“Practice can be understood as a willingness to return to the reality of this very moment, that is, to observe with dispassion and clarity exactly what is–right now… …relying on paying attention to the thoughts and sensations of the moment will give me a chance to respond to life less from my patterns of defenseContinue reading “Reading: Practice Living Your Yoga”
Author Archives: Vito Politano
Reading: Courage
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anaïs Nin Thanks for this Brian. Everyday we are faced with a slew of decisions that seem to range in importance from 0-10. We make these decisions from a conscious scale of 0-10. (0 = unconsciously, 10 = consciously and deliberately). On a moreContinue reading “Reading: Courage”
Reading: Change…for better
“How strange that the nature of life is change, yet the nature of human beings is to resist change. And how ironic that the difficult times we fear might ruin us are the very ones that can break us open and help us blossom into who we were meant to be.”― Elizabeth Lesser From ElizabethContinue reading “Reading: Change…for better”
Reading: Flow of Life
“Your work really begins when you release struggle. To let go of struggle initiates a change of vibration within you. This change puts you in touch with the flow of Life Itself, which is essentially what you are. To cultivate your awareness of this flow is your real work. When you’re in touch with the flowContinue reading “Reading: Flow of Life”
Reading: Samaya
“We don’t experience the world fully unless we are willing to give everything away. Samaya means not holding anything back, not preparing our escape route, not looking for alternatives, not thinking that there is ample time to do things later.” – Pema Chodron From Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times
Reading: Hard Lessons
This suffering BS is real. “Life is difficult, the Buddha said, for everyone. Suffering, he taught, is the demand that experience be different from what it is. Of course we do what we can to address pain. Sometimes illnesses are cured. Sometimes relationships are mended. Sometimes losses are recouped. Sometimes, though, nothing can be done. The Buddha’sContinue reading “Reading: Hard Lessons”
Reading: More from WTFA
Building on the previous reading on awareness balanced by loving-kindness vs. knee-jerk tendencies towards judgement: “The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently…The ground of not causing harm is mindfulness, aContinue reading “Reading: More from WTFA”
Reading: Maitri
“The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves…It is said that we can’t attain enlightenment, let alone feel contentment and joy, without seeing who we are and what we do, without seeing our patterns and our habits. This is called maitri – developing loving-kindness and an unconditional friendship withContinue reading “Reading: Maitri”
Reading: Intention
“It matters less what we do in practice than how we do it and why we do it. The same posture, the same sequence, the same meditation with a different intention takes on an entirely new meaning and will have entirely different outcomes.” — Donna Farhi
Reading: Inner Listening
From Eric Shiffmann’s book Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness: “Yoga is a way of moving into stillness in order to experience the truth of who you are. The practice of yoga is the practice of meditation — or inner listening — in the poses and meditations, as well as all dayContinue reading “Reading: Inner Listening”