Yesterday the morning wake up at 5:30 am was some wonderful live violin music by one of the swami's here. Our morning meditation was followed by a great Hatha practice. It was quite challenging and the teacher who is a swami in her 60's demonstrated a beautiful peacock pose. There are carpets on the floors here and I am having a bit of trouble adapting- my wrists are a bit sore. After, we all performed some selfless service (karma Yoga) at the Lotus Shrine. Photos are coming when I return but think of the Taj Mahal nestled in fertile mountains. My job was vacuuming the stairs and cleaning the windows. I pay someone to clean my own house, but this was a fun group project. I met a drummer here, Robert, who happens to play with Baghavan Das! He will be coming to Jax with Babba in Jan.- small planet! I also met someone from New York who knows one of our students, Margaret Bruner.
Today I was very excited because we went to Swami Satichidananda's house, Ananda Kutir, for darshan. Swamiji has achieved maha samadhi and left the physical form, but his presence is still vibrantly felt at Ananda Kutir and the darshan room even has his clothes and shoes draped over a chair with his photo inside. I saw the same set up for Swami Sivananda in India and I find it very sweet. Our group sat in meditation and I found my own meditation to be extremely peaceful. As our cars pulled into the driveway for the house, 5 deer greeted us as they playfully ran through the yard. I considered it an auspicious omen and a personal greeting from Swami Satchidananda. There is a beautiful Shiva statue here on the top of a hill called Kailash and someone saw a bear there today!
The weather continues to be amazing with warm, sunny days and cool evenings and mornings. I have lots of free time to do a second asana practice so that I don't forget Ashtanga and to read and hike on the property. I heard about a cave today that i will look for tomorrow.
Tonight we celebrate Halloween, Samhain, All Saints and All Souls day with an ashram party including costumes. Tomorrow our group will be fasting all day and Kriya Cafe will be Friday. Will explain in my next post.
Peace, Love and Om,
shri
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Ashram Life
So, I begin my stay at Satichidananda Ashram in Yogaville (really!) Virginia. I am staffing the fall 200 hour yoga teacher training. There are 30 participants in the training, from all over the world. There are 3 daily meditations- at 6 am, 12 noon, and 6 pm, and a Hatha practice after the morning meditation.
The drive in was so beautiful! The leaves are already changing and they had their first frost of the season last night. I walked to the Lotus Shrine today for the noon meditation in the chilly air and bright sun. This land is incredibly beautiful and nourishing. I forget how much I love the mountains which surround us here. Much of our time is spent in silence here, where the only noises are from nature. A deep sense of peace permeates the air.
The food is delicious with many veggies from their own organic garden. I ate too much for dinner and had an uncomfortable 2nd asana practice around 7:30 pm. Tomorrow I think I will go back to my usual 2 meals per day and skip dinner.
I am coming in at the last half of this training so I have lots of catching up to do socially with the group.
It is time for bed- 9:30 pm - I miss you all! Lots of love, Shri
The drive in was so beautiful! The leaves are already changing and they had their first frost of the season last night. I walked to the Lotus Shrine today for the noon meditation in the chilly air and bright sun. This land is incredibly beautiful and nourishing. I forget how much I love the mountains which surround us here. Much of our time is spent in silence here, where the only noises are from nature. A deep sense of peace permeates the air.
The food is delicious with many veggies from their own organic garden. I ate too much for dinner and had an uncomfortable 2nd asana practice around 7:30 pm. Tomorrow I think I will go back to my usual 2 meals per day and skip dinner.
I am coming in at the last half of this training so I have lots of catching up to do socially with the group.
It is time for bed- 9:30 pm - I miss you all! Lots of love, Shri
Saturday, October 20, 2007
With His Holiness In Atlanta
I arrived in Atlanta yesterday for an all day panel discussion today at Emory University on meditation and the treatment of depression. The Dalai Lama has accepted a professorship with this prestigious school and together they are proving in laboratories what meditators have know for years.
I am writing from my hotel overwhelmed with all the data I downloaded today. Depression affects 30 million people in North America alone and the average age of onset has changed from 55 to 24! While there is evidence of genetic disposition in developing depression there is so much good news in this newest data- namely that the practice of meditation can alter gene expression and prevent depression from developing!!! Also, this new data shows evidence of brain changes in only 2 weeks of meditation, where much of the previous data only used long time meditators.
This was my first time seeing the D.L. and I found him to be captivatingly charming and funny and humble. The person next to me experienced giggles at first in his presence and then 15 seconds later was sobbing uncontrollably. My own physical experience was a state of heightened awareness and overwhelming well being.
I was headed back to my hotel after the panel discussion for an early dinner when I was asked to volunteer at the monks' performance. I was whisked away in the monk van to set up the retail center at the performance. Some of you may remember some of the monks from their last 3 visits to Jax and I saw some of our old friends and worked with them selling books, t-shirts and sacred items. As always, spending time with the monks is a good time. Mundane tasks like running credit cards become fun when working with them. They seem to be perennially in great spirits and it is absolutely infectious. Later, I watched their performance and remembered how amazing the multiphonic chanting is. The monks chant 3 notes at once as they manipulate their voice box into a human amplifier. Every cell in my body seemed to vibrate with the chanting.
Tomorrow morning is an early morning teaching to the Buddhist community. I am hoping it will be a more intimate gathering, but I understand Atlanta has a very large Buddhist community and people have come from all over so it will probably be another very large group. Security is very tight. I could not even bring in my purse today. The D.L. is surrounded continuously by a large detail of secret service men who form a wall of human flesh to protect him. I was hoping this meant that the US now recognized the D.L. as a formal head of state, but asked and was told that he is recognized as the head of state of a nonrecognized state. Semantics, but apparently important in the political world.
Tomorrow, I head back to Jax and will be teaching at Bliss on Monday night. We will be practicing 30 days of the Metta soon in honor of His Holiness.
I am writing from my hotel overwhelmed with all the data I downloaded today. Depression affects 30 million people in North America alone and the average age of onset has changed from 55 to 24! While there is evidence of genetic disposition in developing depression there is so much good news in this newest data- namely that the practice of meditation can alter gene expression and prevent depression from developing!!! Also, this new data shows evidence of brain changes in only 2 weeks of meditation, where much of the previous data only used long time meditators.
This was my first time seeing the D.L. and I found him to be captivatingly charming and funny and humble. The person next to me experienced giggles at first in his presence and then 15 seconds later was sobbing uncontrollably. My own physical experience was a state of heightened awareness and overwhelming well being.
I was headed back to my hotel after the panel discussion for an early dinner when I was asked to volunteer at the monks' performance. I was whisked away in the monk van to set up the retail center at the performance. Some of you may remember some of the monks from their last 3 visits to Jax and I saw some of our old friends and worked with them selling books, t-shirts and sacred items. As always, spending time with the monks is a good time. Mundane tasks like running credit cards become fun when working with them. They seem to be perennially in great spirits and it is absolutely infectious. Later, I watched their performance and remembered how amazing the multiphonic chanting is. The monks chant 3 notes at once as they manipulate their voice box into a human amplifier. Every cell in my body seemed to vibrate with the chanting.
Tomorrow morning is an early morning teaching to the Buddhist community. I am hoping it will be a more intimate gathering, but I understand Atlanta has a very large Buddhist community and people have come from all over so it will probably be another very large group. Security is very tight. I could not even bring in my purse today. The D.L. is surrounded continuously by a large detail of secret service men who form a wall of human flesh to protect him. I was hoping this meant that the US now recognized the D.L. as a formal head of state, but asked and was told that he is recognized as the head of state of a nonrecognized state. Semantics, but apparently important in the political world.
Tomorrow, I head back to Jax and will be teaching at Bliss on Monday night. We will be practicing 30 days of the Metta soon in honor of His Holiness.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Synchronicity and Yoga with Michael Franti!
C.G. Jung's classic, "Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle", defines synchronicity as "a meaningful coincidence of two or more events, where something other than the probability of chance is involved." Joseph Jaworski calls these coincidences "predictable miracles."
I believe synchronicity to be one of the organizing principles of the Universe- the framework of chaos theory. I also live my life expecting synchronicity to happen and more importantly, using these subtle messages from the Source as a life compass. Life is so much easier when we go with the flow and move with the Universal current. Rather than being amazed when synchronicity happens, one should worry when these predictable miracles are not happening. The absence of synchronicity lets us know we have strayed too far from the optimal path.
So recently I had planned a beautiful trip to VA to Satchidananda Ashram to live and teach for two weeks at the ashram's fall 200 hour teacher training. My first Yoga teacher training 9 years ago was with this ashram in Mexico so I am so happy to be at a point in my life where I can be of service to this institution. As soon as I firmed up my dates for teaching, 3 unexpected events popped up for me here in Jax. Most of the time I am very much in control of my schedule, but these three events were out of my control. Years ago, I would have struggled against Universal rhythms, but now this is just how I live my life. I contacted the ashram and apologized for the extra work they would have to do to change my schedule and arranged to teach the final two weeks of the program rather than the first two weeks. The Yogis at the ashram could not have been nicer about the last minute change- it seems as though finding peace with change is part of maturing process of the soul. "I dwell in Possibility..." Emily Dickinson said.
So, one of the unexpected events was the opportunity to teach a private Yoga class to musical artist, peace activist and humanitarian Michael Franti! I am a fan of his music and his life choices. Sometimes activists can be quite angry, but I was very pleasantly surprised by Michael's gentle, kind demeanor. He is a dedicated daily practitioner of Yoga which is an amazing feat considering his busy schedule and I feel so grateful that our paths crossed if only briefly. Michael Franti is a warrior who shows up and speaks up. There will be a public showing of his documentary "I know I am not Alone" this Wednesday night at 7:30 at MOCA downtown.
Event #2 will be this weekend in Atlanta as I travel to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama! Saturday at Emory University, the D.L. and others scholars will participate in an all day symposium on the effects of meditation in healing depression, one of the D.L.'s pet projects. And Sunday will be private teachings to the Buddhist community. I am not a Buddhist, but I do have some monk contacts. :)
Event #3 will be the grand opening of the Lululemon Yoga apparel store in St. John's Town Center on Saturday, October 27. I am an ambassador for this globally conscious company and Bliss Yoga will be doing a Yoga demonstration there from 12:30 to 1:30.
All of us, whether or not we are warriors, have a cubic centimeter of chance that pops out in front of our eyes from time to time. The difference between an average man and a warrior is that the warrior is aware of this, and one of his tasks is to be alert, deliberately waiting, so that when his cubic centimeter pops out he has the necessary speed, the prowess, to pick it up.
The Nagual Carlos Castaneda
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
