Brahma - Vishnu - Shiva.

The three Hindu Gods of - Creation - Preservation - Destruction can be viewed as a representation of;

1. The Inhale, the entering and creation of each new moment.

2. Breath retention, the preserving of a moment.

3. The exhale, the death and letting go of each moment.

We breathe all day and night but we rarely think about or are aware of this fact for much of the time.
Once we activate consciousness to our breathing we are in effect 'doing' Pranayama.
We then breathe with more awareness and enter each moment with full consciousness and responsibility, we hold the breath and extend the moment, we suspend time in a sense and then finally we let it go.

We do this for the whole of our life. We enter the World with an inhale and we leave it with an exhale, (usually).

Om Namaha Sivaya.

Roll this mantra up and down the spine with the breath.

Inhale 'Om Namaha Sivaya' Exhale ' Om Namaha Sivaya'.

The scientists have shown us that everything in the universe has a vibration.

The 'Homeopathic' principal, whether you believe it or not, says that the finer the vibration the more powerful the remedy.

A Mantra is like a homeopathic remedy in sound form.

You don't have to believe something for it to be true or not true - do you?

'Within the mind there are no limits'  John Lilly.

If you are unhappy you may seek for happiness. If you seek for happiness outside of yourself it will evade you. If you begin to look within and ask simply, 'why am I not happy?' an answer may or may not come. But at least you are starting to ask somebody that you can rely on to be honest with you - aren't you?

'The truth will set you free, but first it may really upset you!' Anon.

Ommz
Ommz

Being and/or Doing.

We are being ourselves most of the time in one way or another.
Relating back to yesterday we need to ask, what does being myself mean?

Who am I?

With a little meditation we start to see the inner dictates, the different versions of our selves interrelating  with one another.

Different versions of our selves being the way we may behave with our parents for example as opposed to friends we've known for many years.

The differences may be slight or severe.

We tend to show different parts of our selves to different people for good reason.
It's not a question of right or wrong, how we relate to a lover would be very different (hopefully) to the way we may relate to a work colleague.

So this is all relatively obvious stuff.
But how do we relate to our self with our selves?
Who is running the show from moment to moment?

The 'sub personality' model of psychosynthesis is the closest thing (as far as I know) to explaining this phenomena in a complete way.

As the 'Yogi Within' evolves he/she oversees the other complexities of the personality. The Yogi has an integrating quality. He/she can also act as executioner disposing of any outworn or outmoded ways of behaving, ways of behaving that compromise our expanding consciousness.

In yogic terms these limiting factors may be called 'Samskara's or Granthi knots. (look them up).

Omzz

Peace lies within, but only if you create it!

You can create it by sitting still and focusing on some thing, a mantra or the breath.

Keeping very still is the beginning of the movement inwards, away from the outer where all of the noise and confusion seems to be.

But as we go inward we 'real-ise' that we have this noise and confusion within too!

Or is that where it stems from in the first place?

The World appears to be changing - do we agree?

All of the things that 'seem' to be happening now are a representation of the disregard for 'inner' connection.

The struggle for security through hoarding large amounts of money, buying big houses and cars, over eating, over consuming etc, are merely a superficial attempt at appeasement of the gnawing anxiety that is generated through the constant jabbering of the 'slave' mind.

If you look at it (this voice) with clear vision, the jabbering appears to be you, but if you look a little deeper 'you' real-ise that it is not you, it is just a voice that you have been listening to for a while.

The thinker is watched by the observer. This is not hard to do. Just sit still and wait. The thoughts come and there is another part that is observing them. Which is which? Which is you? Are you the thinker or the observer of the thinker. An easy answer is to say 'both thinker and watcher'. This is okay if you want to compromise, but if you want to look a little deeper, ponder this.

The thinker initiates action, before we act we think about what it is we are going to do and then (usually) we do it!

So the thinker 'thinks' and the 'actor' acts out the part.

The thought 'I am hungry' finds one standing in front of the fridge wondering what to eat. Are you hungry - really?

So we sit and the mind becomes quiet. There is a silence that feels profound. It may feel quite disturbing, as if there is something wrong. The thing that we listen to all day long has gone quiet. What does this mean? If there are no thoughts the 'I' the 'thinker' no longer exists, we have disappeared!

Now that would be interesting because then we may go to another level of thought, an enquiring thought - "Who am I?"

'Within the mind there are no limits'. John Lilly. (Center of the Cyclone).

The limits we have placed or have had placed upon us are there to overcome and transcend.
What lies beyond the conditioned limits you have no way of knowing.

Trying to look forward with limited understanding is pointless.
Just do the practice and all will be revealed.

The deeper we go the higher we fly.


Some people prefer the safe route of the 'middle ground' which is a bit like being on valium. It's peaceful and that's about it.

Not that there's anything wrong with peace but 'I' think some people mistake mediocrity as peace.

The practice can be fierce and fiery and at certain times we may hit the granite of our resistance. This is hard enough, in these times 'I' need to hear authenticity. I do not want to hear that it is all an illusion and see myself as having something wrong with me. To hear some of the so called Yoga teachers today you would think it was a mortal sin to dare ask for help, or indeed to admit that you had a feeling.

I call these people 'shanti bunnies'. They hide away some where and set themselves up as self ordained experts on 'almost everything'.

It is really not okay to think that you know what is best for somebody else when you barely know what is best for you - is it?

All I say is 'Do the practice' see what it brings you.
If it gets hairy stop for a while until you can see what the problem is.
It is okay to 'not practice for a while.
It is not a race either, you don't get a 'black belt' in yoga, you don't get a medal for long term service to the cause.
And if you think that becoming a 'Yoga teacher' instantly gives you the right to call yourself a spiritual teacher then at least have the decency to look at what you are offering. Try and speak from your personal experience and not what you read in 'Yoga Magazine' that morning.

Have a day.



Omzzz

AS YOUR INNER WORLD CHANGES SO TOO MUST THE OUTER WORLD CHANGE

Someone told me this once and I believed them, now I'm not so sure.

But it is certainly some thing to meditate on

Head Heart And Guts..........

How can we know anything for sure if we don't know who we really are?

Do you 'really' know who you are?

Are you awake?

The general experience of many people (I talk to) is that there are a lot of changes going on at the moment. It seems almost as if we are being pulled along by technology, media, and the whole information technology explosion without our full consent.

The world has changed and continues to change and at whatever point in history you stand this has always been the case.

But Now things are changing faster than ever.

So what?

Who cares?

The way I see it from the perspective of the consciousness I now seem to have. As opposed to the one I used to have. Is that I seem to really 'need' very little.

I need what we all need, food, shelter, warmth, company, touch etc. I take it for granted that these things are my right to have. At the same time I am perplexed that we are inundated with information proclaiming that we (as humans) are destroying our planet and ourselves.

I want to say "I'm not doing that!" And to an extent this is true.

For example the amount of energy I consume is very small compared to Harrods Xmas lights display for example, so it's Harrods fault - not mine!

But this doesn't let me off the hook, but it goes some way. I am not a large consumer of energy but I am part of the system that does waste so much energy.

I have found that with a seeming continuation of so called awakening realisations that I 'have to' justify my behaviour in order to live in some semblance of peace of mind. The alternative would be to obfuscate and stay in denial. But I just can't do that anymore.

Good for me!

Within the information that we now are receiving form all quarters, i.e, that the world and it's occupants are in dire trouble, how do we justify our behaviour?

We can deny the information and continue the way we are.

Or we can take a serious look at our part in the process.

Am I part of the solution or am I part of the problem?

I have always believed that if each one of us takes care of their little piece of the world and the immediate environment around us there would be no need for crusades and charity.

We would be self sufficient.

But of course unless you are awake to see it then you have to stay hard wired in denial.

Anyway the point as usual with me is to come back to the subject of - YOGA.

It contains within it a powerful transformational action.

But unless you do it you won't know it will you?

Radical changes

If you step back from it and look (as objectively as you can) at what 'real' Yoga is you surely have to admit - it is pretty radical.

When I talk of 'real' Yoga, I am talking about the whole thing, the bigger picture.

Now we can all go to a class and we can feel challenged by a class, this is true.
We can read all sorts of books on the subject of Yoga, read about what is or isn't relevant etc. We can go on an incredibly exotic Yoga retreat with the most famous yoga teacher in the universe and not go anywhere near the truth.

We find in reading various books on the subject that not all so called Yogi's agree on the 'How to' of the subject.

We are told by some to be careful with Pranayama. We are told by others to do lots of Pranayama. We are told to do this, that and the other for all sorts of reasons by all sorts of people.

BUT unless you know WHY you are doing so-called- yogic practice you can never know anything for sure really can you?

The 'radical-ness' of yoga is real. Step back and look at it!

We are being told to drop out of 'egoic' thinking and enter the whole self, or the bigger self - universal consciousness.

The ego, in this case, is seen as the servant and Yogis tells us that the 'servant' or ego has taken over the operating system of being human. It is now telling the 'boss' how to run the show.

Who is the 'boss'? Well that 'as they say' is for 'you'to decide, unless 'you' know 'who' the 'boss' is 'you' surely cannot know anything for sure, can 'you?'

And there you have it, very radical. You have been handed an ancient manual for self realisation. The manual of the operating system for your brain and nervous system.

Deleting old programmes and entering new input through divine consciousness expansion.

To be honest if this doesn't make sense to you, you are in the wrong place.

You either do it or you do not do it.
You either have a drive to do it or you do not.
If you do not you may perhaps consider yourself lucky.
On the other hand .......

Omzz

If YOu do PRANAYAMA everDAY You Will FEEL GOOD!!

If you do pranayama everyday or even better 3 or 4 times a day you will feel better that if you don't!

WHY DON'T YOU - Do IT everyday??

Who ARe You?

If you are six feet tall and live your life in a world of 5ft 8 inches you will not be very happy.

How tall are you?

Have you decided yet?

Are you happy?

Really happy?

If not - why not?

If yes - good for you - enjoy it.

Easy? ? ? ?

(this was originally posted 2 years ago and here it is again)

You think it's easy ?!
It's a tricky thing to teach someone something that has so much potential inbuilt resistance to it, and Yoga by it's very nature is challenging to the one thing it needs for it's beginning, the 'ego'. We may think "OH I think I'll do a bit of yoga I'm a bit stressed". Then once we start to undermine our outer mask and our aches and pains, we may begin to see (maybe) what we are really like underneath, or at least what we think we are like.

Wilhelm Reich whom I have mentioned before, discovered through working physically using deep tissue massage into the 'muscular armouring' of the human body as he called it, three layers of experience. The outer layer is the 'mask' we present to the world. The middle layer is the part of us we may think is the 'real' us, the angry part or the part that feels secretly guilty or resenful etc. Then there is a third layer which according to Reich was our authentic layer, what has been called recently the 'inner child'. This is a more sensitive layer, and therefore buried away to protect us from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or life as we know it!

Of course in an imaginary world that encouraged natural expression of emotions etc, there would be no need to bury this layer. Just to think back to school as I experienced it in the 50' and 60' it would have been suicide to show any sense of feeling. School was a tough experience in self-denial and pretending. You were caned for minor offences and hit on the hand with a ruler for talking in class. Well that's the way it was and I'm not going to cry about it now, but as an example of layering and armouring against the world here it is, right at that young age, the beginning of pretending to be ok when you really weren't.

So of course unless you had a healthy up-bringing (?) in the sense that you were encouraged to express emotions freely etc, then you are more than likely to have 'stuff' buried away in your 'muscular armouring' in the form of chronic tension and/or numbness. So, as we begin yoga Asana practise and a bit of Pranayama, we may feel what a great relief it is to have found a way to relax. But as we move/struggle through the gross physical muscular tensions and go deeper perhaps into the secondary layer where we store our anger or grief/sadness for example, it becomes a bit more interesting.

Memories can be stored within the muscular memory structure in the same way that it is stored in the mind memory. A 'triggered' feeling can remind us of past hurts, and a backlog of feeling associated with particular triggers is stirred up. All of this 'stuff' is stored away in what we politely refer to as the unconscious. Where do you think the unconscious lives? Well to be honest it's everywhere, in the muscles and soft tissue, the nervous system and heart.

If we become too hypnotised by our outer layering (ego) we may start to believe that this is who we really are. But as we move deeper into our feelings we may also start to believe that 'this' is who we really are. It's no coincidence to me that in some Health clubs I have worked in the yoga students complain the most about everything, why? Because for most of them they are starting to feel, and when that happens there is a great semi-conscious urge to make it somebody else's fault! It's a luxury I no longer have, blaming someone else is so nice, and to take it all out on somebody else and never have to own to the fact that it might just be you that is doing this to yourself is great temporarily but ultimately frustrating arrrgh! Of course that's not to say there is never anything wrong 'out there', it's just if we choose to make it our business, now there's the rub.

Now what is important here (I think), is that if you don't make some kind of commitment to the practise you may just keep being angry and overly sensitive all the time by staying stuck in the second layer of feeling (Anamaya). You may get through the first layer and stay there and keep re-traumatising yourself over and over. You may become all feeling with no grounding through the mind (Ajna, Manomaya), you may become hyper sensitive to everything and everyone, this happens to all of us from time to time, but getting stuck in it is not too good.

Unless you become committed to going through the deeper layers, you may stay in the superficial layers, until one day you give up yoga because (you think), it doesn't work, it's too hard. There is a perverse sense of relief in hurting yourself just so you can feel the relief of it when you stop, I think it's called masochism.

I say get on with it, go to as many classes as you can and try and stick with one or two teachers at the most, any more than that is just confusing. You may be the lucky one though, and just keep it all on the surface and skim around to various teachers to suit your mood, another way of avoiding going deeper in my opinion.

Yogic high!

It is generally accepted, I believe, by the psychologists and other professional mental health experts that we, as humans, and in fact all animals are 'programmed' or 'imprinted' heavily within the first five or six years of our lives.

When we are born our brain and nervous system are hungry for information. The information we receive comes from our nearest and dearest, i.e, our parents or guardians. Obviously at this stage of the game we lack the ability to be discerning about 'the type' of information we receive.

These early years, according to the experts, are formative and will programme our behaviour for the rest of our lives. Amazing what!

But in these enlightened times we have much more information available and more knowledge of the inner workings of the body/mind dynamic. In a sense we can choose who we want to be. Compared to the lives of the Victorians, for example, we have more freedom to move within all layers of society to a degree. We have access to information for free online and in libraries. The power of knowledge enlightens us to a certain degree.

Underlying our social and material changing the initial layering of 'programmed' behaviour remains.

How do we change or modify this?
Do we want to change or modify this?

According to some experts on the subject of change we need to achieve a heightened state of consciousness to do it and these heightened states of consciousness are known as 'peak' experiences.

We probably can all recall some of these experiences in our lives that have had a dramatic impact on our consciousness leading sometimes to profound changes. For example a sudden serious illness or the death of a loved one. Even losing a job or getting a divorce can lead to serious life changing moments. You could call these events, 'Divine Intervention'.

Getting to the point - When we do Asana - Pranayama - and Meditation aren't we creating a consciousness expanding experience through our own choosing? Aren't we creating a life changing experience because we have decided to? The reason we may choose to do this are endless, it may be because we are restless and/or unhappy. We may be looking for a deeper experience of life. In these times that we appear to be in now we are even more challenged to find some thing solid, some thing more real to live by, aren't we?

These heightened experiences lead to an awakening consciousness. The awakening leads to a 'real eye zation' and through this 'realisation' we may be able to determine who we are and what we are doing.

It seems to me that change occurs for sure whether we do Yoga or not. But Yoga (in my opinion) speeds the process up a great deal.

This will only make sense to you if you are dissatisfied with being who you are. If you are content and happy there is no need to change is there? Are you content and happy?

Omzz

bullshit baffles brains

If you ever find yourself listening to someone talking of Yogic matters and you find yourself not able to understand what they are saying. If you listen very carefully and still can't understand what they are saying, you may have to admit that they are probably talking rubbish.

Some people, let's face it, like to hear the sound of their own voice. This is okay if what they are saying has some relevance to anything but in most cases it does not.

I have suffered so much in the past by 'not' trusting my bullshit detectors. If you think it is crap, it probably is and you should leave.

In my experience when someone speaks from the heart it doesn't matter too much about the content of what they are saying, I just listen, I hear it. But when someone is 'waffling' on and on and speaking from their 'head' I cannot hear it. I just cannot hear it.

Does that ever happen to you?

I must remind you that I am talking about the stuff that so called spiritual teachers utter. And a Yoga teacher is or should be teaching you something profound.

Yoga is an ancient practice. And what you hear and what you feel should have some weight to it.

IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT A TEACHER IS SAYING, ASK THEM WHAT THEY MEAN. IT COULD SAVE YOU A LOT OF TIME.

Omzz

Going beyond what?

In the last blog I mentioned something about going beyond 'what we may call reality'. That is a bit ambiguous is it not?

For a start I am not a philosopher or a scientist, I am 'just' someone that 'does' YOGA.

BUT - I have questions.
I read about 'RAJA YOGA' and the essential question for the YOGI is: WHO AM I?

'I am' is more or less a statement of reality on a personal level and Every time we say to ourselves or others 'I am' we are stating a 'reality'.

Therefore: I am tired, hungry, angry, lonely, happy etc, becomes a statement of 'feeling' reality. Which means that we create our 'inner reality' by thinking it.

But then again there is the old saying; 'Thinking something doesn't necessarily make it so'. Which is also true.

Well we know we 'need' to breathe. If we do not breathe we will soon wither and die.
We also, to a certain extent, need to think. But surely not as much as we need to breathe.

We (may) need to think in order to make sense of things rationally. We may also need to think so that we can make plans and process information.

But do we really need to have a constantly jabbering dialogue going on at all times?
I personally think not!

When (and if) we sit to meditate. When (and if)we sit and focus on the breath ratio,i.e, the inhale and the exhale, are we not breathing with more awareness?
Yes of course we are.
We breathe in and out all day long but it would be impossible to be aware of every single breath we take all day long, wouldn't it?
Breathing after all is a mostly unconscious process, and more importantly, so is thinking!

But thinking should surely 'NOT' be an unconscious process, not too much, really - should it?
In order that we have optimal life enjoyment we really need to be more aware of the things we allow to process through our brain, because what we think about affects our inner chemistry.

It goes something like this - A thought is an electrical impulse in the brain and nervous system, which can and often does, lead to a chemical reaction in the hormonal system.

So the 'I feel miserable' thought leads to the secretion of the appropriate adrenal hormone/s that will create that inner chemical reality for you of feeling miserable.

I know it may sound a bit over simplified but that is the essence of it all.. ...

Omzz

Chakra No1

Chakra work is a law unto itself and can be very complicated and obtuse.

If you want to start working with the Chakra's start with Ajna (third eye center).
It is located in the space between the eyebrows.

It is the Chakra of the mind and is the first in order of priority.
The minds expanded awareness see's into the opening of all other Chakra's.

Focusing on the space between the eyebrows - inhale up the left nostril - exhale through the right.

You can close the right nostril as you inhale left and close the left as you inhale right.

Happiness of here and now.

Going beyond what we refer to as 'reality' what do we find?

What are we going beyond?

To be sure we live in a world that has been created largely by what 'we' think about.
What we 'think' about informs our view of reality.
'Thinking' is reality - But at the same time it has nothing to do with anything apart from our own condition.
Therefore our conditioning informs us that what we see is reality.
Hmmmmm.

To keep it more simple, if our experience of 'rice pudding' is a negative one, we are likely to avoid 'rice pudding'. The opposite is also true, i.e, something that gives us a positive experience will be some thing we will seek out.

We become 'attached' to what makes us feel good. But eventually what makes us feel good is just a habit that we start to use. The thing that makes us feel good no longer makes us feel good, but we have become so used to 'it' that we cannot let it go.

The thing that 'makes us feel good' has then become an 'addiction'. An addiction is usually something that is harmful to the self. Drugs and alcohol are the more well known addictions. As we know under certain conditions drugs and/or alcohol can give us a feeling of 'feeling good'.

The point of this is that once we get through these superficial levels of pleasure seeking we may become ready to dive deeper into the underlying psycho-emotional structures that cause us to 'act out' our like/dislikes/addictions in the first place.

Yoga is a kind of De-conditioning experience. It can wake us up out of the stupor that we have been captivated by - But it (in my personal opinion) ain't easy.

Brain and heart relax

We need to keep grounded in the body. Asana practice is the way to do this.

Unless we make some conscious effort to stay grounded we find ourselves living in our head - thinking - thinking - thinking.

Thinking then becomes reality

Happy too!

Happy is good. If we can feel it.

Why are we not happy all the time?

What is it that prevents us from being happy all the time?

The old saying goes; "Peace lies within." And in my experience so far it definitely does.

In order to find it I have found it necessary to sit still long enough. The stillness starts from the outside, i.e, keeping the body still. Once this is achieved the mind noise becomes more discernible and we can see the 'real' cause of our discomfort - our own mind.

The Yogi says that this 'mind' we are seeing and hearing is the small mind. The Yogi also says that beyond this small mind is the 'Big' mind.

This 'big' mind is the Universe within.

Of course the problem is that the so-called small mind, the very part of the mind that is in our way is not going to be interested in being quiet. This is where we find Pranayama useful. Pranayama breathing oxygenates the brain and (I feel) relaxes the brain. The brain relaxes and the mind relaxes. The mind relaxes and starts to allow gaps in the thinking. The gaps in the thinking become longer until there is silence. Once there is silence we have entered the realm of Meditation. It is a truly profound experience to have a quiet mind.

And here we have found peace within.

Asana - Pranayama - Meditation.

Happy?

An interesting question to ask yourself at some time is; If you are not happy why not?

Asking this question requires an answer and if you ask it from a clear place, i.e, a peaceful place inside of yourself, just wait and see what 'comes up' as answer.

To be continued . . .

Om

Knowing - or not . . . .

If you look inside of yourself and listen to the mind thinking - what is it telling you?
Is it telling you that you are tired, hungry, sad, happy, that life is too much, that life is too easy? That the weather is good therefore you are miserable, or the weather is sunny therefore you are happy? Is it telling you that you are far too busy and don't have time for you, or that you are far too lazy and can't be bothered? Does it tell you
that you are rubbish or that you are brilliant?

If you do some practice of the Yogic variety, i.e, some Asanas - Pranayama - and Meditation you may sooner or later realise that this thing we refer to as the mind, this thinking machine, is not actually anything to do with what we may call reality!

What a shock that is to the system!
It may even lead you to the conclusion that 'you' have not been taking responsibility for what 'you' think about and may lead to the question - "Who is the thinker?"

Of course if you don't know any better you may conclude that the 'thinker' is you. And of course from a certain perspective you would be right.

BUT - Once you are prepared to question the value you place on the thinker then you may find yourself becoming confused. How did this 'element' of consciousness, i.e, the thinker, gain so much power in the first place?

Well we have to be realistic - don't we? So we may just have to accept that this 'thinking' mind is the way it is because it is beyond our understanding and after thinking this 'you' may put your feet up open a beer and have a smoke - no problemzz.

OR - you may start to become more interested in 'WHO" "You" are - Or not!


Om

Choice

Everything we do is a choice.

The more conscious we are of our choices - the more likely they will be 'good' for us.

Rolling out a yoga mat and doing some Asana's
Sitting in half lotus and doing some Pranayama
Sitting half or full lotus for some meditation

Are all 'good' choices to make, in my opinion.

But - You May Be Too Busy!

Om

Karma....

We cannot (apparently) avoid what is coming towards us. Instead of resisting the great mystery that is life why don't we welcome it with open arms.

KARMA? What is this thing that is bandied about like a slogan of new age valium?

Does it matter?

Life is what you make it on the one hand.
Life is the circumstances that you are currently presented with.
Either way it is your responsibility to deal with it - isn't it?
If you cannot deal with what you are presented with what are you going to do?

The expression 'it's all in the mind', is so true.
If you cannot understand this concept it doesn't make it wrong - does it?
You can 'deny' that what is happening is 'not' happening. But on a feeling (gut) level we all know.

"Deep down we are all very shallow" Anon quote.
I like this quote it somehow makes sense.
No matter how deep we 'think' we are. Or how spiritual we think we are we still need to eat, shit and sleep - don't we.

'Simple but not easy', is another expression I like, especially when it comes to so called - spiritual practice.
Sitting still and breathing in and out through the nose for as long as it takes is one answer to all of your prayers - will you/ can you do this simple thing. Yes - No - Maybe later?

Om ;~)

Where does it end?

When we think of relaxation we may think of reading or watching TV etc. Real relaxation is much more profound. Indeed real relaxation is very profound indeed.

Once you enter the realm of 'inner silence' the whole world changes. The inner dictates of the small mind drop away and a new open inner landscape opens up.

John Lilly wrote and amazing book called the 'The center of the cyclone. It is a 'must read' for anyone interested in consciousness expansion.

"Within the mind there are no limits." John Lilly.

Tension - relaxation

Tense or relaxed?

How can you tell if you have no relationship with your body?

Asana will help to put you in touch with feeling's.

Pranayama will increase lung energy capacity and oxygenate the brain.

Meditation will increase the mental powers of concentration and relaxation.

But none of this will do anything at all unless you do it!

Ha!

horse to water.

I enjoy writing this blog - I never get any comments left, probably because they are pointless anyway. Usually someone trying to make a point.

Writing this blog shows me how different I can be from day to day.

I (seem) to get upset about the state of the world and the yoga world in particular. But I'm not deeply upset by it, not really.

Life is always in a state of flux, everything changes all the time. Evolution is ongoing - Thank God!
It would be very disconcerting to think we have reached the pinnacle of our evolutionary path, especially when you see how much of a mess we seem to be in currently.

I am deeply amazed at what Yoga has done for me! This is why I talk about it so much.
I also know that in the past I have often ignored valuable information. Not because I wanted to, but in some inexplicable way more because I wasn't ready to hear it!

I could tell you over and over that Yoga will transform your life. And you may already know that. But for some unfathomable reason you just cannot find the time to do it - why is this?

Maybe we should at times like this just accept the fact that we cannot understand everything. Maybe we can and should just say - "It's Karma!"

Who ? What ? Where ? Part 2

WHO - are you?

WHAT - are YOU doing?

WHERE is YOUR attention?

That is the secret of life.

It's all you need to know!

Now try and work it out for yourself . . . . . . .

Yoga blurb.

Yoga, yoga, yoga - There is now so much Yoga.

'What type of yoga do you do?' is the oft asked question.

There is only one type of yoga isn't there?

The 8 limbs of yoga as put down a couple of thousand years ago!

Can it be bettered?

No! is my answer.

Why?

Because although many things have changed in the time yoga has been around the anatomy of the body hasn't changed much. Although we may think we have a deeper understanding of the mind now the yogi's of old new all this stuff!

The mind and the body and the conditioning of the mind and body is what shapes our reality.

The 8 limbs of Yoga are there for the unraveling of 'who you think you are' to 'who you really are'.

That is hard to understand unless you understand it :)

If you want to keep fit go to an aerobics class, or pilates or run or swim.

Oh Really?

If you don't need to do yoga or any other type of practice you may think you are lucky. It may never have crossed your mind to think about it at all.

If you do practice yoga then you know why you do it - don't you?

If you find that you are or are becoming dissatisfied with so- called normal life, Yoga may be something you could try. The 'Eastenders' (TV prog) attitude is how some people see normal life. Pick any soap opera and see if you can identify (a little at some level) with it.

Going from drama to crisis and self medicating with alcohol, food and tobacco is see by many as the normal way to live!
Also working ten hours a day or more to earn money to pay for the things that you have or want is seen as normal.

Certain parts of the population of the planet believe that the world is changing somehow. There are points of view expressed now which seem to be pointing towards another way of living.

'Life mimics Art soon becomes Art mimics Life'.

It's possible that we begin to act like our TV soap role models. News programmes talk about 'soap life' as if it were real and if it's Okay for someone on a soap to behave in an unnaceptable way we may think it is okay for us to do so too.

A little voice in my head tells me I'm preaching a bit here. Am I ?
Well maybe if that's how you see it, but it may be more appropriate to ask yourself if you agree or disagree with what I am saying and ask yourself is there a better way to live now?

Or just eat a pie, have a drink or smoke and pretend you're not involved in this . . . . . . . .

Peace or pieces?

Give yourself time to relax - If you do not give yourself time to relax - who can you blame?

It is the luxury of the ignorant to blame anybody for your own problems.

If you feel that you have problems what are you doing about it/them? What are you doing?

The famous saying, 'it's all in the mind', was never more profoundly realised.

This simple fact is so true it is mind boggling - 'Your mind belongs to you, why do you spend all day thinking so many things to upset yourself with?'

Even truer and harder to bear is the simple fact that this thing called the mind belongs to you/me/us and you/me and us have such a hard time in 'choosing' how to use it.

WHY?

It might be that we never really 'thought' about it before. Maybe we never considered that this simple realisation can hold so much power.

"This mind is mine and I am the owner/occupier of this mind. I am now choosing to evict anything I do not need or want to be there."

Peace ;-))

Evidence

If you are or have been practicing Yoga for some time eventually you may see or want to see some evidence of your endeavours. What are these likely to be?
1. More flexible.
2. More relaxed.
3. Healthier.
4. More energy.
5. More breath capacity.
6. More mental clarity.
7. More peace.

What are you going to do if none of these are evident?
Does it mean you are doing it wrong?
How much time does it take to become enlightened, to reach Samhadi?
What is Samhadi?
What is Yoga?
What are you/we/us doing?

All in all you have to ask yourself what can you 'seriously' expect from Yoga if you don't know what it is you are doing in the first place.

According to my understanding Yoga 'in Sanskrit' mean Yoke or Yog. To yoke something is to bring it together, to unite it. So Yoga for the sake of simplicity could mean 'Union'.

What is there to unite. The opposite of united is divided. So we are looking to join together something that is divided. What is it that could possibly be divided?
My starting point in this 'meditation' is to remember when I was starting out on what was to become an intense inner journey. I remember sitting on the end of my bed thinking - "How can the mind join with the body?". I had read some article on 'Holistic' Medicine, and how the term Holistic related to the 'Whole Person', i.e, the mind and the body. At that point in time I could not grasp how the mind could affect the body and vice-versa. Now at this point in time I cannot see how it can be any other way.

So this is a good place to start - joining the mind and the body together. Bringing the mind (Thinking) and the body (Feeling) towards some kind of harmonic convergence.
what better way to do this is there other than Yoga?

You tell me . . . . .