Reading: Serenity Prayer

Continuing on the theme of True Happiness by way of acceptance and presence, I wanted to share the serenity prayer, which sums up a lot of what the practice has afforded me.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.” — Reinhold Niebuhr

This is such a great practice of surrender, acceptance and presence that takes me closer to a sense of Yoga — Patanjali’s second sutra 1.2 and definition of yoga:

citta vritti nirodha – Yoga is the resolution of the agitations of the mind (translation by Judith Hanson Lasater).

I’ve been sharing first part of the prayer in classes and attributed it to an American Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, however, there is some question as to its origins. While searching for a source, I was reminded of the fuller version and of its affiliation to AA and many 12-step programs.

Below is a complete version of the prayer. While very Christian, this has applicability with any God, deity, Divinity or higher consciousness. I find this also supports the observance or Niyama (the second limb of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra) isvara pranidana (surrender oneself, one’s actions, one’s practice to God).

Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

Playlist for End of July 2013: Summer Inspirations

Here’s one that was really fun and worked with the hip heavy, full moon grounding work.

Playing my buddies Jackie O. and Liz Glow at the end of class and Savasana. A few teachers inquired about the music from Savasana — Liz Glow’s (aka. Eliz Glow) Sing and Guitar from her savasana EP. CD is also available in the shop at the Yoga Loft of Marblehead. And if you have been in my Exhale Chill classes or Deep Stretch Workshops, you’ve probably heard their music as well. Nothing beats them live during Savasana at the Yoga Loft or during classes.


 
end of July 2013 playlist 7-16 to 7-29

Readings from Class July 2013: Presence + Acceptance = Happiness

 “True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence on the future; not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears, but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach.”― Lucius Annaeus Seneca

 

“We are addicted to pleasure, in part because we confuse pleasure with happiness.  We would all say that deep down, all we want is to be happy.  Yet we don’t have a realistic understanding of what happiness really is.  Happiness is closer to the experience of acceptance and contentment than it is to pleasure. True happiness exists as the spacious and compassionate heart’s willingness to feel whatever is present.” – Noah Levine, Against the Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries (taken from The Buddha is Still Teaching by Jack Kornfield)

Happiness takes effort, especially as our minds will readily keep us from it.  Practice is the perfect training ground for this work in presence and acceptance, which is closely tied to patience.   Patience is regularly tested in practice especially as all kinds of muck gets kicked-up.   The challenges are to not wish away the suffering (the funky thoughts, feelings and judgements; the “limited” range of motion; the dread or anticipation of the challenging poses to come, etc.)  and to not attach to expectation or the easeful moments (the feel good stretches; the excitement of achieving a challenge pose, etc.).    The more often I practice the more present and at peace I can be with my “imperfections,” challenges, etc.

May Peace and Happiness Be With You Always!
 

Reading from Class: Acceptance of the Ordinary

“We must be willing to be completely ordinary people, which means
accepting ourselves as we are without trying to become greater, purer, more
spiritual, more insightful. If we can accept our imperfections as they are,
quite ordinarily, then we can use them as part of the path. But if we try
to get rid of our imperfections, then they will be enemies, obstacles on
the road to our ‘self-improvement’.”  Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

 

These words have been really useful this week as my inner-critic has been working over-time.   Thankfully meditation helps with the acceptance of my piece-of-work-in-progress self — as is.