Voices inside my head

One of my serious students asked me the other day about emotions. About growth. Empowerment. About speaking from the Big S Self.

The question was (I'm paraphrasing), "When I'm in my emotions, in my stuff, I hear more than one voice. How do I know which is the Big S?"

The seeming cacophony of voices inside our heads, even though it may be only 2 voices, are aspects of our selves competing for the title of Big S. The Big S doesn't compete. It's what is left when the noise is gone.

Transmission haiku 9-18-2015

Crystalline space

Divine equanimity 

We are the One

#inspiredbyyou

#withoutyouthereisnome

#sriyoga

#srilifeforme

#sririffic

#trustthatyouarethegamechanger

#epicweek

Time to eat?

What's eating you? Who are you eating for? What part of yourself needs nourishment, and what part is being asked to digest food (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) and distribute it? Are you really hungry or stress hungry? 

And if you are up right now, did you act on the urge to have that late night snack? Was it awesome? Do you feel nourished and taken care of? If so, excellent! If not, stop beating yourself up. Stop it right now. Take a breath and ask yourself what you really need. If you don't know, at least you know it wasn't what you just ate, so next time, you can cross that off the list of options. 

This is one way we can learn to stop judging ourselves. Assess the result from a scientist's point of view: did the action have the desired effect? If not, what different actions can we try next time until the desired effect us achieved. 

The science of non judgement. The science of self love. The discovery of your limitlessness through limiting your options. But that's another story. 

You are not alone

You are Whole because you are part of the Whole. The Whole holds you. Always.

Standing out

Standing out is the new fitting in. This may be problematic for some.

Just sayin

Where's the balance?

Spontaneity

Spontaneity. For years, I've been drawing an "angel card" at midnight every New Years and on that card is a word and an angel to go with it. I say a little prayer if sorts and that becomes a theme, a teaching, something to pay attention to. When I drew "spontaneity," I thought , "that sounds fun! More spontaneous trips to the beach perhaps?" And then the year goes on, and the card gets forgotten. Until you see it. And there it was. And I realized a new level of this teaching. 

Spontaneity is listening and acting on that inner voice of truth, aka your "Dhi." It's following that voice, that feeling of knowingness, whether it be "get out of bed now," "drink water," "call your mother," "buy that plane ticket," or any number of big/little things. Last week I had a couple of moments that were "Dhi-liscious," and I paused a bit too long before acting. When I returned, the moment was gone. And so was my Air BnB. Of course it's all prefect. It inspired this blog, and inspired and reminded me to listen and ACT when action is what's up. To trust my Self. To not fear acting upon Knowingness. 

Spontanei-dhi it is!

The Pursuit of Happiness

The pursuit of happiness. It's in our constitution. Our founding fathers thought that we should all have the right to pursue happiness. By now, many of us take that pursuit for granted. So much so, that perhaps we have even misinterpreted "the right to pursue happiness" and replaced it with "I have a right to be happy, so you need to make me happy, because it's my right."

The pursuit is our right. Whether we get there or not is up to us and no one else. "The road to happiness" Is a metaphor that works here. If I want to get somewhere, it's a journey. How long, how tough itveasy that journey is, is dependent on my starting point. As I pursue happiness on a potentially long and winding road, I need to have an idea of what happiness is/looks like to me, and where I am in relationship to that goal/destination. The further I am from my goal, the longer the pursuit. The rockier, hillier, the road, the more challenging the pursuit. If I am starting from a place a deep depression, I probably won't find happiness in one day.  If I've spent years self-medicating, I probably won't find happiness in a day. If I've spent years blaming others for my misery and plight, I probably won't find happiness in one day. I say "in one day," but I mean "one day, a week, maybe a year, in some cases, years." But hey, ya gotta go somewhere, so you might as well pursue the Happiness thing!

We know that it takes willpower, desire, and consistency to train for a marathon, and for some, to even be able to walk or run around the block. We know we can't get up off the couch that we've been glued to for 10 years and go running. We don't blame someone else for the fact that we are out of shape. So we get to work. Whether we can do it ourselves or we get a trainer, we still have to do it. We have to make the choices that move us in the direction to our goal, in spite of feeling  sore, unseen, entitled, or discouraged. 

The pursuit or road to happiness is much the same. Just because you are on the road to happiness, doesn't mean you will be happy today. The road to happiness may be the most painful, challenging thing you've ever done. But I can promise you this- it will be worth it. So whether you train yourself or work with a trainer, love yourself for saying "yes!" to this pursuit, and keep going! And if you are already "there," YAY! That's right- put on your cheerleading outfit! It'll look good on ya!

Relax dammit!

Try not to stress out when you aren't relaxing to your specifications. Relax your expectations. And remember that relaxation is a practice.

It's Showtime folks!

The more we identify and are attached to out shit, the more it runs the show. Then life becomes a veritable shit show.

Dont blame God

Button alert: I am using the word "God" in this blog. Deal with it.

Whatever God is to you, it's not its fault that things aren't turning out according to your picture. God doesn't hate you and isn't trying to stick it you you.

We assume that God knows the terrain better than we do. That's by definition. We trustfully surrender to that which we believe has a bigger clue than we do. When we find ourselves blaming, frustrated, judging that which we surrendered to, maybe it's not God. Maybe it's our picture of what we thought God should be. And that's pretty cool because now we know more what It is because we are outgrowing our picture. Drop the picture and stop blaming that which you know has a bigger clue than your personality.  That's a bigger clue, and now a bigger you.

PREHzent or preeZENT

1. Present. As in a gift you give, or what you say when answering roll call

2. Present. What you do on stage or at a board meeting.

So am present in presenting? Am I able I give and receive through presents/presence? Or am I tense, blocking presents/presence in the present presentation?

Again- release tension, aka "relax." And the presents/presence flow. 

And remember, what is tension, but the presence/presents of fear?

#presents

#presence

#releasetension

#releasefear

#nofearinthepresentmoment

Breaking away

So did I say "I just need a break?" And what happens? I break my knee.

What do you need?

Just sayin...

Wrecking ball

Part of the making is the breaking. 

#wreckingball

#breakthroughs

#breakitopen

#givemeabreak

#becarefulwhatyouaskfor

Working hard or hardly working?

Those of you who have been following this blog for awhile know that I've preached, teached, reached far and beyond talking about the value, importance, and controversy around the philosophical and practical application of effortlessness. I hope you didn't think that I have an issue with hard work. Making an "effort." Etc...

Hard work can be fun. We delight in the feeling of having accomplished something after working hard. Some of us just like to work for work's sake. 

I'm not saying "don't work and don't work hard." I'm saying be relaxed while you work hard. There is a difference.

#workinghard

#hardlyworking

#workoutwithouttension

#relaxationrevolution 

Commitment committee

Commit

Mitten

Mitty

Mittyment

Committee 

10 commitments 

What are your 10 commitments to yourself? And who is deciding what they are? Your big S self? Your little s self? Which one really cares about losing 10 lbs? Which one cares? Is caring really sharing? 

Let's see that on facebook. 

#10commitments

#commitmentcommittee

#facebookcommittments

Practice the relax

What is relaxation but a state that is void of fear?

So why not practice relaxation with as much attention as one would practice the guitar, mathematics, yoga asana, gymnastics, etc... What would it be like to be a master or virtuoso of fearlessness?

#practicetherelax

#fearbegone

#mastertherelax

#fearbusters

Edges Go

Dissolving

Feeling my self growing smaller

Melting

Into the one pot

Hearing

My thoughts coming out of other mouths

Identity relaxes

I am no longer necessary

E goes away

A

Way

Revealed

#timetoletgo
#surrenderego

First Friday

First Friday of the year. Is it TGIF? If so, why are we thanking God that it's Friday today? What is it about today that inspires thanks?

#thankdogitsfriday

#newthanksgiving

#tgif

#firstfridays

#findingtherightquestionstoleadmetotheanswersiseek

The Resolution Solution - part 2

So how's it going so far with those resolutions? 

Right.

For me, I resolve every day. And sometimes throughout the day. The new year just marks another day, and another reason to have a party (as if I need one!)

I have a code that I live by. Those are my resolutions. And I resolve, or re-solve them as often as I need to, for however long it takes for me to get it, because that is what is important to me. What's my code? What does it matter? Make up your own code. What's important to you? 

Some of my code looks like this:

Non judgement 

No greater than or less than

It's all perfect

Love yourself

Etc...

I adopted this code (partial list shown) around 1986 when I met Dennis Adams. Thank you for teaching me truths that have held up every damn moment of every damn day. And that is what I teach. That is what informs my yoga, and all of it informs my life. That code is my continual resolve. That is my Resolution Solution.

Amen

Hari om tat sat

Etc...

#resolutionsolution

#newyearseveryday

#keepthepartygoing

#cantstopwontstopsoidontstop

Change the changing

 If there is something you've been "working on" for years, and it's not changing, then maybe it's time to change how you're working on it. Just sayin...

#change

#stopworkingstartchanging

#tryyoga

#findwhatworks

#brennageehanphotography

The Resolution Solution - part 1

It's that time of year. Day 1, 2015. Time for those good ol' New Years Resolutions! All the things we don't like about ourselves, we seek the solution in re-solution. But that's the clincher- we knew the solution already! So we resolve/re-solve the "problem" time and time again. Is this crazy making? Is it working? Am I feeling better or worse about myself? Better or worse about life? And how do I feel about re-solving the same damn problem year after year? 

So maybe solve a different problem. Try something else. Something that helps us break free from the pack. From the pack of lies we tell ourselves everyday and instead, ask ourselves, "What choices can I make that help me feel better about myself and life?"

Now I'm not saying that we should beat ourselves up for not "getting it" faster, or for continuing to work on stuff. I'm not talking about giving up, but maybe I'm talking about giving up what isn't or hasn't been working. And there is a Knowingness to that. A Knowingness that may reach beyond what it appears to be on the physical plane, so who am I to judge what that looks like on the outside? 

So just do it. You already know what to do. Resolve to act on your Knowingness. Re-solve that. Happy New Year! Happy New Moment. Every. Damn. Day. Even. Next. Year.

#newyearsresolutions

#Resolutionsolution

#lose10lbsonlytofindthemagainstopsnow

#losenothing

Counting down

In less than 1 hour PST, it will be a new year. The ball has dropped in NYC, and Des Moines, Iowa. They know what 2015 feels like. 

Time passed.  46 minutes. And now it's 2015. Who dropped the ball here? I guess that would have to be me... ;)

Happy New Year to all, and to all a good night.