing to fear.

Place your hands on your mat, this is your foundation. Fingers wide and creases of your writs facing forward, walk your knees onto your upper arms - but before you begin to lift your legs be sure that your arms are aligned above your writs and that you are engaging your core. Then try to lift one foot at a time, taking your gaze forward and then organically moving into the pose.

Fear is the moment we realize that what we want is worth being brave for, and it is the moment we understand that what we were is not the only thing we were meant to be. All great things come out of conflict, transition and they push past fear.

Now go find your crow and fly.

~Namaste

Patience

When you decided to add a mantra to your meditation practice it's easy to begin a quest trying to seek out the mantra that is right for you. By surfing the internet, reading books like "Mantras: Words of Power" by Swami Sivananda Radha, then you may feel overwhelmed by the amount of mantras out there for the taking.

Should it be in Sanskrit?

Should it be Buddhist?

Should it refer to the doctrine I was raised under?

This task can become daunting and that pressure may lead you to just give up all together. So simplicity is key. Just like all things in the Universe, when we are meant to have something - it will come to us. The Buddha stated that "Money is like water, try to grab it and it flows away, open your hands and it will move towards you." This is true with everything in life, not just money. The riches of love, happiness, companionship - patience is the key.

When you are seeking out your mantra and you are met with the myriad of questions from "Who is Lakshmi?" to what the intent is, is it the same as yours?

Just wait.

I find that when I feel it's time to find a new mantra, after looking and reading and researching - somewhere in the middle of my day I'll find it rolling around in my head, my own voice chanting the words.

In Catholic Doctrine they list 52 attributes known as virtues that range from Assertiveness to Unity, but while all of them server an important purpose in life - patience should always float to the top.

If we pause

If we breathe

If we wait

What we need will come to us, no, maybe not in the form we though it would - but it will be there, I can tell you that much.

Shuni Mudra "The Seal of Patience"

Formed by placing the thumb against the tip of the middle finger, the Shuni Mudra is said to prompt patience.

Shuni is translated to "Saturn" just as the middle finger is representation of the same planet, and Saturn is known as the Task Master. In charge of the Law of Karma, taking hold of responsibility, courage, duty. Saturn helps you to be disciplined. This mudra holds the ability to give you stability and strength.

Eka Pada Rajakapotasana "One Legged King Pigeon Pose"

This pose stretched out the thighs, groin, psoas, abdominal, chest, shoulders and neck. The first in a series of pigeon poses, beginning on the right with your shin parallel with the top of your mat and your left leg stretched out behind you - making sure your left foot is lying straight and not leaning to the right or left side. Breathing in and elongating the side bodies then folding over the front leg. Holding this pose on each side for a minute each.

Breathing into your groin and the psoas and letting go.

"We find that patience is the best means we have of defending ourselves internally from anger's destructive effects"

~ The Dalai Lama

May you have a beautiful week

~Namaste~

Why we meditate

What wise man is eaten up with doubts about happiness in this life and the next? Intelligent men make meditation the essential thing.

~ Atisa Dipankara Shrijnana

When we meditate we are taking a moment to clear out the mind, by silencing the voices in our head we open ourselves up to a whole new universe of possibilities and ideas. Yes, I'm sure you've heard this all before, and yes, it can be hard to take that time to get to a point where the clutter and clamoring noised in our heads cease - but once this has been accomplished... there is just so much more to come.

Meditation is an ancient practice that over time is still as relevant and important as it was when Siddhartha sat under the bodhi tree, and just as Siddhartha obtained enlightenment and became the "Buddha" ("Awakened One"), we can sit and take the path to enlighten even if we live in a one room apartment in the middle of an industrialized city.

Peace and understand is available for all.

Why do we meditate? Because it allows us to see what is around us, removing the distractions and obstacles we place in our own path, bringing us one step closer to peace of mind and relaxation.

Some disregard meditation as something only little men in orange robes sitting deep inside a damp cave somewhere in India or Tebet, but that is a fallacy brought on by miss communication and elitist attempting to keep to themselves. You can learn to meditate by sitting with a pet and merely petting them or cooking your favorite dish for the people you love.

The secret is this - breath and let go.

When I speak of mantras and mudras - these are things that fascinate me and that fascination and love drives me to share them with you - but you do not need to memorized the 216 verses of the Gurugita in order to let go and meditate. You're mantra can simply be, "Let go" or "Who am I?" or even "Today I will just be." And your mudra can be your hands placed at your heart, fingers buried in dirt as you weed your garden or brushing against the hair of your beloved cat/dog.

This week take 10 minutes for yourself and do something that you love. Whatever it may be remember to breath, to let go and to smile.

You're mantra for this week is: WHO AM I?

You're mudra is what ever feels right

and your asana is: FULL WHEEL

~namaste~

Mantras & Mudras

Life tends to move pretty fast. Before we even realize what's happening our weeks have turned into months and years, we find ourselves drifting out to sea - guideless - wish we could change the past but knowing we never can.

Each month I like to pick a theme for my yoga classes. I began with fear two months ago, then I moved on to the Self. This month, the month of July (and I'm beginning to think it will also be the theme for August) is "Mantra's and Mudras" two of my very favorite things about yoga, meditation and finding peace.

This week I would like to introduce to you the Lotus Mudra.

The gesture of the Lotus Mudra is to cup your hands together, having the heel of your palms, the edges of the pinkies and thumbs touch with the rest of the fingers opening wide in the shape of a Lotus Flower.

The mudra is to be held in front of the heart, as it's meant to work with the heart chakra - Anahata Chakra. With the Lotus Mudra you are to begin with the "petals" of your Lotus flower open, fingers spread wide. Take 4 deep inhalations and 4 deep exhalations. After the last exhalation draw the tips of your fingers together, touching, forming your hand into a Lotus Blossom.

Lower your blossom down towards your navel for a moment, the let it rise back towards your heart - and the petals open again.

Repeat this motion several times (carry it through your entire meditation).

The Mantra of the Heart Chakra is YAM, please feel free to change this mantra in correlation with the use of the Lotus Mudra, but that is not our Mantra for this week.

The Goddess Lakshmi is the Hindu Goddess of Wealth and Beauty of both physical and spiritual achievements.  The word "Lakshmi" is derived from the Sanskrit word "Laksme" which mean goal. So Goddess Lakshmi represents the "Goal of Life."

That is why I chose the Lotus Mudra - so you can cup your goal of life by your heart as you chant to the Goddess Lakshmi.

OH SHRIM MAHA LAKSHMIYEI SWAHA

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RrOdLVM_k0&hl=en_US&fs=1]

The balance of your heart and your hearts desires will help you bring forth balance in every aspect of your life. When you are opened to what you really want and who you really choose to be you can accomplish anything.

Finding the right yoga practice, meditation, mantra and mudra for your own life is a blissful way to help realize that balance.

Once you have sat with your Lotus Mudra, cupping your dreams at your heart as you listen and feel the words OH SHRIM MAHA LAKSHMIYEI SWAHA pour through your being - peace will fill you.

And once you have found peace I give you our pose of the week - Ardha Chandrasana (half moon pose)

Be happy.

Be free.

Be kind to yourself and others.

And most of all be the change you want to see in the world.

~Namaste~