 We can feel it in the air, see it the lighting over the mountains, and we can experience the cooler temperatures at night. Changes in the Fall Season is very apparent in nature but it is't the only place where it changes? "We" too are in the middle of a change.
The change resounds inside of us and calls us for newness, reorganization, adjusting our lives to match our heart's calling, preparing for the next step of our unfolding in our journey on the physical plane . Are you listening to your deepest wish that is trying to have you wake to it? Sometimes yes and sometimes not! For myself, I certainly know both side of the spectrum and always regret when I wasn't listening to the "nudges of change" as they were knocking on my door. I usually paid a dear price for that mistake showing themselves in a form of "hard knocks" or just having this sensation of not feeling in the right place and something is amiss. Let's try to "tune in" and be quiet for a little time to still the mind and listen to our heart. What is the message coming through? Are you making excuses for not doing what you know is calling you? Are you pretending that everything is the same and nothing needs to change? Are you insisting on being this other person when you know deep down inside that this old persona is not who you want to be or are anymore? Are you willing to change when the change is upon your door step? Why not take a chance and go for what can seem so impossible today, but is bound to be the future for you if you take the first step? Let's do it together. Use your yoga classes as a time to discover what's waiting to come out within you. Nurture and heal yourself with yoga class weekly to help you build upon more truth. Every time you come to class it's like taking a small vacation from your life, from the responsibilities you have, from the decisions you need to make, from the little burdens that add up each day, and can't seem to go away. And when you do take that time off to take care of yourself the result is always progressive; better clarity, getting the answers you were looking for, feeling ready to make those decisions, everything makes more sense. Yoga is the first step, you do the rest!
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 Yoga is a universal spiritual practice that is meant to bring you closer to who you are.
It is meant to help you connect to the latent divine being within you. It shows you overtime that there is an entire world within you that wishes to start growing and blossoming so you can become the spiritual being that you were meant to be. Yoga teaches you to go inside or to become more aware and discover the truth that exist within each individuals. Your temple is your physical body where you can worship the divine in complete privacy, free of rituals, ceremonies, free of worship of statues or god-men from the past, and judgements from others. The Asanas (postures) prepare the body to cleanse, feel stronger, bring the mind to quietude and calmness, to become purer to receive the spiritual energies waiting to descend upon us at any time. Yoga is an individual practice not a group thing. Although you may find yourself in a class with many other students, you quickly come to understand that it is about you and not your neighbor. It is not a competition with others but a competition with yourself to become a more accomplished and realized being. Sometimes students are turned off by the spiritual aspect of yoga. As a teacher and practitioner of yoga how can I dissociate the spirituality within this discipline. To me it is impossible. Can you separate the scent of a rose from its petals? The reason I went to yoga classes years ago was in the hope to find answers with my present dilemma in my life or relieve my mind of it incessant chatter or the anger I carried and couldn't dissociate from; it always came through for me. Of course I learned new poses, perfected the ones I knew, and challenged myself with difficult ones. I loved it and expected it too! Everyone starts yoga for different reasons. Some have chronic back injuries that can't heal and yoga is their last hope. Some want to stretch, some have heard it is healthy for you, some are looking for answers about their lives, some are looking for social contact; whatever the reason, eventually we come to discover that yoga has a lot more to offer than just a good stretch. Students are grateful that this was made available to them by teachers like me and that the principles of this practice was kept in its origins. At the core of all spiritual endeavor there is a code of conduct that each one starts to implement in order to become more spiritual and receive more spirituality. These are the yoga philosophy and when you implement them in your life they become a way of life, and not a philosophy or intellectual knowledge but a reality. Yoga philosophy is being taught in yoga classes to give students a focus during practice and for some to contemplate over after practice and apply in their lives. We are all looking for answers at one point or another in our lives. Digging deeper inside is what we are here to do. Discovering the spiritual person hiding in each of us is our true and ultimate journey in this world. My personal practice is Surat Shabda Yoga, and I live it. I don't just read about it, I actuate it in my life to the best of my understanding and ability. When I teach an asana class I bring all that I have come to understand into that session, and it transpires in the way I teach. If I were to dissociate the two I would be two faced and dishonest. I wouldn't be able to do it. Impossible. Leave your comments below and share your own experience on this subject.
 Unfortunately with the holiday obligation, we feel compelled to run around our cities, and buy countless gifts for family members and friends. Moving slowly into the "distraction and chaos", loosing our weekly or daily routine that helps us stay in balance and in harmony with our own truth, our higher self, our own divinity, and even loving ourselves. We finish the holidays exhausted and completely depleted of energy or inspiration, and sometimes falling sick being totally overwhelmed. We usually can't wait to get back to our routine and move back into "quietude and introspection" a bit more... We all do it, and every year is the same story. Let's try to do something different this year! December 21st mark the first day of Winter. During that time we want to start envisioning a new ideal for ourselves. This is the time for changes. These changes won't show themselves until Spring just like budding trees or new grass sprouting from the ground. These changes will come into complete fruition in the Summer when flowers are popping out all over the meadows, in our gardens, and finally the fruit of our labor shows itself fully during harvest time in the Fall. In January most people make their New Year's resolutions and it's a good thing because it is the right time to do this. The part that most don't understand is that a simple affirmation will not make it stick! By February most are giving up on their new plans, giving themselves ample excuses for why they can't go on... What we lack to understand is that to form a new resolution and have it stick takes effort on our part and discipline. We need to keep our goal in front of us in plain view, looking at it everyday, contemplating it, feeling it, seeing ourselves being that new goal, embodying it until it becomes part of us. For example; If you want to practice yoga weekly next year and not veer-off from this goal, you need to see the end result in having yoga in your life. What does yoga mean to you? how do you feel after class? see the increase in stamina, a stronger body, more flexibility, see the smile on your face after class, feel the way your mind is calmer and more balanced, experiencing less anxieties, more assurance, finding even more courage to assume certain task in your life or stand up to issues, would you be sad or even miserable if you missed one class or a whole week of classes? what about the countless messages you get around yoga practice, the new level of awareness, more freedom in your heart,... (the list goes on) If you want to make yoga stick in your life and be successful, this would be your contemplation day in and day out for the rest of the winter until it becomes part of you and a way of life. Choose your topic. there can be several although I wouldn't take on more than two to be successful. Try it with one first and learn how to form these matrix and goals. Don't give up on yourself and don't listen to the countless excuses your mind and ego will come up with or even your family and friends. If you truly wish to change aspect of yourself or your life for the better, now is the time to dive into contemplating this bigger and better version of yourself. Old habits will drop and new ones will eventually stick! With long nights upon us and and short days, promotes this desire for each one of us to go inside and be more quiet and maybe less active in the world. If one can honor this natural occurring within, we start fulfilling our most inner desire, what Soul desires the most being "quietude and introspection" Vs."distraction and chaos". In my personal experience, having a steady yoga practice and meditation teaches you to be disciplined, and helps you implement the new ideal in your life much faster with better results. When Spring comes into place you will still want to be remodeling the new ideal of yourself so it grows to full blossom around Summer Solstice. Wishing you a very happy New Year and have fun with the birth of the new YOU.
Walking the walk  I don't know about you but I sure have been put through the mill since the beginning of the year. My world as I knew it was flipped upside down and left me shaky, confused, out of sort, gasping for air, searching to understand what transpired. It is taking me all these months to finally "settle" with my new life, which I feel has still yet to reveal itself to me. We have gone through some major planetarian changes in the past 5 months that I believe most of us have felt. We are letting go of the old to make room for the new. In the process a lot of deaths as taken place. A lot of us have or are experiencing the loss of a loved one a companion, a pet, the change in relationships, which forces us to introspect, and review our lives, our values, our thought processes, our understanding, questioning what's truly important, everything is being put on the table for inspection. It is clearly the establishing of the new era we have just entered last winter Solstice 2013. According to astrologers the sun has entered the sign of Taurus last April 2014 and on April 28th & 29th there was an Annular Solar Eclipse ("annular" because of the sun's narrow visible ring against the dark moon), which signifies some big changes are taking place within us that are affecting everything about us particularly relationships. Relationships on how we view ourselves, others, the earth, and promoting a new self worth. Now is time for grounding and re-establishing new and truer values based on love, encouraging feminine values, promoting nurturing, harmony, connection, union, beauty, communication, and truth is the new accent. We now need to embrace all the feminine values in our lives whether we are a man or a woman. With this change we will regain the natural feminine Wisdom in ourselves and society. By nurturing mother earth and reconnecting with it each day, we will re-root ourselves a little deeper with truer and stronger values to help us function in this new time. Now we can ask ourselves: am I walking the walk or am I just talking a good talk? So if you want to move along smoothly these are the guidelines I have been following to help me recreate myself and my life: Be kind to yourself in this time of change. Take the time to change. Hold your horses. Be patient. Observe and stay open to insights & dreams; they will guide you in the right direction. Nurture your relationships with others, especially the ones that see the good in you. Promote a new relationship with nature; plant a tree, plant a garden, appreciate its beauty and its wisdom. Know what your values are and strive to live them. Re-establish your self-worth in your world and take responsibility for your actions. Be open for change. Allow for the old you to dissipate; dye to the old idea of yourself to make room for the new you. With the practice of yoga each day (30 min to 1 hour), it will help you purge the old, ground your emotional body, re-establish a sense of self worth, help you make better decisions, feel healthier and better, and guide you though this transformational time. In the next couple of month I will be offering 2 workshops to help each one with these changes; a weekend cleanse with 4 yoga classes, and a 7 to 10 days Sadhana around Summer Solstice. Stay tuned for the dates and times.  The end of the Piscean Age  December 21st, 2012 was the end of the Piscean age, it was the final association with this era. We were on the cusp of it for the last 50 years since around the 1960s. We now have left it completely and have entered a whole new era called the age of Aquarius, with new conduct, new insights that will settle into each of us and into the world as we progress into this new time.
If you life seems "strange" or "different" where you don't seem to have a handle on things like you did before, it is because you are still learning the rules and ways of this new era. We will need to adopt to these new vibrations in order for us to have a fulfilling life. "The old ways cannot exist anymore". “When any area of life wanes to uncomfortability - be open to "newness" in every way.” ― Sri Gari Olsen But the good part of all this is that each one of us have been prepared for what is now for the past 50 years. And in the past 4 or 5 years, you may have noticed more intense events taking place. I know I got my share of big experiences, I moved to New Mexico, I dove into teaching yoga full time, had a major car accident, experienced family discord, and everything else seemed to be rearranged and different. You are going to tell me that these things happen all the time, it's part of life, maybe so but this time everything got amplified, intensified, and lived acutely because of the retrogressive conjunctions in place. The vibes were heavy! The good news is we have been prepared for the re-ordering of our own lives before entering the Aquarian age for the past fifty years. Maybe some of you haven't lived that long like me, well you are part of the change. "If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." ― Lao Tzu |
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