No mind - no problem.

Is it just me, or does that make sense?

When there is peace within, there is no problem.

I hear someone say, in my head of course; But what about if you have small children, a job, a difficult relationship, an illness, etc?

True, sometimes it is more challenging to find peace within. But if a little effort is made to find the time, then it is not impossible.

When the mind becomes quiet it allows the energies, otherwise engaged in thinking, to be directed elsewhere.

A yoga class - when you first did one, was probably very difficult to do, but as time went on, it became easier to do - right? :)

And so does everything else -usually.

I see, inner peace, as the only goal worth achieving. And having said that it's not even a goal is it, it's here - now!

Peace is there anytime you want it. There are no excuses. None.

It's just that sometimes peace seems a million miles away from where we might be at any given point.

But.......

It's there if you look.

And the more times you go there, the easier it is to find your way back.

Yoga helps.

Mind the Gap!

The gap between you ears is filled with the sound of your inner voice. If you are multi-dimensional, you may hear the sound of more than one voice, or different voices at different times.

The 'voices in the head' syndrome is more common than we are lead to believe.
We 'think' - so we to listen to the sound of our own voice, inside of our own head. If we imagine what our mum would have said, we may imagine her voice inside of our head.

Unless you have woken up, then you may think this voice, or these voices, are real. That, not only are they real, but that they need to be obeyed too. If, on the other hand you have woken up, even a little bit, then you will realise that this voice or these voices are not you. 

The voice or voices inside the head are commonly referred to as the 'ego'.

If someone is described as being egotistic, what does that mean? It usually means that someone is very certain that the voice, or voices they listen to, are very real and important.

"I absolutely know." is a statement that has no room for doubt.

For example; "I absolutely know those people are very bad." Leaves no room for doubt.

On the other hand; "Those people appear to be bad, but I'm not really sure yet." Leaves a little room for doubt and investigation.

All of the prejudices we currently have, and all of the habits we have formed so far, are usually based on a conclusion we came to, at some point in time. Sometimes, someone in authority, telling us something at a vulnerable time can be enough to form a belief about someone or something.

Question authority and be true to yourself!

Yoga helps you become clear about who you really are.

Head Trip!

"Your head is out to get you all the time." Overheard on a bus.

Well how true, we listen to the dialogue between the ears, the one that never stops, until we learn to stop it.

But how?

It's easy actually.

1. Become aware that you are thinking.

And......

2. Decide to stop.

If you have ever tried to stop thinking, you'll know it's not that easy.

But..........

As long as you have at least become aware of it, you are getting somewhere.

The thinker thinks.

And ...........

The witness watches the thinker thinking, right?


Can you get that? If you can, the next question to ask is; which are you, the thinker or the witness?

Of course, the easy answer is both. But if we keep to the the point, i.e, stopping thinking, then we 'should' really be looking at making a stronger connection to the, Witness.

It's not as if we really get completely disconnected from the witness, it's always there in the background, it's more about staying present to it.

How do we do that?

By doing it!

By becoming more aware, more often.

Yoga helps.

Keep laughing, that helps too. 

release the past.

Granthi knots, are specific points along the spine, blocks that need to be pierced to allow the free flow of Prana through Sushumna Nadi.

Do these knots really exist?

Some people believe it, some don't.

Does it make a difference?

The point is, as an actual fact and something you can be certain of, we have 'all' been shaped an molded by our lives so far.

We are, in effect, victims of our lives.

Think about that................

In order to survive our life, we have had to adapt and adjust to environments and situations, on the inner and outer level.

This process called life makes us unique, we have become someone that is unique.

At the same time it is supposed that we have an innate sense of self, a soul. A kind of - authentic self - something we were born with. This authentic self has had to be abandoned, to a certain degree, some more and some less, in order to deal with the life we were given.

'Karma' are the lessons we need to learn in order to become who we were really meant to be.


Yoga is nothing more than a technology that supports you through the changes that you need to make, in order to become you. Life will do it to you anyway, that's what it's meant to do.

But Yoga will speed the process up!

Surrender to your self.

Why do you suffer?

Do you know?

Is it because you listen to the dialogue between the ears?

Yes, you're mind is playing tricks with you - all the time! Sometimes it's your friend, it tells you how great you are, how special you are, and how different and amazing you are. Then, as you start to believe it, it will tell you not to be so big-headed, to stop showing off and act like a grown up. It will shame you and put you down.

Oh dear, maybe I'm exposing my own mental delusions, hmmm.

Do I care? Not really. It's much of a muchness, as they say. Six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Stop struggling. There is no where to get to. Not unless you have decided to get somewhere.

That's not to say you shouldn't be involved in life, earn money, have friends and relationships.  But don't let these things rule you. Don't let outside things become so important to you. Live life as you would wear a loose cloak and be prepared to cast it off when it gets too much.

Yoga practices, are designed to wake you up. Not to keep you fit, or make you into a 'better' person. Better than what? Better than your authentic dynamic spirit. How can that be so?

Perhaps it's fair to say that sometimes you need to make an effort to keep your energy positive. This may be the case for a time.

But eventually through the process of waking up, you will stop doing the things that deplete you in the first place.

You will begin to honour your highest self.

And you will be free.

Fear.

Fear is an illusion.

If you relax.
If you keep the mind clear.
If you stay present to this moment.

What is there to fear?

Fear is in the mind. It is the ego's defence against its own destruction. It will remind you that it's not safe to be you. It will remind you that you are not okay, that you lack something, and that you 'need' to be careful. It will take you back to the past and remind you how unfair it was. It will take you to the future and remind you how uncertain everything is.

But right here, right now - there is nothing to fear.

Relaxation is a skill. It is something that you 'should' try to be aware of as often as possible.

Take a breath now and again. Detach from the thoughts you are having. Take a good look at what you spend your time thinking about and be honest with yourself.

Be mindful of what you put into your body.
Be mindful of what you allow into your mind.
The company you keep will affect your energy levels.

The point of doing a regular Yoga practice, is that it keeps your prana levels up, and keeps you strong and protected. It is your energy levels that keep you protected against the external influences we are 'all' affected by -life, people, places, work, etc.

If you see a tired child, they are fractious and more sensitive, and so are we.

Relax more often.
Do some Asana.
Do some Pranayama.

 

 

your choice.

Happiness is relative to something. For example, someone that is mildly upset about something, is happier than someone that is deeply depressed, and from there it's all onward and upward.

I do believe that there is a state of being that is, how shall I say? - more natural, and that possibly we have a human being, default setting.

But living the way we do perhaps this default setting is not correct.

The long term effects, of long term stress, are many, and restlessness is one of them. The inability to relax can be caused by over stimulation of the,  sympathetic nervous system. Better known as the fight or flight response.

To counter balance the effects of stress we have the, para sympathetic nervous system. But if we are constantly stressed, constantly putting ourselves under pressure, for one reason or another, the sympathetic nervous system becomes stuck in the 'on' position. The longer it goes on, the more difficult it is to switch off.

This is where narcotics, legal and otherwise, and booze come into the picture. These things supposedly help us relax. But they don't, what they do is deplete the system of its natural chemical/hormonal substances.

For example it has been widely documented that, Serotonin enhancing substances, reduce the natural production of Serotonin. Serotonin is a 'feel good' chemical, supposedly produced in the pineal gland, amongst other places. And the highs some of the drugs give are, more high, in some ways than we can achieve via natural means. So we become dissatisfied with, so called, mundane reality even more than we were, before we took the drug. This is where dependency comes into the picture. We 'need' something outside of ourselves to give us something.

But we have free will. Right?

Huh!

Hmmmm.

Well we 'do' have free will.

If we begin to see that Yoga can help reduce the obstacles to feeling good happiness, we may be more inspired to try it. The alternative is to be in denial, and hang on in there, until some kind of miracle occurs.

Yoga is an action practice. If you don't do it, it won't work.

:)    

Ego - of course.

Becoming conscious is easy. Staying conscious however, is another question.

All you have to do, is stop for a moment, and notice what you are thinking about, and how, what you are thinking about is affecting you.

To be honest, you don't really need to notice how thinking is affecting you. Just by noticing what you are thinking about, you are creating a space between you and your thoughts. If there is no awareness of thinking, then thinking will affect feeling, via the nervous, and hormonal system.

Make sense?

Then get on with it!

Brain ache.

The brain sits in the cranial cavity at the top end of the body, and for healthy functioning it requires oxygen and sugar.

When we breathe, when we eat, we are feeding our brain. So, if you eat badly and don't breathe very much you're brain will behave accordingly. Fact!

If you smoke too, and toxify your body with chemicals, you're brain will act accordingly. Fact!

Do you think you can do what you like and the body will not react? Think again.

Then again, I suppose it depends on what you 'think' life is. If you have come from a low functioning background, you will relate to this low functioning as life, as you know it.

And vice versa.

An analogy: If a 30 watt bulb has 40 watts of input, it will explode.

If you are low functioning, and you get too much input, via prana, your mind will explode because you can't handle it. You will literally blow your mind.

This is why a regular and progressive practice is advised.

As you, clear the blocks in Sushumna Nadi, more energy will flow in. As more energy flows in, more space is created, for more energy to flow in, and so on.

The blocks I refer to, are the physical, mental, and emotional limits you had placed on you during childhood programming.

All of these limits can be transcended and overcome, dissolved in the fire of Karma, if you re pre-disposed this way - are you?

Otherwise you may idle at your leisure in the retrogressive groove you call life.

If for some reason you think you can't practice, think again.

You are responsible.

strength!

Why is there so much focus on 'bad news' all the time. We do live in an amazing world, that is still full of opportunity.

With so much focus on the negative things, that seem to be occuring on a daily basis, it would seem that is is rather hard to be positive at all, let alone happy.

You don't need to believe that you have a choice in order to make some kind of effort to change your life, your circumstances. But it looks to me as if most people would rather take the path of least resistance, and stay stuck in a drama dynamic that sucks the juice out of their life.

Why?

You have to ask yourself seriously folks - who's fault is it that you are miserable?

As you commit to a practice, a yoga practice, then you may discover discomfort like you have never known, this is why you avoid it. But this discomfort is the pain that comes with birth. The pain that comes with living fully and consciously.

I'm 60, and I still don't think I've reached my peak.

Long may it continue.

love and truth

Once you have peace, what more is there?

Peace is here, we just need to remove the obstacles to it, and the obstacles are the things that keep us in the prison of misery.

If you are unhappy, hard as it may seem, it is because you are choosing to be.

I'm not talking about the type of misery that comes from an event such as the loss of a loved one, or the ending of a relationship. I'm talking about the background misery that we are constantly trying to avoid, and to escape from.

The clever tricks we employ to avoid ourselves and our feelings are what we would 'normally' refer to as the 'things' we like to do. Keeping busy is a classic way of avoidance, getting stoned, or drunk, eating too much, and too often, over exercising, keeping fit, etc.

Nothing is wrong with anything, we do what we do.

We have certain 'needs' if we want to keep comfortable, so we keep doing what we do in an ever decreasing circle.

Okay so what?

What is life all about?

A good question.

Do an interesting Asana.

Instead of moaning about everything, get up and do some breathing.

Lighten up yourself.

Move your body.

From nothing comes everything, be prepared to let go of everything you thought you knew............

the truth 'will' set you free.

The truth is powerful.

Can you handle it?

As we clear the illusions that keep us in an hypnotised prison of our own making, the truth will become clear.

Freedom is not an idea, it is here and now. It's not in the future, it's here now!

Relax and set yourself free.

And then have a laugh ..................

"Misery is an option"

Silence is peace.

Peace inside the mind is peace everywhere.

Whether you be on the most beautiful beach in the world, if your mind is not calm, you may as well be anywhere.

Finding peace between the ears is the total secret of Yoga.

Silence is Golden, it is the ultimate state.

Yoga and all the parts of the Yoga practice, as well as the highly complex philosophy involved with it, are all designed for this one aim.

Nothing is real.

No thing is real.

All is an illusion, created by the mental obfuscations, and images of hypnosis.

We have all been brainwashed into believing something. What do you believe?

Look within and there lies all of everything.

selling peace.

The world of health, healing, ans the so called new age movement, whatever you want to call it, is full of ideas on improving your life.

What do you need to improve? What is it about your life that makes you think you need to make it better.

There are so may workshops and events to 'make us, happier, fitter, more peaceful, spiritual, than we could ever do.

Why?

What's it all about?

Do we live in times of such stress? Really? Has the world been better than it is now?

I believe much of what we are sold as, self improvement, is unnecessary.

We are constantly bombarded with information, form all sorts of arenas. We get told a lot of bad news!

But how much do you see in your daily life?

Do you personally have all you need? If not, what is it you need?

I think we live in a world of choices, and we choose all the time. We choose how to think, and what to think about on some level, all the time. But we probably don't choose consciously enough about some of the things we do dwell on.

We have to ask; do we really have a choice, over what we think, how we eat, and relax, or are we still victims of our past habits?

Can you decide who you are, and who you want to be? Is that possible?

Yoga can and will help you.

Stop complaining and do something!

:))

Sat Chit Ananda.

Sat Chit Ananda = Being - Consciousness - Bliss.

Being = we are as we are.

Consciousness = is what we are seeking to be all the time.

Bliss = the state created by both of the above.



Worrying is no good whatsoever. It serves no useful purpose.

But if you do worry then see it as a reminder to become more present.

Having said that; How present can a person be?



There is a vast difference between, being, or keeping busy, and taking action.

Action is conscious.

Being busy is another way of avoiding depth.

It is another clever avoidance technique, coming from past guilt and shame.


'Enjoy what is, before it isn't'.

breath and thought.

By becoming more conscious, we become less a victim of, our unconscious.

That's obvious.

How do we become more conscious?

We become more conscious, by becoming more conscious.

It's a full time job!

Whenever you breathe with your awareness engaged, you are conscious.
Whenever you are aware of what you are thinking about, you are conscious.

Couldn't be any simpler could it?

What we do when we do Yoga Asana, is to wake up the nervous system and feel our body. As we know this can be challenging. It becomes an interesting experience, i.e, the desire to let go more, and the resistance to letting go more, through the pain we may be feeling.

And there it is!  This is the interface between your conscious and unconscious processes.

The ego, thinking apparatus, or mind - whatever you want to call it, will keep you going around in circles until one day, if you're lucky you'll wake up to the profound realisation that 'you' are not your, mind, ego, thinking apparatus.

There are many ways to wake up!

But you don't have to.

It may be just as easy to stay in the drama's you create to keep you
pre- occupied. By keeping pre-occupied you may never have to face the fact that your life is slipping by and you are not going anywhere with it.

But even this is an opportunity to do something.

Pranyama - Meditation - Asana - these will help.

a day.

You're stressed, what do you do?

Do you notice yourself getting stressed, or do you take it for granted that this is part of daily life?

Are you perhaps addicted to a bit of stress, and maybe wouldn't feel like 'you' without it - an interesting thought.

Signs of stress = increased heart rate, and blood pressure, shallow breathing, sweating (in extreme cases), loss of appetite, or overeating, worrying (a symptom, and a cause of stress), hyperactivity, emotional outbursts, crying, losing temper often, irritability, etc.

Do you recognise any or all of these? Of course you do, so do I.
The point is: Do you accept them as part of normal life?

You don't have to!

If you can actually be bothered to do some practice, on your own, or with a teacher, you will usually find that you feel 'more' relaxed afterwards.

On a scale of one to ten, one being complete relaxation, where are you now on the stress arc?

An interesting thing to do, just for the sake of experiment, is to get yourself as relaxed as possible, using Yoga ideally, and then do something that under normal circumstances would make you stressed. Watch yourself in this situation, be more mindful of it.

A normal (?) scenario could be; you think of doing something that may make you feel uncomfortable. Then the thought processes kick in - "Ohh, I don't like it, I don't wanna do that." These type of thoughts compound the problem. These type of thoughts affect the nervous system, because you are now telling yourself something, and the body is doing its job and responding to it.

It would be just as easy to say; " I don't like this, but I"m gonna watch myself and see what happens." Take a deep breath and step into it!

Just a slight calibration of the thought mechanism. You are now thinking consciously, instead of letting old programmes run your life for you.

Please - stop complaining..... and act.

More simply - can you be bothered to live?