Being Radha

An expanded heart

2010-07-07T11:11:00.004-04:00

Just when I thought that I was the most lucky in love, head over heels lady in the world... I just tumbled through the rabbit hole to a whole new depth and dimension of love that I never knew existed. Enter baby Liam Henry. Wow... I had heard tales that there is no greater love than that of a mother's for her child and now I know it's true. Being the youngest in my family, I was never much of a "baby" person. I just wasn't into holding other people's babies and my Dad was even a little uncertain as to whether I would even have children... for some time, I think I felt the same. And now I wonder... what was my dharma before I had him? My spiritual purpose? He is most definitely the beginning of a lifetime of fulfillment.

With this said, he is fueling my fire of inspiration to teach yoga again with more passion and creativity than I ever had before. I see so much beauty in all the eyes around me. Seeing equanimity in all humankind, seeing the soul inside that makes us all intertwined as one. Inevitably this birth of my first child has brought me to a rebirth in my yoga practice and therefore, my teachings. I have found a new humble place that sits just behind my Ego during my practice...gently tapping me on my shoulder when I want "more." And so my heart has secretly unfolded into a newly expanded heart that now reflects all the beauty that resides inside.

Jai Jai Jai!!!!

a yin memorial weekend

2009-05-26T10:38:00.006-04:00

This memorial day weekend took me to Asheville NC where my hubby and I honeymooned 4 years ago. On a whim and a recommendation, i decided to take a Yin Yoga teacher training course here at the Asheville Yoga Center and i'm so grateful to have followed that intuition. It was one of the most enlightening yogic experiences that I've had to date. Part of it was the deep connection that I felt with the teacher, Shala, even though we had never met and few words passed between us. There is beauty in walking into an experience without any expectations of what you'll learn or what experience you're about to have. My intention was merely to allow the teachings wash over me. In previous classes and trainings, I have found myself trying to suck the knowledge out of it until I find myself bone dry and questioning myself on what I had learned. This time was different. It was truly an exercise in quieting the left-brain tendency of setting labels on things, and opening up to the right-brain, the yin side, where there are no boundaries in consciousness.

Initially, when I think about Yin Yoga, I think about depth in posture and openness in the joint and connective tissue. My experience couldn't be further from this initial perception. There was certainly depth and certainly openness, but as one yogini stated so poignantly, it was as if the mud were being stirred up at the bottom of a lake. The sediment had been sitting there so long that to stir it up created a great cloud of emotional stuff and then such a clearing. Oh, what a clearing.

One of the most liberating pieces of this experience was being completely anonymous. Nobody knew who I was and I was not "lululemon." I was just a student. Such wonderful simplicity in just being that. It's just that.

Now I find my heart to be so free and open. My mind clear and receptive. I have so much to share and so many things to look forward to including now. Funny that it was memorial day weekend and I had my own loss or memorial to heal.

Radha gets her Groove back...

2008-12-29T07:51:00.003-05:00

Most often a period of suffering and pain provides time for deep contemplation and if we're open to it...a period of healing. Suffering is a vehicle for us to step outside of ourselves and see that we are not the only ones who suffer. And that our suffering is not nearly as severe as many. This suffering has taken me to a place of unwavering gratitude. I find a blessing in almost everything around me...still working on that almost part. I'm finding that I am surrounded by amazing people, teachers in every face I come across. Eyes, words and hands helping to heal my open wounds with love and empathy. Gratitude.

One teacher of mine, Tricia, said to me, "God teaches us to hold on loosely to things in our life because you never know when you have to let go." This is sometimes hard to hear, but I realize how attached I've become to certain things and it's time to "not take it too seriously"...thank you, Kyle, another wonderful teacher.

So, this period of great healing has brought me back to the mat with more discipline, more calmness and more of a feeling of necessity for the practice. "To become a great teacher, one must practice more than teach..." thank you, Victoria.

Gratitude.

Speak yourself into existence

2008-08-24T07:17:00.004-04:00

Much of what I am learning about life is that we create our lives moment by moment by a series of conscious and unconscious choices. If we can simultaneously be conscious throughout those choices then we will be consciously living, awake and alive. Part of that truth resides on the confidence one has with herself...do I trust my own voice? Voice being an extension of the breath, breath being life and the spirit...do I trust my own spirit? Good question...I realize that this is a question that I have been working on without realizing that I need to make this choice. It is an age old question of faith. Faith in yourself and ultimately faith in the spirit...faith in God. God has given me this voice to use as a tool for healing myself, others and the universe. All I have to do is trust this voice, trust God's voice that comes out of my lips. Why do I doubt? I know and can feel the fear that makes my throat feel tight, my heart beat fast...And when I release my voice and speak life into fruition, I feel free and light.

There is no coincidence that I went to a Song Healing workshop after only last weekend realizing that my throat chakra is where I'm locked right now. Why is it I can teach yoga to a group of 40 people, but when I speak in front of my peers I doubt myself? Krishnamurti says to always face it. Face that fear that wells up. Unlock the tightness by becoming one with it. Once we start to realize that we are fear instead of separate from it...we'll stop running away from it...we'll become part of it and then it can melt like the sand under a tide.

In yoga we talk about intention...setting your intention for your practice and we also talk about speaking with intention. This is my lesson. Speak with intention. Every word uttered is an expression of the spirit so make it a conscious intention as it vibrates throughout the entire universe...Speak with love. Speak with kindness. Speak with no judgment. Speak from the heart which is the spirit which is the breath. And last but not least, Just speak...Find the expression that is dying to come out and speak it, sing it, SCREAM IT....Just let it out!

Landmark letters

2008-07-15T12:39:00.002-04:00

I recently went to the Landmark Forum and there are a series of exercises that you are asked to do in order to complete your past so that you can truly start to reside in the present moment. From your present moment, you can really create any possibility. Part of the exercise is to write a few letters to people you have been inauthentic with in your life and then you share your letter with your partner. It is important for me to share both of my letters here on this blog. The first letter is to my brother, and the second letter is to myself.

Dear Jimmy,

What I came to Landmark to accomplish is to improve my communication skills. What I am actually accomplishing is finding out what I'm holding back in my own self-expression in all of my relationships, especially the one with you. the possibility I have invented for myself and my life is the the possibility of being a fully self-expressive and inspiring leader/yoga teacher and leave my fear behind. I feel that being fully expressive means that I have to confront the issues that we have in our family. I want to apologize for not reaching out to you sooner. i feel that I am missing out on being a great Aunt to your kids. I just want you to know that I love you, Nikki, and the kids and I am ready to leave everything behind and start fresh with our family. i would like to extend an invitation to you to get together the next time you're in town to talk.
I love you, Jessica

Hello Me,

i came to the Landmark Forum with lululemon athletica and I came here to find out why I react to things the way that I do. What I am actually accomplishing is finding out that we are all scared of being alone and the truth is that there are people all around us...How could anyone ever possibly be alone. It is because we choose to isolate ourselves. The possibility I have invented for myself and my life is to inspire others and make a difference in the world. Through my yoga teachings, i have the power to impact humanity in a positive way by showing people the tools that we all own to be in touch with their true selves. It would be awesome to teach yoga to abused women to so they can find the strength within themselves to lead a pain-free life...to let them know they are not alone.

I have been selfish to you by not sticking to commitments in many areas of life, with friends and family. Through commitment to myself, I can be more committed in other areas of life. I make a commitment to not say "Yes" to everything and everyone and voice my opinion when I am enrolling others in staying true to themselves. I allow other people in my life and give them unconditional love without expecting anything in return. I acknowledge that I can't do everything myself and I invite others in my life to help me when I'm feeling overwhelmed.

i've been resenting that others can do it "better" and I accept that I do it the way I do it and am open to learn new ways to do things. I regret I haven't communicated with an open heart to other people in my life and that is the way to be truly authentic. i realize that at work i have been getting pulled into other people's drams instead of coaching them out. I offer my voice from my heart, from my true self, to stand and be authentic with myself by being t rue in my word to other people. I commit to not worrying about what people think of me and act in a way to positively impact the future of humanity. i invite you to stay committed to this possibility and to your integrity.

Love, me

i continue to look at this and I know that I have followed through with some of these things, but revisiting this place is important in my personal development. To whoever reads this, thank you for allowing me to share this very tender part of my heart.

Blessings Galore

2008-07-06T15:32:00.002-04:00

It has taken me over a month to write about the momentous event of being in the presence of the living Guru of Ashtanga Yoga, Sri K Pattabhi Jois. Here he is with his daughter, Saraswathi, at the grand opening of the Ashtanga Research Institute located in Islamorada, FL.

When I bowed before his feet and honored the puja blessing, I can say that I felt like I was a part of a historical event taking place. After I bowed, I gazed into Guruji's eyes, and they were both ethereal and sharp. It was as if I was gazing into an egoless pool of love that had infinite depth, and I immediately was zapped into a state of divine humbleness.

One thing that I learned is that even though I bowed in honor of the lineage that I practice and teach so diligently is that he is but a man. We are all made of the same essence and it is important to see just that. Peeling past the layers of what we deem "is" by what we "think" in our own ego-centered opinions and merely seeing something for its true nature...a mirror of our own state of being.

Form vs Formlessness

2008-05-19T09:07:00.002-04:00

Through yoga philosophy we know that we are all part of ONE universal energy or consciousness and that this energy is Formless. Regardless of age, race, sex, creed, status or even thought....we are all connected through this vibration. The body and everything in our lives is but a physical manifestation or FORM of that underlying formlessness. Everything we have become and everything we are becoming is just a result of that which we have created for ourselves through thought and experience. In this constant state of Evolution....birth, preservation, death, rebirth, etc...We are solely responsible for the creation of new thoughts and those moving you toward your goals...Whatever they may be....This can be actualized through meditaion on the goal until the Formless idea materializes into Form! Anything is possible!

If we can think of our true Self as a diamond with our human form as being the unpolished surface, we can continuosly be polishing the suface of our diamond so that it shines clearly and brightly in all directions. Connecting to this place as often as possible, practicing mindfulness in our yoga asana or meditation, allows us to come in contact with our true Selves, Pure Consciousness. When we get a glimpse of that state, it is easier for us to having loving kindness and compassion for others because we are reminded again of that universal energy that connects us into One.

Bittersweet Memories........

2008-05-18T19:05:00.002-04:00

The new Teacher training program is rolling out at Yoga Life and I have to admit...there are some sparks of jeolousy that I cannot hide. I will take it as a growth spurt and move on....because as I entered the shala today...my Jyotees' welcomed me with open arms and hearts. I see the place they are today and I know the place they are traveling through,,,,I hope to be light through the path.

My practice today felt so light and lovely...I am dedicating every practice from here on out to the Supreme,,,,the One, the Almighty~

Guruji in a WEEK! Oh my goodness, am I really a piece of this history? I think I AM!!

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA!

New Yoga Pics

2008-04-28T17:58:00.003-04:00

Who me?

2008-03-07T18:59:00.002-05:00

Ever since the finale of the teacher training...life has gotten busier, it has slowed down....life has continued. There has been an undeniable shift in my place in the universe. Blessings are popping up everyday. Little reminders that I have chosen the correct life path. I have to admit that sometimes I have to check myself and my ego at the door, but that is definitely what takes me back to the mat. Everytime I practice I settle in to that familiar place within myself that is getting easier and easier to be friends with...to be one with. I'm finding that as a teacher you have to stay inspired to be an inspiration. This rang true for me today when I received a phone call from a student that moved to Seattle. He asked me for a recommendation letter for a Yoga Teacher Training program. He told me I inspired him to become a yoga teacher.

(gasp!)

Let me just sit down! I had to take a seat. I was at work and I had to relish that moment. As a new teacher, I had no idea that in the short time I had been teaching, I had affected someone's life so profoundly. This inspires me to keep practicing. It inspires me to always check my ego at the door and to be humble in this journey. I don't ever want the "new car smell" to go away in my yoga practice and my teaching. What a lesson I've learned. Thank you William.
namaste.

Graduation memories....

2008-02-20T16:05:00.013-05:00

I met some beautiful friends along this journey and it is a part of my life that I will always cherish. These moments, all of them, are passing....you only experience each moment one time...be present. We all had doors opened, closets cleaned out and windows smashed into a thousand pieces. It seems now that all the raw interior is exposed...it's time to minimize the external, organize what is needed and move forward to the next spiritual hurdle. Our circle was so tight that to let go of the ring feels like I'm abandoning something....but, I feel it tightening. I feel the threads of friendship weaving together, the colors bleeding like that of the red towel in the white wash, forming an inseparable pink bond of trust. Goddess Energy is powerful. I feel it here in this group of yoginis. I send my love to each of you on your spiritual quest and know that I am your faithful devotee...

om shanti shanti shantihi
Radha

Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name.......

2008-02-18T19:38:00.008-05:00

it's Radha. The divine, transcendental love of Krishna. Yesterday I graduated from the teacher training program at Yoga Life and my teacher and friend, Sati, blessed us all with Sanskrit names. This is the story of Radha...

"Radha is recognized as the loveliest of all the cowgirls. Theirs was a love hidden from society, given Radha's status of a married woman. The word Radha means the greatest worshiper of Krishna. 'Krishna enchants the whole world, but Srimati Radha enchants even Him. Therefore, Radha is the Supreme Goddess.' Radha's love for Krishna is all consuming and compels her to ignore her family honor and disregard her husband. Their relationship develops on Krishna's captivating charm and aura of passion as Radha falls into a state of desire for this God. Radha is the soul; Krishna is the God. Krishna is the shaktiman - possessor of energy - and Radha is His shakti - energy. She is the female counterpart of the Godhead. She is the personification of the highest love of God, and by her mercy the soul is connected with the service and love of Krishna.

Radha is married or involved with someone else, and still cannot resist Krishna's musical call. In being with Him she risks social censure, alienation and humiliation. Riddled with shame and inappropriateness, this is hardly a relationship that purportedly embodies the highest union of pure love. Music becomes the voice of their illicit love which is too passionate, and secretive. Krishna is the cosmic musician who woos the gopi's (cowherd girls) with his tunes. Krishna's flute sounds so powerful that they embodied the energy of the cosmos. His beauty, charm and musical skill impassion women everywhere. In the embrace of Krishna, the gopis, maddened with desire, found refuge; in their love dalliance with him who was the master in all the sixty-four arts of love, the gopis felt a thrill indescribable; and in making love with him in that climatic moment of release, in that one binding moment, they felt that joy and fulfillment which could not but be an aspect of the divine.

Krishna represents the private life of the Absolute. His relationship with Radha, His Divine consort, actually constitutes the private life of Krishna. In this relationship, Love reigns supreme as Krishna surrenders to Radha. Krishna is lovestruck while Radha has taken over control. He has surrendered to the Power of Love. Very few people really understand this relationship and the message it contains. The supreme object of devotion, Krishna, worships the highest devotion, Radha. The zenith of Radha and Krishna's love affair is the Raas-Leela, the circular dance of love. The Raas-Leela points to the highest potential of the soul. It is within this context of the circular dance that the highest is couched in apparent selfishness.

Real love exists between Radha and Krishna. Real love is transcendental and spiritual. We have to become attracted to spiritual love and give up false love and beauty, which are only skin-deep. Krishna consciousness means to be serious and determined to transcend the material attraction between man and woman in order to become attracted to the lotus feet of Radha and Krishna. Srila Prabhupada said, "The sum and substance of material life is attraction for woman. And the sum and substance of spiritual life is attraction for Radha-Krishna".

Wow. That is pretty hot! I have to admit that when I first heard my name at the graduation ceremony, it didn't immediately click with me. Maybe I felt that the namesake was so powerful that I wouldn't be able to fulfill it. But, the more I read this story...the more I am dissolving myself into it...intertwining myself and irreveocably surrendering to the Radha-Krishna story. I love that Radha was a cowgirl...I'm a western, cowgirl....rough-and-tumble, not-gonna-give-up, gonna wear my cowgirl boots and belt buckle kinda girl...so that definitely appeals to me. I have to say that Radha's devotion to Krishna is breathtaking. I have much to learn of their love and hope with my biggest heart-filled joy that I can love like her and be a lover like her!

This time of my life is a time of death, birth, and rebirth...

Dedication to the teachers....

2008-02-06T16:57:00.000-05:00

.

Preparation for the Final Exam is underway for the Teacher Training, and I will be graduating in just under two weeks. Wow. I've grown. I feel I've been uprooted, a little bit raw and exposed, but where the sun can shine on my face. Every aspect of my life has changed. I have a new outlook and that makes me hopeful. I have inspirations to meet and dreams to ponder. I feel that my knowledge of Yogic science and philosophy is just surfacing and I need to delve more deeply now. The journey has begun and its definitely not ending with graduation.

It is amazing how many emotions bubbled up from deep down inside me. Confrontation to these things that have been with me through this life, that I have carried along as baggage when all they are "things." They are not who I am. Letting go of the blame for why something makes me the way I react to life is transformational. I am not this, I am not that. I am a part of the present moment....extended in all directions simultaneously. I am a part of you as you are a part of me.

I don't doubt that it will often be difficult to be disciplined with myself. Such is the journey of life....a collection of unending choices to govern all our future karma. Dealing with what has already been dealt to us is the surprise. I feel graced to have a support system of beautiful teachers all around me....even You as you're reading this. You inspire me to stay on the path of yoga. I learn from you that life is for loving and giving and sharing and growing. Thank you, Oh teacher!

Om
Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu
Guru Devo Maheshwara
Guru Sak Shat
Param Brahma
Tash Mayi Shri
Guruvey Namah

(Our creation is the teacher
Our present life is the teacher
Our trials, hardships, difficulties and death is the teacher
The Guru nearby is the teacher
The Guru indescribable beyond all form
I offer all my efforts to the teacher...)

Hello 2008....(shake hands)...

2008-01-12T20:13:00.000-05:00

Sati and I having fun at the Casbah...

This year is turning into an adventure already. I have taken on this role as Yoga Teacher/Manager of a Yoga Studio Lady and I tell you...it is amazing. This is what my life was made for. I feel as if I'm walking in someone else's shoes and then I realize their mine! I can only give love and gratitude to my teachers, Sara and Sati, and that they have prepared me for this moment.

My mind seems to be turning inside out right now. I feel like I'm shaking out my brain like a you shake out a rug trying to get out all the dirt, dust, and "stuff" that sticks to it. The stuff that not even a vacuum will pick up. For the first time, in a long time, I feel that things are starting to click and tick. Things are starting to make sense. I have to say that reading the Yoga Sutras has opened my eyes to the entirety of the Ashtanga System: an Eight-Limbed Practice. Asana only representing one of the limbs...I now know that I want to encourage my future students to study the Sutras and yogic philosophy and to practice the other seven limbs.

The Eight-Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga:
1) Yamas (Restraints)
2) Niyamas (Observances)
3) Asana (Posture)
4) Pranayama (Breath Control)
5) Pratyhara (Sense Control)
6) Dharana (Concentration)
7) Dhyana (Meditation)
8) Samadhi (Enlightenment)

Understanding how the limbs work together needs to be studied and contemplated at length. I am merely a humble student to be blessed with this tradition and lineage of greatness.

And now I must return to my studies.....

the end of an era....(kneel and bow)

2007-12-30T20:25:00.000-05:00

It's going to be a beautiful New Year....I do have this inkling...

My life has changed, suddenly it seems, albeit a process from my yoga journey with the Teacher Training up until this moment. Although I am still adjusting to all this positive change....I feel that balance in life is what I need and what holds the key to happiness in life. I am finding that until you face yourself....until you stand in the mirror of your own accomplishments and defeats, guity pleasures, glaring truths, denials, egocentric ideals, and blinding realities, do you see the reflection of honesty that we all own.

It gives you something to work with for the progress. If we study yogic science it says that living in the present moment will keep you from falling too far forward or holding on to the past. But, I don't think that means not making way for progress. Setting goals can have amazing results and Quick! I have amazed myself with progress, but I think that means I just need to set higher goals but don't be too hard on myself in the meantime.

I do think this year's end has brought me a newfound peace within that was not present previously. Not that it is total peace...I am still a restless, damn distracted soul that needs discipline in her life, BUT I am learning a little bit about patience. Patience with others and more importantly, patience with myself......
namaste.

Part Dve

2007-12-02T17:58:00.000-05:00

Tim assisting me in Utkatasana....Photo courtesy of Cynthia Bacani

I am finding that in my practice I was trying to muscle my way through each asana so much that I wasn't enjoying the "steady, comfortability" that is available to me if I just relax and let it happen. My teachers say that there has to be a balance between effort and ease....between strength and flexibility. Becoming light in a very physical, vigorous practice is the hard part...but to watch an advanced teacher make it look so effortless...It makes you hopeful.

So, I am just being patient with myself, easier with myself....SO I don't hurt myself anymore!

My teaching debut is this Tuesday night for an Abbreviated Ashtanga class. It's funny, though, because I feel so safe with Ashtanga....I have the series I can follow like a friend holding my hand and taking me on the path. I think I am more nervous to teach a Flow class where you have to create the path...Hmm....Sounds like I need to confront that fear then. But, going back to Ashtanga, I know I will have all my classmates and fellow Ashtangis in class who will know it's my proverbial "first time!" I just want to get the bugs out, find my voice, and start teaching people the beauty of this practice!

This teacher training awakened something in my Self that had always been there. All I needed was a knock and my doors were flung wide open! I have some wonderful classmates in my teacher training who inspire me so much...Here is our class....

holiday

2007-11-28T19:38:00.000-05:00

This time of year everyone gets all freaked out and frantic about the holiday. I just got back from vacation and I highly recommend to anyone to take a holiday this time of year....you need it! Some time without shopping, family, or any engagements. I have this overwhelming sense of peace washing over me....acceptance, I think.... for where I am now. I have this whole lifetime to perfect my yoga practice. I want to be the very best teacher and inspiration that I can be...but i still am human...i am not perfect.

So, I was doing my walking meditation on the beach, right? I started thinking that the beach is really an ocean's graveyard. All of these beautiful little homes for sea creatures were excavated and left on the shore for me to find. And....there is such childlike joy in finding that perfect shell half-buried in the sand at low tide in one of the tide pools....It's like you found some treasure that you didn't know you were searching for until there it is in your hand shining with salt and sand. Funny now that I have the shells back home...they have dulled just a bit, some of the luster left back on that island in the sun.....

Maybe that's how it is when we live our everyday lives....sometimes we get a glimpse of something real inside ourselves, something to keep us connected....and then we get caught up in the whirlwind of our busy bee lives and forget that shiny piece of treasure in our hearts. I was going to say "it's my goal to keep it shiny" but you know....I don't want to make it a goal...because that just means i have to keep grabbing for it. I think I'm going to just try and know it's always there. Maybe it'll work this time.

inspiration

2007-11-19T20:57:00.000-05:00

Tim was here this last weekend. What a gift....what a blessing....I have so much gratitude for my teachers in that they arranged for him to be here to shed his light on our studies....and how apropos that it is Thanksgiving week. Great things come to those who create.

New beginnings....Abrupt endings....And Everlasting Momentssss....over and over.....

All that I know is that I was inspired and educated. I was bended and I was broken. I am now aware of all that needs to be tended (for the moment). Awareness is the key. Slow as I go....Letting go of all my tenacity for getting it. Hoping it will just happen....no anticipation....no aspiration....Just willpower.

Just letting it all sink in now......

Stay tuned for Part Dve....

my first time

2007-11-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

Today was the first class that I was the teacher....albeit only the Closing Sequence....I've never been excited and anxious about the Closing Sequence of Ashtanga as usually it is the winding down portion of the practice. There was something that came over me though when I was leading the class....it was as if I just stepped out and someone else stepped in and got the job done. I'm trying not to be too self critical at this point because I know I made and will make mistakes. It is inevitable. It is how you learn from the mistakes that is important. I took the first step, though. I dipped my toe in the water....and I thought....it's warm.....I'm jumping in!

On my drive home, I could not wipe the goofy grin off my face...and when I walked in the door.....I just looked at my husband and said, "I just taught my first class. I have to practice." All that nervous energy vanished as I moved through each vinyasa that I just witnessed during class. Watching the intent and hard work, the sweat, the pain, and the surrender is enough to make me a humble student of this amazing practice called Life!

JAI NAMASTE!

evolution

2007-10-21T07:34:00.000-04:00

All I can say is that it is happening. On one level I, me, Jessica am evolving. On another level, I just feel this entire wave of evolution in the consciousness of mankind. All of this accumulating to what....2012 global shift???

"An important cosmic event is occuring now. The winter solstice is now at a point in conjunction with the galactic center....This should cause a slow harmonization of humanity with the Divine will as transmitted from the galactic center....By the account thinkers like Plato, the flood that destroyed Atlantis (and probably ended the Ice Age) occured about 9300 BC (9000 years before Plato). This appears to have been when the summer solstice was in conjunction with the galactic center--a point completely opposite to the one today. --David Frawley"

So, there is evidence to show that there is a Polar shift occurring on the Earth level....It is like the whole universe is going to have an eclipse.... Galactic alignment is a rare astronomical event that brings the solstice sun into alignment with the centre of the Milky Way galaxy every 12,960 years. Untimately, the winter solstice mentioned above will happen on December 21, 2012. What effect will this have on humankind?

"At this time, we are given the means whereby we can know the so-called esoteric truth of our system and its EVOLUTION, and the part the Earth plays therein, as well as each of its inhabitants. We can go so far as to know that there is a great Centre to which we in our system are related and which determines our course, because it is this Centre that finally holds key to the Precision of the Equinoxes. It is this Centre that makes the axis Capricorn and Cancer the Evolutionary Axis of our planet. And through our study we can know that in ourselves, in our own very bodies, we can find the exact reproduction of this Galaxy which then gives us the revelation of the Supreme Herself. --Norelli-Bachelet"

With this thought, it can be said the Galactic Center is based in our own bodies as the root chakra and the Supreme evolutionary energy is the Shakti....Magnificent.....so as we our aligning and this global consciousness is happening, in fact, the entire universe is moving into alignment as well.......What happens when the entire universe is aligned? Pure light, I think! Something to think about....Awareness is the key!

...inspired by a book I'm reading, "Galactic Alignment: The Transformation of Consciousness Acoording to Mayan, Egyptian, and Vedic Traditions"--John Major Jenkins

a glimpse

2007-10-02T08:13:00.000-04:00

Through my preliminary studies and readings of Yoga textbooks, philosophy, and history....I am starting to sink into the heart of yoga...literally. Some pretty profound experiences and realizations have occurred inside of me that I am just starting to open and investigate. Through a very poignant meditation experience, I feel myself drawn to Hanuman, the Hindu monkey-god...who is the "knower of hearts" and lives only to serve God within us and prepare us to live fully in the spirit.

I love the wonderful truth that the more we look inside our own hearts, we find that everything we see in this world is a reflection of our own past conditioning...and if we can clear away all our past emotions and judgements connected to those "things" then we can see life for what it truly IS....pure consciousness = God.

I think acceptance in my heart is where I am right now...Trying to accept this truth on the deepest level of my existence. Fear wells up in me and I try to grip onto the rungs of time and doubt...

"When we sincerely take refuge in a "higher power," it is an implicit recognition that we need help. More than that, it is the recognition that help is available. This is the beginning of devoloping real faith--not blind faith, but faith based on our own experience. It is opening to the realization that things are not the way we think they are, and that someone is there to help us--someone who knows what is to be known." ~Krishna Das, Flow of Grace

I think it is important for me to add that God, Hanuman, Jesus, Ram, etc. are all the same. Different paths to lead to the same Infinite goal....being part of the One! As Michael Franti sings, "God is too big for just one religion."

Guruji insight

2007-09-27T15:50:00.000-04:00

The more I read and learn of the true essence of yoga, the more I realize how important it is to convey the spritual side of yoga. I think we, as Westerners, want to separate that which is spritual, from the body and mind which are meant to be in unity... After divulging many hours today on studying the gurus and their views in an article called "3 Gurus, 48 Questions" from the Namarupa Fall 2004 issue, I came to again respect with the utmost gratitude that of Sri Pattabhi Jois and the way he chooses to talk of the Ashtanga Vinyasa system. He never even mentions himself as "I" which shows true abandonment of the ego and the nature of Ashtanga philosophy.

I feel truly blessed to have stumbled by grace into this Ashtanga practice. I feel that I have merely begun my education and training in becoming a yoga teacher...which I believe inevitably IS a spirtual teacher through much practice.

"The reason we do yoga is to become one with God and to realize Him in our hearts. You can lecture, you can talk about God, but when you practice correctly, you can come to experience God inside." -Pattabhi Jois

So again the proverbial saying....You can talk the talk....But until you walk the walk.....

My best friend to walk....Miss Roxy

*Challenge--Try to go an entire day without saying "I"

the power of Being Open

2007-09-15T14:23:00.000-04:00

As a Yogini, I think it is important to stay open...Open to ideas, teachings, and philosophies. Even if you encounter teachings and philosophies that challenge your own or those you have been taught....stay open, because there is always room to learn something from every teacher or lesson. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own practice that we fail to see new things or explore new ideas. I learned that today.

Today I went to the Doug Swenson Workshop "Intro to Second Series Ashtanga," and while some parts broke tradition...I appreciated the gentle approach as my body is not ready for the fullest expression of that series. We did have a lot of partnering in the class which was both fun and helpful. Doug used me as an example for many of the demonstration. It's funny that when you are put on the spot to do an asana, you just do it...I will never feel the same fear when confronting Pinchu Mayurasana and Karandavasana. Supta Vajrasana felt awesome with my partner, Ashley.

I think that it is important to listen to a teacher who has been practicing for some odd 40 years about the importance of being gentle with yourself. I liked the idea of cross-training certain asanas and muscle groups on different days of the week in order to allow rest and recuperation before challenging them again in a way to inhibit injury. That goes back to my Sports Medicine education. I can appreciate that. Next weekend the teacher training starts.

Here are a few pix from my hike on Black Rock Mountain in July:

Ekam

Tree on a Mountain

one of the Marichy brothers

Navasana with a View

Rocky Raccon

Peace Out!

the beginning

2007-09-08T13:14:00.000-04:00

I am creating this blog to record my journey with the teacher training program at Yoga Life Jax......but I have a feeling it is going to record many more journeys as well. It has already been quite a journey to get to the place where I am in this skin, but I'm here! I am blessed to have found Sati and Sara after a long search for the right Teacher Training program and inevitably the right yoga path....ASHTANGA!!! Teacher Training starts September 22nd, 2007 and Tim Feldmann is coming back as an adjunct teacher for the program. That rocks! Let the games begin!