Reading: Practice Living Your Yoga

“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 defense and more from integrity.” — Judith Hanson Lasater

From Judith Hanson Lasater’s Living Your Yoga

It was a great joy to continue studying with Judith Hanson Lasater a couple of weeks ago at Back Bay Yoga/YogaWorks.  Her Experiential Anatomy is a must for helping understand movement in general, as students and as teachers.  What I most value and am grateful for in working with Judith is the wisdom and example she shares for Living Your Yoga.

 

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 more subtle level we can measure what level of courage or fear we are operating on in the decision making process.

As a continuous work in progress, I feel I have come a long way.  With continuous practice and study, the awareness is there, but it continues to take great courage to not let fear lead…still a long way to go.

 

 

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 Elizabeth Lesser’s inspiring book Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow.

Thanks Leigh!

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 flow of Life and feel your heart and mind open, you’ll note that a certain presence starts to assert itself. This presence changes your physical chemistry, your feelings, and your mind. It is the spirit itself, starting to inform you about yourself, about it, about Life, and about God. It’s a simple work.” – Swami Chetanananda

 

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’s teaching of liberation was that peace of mind is possible, no matter what the circumstances.” – Sylvia Boorstein

The quote is from the article “The Suffering we Share” by Sylvia Boorstein published in Shambhala Sun in Sept. 2009.

No matter WHAT the circumstances??

IMG_20150910_064918667

My beautiful niece and Goddaughter Alicia died of Ependymoma Brain Cancer two weeks ago at the age of 4 years 8 months.  She suffered tremendously, unacceptably and unjustly.  Alicia and her struggles have inspired me daily over the last four years.  I will treasure her spirit, considerate nature, personality, intelligence, humor and strength of will.

My family and I are grateful for all the support, generosity and kindness extended over the years and most recently.  In gratitude, a fund was created in Alicia’s name to give back to MGH Hospital for Children and other pediatric cancer related organizations that helped Alicia and my sister’s family through the last 4 years.  For more information see the Facebook page.

To donate to the Alicia M Barrett Memorial Fund online click here or below:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=GJFVQSHMR68L2

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Om sarveshaam swastir bhavatu
Sarveshaam shantir bhavatu
Sarveshaam poornam bhavatu
Sarveshaam mangalam bhavatu*

Sarve bhavantu sukhinah
Sarve santu niraamayaah
Sarve bhadraani pashyantu
Maakaschit duhkha bhaag bhavet*

Meaning:
Auspiciousness (swasti) be unto all;
Peace (shanti) be unto all;
Fullness (poornam) be unto all;
Prosperity (mangalam) be unto all.*

May all be happy! (sukhinah)
May all be free from disabilities! (niraamayaah)
May all look (pashyantu) to the good of others!
May none suffer from sorrow! (duhkha)*

May none suffer from Cancer!

Om Lokah Samastah Sukhino bhavantu’**
Om Shanthi Shanthi Shanthi

Meaning:
May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.
Peace, Peace Peace

 

from “Sarvesham” by Jack Harrison

These Sanskrit lyrics or Mantra is part of Hindu (Vedic) Universal Peace Mantra.
*  Text and translation from Sri Swami Shivananda (The Divine Life Society, Rishikesh)
**  Sanskrit, not of the Vedic Sakha (branch)

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, a sense of clear seeing with respect and compassion for what it is we see…It’s a lifetime’s journey to relate honestly to the immediacy of our experience and to respect ourselves enough not to judge it.”  — Pema Chodron

From Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

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 with ourselves.” — Pema Chodron

From Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times

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 day long. It’s a matter of listening inwardly for guidance all the time, and then daring enough and trusting enough to do as you are prompted to do.” Eric Schiffmann