Fierce Grace
17 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Consciousness, Ram Dass, Yoga Benefits, Yoga Meditation, Yoga Philosophies
There are times in life when an incident or event are so intense, or overwhelming, that it causes us to stop in our tracks. Fierce means something intense or even violent. Grace has several meanings including divine assistance, a reprieve, or even a pause or turn in music. In trying to find meaning of the term Fierce Grace, I naturally Googled it and found a documentary movie of Ram Dass and his recovery and life after a stroke.
I could relate to a lot of what Dass said as he described the frustration of working with his mind and body, seeing my own mother deal with these same issues in the last few years. For Dass, the overwhelming part, the fierce part, was the stroke; the grace of course was the reprieve or clemency of not having his life end with the stroke. He said he remembered lying there in the ER and looking up at the pipes in the ceiling and try as he might, he could not make the connection to the spiritual. He said he “flunked the test” and was sent back (to continue working on enlightenment). Not only was he given a pause, or turn, as he lay on the table, but he was given clemency and chance to try again. Not fair perhaps, because he has the added limitation of aphasia to contend with, but nevertheless, the opportunity for growth and change, no matter how difficult the obstacles now.
For the rest of us, living in Fierce Grace means aggressively pursuing the change in the trajectory of our journey and the reprieve, pause, or divine intervention it brings, rather than waiting for the universe to force us there. We spend much of life maintaining routines that are safe, but possibly no longer useful. What would it take to suddenly drop the routine? When will we recognize obstacles as blessings? How could we live with less and be more happy? The crumbling away of what we think we know is difficult, but that is transformation. It is an unnerving, but necessary, process. Just as the fierceness of fire transforms solids into gas, the intensity of our lives can help us realize our full potential.
Allowing for the Process of Acceptance
14 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in Consciousness, India 2010, Sattva Yoga, Yoga Classes Jupiter, Yoga Juno Beach, Yoga Meditation, Yoga Palm Beach Gardens, Yoga Philosophies, Yoga Tequesta
The journey of self discovery is a challenging road filled with highs and lows and some eyebrow raising unknowns. We seldom need help with the highs, or even the unknowns, but the lows, well, that can be a problem. We can be crusing along feeling pretty good about our progress, rolling around in the comfort of syncronicity, then without warning, a shift occurs, and we find ourselves sidelined, distressed. We know we can’t make sense of it, yet we try, creating more confusion. The questions of how did this happen, how did I get here, nag at our reason, begging to be answered, but the only answer that really works, or even fits, is pure acceptance of what is.
Swiftly finding our way to acceptance is personal and may not be as swift as we would like. It is useless to try to rationalize our way there because the rational mind has left the building, and we find ourselves keeping company with negative, irrational thoughts that move us in a downward spiral much farther away from acceptance than we ever want to go. So we try to stay in upward spiral. Some may run it out in the park, or work it out in the gym. Others immerse themselves in hobbies, or seek counceling. Meditation and journaling have been helpful for many. How about a good ‘ol cry, or a full on pity party? That works too. Whatever the vehicle, the PROCESS of arriving at acceptance is vital to getting back on track and needs to be respected as a sacred time of transformation and compassion for the self, no matter how undignified you may feel about it, no matter how long it takes.
Acceptance and transformation walk hand in hand and allow us to re-commit to the journey, the highest road within us. Questioning doesn’t work. Seeking wastes energy. Negativity creates a breading ground for fear. As my teacher Anand Mehrotra says “Have more love in your heart than fear. It is too much to ask to not be afraid. Our love can trump the fear.”
Rumi
08 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
in Consciousness, Hatha Yoga, Rumi, Yoga Benefits, Yoga Meditation, Yoga Philosophies
“Look for the answer inside your question.” – Rumi
The Topsy-Turvy of Inversion
19 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
in Consciousness, Flow Yoga, Inversions, Vinyasa Yoga, Yoga Benefits, Yoga Meditation, Yoga Philosophies
I recently attended a holiday event in West Palm Beach, FL called The Festival of the Trees. Twenty-five pine trees were decorated in the style of famous artists or art genres. As I approached one of the displays housed in an outdoor pergola, I observed the christmas tree was hung upside down and decorated. It represented the “Dada Art Movement” that coincided with the outbreak of World War I. This genre was a way for the artists (Dadaists) to speak out against the irrationality of a capitalist society that they felt lead to WWI. At first the tree was amusing, but then the discomfort set in, as I felt the grey-green coldness of the underside of the tree limbs and pine needles, branches folding in on themselves, the silver glass ball decorations dimpling the otherwise smooth-ish surface, seemingly not embellishing it. It was not how a tree should look – or what we have come to believe is the ”correct” way to display a decorated tree: the preferred version with gravity softly opening the branches out and down the way nature intended with a rich, dark Evergreen warmth. Just as the Dada movement was meant to act as a vehicle for social commentary on basically anything conformist, presenting a completely new, and chaotic way of looking at art and life in general, this tree was “chaotic” in a simplistic, non conformist way.
In yoga, we find this same opportunity in inversions - to look at things in a completely different way. Perhaps not so much a social commentary as a spiritual one, inversions awaken our inner dialogue to consider approaching life in a different way on a personal level; shaking up what we know to be comfortable spiritually and physically. In the physical realm, inversions allow us to literally change our visual perspective, as well as the way in which the body is supported (on our hands, head or arms) which can alone open the doors of personal change. However, being upside down also has the scientific/medical benefit of taking the more toxic properties of our digestive system below the naval center, and with gravity, moving them towards the “fire” or “Agni” above the naval center where we can literally burn off the excess that no longer serve us. Spiritually, inversions invite chaos as a way of releasing habitual routines and perceptions, allowing for growth through adaptation, and consequently a transformation of our understanding of pretty much everything.
Glancing at the Dada Christmas tree over my shoulder as I turned to leave, having made my peace with it, I snickered at the similarity of my own experience in the completely different medium of yoga with the Dada art movement several decades before my time. While the movement lasted only about 5-6 years, the ideas that it presented have been replicated and repeated continuously throughout history in different forms, even in my world of yoga. The topsy-turvy tree with topsy-turvy inversions . . . questioning everything obvious, offering change.
India and Beyond
10 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
in Beachfront Yoga Classes, India 2010, Nisargadatta, Rishikesh, Sattva Yoga, Yoga Classes Jupiter, Yoga Juno Beach, Yoga Palm Beach Gardens, Yoga Philosophies, Yoga Tequesta
“What you have learned here becomes the seed. You may forget it apparently. But it will live and in due season sprout and grow and bring forth flowers and fruits. All will happen by itself. You need not do anything; only not prevent it.” – Nisargadatta
Embracing the wild side of life, leaving what we know to be comfortable and familiar, will almost always create a permanent energetic shift in every direction and facet of our life experience. Even if we are blissfully happy in our routine and not in search of even a sliver of adventure, the road less traveled will find us, defying any logic or reason we try to argue against it with.
I had many reasons to not make this journey to India. I never felt that I needed to travel half way around the world for an experience – not even for yoga. Yet, when I completed my first full certification of 2oo RYT (registered yoga teacher), I felt that something was missing; that it all seemed two-dimensional and I could feel there was more. The thought that maybe I needed to experience yoga in its purest form in the place where it all began 5,000 years ago started pestering my conscience. As quickly and frequently as the idea manifested, I dismissed it with multiple, viable reasons why it was a bad idea to make this journey: money, time, my parents, my husband, my dogs . . . all of that, but still, the idea kept returning. Call it karma, Kismet, whatever, a wild wind was literally blowing one Saturday during a beach yoga class that I was participating in. My teacher encouraged all of us to sometimes embrace our wild side, shake up our lives, asking us what were we waiting for? Within an hour, I registered for a 10 day intensive with Sattva Yoga Center in Rishikesh, India. Shake up my life, I certainly did! I had many opportunities to question my motives, to back out, right up until the day I departed the USA. India kept drawing me to her like a magnate, still unable to really rationalize or make sense of it. Therein lies the lesson – that not everything makes sense in life. The death of a loved one, good fortune, misfortune, the path our lives take, etc. none of these are ever reasoned or explained adequately, if at all. Still, they happen, and mysteriously, are intended to move us forward although sometimes cruelly, transforming us in a metamorphosis type way. We are still “we,” only more informed, more aware, more capable versions of ourselves.
Looking back, I know now that I needed to experience yoga in this sacred and holy place of Rishikesh. It has changed the way I perceive and teach yoga & meditation. More importantly though was the experience of the Indians themselves. Their genuine, often light-hearted, direct, respectful nature was like a comfortable hug of friendship and spirituality combined. They welcomed all of us in our small tribe of yogis sharing their customs, traditions, families and hearts. Just when I thought I knew all there was to know about acceptance and non judgment, this mystical place revealed another opportunity to expand the boundaries of my perception. Just as Sattva Yoga is more of an “experience” rather than a type of yoga, so too is India itself, an experience rather than an exotic destination. What began as me unreasonably embracing my wild side, ended with India unexpectedly embracing me. I have yet to know fully how completely what I learned in and about India has affected me, but as Nisargadatta says it will sprout and grow and bring forth fruit – - and I shall not try to prevent it through reason or explanation.
Non-attachment
31 Jul 2010 Leave a Comment
in Yoga Palm Beach Gardens, Yoga Philosophies
If we were asked to describe ourselves, what would we say? Maybe we would make reference to our age, our job, our family, where we live, our hobbies or the things we like to do. Just watch any of the game shows like Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune, every time Alex Tribeck or the other guy asks the contestant to tell the audience about themselves, each and every one says anything BUT something about themselves, such as I am married to a wonderful husband of (#) years, I have (#) wonderful children and I am a homemaker; or I’m a systems analyst for ABC company and I love to fish in my spare time. We are more apt to refer to what we do with our time, what occupies our day, rather than really answering Mr. Tribeck with some description of the self. This is what we call in yogic philosophy as attachment, and is at the very heart of frustration and self loathing.
Many of us do really identify with occupations and possessions and those of our family members almost as a measuring stick of accomplishment. It is just something we have grown accustomed to as humans. Of course, these things really are accomplishments and we should be extremely proud, and we should enjoy them to the fullest. However, we also need to be able to detach from them as well, seeing them as separate from our “self” and knowing that they no more describe the real self any more than saying the ocean is made of salt water would thoroughly describe it. Things are just things – wonderful, material manifestations of our perception of happiness, however fleeting that happiness may be. Our self is really “our truth,” and our truth is our soul or “spirit.” Even our children and grandchildren whom we identify with, while they are not “things,” are separate forms of energy with their own unique properties, and do not describe who we are, nor have they ever really belonged to us. They are just borrowed, as is time itself, and all of it will be gone at some point, including the human form. We all belong to the larger entity of oneness, to a higher power that is beyond our comprehension.
To identify oneself with the body and yet seek happiness is like attempting to cross a river on the back of an alligator. In truth, you are Spirit. The body has been projected by the mind, which itself originates from Spirit. If the wrong identification ceases, there will be peace and permanent, indescribable bliss. ~ Ramana Maharshi
So yes, continue to love and enjoy all the “things” in life including yourself and your body, but know that even life is simply our projection of our understanding, a tangible something that allows the mind to do its job by making sense of all the information it receives. Who are you? You are limitless, boundless, reflections of divinity (repeat that to yourself every day). Detachment – it’s a process!
