Squirmy

if you feel the need to squirm, you haven't found the pose. You can keep squirming, or stop and let the pose find you.

Going dark

Hey all!
I've got lots to share and I have an opportunity to go into silence for awhile. So enjoy the posts I've scheduled and ill be back on next time it's easy to get Internet.
Peace

Everyday India

Come to India! See the sights! Enjoy the food! Find a guru! Get enlightened! 

Why do we come to India? Westerners get off the plane and within 24 hrs they see poverty, the dirt, the low air quality, unfamiliar living conditions, not to mention people get sick, etc...  I mean really, why do people come to India, because she will put you through your paces. Maybe because by coming to India, we give ourselves permission to embrace the paces that life puts us through every single day. We have none of our daily routines to hide behind. None of our habits that allow us to “phone it in” to count on, to be there when the realization of the “paces” start to emerge? Because make no mistake, no matter where you are, life is putting you through your paces. 

Maybe we come to India so we can fully experience the paces that life is putting us  through. because what are those paces if not opportunities to expand and grow? We cannot hide behind our comfort zone and brush off those sticky places in our “normal” lives (normal??? who are we kidding? what about life is normal?). So in India, we are more in the present moment, or we are more aware of how much we are not in the present moment. We are more aware of our attachments, addictions, judgements. Don’t blame India. Don’t try to change India. It’s all there, all the time. We have just gotten used to it at “home.” We have figured out ways to insulate ourselves from our Self. So we come to India to give ourselves permission to see our shit, go through our shit, and in many cases, shit our shit. 

So yes, come to India. Or stay home. Because the India you seek is in your own house. Your India is you. So whether you can afford to cross the pond or not, you too, can have that “India Experience.” All day. Every day.

Moving on

Today we had the privilege of an audience with the Swami of Swamis. I don't know his name, as it is rather long, but let's just say he is comparable to the Shankaracharya of our day. He is the boss of Swamis. We were invited for prasad and coffee (he fell in love with western coffee!) and chai. His presence was sublime, illumined, deep and gentle. Radiance exemplified. He welcomed us and then presented each of us with a rudraksha (spelled wrong by me) mala. And he placed it on each one of us individually. Darshon central baby. Then we watched part of the story of Sita and Rama done by the highest caliber Indian dancers and musicians. About 100 of us westerners walked in, sat down, and began to watch the show which was being taped by what looked like some local tv station. immediately the cameras turned around and they began shooting us instead! Talk about some juicy B roll! Apparently they had seen the dance before, but not that many westerners together in the front row. We got a bit animated and started clapping along with the Rama victory chant. Pretty awesome.

we leave tomorrow for Khajuraho. Internet will be off campus, so who knows if the scheduled blogs will post, but you won't receive facebook, twitter or google plus annoucements, so you'll have to look it up on your own until i get back online, which could be tomorrow. or not.

Off to pack my bag which i trust will make it on the bus. And here's to a long day on the road. They say 8 hours. I'll budget for 12, cuz that's how it rolls here. and if it's 8, well then, boffo! i'm stoked!

much love and thanks for sharing the journey so far. each moment is full.

stay brilliant.

cold hands, warm heart

that about sums it up right now.
taking advantage of internet connection, which has been awesomely available here btw, my fingers clumsily type as i watch the screen through my breath and the smoke in the air.

because of the auspicious bathing day yesterday, it seems that the number of people at kumbha mela has increased, and therefore, the number of people burning things (puja- worship ceremonies, trash, etc...) has increased. It's colder today and the moisture in the air is holding the particulate closer to the ground. so yes, it feels like home when there is good old fashioned california forest fire.

we leave the allahabad campus tomorrow, and then i don't know how internet access will be. I am scheduling a few posts to post just in case i can't get an up-to-the-day entry, and since i'll be in khajuraho for the remainder of my stay, i don't know how the blogging will be.

boy, it feels like i'm saying goodbye or something! and i'm not.

before i left, many people asked where i was going, what i'd be doing here, and why i was going. the answer i gave was, "i don't know, i'm just going."  And all i can say is, that has served me well. Early in the trip, we coined the phrase "Don't know - just go" meaning that we don't have to know all the ins and outs of everything we do, and here in India, the need to know details, specifics, schedules, can set one up for a lot of suffering, because it just doesn't work that way. That hard core "i need to know" can be a burden and cloud the present moment experience of what is happening right in front of us. Trusting that we are all in the right place at the right time no matter what can be a life practice in and of itself. And what a rich practice it is.

"dont know - just go" is about letting go of the intellectual need to reason. the need to make a "rational" decision. Instead, we develop our other "know" muscle. the muscle of "knowingness." That unexplainable gut response. Developing the "jatha vedas," or the inherent intelligence of the body at the   naval center is a key to that knowingness. A different kind of core conditioning.

so  instead of burdening oneself with hundreds of crunches, why not put some of that energy into developing the "knowingness" muscle?

the result of that practice is an increased sense of acceptance, fluidity, and ease as we surf through the internet of our life. or the sea of our life. whatever life you choose to relate to.

so this entry started with a cold hands, warm heart idea. and instead of knowing where it was going to end, i let it flow into don't know, just go.

but don't take my word for it. flow at your own pace, and start by observing the difference between "the need to know" and "knowingness."

And join me for jatha vedas bootcamp when i get back.

warm hugs from my heart

Neither Here Nor There

So if it's neither here nor there, where is it?

in the space. the non-physical.

Today is an auspicious bathing day. Instead of bathing in the Ganga, we bathed in the fire. Fire Ceremony Day

Magic is happening. Everywhere. Now I know why people come here.

Be aware of the obvious because if it’s happening here, it’s happening there, because there is here and here is there. And it’s neither here nor there.

The Ganga, the Ganga

The River Ganga. Also know as the Ganges.

Indians call the Ganga "Ganga-ji" as a form of respect and endearment. Out of that came the pronunciation Ganges. fyi

I had the priviledge of teaching on the ganga today. The Himalayan Institute asked me to teach an evening yoga class. It was awesome. Aside from the honor of being asked, here I am, teaching yoga, connection, Divinity, on the banks of the Ganga at Khumba Mela 2013. Wow.

Theme: We come to Khumba Mela to aquire something. What do we want to leave behind? All about the pranic flow of the river within, as the river without.

om shanti

Laundry Part 2: The New Wardrobe

We all have ways of cleaning our dirty laundry. Some of us go to the laundrymat. Some handwash. Some have washers and/or dryers at home. And some send it to the cleaners. No matter the methodology, it still gets done. Whether we lose our bags, get sick, miss connections, stub our toes, all that laundry gets done somehow. Because we are all seeking our Self. Whether or not we know it, it doesn’t matter. Every person on earth is trying to live their best life. And their best life is their highest thought, their best Self. So yes, for an addict, the high is the best representation of it’s Self. Etc... The great thing about human-ness, is that at some point we may recognize that we have outgrown our current wardrobe, and our favorite outfit is no longer the best representation of our Self. At that point the addict may start to question whether using is serving it or not. (and  i am using “It” instead of him/her, because at our essential nature, we are gender-free anyway). So regardless of the methodology, we are all seeking a better life. a better version of ourselves. So drop the judgment of what that looks like and lets be honest with ourselves. Is my idea of a “better self” the best idea for someone else? Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s not for us to decide. It’s for that person. And if that person is inspired by our example (read a couple of blogs back),  great. and if not, great. 

So let’s focus on our own laundry, live as cleanly as we can (i know THAT is bringing up  a lot of pictures! lol. maybe let them go and get in the present moment. or not), and by cleanly, i mean getting real with ourselves to see what it is we really want right here right now, and go for that. Because until we are ready to move on, we aren’t. Until we outgrow our clothes, they still fit. And if they keep fitting, our tastes may change. Regardless, we can embrace our desire for a new wardrobe, a new way of experiencing life, a new way of making choices, a new way of perceiving the actions of Self and others. Or we can continue to feel uncomfortable in our old clothes. The ones that make us feel fat, dowdy, self conscious. Because if they are making us feel self conscious, well then, we are Self Conscious! So get a grip! That’s what we have been seeking! And know that the person next to you who hasn’t done their laundry by your standards, is doing exactly what you are doing, with a different set of standards and tools. But the endgame is the same.

We are all doing laundry, all of the time. And it never gets done, so enjoy the game.

Laundry day

Jack Cornfield wrote a book called First the Ecstasy and the the Laundry. or at least i think it was Cornfield. and i haven’t read the book. but i know what it’s about and the title came up for me this morning.

Laundry. cleaning our dirty laundry. Dirtying our clean laundry. If we wear our clothes they will get dirty. If we live our lives, we will get dirty. Then we clean our clothes, aka  put our lives “back together,” only to mess them up again. and we wear our favorite ones over and over and over. And sometimes we save our “good” ones for special occasions. I used to do that quite a bit. I would buy something i really really liked, only to  wait a year or two before i would wear it because i didn’t want to wreck it. In life, was i saving my “good” aspects of life because I didn’t want to spoil them? Yeah. Kinda. In fact, i still do it now from time to time (but it’s different and I’ll go into that in a future blog, so if you are interested, feel free to remind me). It looks like this: I do all the “icky” chores, the “must dos,” before I go ahead and do the things i think will bring me more joy. And at some point, I ask myself, what is really bringing me joy? Is getting the icky stuff done more joyful than say, going for a walk? Playing my guitar? Doodling? Good questions that can only be answered in the moment. And that moment is an ever changing thing. Hence, the “moment.” 

Today is laundry day. My suitcase came yesterday with a bunch of clean, warm, clothes and a very warm sleeping bag. So now I will wash the dust from the soldiers that I have been wearing since I boarded that plane out of SFO, as well as the other layers that were so generously loaned to me by others. And the toilet paper. I won’t wash that, but I will return the remainder of the roll.

And last night, I was o-so-toasty warm. And today, the fog wasn’t rain. Just fog. So here’s to the ecstasy. The laundry. Both clean, dirty, unworn. 

Setting an example

It’s Wednesday. Officially Day 6 (counting the travel days to get here. Others journals are reflecting Day 4...) and still no bags. “En route” is the status. Whatever that means. We are a 12 hour train ride from Dehli and then in an extremely remote location in a city where there are about 100 million people (an anticipated head count by people in the know. personally, i cant count that high. i can barely count the heads in my classes accurately), so they will get here when they get here. 

Someone commented about how we have really been the teachers of non-attachment through this whole ordeal. The Sri Seven. Awwwwww Yeeeaaaaaahhhh. (just sayin’...). And for those who don’t get that reference, the Sri Seven are primarily people who have gone through the Sri Yoga Teacher Training Program. 

I was a little surprised to hear that comment because I have just been myself this whole time. Not trying to be anything or set any particular example. It got me thinking.

What example do you want to set? My mother insisted that i “set a good example for my younger sisters” and we all know how that turned out. A “good example” - wasted. Or not. They needed my “good example” so they could rebel and find their own way, their own path. Bottomline - examples are not good or bad. They are just examples.

 So setting an example. It can be conscious or unconscious, but make no mistake, we are always setting some sort of an example. Even if we think we are not affecting anyone else, we are, by not affecting them, we are making it okay to not interact or to interact. Throwing a tantrum, complaining, all examples. Maybe seeing the “negative” side, will inspire someone to act positively or negatively. The thing is, we can choose the example we want to set. Even if we are faking it. Pretending to not be bothered by stuff that bothers us. Pretending to go with the flow. Pretending to be mad at someone (yes, it happens). And at some point, we end up setting an example, inspiring others in some way, by just being our Selves. 

There are no right/wrong, good/bad examples. But there are conscious/unconscious examples. This is not to say we always need to be conscious or unconscious. But it becomes quite fun when we start to observe the dynamics of what we are doing. Then we start to understand the complex yet simple fabric of cause and effect. And that is a really big topic. or not. Depending on who is talking about it and why. 

So, you are the example. Period. Be the example that you are. Do you like it? If not, try something else until you find something that works for you. Because regardless of what example you are setting, it will either be appreciated or not, inspiring or not, judged or not. And that’s not your job. Just exemplify because you are anyway.

Arrival

9 pm. Arrival in Allahabad. Being one of the Sri Seven who are luggage-less, I now know first hand of the kindness of strangers. I have a sleeping bag, someone has loaned me some clothes, cuz the temp is dropping and I'm wearing everything that I have. It's like we've been talking about. I can own all the right gear, but if I can't access it when I need it, do I really own it? Because I have some luscious polypropylene long underwear and gortex pants in my luggage. Packed especially for nights, and soon to be mornings, just like this one. And do I really own anything anyway? All I have is what I can access. So, what do I want access to? That's the place to put focus and attention. Because by being able to access the cornerstone, I have everything. Even though I don't have my luggage, I'll still be warm tonight.

On to Allahabad

Slept through the night. 8 hr bus ride to the Himalayan institute campus. 150ish people. Wow. Still waiting to hit the road. Putting mental homing devices on our bags. Specifically our sleeping bags.

Attachments. Yes this brings up attachments. Attachments to clothing. Not so much. Toiletries . Not so much. Being on time. Not so much. Sleeping bag. Somewhat. But when I couldn't find the ration of soft puffs plus (lotion covered tissues) which help keep the skin on my face and nose in tact, well, that's what I had quite a bit if attachment to. So, re- frame. I guess if I don't have them, I won't need them. So again, the Universe is presenting a different, better plan than my original.

And 9:17. We depart.

Dehli

Not a deli- we landed in Delhi 10:30 am. 5:12am London time. Sometime in the night San Francisco time. Long layover in London might have actually aided in reducing jet lag. We shall see

Delhi aairport. 2:10pm. Just leaving the Sri Seven have no baggage. Yes, on all levels.

Sage advice

When asked, what's happening?
Don't know- just go.
Easier to flow.

Getting there...

This is on my 45 min of free wifi. Quite an adventure. Got the heathrow, found the spa, paid 60pounds for a shower and 3 hr bed, got a call 40 min later that India air had cancelled our reservations because we hadn't been rebooked properly out of sfo. So now we are rebooked (third times a charm?) on British air to arrive at 10:30am in Delhi. What a ride.

And now for a quick yoga nidra and nap.

Baggage

All my bags are packed, ready to go
Rebooked due to London snow!

Just when you think your 4pm flight is delayed until 10 pm, then you get advice to go to the airport to get rebooked. And somehow all 6 of us coming from different parts of the city, at different times, make it on to the same plane.

Awwwwww trees agh

Sri bany

Packed- yes

Today. Packing. Finished at 10pm. Resting my brain and body. 15-20 years ago I would have gone for more burn, created more drama, worried more. The difference is huge. And I got the same amount done. I love the evolution of life. It's there for the taking, so why not evolve?

365

Yesterday I completed the 365th Conversation. Yes, 1 full year of conversations. It was a great practice to make myself sit down and write something to post no matter what was going on. And many times i surprised myself. Just by sitting down and showing up, something would happen.

that's the practice. showing up.

in yoga, or whatever discipline you have or choose, its the daily, step by step, drop of water/grain of sand process that creates the ocean, the beach, the song, the book, the building, the whatever big dream or idea you have.

Unless it's something tangible, like a Barbie Dream House. Or a car. Maybe that's why we are so attracted to material items. We can go buy it and we are done. No process, no practice. Just bam! Now you have it.

i'm leaving for India in 2 days. I set it up so I will be able to blog, provided there is cellular service. So 365 Conversations continues. By showing up. For my Self.

And y'all. Cuz I know you are showing up to read.  Thanks for that.

Blocking Part 3 - maybe it's a playoff thing

So by blocking, we are keeping ourselves from seeing our whole Self. And that can affect our heart.

Like grief. It can weigh heavily on our heart and we want to block it. So release judgements on that heaviness of grief.  It takes as long as it takes.

And then when someone tells you what an idiot you are for dwelling in your emotions, don't judge that either. It might knock you off the trajectory and get you back on a track that feels better.

"Going through it" doesn't mean getting stuck there. Doesn't mean forcing yourself to feel whatever it is for longer than you need, based on a sociological  idea of what a sensitive and good person would look like.

So honor your process, but don't make your process your God. Make it your process that gets you to your God. Your Self. Your Truth. Your Essence. Whatever word works for you. Or don't use a word. Like blocking.

touchdown?

Blocking Part 2 - practice with pads on

Let's look at blocking from a point of view of denial. When we block out our "bad" memories, it's as if we are practicing not remembering who we really are.

We are actually practicing not embracing our wholeness. We want to run from those experiences and memories that were/are painful. We want to pretend they never happened. We practice forgetting. We practice forgetting who we really are. We practice forgetting our Wholeness.

The more painful the memory, the more we want to block it, so then what? It doesn't go away. By blocking, we are now unconscious as to how that memory is shaping our current choices, our current reality, the way we see the world.

This is not to say that we need to rush into the remembering. But know that remembrance is what we are all about. Remembering who we really are. And that includes the parts we don't want to see. And those parts can hold keys to why our life is the way it is. And at some point down the line, we want to call ALL parts of ourselves, even those crappy memories, back home. That is why it is so important to take the charge off the memories. They are only memories after all. They've already happened. They are in the past. By remembering, we aren't physically there. By making them "bad" or "wrong" we give them some sort of power or dominance over us. We give that part of our mind the upper hand. Because it was that part of our mind that might have saved our life at the time. But that time is not the present time. But we forget that and go back to the past - how it felt, how it smelled, how it tasted, what we heard, what we saw. All re-runs, yet we experience it as if it were the first time. We must remember that we are present. It just that darn abhinivesha (fear of death/loss) that actually keeps us in the past. That keeps us believing that we are not who we are. That keeps us in the dark so we forget, and by blocking, we practice this forgetfulness. We practice losing our memory.

So why practice forgetting when we are here to remember?

We can practice with the pads on, but at some point, the gloves must come off. Ok, so i'm mixing a metaphor, and in the end, it's all about our own nakedness. Pads, gloves, whatever...

Blocking

In football, we block to keep something from happening to allow something else to happen.

In our emotional lives, we do the same. Sometimes it starts out as blocking out a painful memory in order to get through the day without crying. Or to get through the day without shaking like a leaf from fear. And that's fine. For now. Or maybe forever. but...

At what point does blocking turn into a type of denial? Denial that we have had some experience? Denial that we have lived through something. Yes, lived through something! Something that might have been or seemed life-threatening, but the bottom line is, we lived! And if we lived, (which we did or we wouldn't be here right now), then we proved to ourself that we were more powerful than that which we feared. We did it. And we lived. So why fear what we lived through? Do we fear that we might die? But hey, we didn't!

Fear of death is a biggie. In the yoga sutras, it's called "abhinivesha" - fear of death, fear of loss, fear of losing something you desperately love, like a loved one, or even your own life. And it is because we really think that we are a body, that we are our bodies. that the hunk of meat that houses our essence is who we really are. but it's just a hunk of meat. A hunk of meat that houses an essence. A hunk of meat with an innate intelligence. A hunk of meat so fine, that it houses an essence that can recognize itself as more than physical. that can make choices and not act from purely animal instinct. A hunk of meat that can consciously evolve itself.

Pretty awesome, right?

So, we had some big thing happen. and we lived.
Damn straight we did! cuz do you think that this essence that can evolve itself would choose a house that couldn't handle all that life had to throw at it, just when we are waking up?
Of course it wouldn't.

getting it together

Gig - check!

Now I can focus on getting ready for India. Good thing, too, since I leave next Friday. And as of Jan 19, I will be totally off the grid. What's to come of the 365 Conversations????  I know you are freaking out a bit right now. Fear not. Ever.

But back to the blog.  I'm going to schedule some posts to post while I"m away. They won't be in real time from me in the moment, but they will be in real time from the time I write them. I will randomly schedule them, and then the Divine will make sure we all get what we need from them for 5 weeks. Yep. I'll be gone until Feb 22.

And if you are wondering, the 365 Conversations 1 year without missing a day practice ends on Jan 15.  Whew! But I'm enjoying it, and it seems you are too, so we keep on keeping on.

But for tonight - Go Niners! and Yeah, it was kinda fun, weird, and very loud at the pub tonight. Enough TVs to be in Best Buy. And John and I playing music, the soundtrack to the 49s victory over Green Bay.

#sportsdrugsandrockandroll
#icouldgiveafuckbutwasthereanywayanditwasoddlyfun
#istillhavetopack

Tension - a new story

Tension presents itself in the following manner (and this is by no means a complete list):
a big knot in your neck
upset stomach
headache
IBS
back pain
carpal tunnel
road rage
criticizing mercilessly because you can
judging self-righteously because you can

So what is tension? Tension is your Light unexpressed. It is you holding back your light. Sometimes we hold it back deliberately so we can "explode" in a way that is pleasurable (i.e.: christmas morning, orgasm, etc...). Other times we lock it down unconsciously for reasons that are, well, unconscious. We don't even know we are doing it. The reasons  may be from childhood conditioning and all that other stuff, or something else, but it doesn't matter because we aren't aware them and how they are acting on us anyway! This is where tension becomes our friend...

Tension. We start to feel it. We ignore it. We wish it would go away. Just like a pesky child who keeps trying to get your attention. We tell the child to go away. How has that worked out? Not so well, right? The kid is relentless, eventually pulling out all the stops until you MUST pay attention to it.

Tension. The relentless child.

So how is this child our friend? Because that child is you. That child is you trying to express itself. The tension is the child trying to get your a-tension. The child is on your side and wants to remind you of the light that you are. So it pokes you, reminding you to shine. And if you keep locking it down, the knot gets worse. That's why massage and chiropractic and acupuncture are temporary fixes. Because without awareness of why you are tense, they will most likely come back.

So when we feel that glimmer of tension, find a release valve. It can be as simple as letting the light "drain" or "shine" out your fingertips (in the case of neck or shoulder pain). Letting it drain out your feet in the case of back or leg discomfort. It can be asking yourself "where am i not shining right now?" or "what needs to shine right now" or "how am i not being true to myself?" then observe whether or not we are willing to shine. If not, at least it's a conscious choice, which is a first step towards changing the choice.

And keep in mind that in the brightest of lights (you), there is the darkest of darks (also you), which is why our unconscious releases can be so ugly and destructive. All that creative energy, we can also use to destroy. Not that there's anything wrong with that btw. No judgments.

Tension is there to help us find out who we really are, what we really need, and what we really need to do, how we need to act and be. And not from a societal "should" place. From a place of Soul.

As I heard from Rod Stryker, "Ouch! Thank you..."

Thursday - check!

finished teaching all my thursday classes until feb 28. i'm feeling the acceleration of time as I'm drawn into the "event horizon" (a black hole term). I seem to be able to fit more and more into each day, making time longer, yet shorter.

and watching the Universe move pieces of my life around on a chess board. As i open up more space inside of me, as i embrace even more effortlessness, the Universe comes calling and changes events, timing, etc... of things that were supposedly "set in stone" on another trajectory.

moral of the story: Nothing is set in stone. Not even stone. So let change in and see it as the Universe's way of helping you out, of helping you live and embody the new reality you've been asking for.

Heart-Mind

Thoughts inspired by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait:

Heart people can get all wrapped up in the emotionality and sensitivity of it all. We need to stop when our pain starts to hurt ourselves.

Sometimes we need to pull the mind from the heart's influence, so the mind can see things from a different point of view. Pulling the mind out of the heart, gives perspective, then the heart thanks the mind for changing the mind of the heart.

Personal-ity choice

choices.
options.
points of view

Limitless choices and points of view are awesome. Choice informs.
But it also dilutes. that's why its important to be well grounded in your Self. So the mind doesn't get confused. So your heart can discern what rings true for you.

And stay out of judgement. Because getting that right/wrong thing in there - it means we have to choose "correctly," and since information is information, with no charge, if we have to choose a side, it can confuse the mind.

Let the mind know as much as possible. Don't make the mind judge. That way we see what we need to see without our the bias of our personality.

Atten-shun!

Attention.
A tension.
Tension pulls our attention, and as we know, what we think about expands. Another way of saying it, is that's where our Prana goes, and in some cases, leaks.

Tension is also a part if duality, which is the realm if physical matter/material/stuff, so of course it's here for a reason. No judgement on the tension. The question is, what is our relationship to the tension? Does it deserve our attention? Do we want to invest our Prana there?

If tension serves, go for it. If not, break the habit of tensing up.

How? Next blog...

Habits

Habits. What are they? Smoking? Drinking? Sugar? Sex? Gossip? Biting your nails? Leaving socks on the floor?

Whatever the habit, it's not the actual behavior that is the thing we are breaking when we "break a habit." It's the change of power. Instead of the habit running your life, you run the habit. If the habit is running you, your decisions and choices are all made in support of that habit, which is repetition on a past behavior. When you run the habit, the choice to do or not to is made in the present moment. 

We can fool ourselves into believing that we are choosing in the present moment, that's for sure. One way to test it, is to see how easy/difficult it is to give it up. The harder to give up, the more ingrained the habit. And the more reason to break it.

Why?  To bring us into the present moment. Even if only for the moment, because all those moments add up to a lot of momentum, and that momentum creates a new reality. One that is based more in your current reality than what worked/didn't work for us in the past.

So pick up those dirty socks! Or not. But really, who/what has more power? You or a sock? 

Power of Prana

Yesterday I saw a person almost get hit by a car. Yes, she was in the crosswalk and had the green, yes the mini van was making a left hand turn. No she want hit, but it was because her shakti actually picked her up and set her down as the van came to a fast but shocked stop. No squealing, no peeling. And there should have been considering how fast the van was moving.

I'd venture to say that the woman will never be the same. The driver looked untouched by the whole thing, but I don't really know. When I pulled up and asked her if she was alright, she was crying and shaking, but she said yes. Physically I guess. But the energy hit was huge.

Kundalini? I think yes. In each of us. For her, if she thinks back on this day and realizes what she did aka save her own life, then she has nothing to fear. At least things as powerful as fast, left-turning minivans.

New Years inertia?

If you are having trouble with your New Years resolutions already, it might be because you haven't started them yet, waiting for what we think is the "best" time to begin. A time when life won't get in the way.

Here's a clue- make yourself do it for 3 days. That will get you over the initial hp of the habit you are wanting to change. After 3 days, the big lock on you is broken. After 5 days, another lock breaks. After a week it's starting to make its own groove, so some resistance may come up. After 10 days, another landmark. Two weeks, now it gets easier. 1 month, subltler saboteurs may begin to bubble up. From 1 month to 35 days, this is a critical time to watch out for. The part of you that doesn't want you to change is over humoring you. It gave you a month dammit! Now let's get this ship back to normal! Get to 35 days. Now the biggest hurdle, and each day may prove more challenging than the next. Make it to 40 days. Then you will have created a new groove. You will be feeling results. It will seem like you've done it! Then think back on what it was like 40 days ago. Do you want that back? If not, remember what it took to get you here. How much stronger your self appreciation has become. And now decide if you want to live like this for the rest of your life. If not, then maybe the resolution wasn't really important to you. If so, congratulations! Your life will continue to be 40 days better. Until you do it again with another refinement. Another resolution. And now that you have more "resolve" chops, it will be easier.

So no matter what, the biggest part of the resolution is getting resolve chops. Once you've had enough success and repetition on the process, you viscerally understand the patterns and where to watch for pitfalls, you can do anything.

And I mean anything.

Why not you? So forget about what you read and Start today. 3 days is all it takes...

My thoughts are not my own

My thoughts are not my own. I'm sure I've blogged about this before, even if only in my mind, but it was triggered when I read friend Abby Cohen's Facebook post this morning. She mentioned the concept of forgetting things when leaving a room.

I responded, "So funny you wrote this! I just read it, and last night I did a blog about this very subject! The universe is not so random. Thoughts are out there. Which are our own? :)"

So whose thoughts are they? Yours? Mine? Ours? Yes.

Thoughts, like sound waves, are out there. They aren't invisible things that go nowhere, so yes, we are constant bombarded with thoughts, ideas, opinions, some of which our personality didn't consciously come up with, but due to the nature of the beast if thoughts, we are all a part of.

Another piece of evidence in favor of quieting the mind chatter. With our seemingly innocuous random thinking, we are adding to thought form pollution, a global warming of busy-ness so to speak. We can't stop thinking, but we can become more conscious as to what we think. And the reason this matters (cuz we are talking about Matter, and ask anyone- thoughts matter!) is because the more we keep thinking something, the more it becomes our truth.

So what do you want to believe? Believe that! It's out there somewhere, so if we're going to invest in a thought construct anyway, it might as well be one that we want.

Just sayin'

And remember, Einstein already proved this stuff from a physics point of view, in case we need to see it to believe what our inner knowing already knows.

Learn to discern the chatter from your inner voice if truth. Then listen to that. And the chatter will no longer Matter, since the voice you choose to pay attention to is Spirit. And for my money, that's a way cooler place to put my thinking me thinks.

Are my thoughts my own? Depending on who's talking? From my personality, probably not. I'm probably just latching on to a bunch of collective unconscious thought forms out there. From my Divinity, my thoughts are not my own, unless I am the Divinity. And not my personality.

Chatter

why do we want to quiet the chatter? focus? get calm? What's wrong with eating while standing up folding laundry, paying bills while talking on the phone?

Have you ever noticed that we do these things while doing something else, like eating for example, and while eating that piece of toast, you think of something you need to get upstairs before you leave for work. So you are stuffing the last bite of toast in your mouth, while clearing your plate, and maybe picking up and glancing at a stray piece of mail, and the minute you swallow the toast and start to walk upstairs, you totally forget what you needed up there.

Maybe all this multi-tasking is confusing our brain circuits somehow. Just like adrenaline doesn't distinguish between good stress (excitement) and bad stress (fear), maybe over time all this multi tasking creates these random associations of brain waves and memory. Instead of blending all these activities together as one big, long, continuous, never ending project that has no end (oh - did I already say that?), if we differentiated eating (as a project), washing the plate (as a project), folding the laundry (as a project), and then gathering things up for work (as a project), we might not lose our train of thought as we swallow the last bite of toast. Maybe what we needed upstairs, our memory associated it with the toast somehow, and when the toast was gone, so was the thought.

So if we focus on one thing at a time, we associate all aspects of that one thing, with that one thing; eating toast and i'm eating toast. do i even like toast? yes, i believe i do, glad i'm eating it, chewing it, swallowing it and taking a moment to feel whether i'm full, satisfied, or incomplete, then I get to understand and experience toast eating, and not have it be a place to hang yet another to do item or list. Perhaps we wont lose our train of thought, since all the cars on our train will be going in the same direction at the same time. And when we arrive, and it's time to shift trains, maybe we'll remember which one we need to board next in order to get to our destination in the most efficient manner possible.

Just a thought on my train. wooooo woooooooo!

Do we still want it?

Ok 2013! You are here!

How did we do with the first day of the rest of our year?

Break the habit. Change the momentum. Change your life. Now.

If your new years resolution has already bitten the dust, it might be time to examine what it is you really want, and if you really want it but cant seem to get behind it, then what would be a resolution that would be at least a step closer to your ultimate?

If I can't seem to break every habit i have all at once, pick a habit that you know is breakable. The breaking of that habit will give you some "habit breakin' chops," ultimately training you for the next one. Keep layering and at some point you will have developed the stamina to go for the big one.

So your new years resolution might ultimately be to exercise 30 minutes everyday, so maybe you start out with 5. When 5 gets easy, do 7 or 10, knowing you can always go back to 5. At least you know you can always get your 5 in. At some point, 5 will have naturally bloomed into more, and eventually you will be at your goal. And if you stick with the do-able 5 minutes a day, I'll bet that by the end of 2013 you'll be at 30.

Do what's do-able. That helps train us so more things are more do-able.


yes we can!