When I was young, living on a farm in Iowa, I remember lying on my back in the tall brome grass with my eyes closed, allowing my body to feel the vibrations of the ground shaking from the Sioux Indians riding, and opening my ears to their cries of excitement and exhilaration as their horses…
This month we’re exploring the Buddhist teachings of the four qualities or aspects of love. “Love, compassion, joy, and equanimity are the very nature of an enlightened person. They are the four aspects of true love within ourselves and within everyone and everything.” ~ Thích Nhât Hanh Maitri/Metta (Loving kindness) The first aspect of love…
Kundalini yoga is different than other types of yoga. Kundalini is called the Yoga of Awareness, the life force energy, also known as prana, shakti, or chi. We all have this dormant energy sleeping within us, waiting to be awoken…Kundalini Yoga gives us the experience of being our true selves. Whatever you want to call…
If you just met me, or even if you know me fairly well you might think I am pretty calm, but the truth is my nervous system is often revved up. If you share this experience, know that there is nothing wrong with you. It is how we have been wired and it is not…
raga-dvesha-viyuktaistu vishayanindriyais-charan Atmavasyair-vidheyatma prasadam-adhigacchati “But the disciplined (lower) Self, moving among sense-objects with senses free from attraction and repulsion and mastered by the Higher Self, goeth to Peace.” (Gita, II-64) This idea of two currents of the mind, one driving me towards things and the other away from things, is a concept I have worked…
“After the demands of the ego and its greed surrendered, the struggle for fulfillment of personal desires lessens; life takes on a new zest like a breath of fresh air.” -Swami Sivananda Radha The second klesha (the afflictions of the mind) is the veil of ‘Asmita’ (ego). When you hear the word ‘ego,’ oftentimes you…
Dhyana- Meditation I find sitting for meditation is the most difficult aspect of the practice, for many reasons. One being, it took me a long time to like myself. Have you ever had a friend that constantly talks about the same thing over and over? And then you start to ignore them, not answer…
“True concentration is an unbroken thread of awareness. Yoga is about how the Will, working with intelligence and the self-reflexive consciousness, can free us from the inevitably of the wavering mind and outwardly directed senses.” (BKS Iyengar in Light on Life) We can’t really do yoga or do meditation. Yoga is a natural state of…
We’ve heard the expression ‘heart and soul’ about a million times in our lives. For example, ‘I’ve put my ‘heart and soul’ into this (whether it be a creative project or a meal we’ve cooked) or ‘I love you with all of my ‘heart and soul.” We all know what the heart is, what it…
“I am always at the Beginning” The Aged Buddha, on being asked what life was like. As the holidays come to an end and winter settles in there’s a beautiful yin energy; introspective and still that provides us with the time and space to unearth our soul’s desires, to mirror Mother Nature. She retreats back…