Here Alone Is The Peace You Are Seeking

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Health Is Your Birthright ~ A New Year’s Blessing

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I share this each year in our New Year’s Day Yoga class.  Instead of bogging down your heart with a list of insurmountable “resolutions” … how about a simple reminder that you are worthy of a year filled with good health, strength, joy, and blessings? 

These words come from Swami Satchidananda, who brought Integral Yoga to the United States in the 1960s.  (If you’re from Virginia, then you may know Swami Satchidananda from his ashram at Yogaville.)

May your year be healthy, strong, joy-filled, and peaceful …

“Health is your birthright, not disease. Strength is your heritage, not weakness. Courage, not fear. Bliss, not sorrow. Peace, not restlessness. Knowledge, not ignorance. The person who aims for good health and strength of both body and mind is a gem among all humanity. Such a person possesses the true treasure.” ~ Swami Satchidanada

Wildlife Center of Virginia Yoga Fundraiser ~ You Made It The Best Ever!

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THANK YOU
THANK YOU * THANK YOU
THANK YOU * THANK YOU * THANK YOU

Our Wildlife Center of Virginia Yoga & Open House in Orange on Saturday was the most successful yet! 

We raised nearly $1,600 in donations … PLUS a carload of supplies valued at hundreds of dollars.

Your generous hearts and spirits will provide lots of nourishing food and life-saving medical care to the animal patients the Center cares for. 

(There are 56 wild animal patients receiving medical care at the Wildlife Center as I write this — that’s a whole lot of mouths to feed!)

Thank You for Supporting
The Wildlife Center of Virginia!
 
Here are just a few patients who we have helped …
 
 
 
Fox Kits
 
 
A different kind of “Kit” ~ a Bobcat Kitten
 
 
A Kestrel Chick ~ who received care from the Center
AND from the Center’s adult Kestrel resident who served as a surrogate parent
and taught this chick how to survive in the wild.
 
 
An injured barn owl, rescued recently in Orange County
 
The Wildlife Center now has an online “CRITTER CAM” ~ you can watch their patients rehab and prepare for their release back to the wild.  Recent Critter Cam “stars” have included Bald Eagles, Bear Cubs, Owls, & Hawks.  To watch LIVE, click here.
 
Thank you for unrolling your Yoga mat
with me again this year and for helping the Wildlife Center!
 
(All these sweet photos are courtesy of the Wildlife Center of Virginia.)