Thanksgiving: Rekindling Our Light

Posted on by
6

From our Thanksgiving Yoga classes this past week …

To infuse your Yoga with the spirit of gratitude during this Thanksgiving season, dedicate your practices this coming week to those who support you, inspire you, and keep your heart warm.

As Albert Schweitzer once wrote:

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

We show gratitude to the family and friends who support us and embrace us, as well as those teachers who inspire us with their words and actions from afar.

And, why limit yourself to just Thanksgiving week? The next time you unroll your Yoga mat, offer up a simple dedication to someone in your world. Give them the fruits and spirit of your Yoga. Join your heart light to theirs. And, see where you go …

 

Feeling Blessed? Here’s more on gratitude from our Yoga classes over the years …

Click here for the timeless and inspiring Thanksgiving blessing from W.E.B. du Bois.  It is the blessing that I share at the end of every Yoga class at Thanksgiving: Give Us Thankful Hearts

Click here for the Gratitude Savasana and Energy Bridge instruction:Thanksgiving Yoga ~ A Blessing, Part 1

Click here for another beautiful blessing that guided our meditation at the end of one Thanksgiving Yoga class: Thanksgiving Yoga ~ A Blessing, Part 2

Here The Buddha explains why we should be thankful, click: So, Let Us All Be Thankful

And, for a beautiful poem of Gratitude from Harriett Kofalk that served as the foundation of another Thanksgiving Day Yoga practice click: I Give Thanks

I am most grateful to you … if you’ve unrolled your Yoga mat with me once, twice, or countless times over many years … I am grateful for the kindness and inspiration you give me. May you have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

Namasté

Pratyahara: Turning Down The Volume

Posted on by
Reply


There are eight limbs of the Yogic path.

Review them all, click here.

We often forget that there are eight.

It’s very easy to simply enjoy our time on our Yoga mats – stretching and reaching and curling and twisting. Asana, the limb of physical movement, is especially popular here in the West because, while our lives may be quite active, our movements often aren’t.

So, we come to our mats to revitalize our physical bodies.

Nothing wrong with that … I would be awfully lonely in my Yoga studio if you all didn’t love to stretch and fold and twist on your mats with me each week!

In almost every Yoga class, there is also time to focus the breath, practicing breathing with direction and purpose.  The limb of Pranayama.

Next up is Pratyahara, the limb of withdrawing the senses inward. This means to turn off the distractions that surround you, in preparation for mediation or simply a bit of peace.

I call it, “turning down the volume on the day.”

While people can get very excited over accomplishing a headstand or a handstand, they often write off the value of just going inward.

In  truth, the movement of Asana and the direction of breathing are simply tools to help us reach the higher limb of Pratyahara.

Pratyahara can be a nourishing part of any Yoga practice on the mat. But, it’s even more nourishing when you find ways to incorporate the practice into your daily life.

I wrote about Pratyahara “off the mat” on my other blog this week.

Click here to read about the little kid who showed me how it’s done.

Each Step Must Be A Goal

Posted on by
Reply

I sometimes think that goal-making sends our awareness and attention only to the end result — the goal we seek to achieve.  And, then we miss the journey itself, the effort, the adventure, the process. And, it’s that process that is probably the most important benefit. ~ Namasté

“It is not enough to take steps which may some day lead to a goal; each step must be itself a goal & a step likewise.” ~ Goethe

 

Here Alone Is The Peace You Are Seeking

Posted on by
Reply

During this week’s Yoga classes … I shared this wisdom of Selvarajan Yesudian, a Yoga Teacher and Physician (most known for bringing Yoga to Sweden in the 20th Century):

“Yoga never demands the sacrifice of our reason. It only bids us: use it a thousand times more.

Yoga does not require us to give up our active lives. It says simply: act, but know how to act.

Yoga does not by any means wish us to push our understanding aside. It only tells us: discriminate correctly and act fearlessly.

Yoga does not expect us to flee from the world and to retire into the Himalayas. It assures us: the refuge you seek, you will never find in the outside world. It is within you.

Leave the stormy world of the senses behind you, raise your consciousness to the central point of your being and realize that here alone is the force, here alone is the peace and here alone the refuge you are seeking.

Yoga teaches us: do not condemn the world. Deify the world with your deeds, purify the world with your utterances and ennoble the world by your presence.”

~ Selvarajan Yesudian, Yoga Teacher & Physician (1916-1988)

Always Cheer The Underdog & Other Good Advice From Mom

Posted on by
Reply

I try not to cross-pollinate my blogs.  I just have two and each serves a different purpose.

But, what are rules, if you can’t break them from time to time?

With Mother’s Day quite close, I thought I would share with you my post about my mom. 

It has nothing to do with Yoga, but it has everything to do with love. And, isn’t cultivating love what our Yoga is really all about?

So, if you’d like to take a look, you can click on my “Baseball, Yoga, Life (& me)” blog by clicking here

If you’re interested, you can sign up to receive emails whenever I post on either of my websites.  There’s a sign up for this website on this page.  And, you can subscribe to receive posts from my “Baseball, Yoga, Life (& me)” blog (just go to the “Home” link on that site and you’ll see the “Follow By Email” option on the right-side column). 

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom who left too soon … and to all the moms out there who fill the world with so much love!

Namasté

Finding Simplicity & Peace ~ Inside & Out

Posted on by
Reply

I came across this peace prayer quite awhile ago.  It seems especially relevent during times when the fast pace of news and life can seem to overwhelm us and our senses. 

It’s important during these stressful times to come back to the Yogic practice of Pratyahara — drawing our senses inward for the peace, quiet, safety, and wisdom that our heart can offer.

I adapted the prayer so that it could serve as a Savasana Yoga meditation this week.  As we keep the Earth Day spirit in our hearts, perhaps this meditation can be of benefit.

A Blessing of Simplicity & Peace


We give thanks for simplicity and peace.   Let us find such places within ourselves. We give thanks for places of refuge and beauty. Let us find such places within ourselves.

We give thanks for place of nature’s truth and freedom, of joy, inspiration and renewal, places where all beings may find acceptance and belonging. Let us search for these places in our world and in ourselves.  Let us restore them. Let us strengthen and protect them.  Let us create them.

May we mend our outer world according to the truth of our inner life. And, may our hearts be shaped and nourished by nature’s eternal wisdom.

Namasté

Keep Calm & Carry OM

Posted on by
Reply

I love to chant OM in Yoga class. 

Oh, I’m out of key sometimes, sure, but I still love the vibration that comes with a long and heartfelt OM.

And, I’m so inspired when everyone else joins in with me in class. 

In our new Yoga studio, the walls hum with the magical and healing vibration of OM.

OM is considered the sound of the universe — the universal hum that gives us all fuel and life.  To chant OM is to honor the energy that surrounds us and to tap into it for our own healing and calming needs. 

When we all chant OM as one in class, we join our energy together making it even more powerful. 

When the whole room OMs, my entire body vibrates with a wonderful, radiant and healing energy.

During the Second World War, the British government printed a poster that said simply, “Keep Calm & Carry On”.  Its purpose was to inspire the population — telling them to stand up to the urgent and dangerous threat of the enemy by continuing their daily lives in a show of strength and defiance.  By keeping calm, carrying on, the British could stand up to any dangers and any threats before them.

So, when I saw this version of the old British poster I had to smile and smile and smile.  Because OM gives us the same empowerment, the same strength, the same encouragement.  It’s the same reminder that our inner strength can overcome any threat. 

Thank you to the anonymous, and incredibly clever, online OMster who shared this with us all!

Spring Training ~ At The Arts Center in Orange

Posted on by
Reply

The Arts Center in Orange — on Main Street in Orange, Virginia — just opened a sweet and warm exhibit called Spring Training.

All things baseball!

Many of you know that baseball and Yoga get all entwined on my path — both provide me with the inspiration to stay present, to stay ready, to stay peaceful.

So I was delighted to warm my winter bones with some amazing baseball at the Art Center this weekend … and I wrote about it on my other little “side blog” Baseball, Yoga, Life … (and me).

I especially loved this image, called “Venus Flycatcher,” by local photographer John Strader …

To be so still, so focused, so present … in the midst of dust kicking up all around … now, that may be baseball, but that’s also Yoga. 

You can read my post about the Arts Center’s “Spring Training” exhibit and see some more of the wonderful photographs, paintings, and multimedia pieces on exhibit by clicking here.

Even better, take a few minutes and wander through the exhibit itself. The Arts Center in Orange is a sweet little treasure, right on Main Street.  Definitely worth a visit … for the baseball … for the art.

 
On Exhibit at the ARTS CENTER in ORANGE
129 East Main Street, Orange, Virginia
 
February 7 thru March 30, 2013
Monday thru Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
 
No charge, although donations are gratefully accepted


All images are the copyright of the artists. Images used with the kind permission of The Arts Center in Orange. A special thank you to Laura Thompson, Arts Center Executive Director.