Breather Yoga

Energy up 2

2012-01-21T01:45:00.000-08:00

Once 'one' has decided who or what 'one' is then 'one' has everything at one's command for an interesting journey!

The fuel for this journey is Prana.

If you don't know what Prana is then find out quick!

According to where you look for it you may find rambling, long winded explanations - yogi's do like to waffle - but essentially, like everything else, you will only know it fully once you have experienced the effects of it.

So it would behove you to learn to do some PRAnaYama techniques.

Now these techniques, depending on who you listen to, come with warnings.

If you go gently you should be fine.

I personally think that the only dangerous thing about Pranayama is that it may catapult you into a level of consciousness that may make you feel a little bemused, to say the least.
It may also make you more aware of yourself and the discombobulations of the mind.

Freedom as you may well know is a double edged sword!

So go steady.

There are certain people out there that may be able to show you some of the techniques.
In my opinion the greatest danger of learning anything at all is choosing the right person for you..........
Experiment.

Life is (or should be) an adventure.
Take some risks!

And

Have fun!!

Ommmmzz

energy up!

2012-01-19T23:52:00.000-08:00

The way it works for me is that my priority is to take care of my energy.

I take care of my energy by doing Pranayama!

When I have good strong energy flowing through my system I tend to be more enthusiastic and positive.

As I prefer to feel this way I do my practice.

It's simple really
But some times not easy.
It appears not to be easy sometimes because (usually) of what I've allowed to percolate in my mind - i.e stuff!

Ommzzz

meaninglessness

2012-01-19T02:14:00.000-08:00

Sometimes in life the relevance of meaning appears on the horizon of thought.
'What does it all mean?' has some relevance to some of us....

Once we make real the idea that what we think is a choice we 'realise' that meaninglessness has no relevance.

In other words when the mind is subdued through meditation, i.e, when there are no thoughts, meaninglessness is not and issue.
There is now just the gift of life, present moment awareness.

As far as I know the 'existentialists' were not given to practicing Yoga. Most of them painted themselves into a corner of misery and self defeat.
Some of them stated that it is all meaningless but 'we' as humans have to give it meaning.

What then?

Conditioned reality needs to be seen through. From that point there may be despair and grief at the existentialist dilemma. But then through the act of conscious effort we can move, using the Yogic techniques, into another realm of consciousness.

Then what?

You won't know the answer to that until you get there.

Om

Prana Prana Prana

2012-01-18T01:53:00.000-08:00

When all else fails you can rely on PRanaYama to work for you.

If you oxygenate your brain it will make you feel better!

When you practice PRanaYama you are oxygenating your bloodstream.
You are changing the energy of the body and making yourself feel better.

Once you have done that you have changed your chemistry.

More oxygen makes you feel better.

It isn't complicated.
All you have to do is work through the inertia and fear that you have.

Inertia and fear do not exist at the creative level.
They are both illusions set up to keep you safe from feelings of ecstacy.

If you feel ecstacy you won't have worrying to rely on anymore.
You cannot be in ecstacy and worry at the same time - can you?

Try it!

Otherwise go and do something else that makes you feel good!

'Nothing is true!' Anon.

Om

wake up!

2012-01-17T02:18:00.000-08:00

You do not need to be a genius to realise that the world is changing fast.

If you don't want to do a Yoga practice as a way of waking up then you'd better find some thing else fast.

Why?

Because this high speed, super fast technological advancement will not wait for you.

you can move out to an island, move back to a medieval lifestyle.
you can take drugs and party and pretend you don't care.

You do not need to advertise all the good works you are doing on facebook
You do not need to do anything at all.

But you do need to realise that you have a choice!

'Don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters!' Bob Dylan.

I repeat; You Do Not have to do Yoga, in fact you do not need to do anything at all!

Come on people ! Make a choice as to what you 'really' want to do and get on with it.

Get a life!

Om

Attach-ment-al

2012-01-14T02:14:00.000-08:00

Attachment is an obstacle to self realisation.

Take a look at what it is you 'think' you still need.
Not in order to beat yourself up, but so that you can get some perspective on your levels of freedom.

Freedom requires responsibility.

Attachment is not freedom.

If you require the 'need' and 'aid' of anything outside of yourself, this is attachment.

Unless you let go of all attachment you will not be free!

If you are attached to anything you are living in fear.

All of the above are based only upon my experience so far, and it's all 'in my opinion!

Om

real or not real?

2012-01-11T09:20:00.000-08:00

'Sorting the real from the unreal' and 'Maya; it's all and illusion'.

These two above statements seem to get passed around the Yoga world quite a bit.
In fact it's fair to say that these two sayings are the corner stones of the Yogic philosophy.

If it is 'all and illusion'? then how can there be anything real to sort from it?

This is an interesting conundrum for 'us' deeper researchers into the nature of consciousness, etc.

It makes sense to me that when we are born we have a brand new brain. This brand new brain has certain hardwired programmes already loaded up.
For example suckling, crying, when in discomfort, and pooing when the need arises are very base chakra survival programmes.
As the brain develops physically it has new hard wired programmes switching on at appropriate times. For example crawling, talking etc.

Okay so that's the hardwired programmes, but what about input from outside?
This will usually come in the form of signals of sound and vision. What we see and what we hear will help to shape our (condition of) reality.

And it is here that we can say with some certainty that this version of reality is unique to us, and is therefore an illusion. But it is only an illusion in contrast to the one real overlying reality.

The 'one real' overlying all encompassing reality that exists, is usually quite hard to define as well. We know that the scientists are currently looking for the 'Higgs particle'. The Higgs particle is said to be the missing particle and once it is found it will complete the puzzle of all of the smallest particles known. In other words it will complete the picture of the very building blocks of the so called 'real' world.

So in defining an overlying reality per se we are still in a bit of a pickle. We are in a bit of a pickle because everything we 'think' we see is not real. A chair is merely multiple billions of tiny particles forming a shape that we call 'chair'.

So what are we to do then?

It becomes clearer to understand why some of the so called super Yogi's went into a cave and disappeared from the world for many years or even forever in some cases!

In a sense there is nothing to define reality.

But of course we all know that we do live in this thing called the world. We know this because sometimes it hurts!

Of course any of the above ideas, etc, will only becomes troublesome if we become aware of them or it.

Only some of us will become aware of it. Others will be oblivious to this and carry on living until they die.

It is not a question of higher or lower consciousness, or more or less intelligence. It is, according to the Yogic philosophy, a thing called Karma!

Where you are born, the type of environment, family, existence you are born into, is either completely random, or it is based on some yet unknown cosmic law.

'Who am I ?' is the only question that needs answering.

How can you live a deeply fulfilling life if you do not know who you are?

Hari Om!

'Ignorance is not bliss!'

Going in with Yogic technology.

2012-01-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

Some of the time ,or most of the time, some of us, or most of us, will be thinking.
This is an existential given as far as I'm aware.
There is nothing wrong with thinking per se, but if we think compulsively and obsessively we will miss much of what is going on around us and within us at deeper levels.

So what?

Well - this is the question.

Creating space within is an art and skill that, for most of us, does not come naturally.

During my time involved in Yoga I have noticed how certain people can appear to be deeply meditating or deeply involved in Asana during a so called Yoga lesson. And that once this lesson is over they are immediately taken back to the chattering, nattering blah de blah world. It's as if they cannot even for one moment take a break from the 'need' to jabber and tell everyone everything.
Of course there will usually be a willing ear from some overly passive shanti bunny sitting nearby.

How terribly judgemental of me!

but alas this is the way it is. . . . . .

give yourself and others a break, shut up, sit still and breathe in and out through your nostrils for half an hour . . . .

Hari Om!

Yogic behaviour

2012-01-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

In behavioural therapy there is a term called 'low frustration tolerance'.
This refers to the inability to (still) be calm when things don't go our way.

If we have a 'low frustration tolerance' we will not get very far if things become difficult. It's a bit like going to work for example, to a job that we don't really like and knowing that we 'need' this job for the time being because we 'need' to pay for some things etc. If we suffer from 'really low frustration tolerance' we will not be able to stand the situation and we will probably leave the job. This will lead to more trouble. If on the other hand we can see the bigger picture, i.e, that his job is okay for the time being, we will be able to handle it better.

So relating this to Yoga. If we find a particular posture is difficult and we cannot handle the feelings that come up when we 'do' this posture, then instead of 'not doing' this posture we'd be better off doing it a lot! In that way we can look, more or less objectively, at what happens to us when we 'do' something that makes us uncomfortable.

Another thing; 'feeling better' as opposed to 'getting better'.
This is continuing on from the last two blogs about doing yoga because you want to get rid of something, e.g, tension, stress etc. After doing an exerting class we feel better, more relaxed etc, but nothing has changed apart from that.
We will still do the same things until 'we' need to go back to another class to 'get rid of' the tension, stress etc.

On the other hand if we want to get better, i.e, improve our life, we had better become more aware of ourselves from the inside.
This is easier to do if we sit still and meditate.

Actually to say it's easy is not true.
It is 'simpler' but 'not easier' to sit still on your own and look deeply into the nature of your own mind, and therefore bring about change at the cause of your problems, i.e, how one relates to others, the world and the self, through the conditioned reality of one's own mind.

Hari Om!

It's only words . . .

2012-01-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

Words can only go so far to describe anything.

Words can confuse.

Why does it take so long to say something so simple?

What am I saying here?

I was thinking - imagine that - I was wondering why it takes so long to say nothing.

I was actually thinking about several books I read many years ago when I was still searching for something.

Reams and reams of paper wasted in order to tell us what?

To sit still and do nothing.
Look deeply within.
Breathe calmly and quietly, if you can.
Continue o keep still.
Watch and wait.

The philosophy of yoga is a staggering piece of work.
Have you read a Course in Miracles?
The works of Jung, Freud, Adler et al?
There are so many branches and subjects on so many different things.
That if you keep looking, trying this one and then that.
You may actually one day come to your senses and say.
That's it!
And that will be it until it isn't..........

But if you sit still . . . . . .

The answer is right under your nose!

more exertion....

2012-01-06T13:00:00.000-08:00

So in containing the 'difficulties' we expand our ability to hold higher levels of tension/energy.
Whereas if we keep 'getting rid of it' in dynamic Asana classes we become - what?
More content, more peaceful, more happy, perhaps and maybe that is it for some people.
In this way of behaving we are, I believe, kind of medicating ourselves against difficult feelings. We 'look forward' to the class we are going to do with soandso the great yoga teacher and we miss the point entirely as to why we are doing this stuff in the first place.

And, why are we doing this stuff in the first place?
The answer to that is usually, at least initially, because we are looking for a way to feel better, to look better, maybe etc.

So the Yoga Asana becomes an opportunity to hold this uncomfortable position for longer periods of time with greater equanimity. Therefore giving us the gift of peace under duress.

"Many are called, few are chosen".

Sweating and exertion.

2012-01-06T06:18:00.000-08:00

Sweating and exertion has nothing to do with Yoga! (in my opinion)

The point of Yoga, if indeed it does have a point, is for transformation.

Transformation! What's that?

Well in the context of Yogic practice it is the idea that we can use energy to expand consciousness.
So if we are sweating and straining to achieve the perfect body shape or Asana shape, we are as far as I'm aware, wasting muchos energy!

One way of alleviating the effects of so called stress and tension is to do some vigorous exercise. In doing this we discharge excess energy, i.e, tension/stress and we feel better.

But feeling better is not enough, Yoga is not about feeling better, although we do, it is much more than that.

If you become attached to 'feeling good' that is all you will feel.
'And what's wrong with that?' I hear you say.
Nothing at all.
But, (in my opinion), the attachment to feeling good requires that you 'hold' on to something.
Holding on to some thing means to have an agenda.
If you have an agenda, (an egoic based desire) you will not get the full benefit of the infinite wisdom of the infinite.
It becomes merely another 'what I want' story.

If you stay with what it is you 'think' you are trying to get away from, inquire into it so to speak, you may find out a little more about yourself.

And that is not always a reason to feel good.

Ignorance is not bliss, bliss is bliss!

So Ham.

Yogic to the core.

2012-01-03T18:52:00.000-08:00

I'm assuming if you're on here you are involved in some way in the art and the practice of Yoga.
It has got really silly, the way it has exploded (yoga I mean) in the last ten years has spawned some things that are way too silly, (in my opinion).
Some would say this is a good thing as in, "it's all good man".
Well I say it's rubbish and it's silly and has taken the whole meaning out of Yoga!
Doing Yoga and listening to loud invasive beats! Why?
Why don't you just go to a club and dance?
Doing Yoga in a sauna! Why?
Why don't you just go to a sauna?

Okay then, I guess that if people have devised cunning ways to get people that would not normally get onto a yoga mat to do Yoga then fine. They can do the silly stuff till they get fed up with it and have a nervous breakthrough.
Then they will be ready for the serious stuff!

What? The serious stuff!

"Lose your mind and come to your senses".

Thoughts - emotions - feelings - action - subject - object - conditioning - reality?

Yoga - not easy . . . .

2012-01-03T03:45:00.000-08:00

If you hear someone tell you that yoga is easy, they cannot be doing it properly!

Of course this is my opinion based on many years of struggle. The struggle I have had, I must admit, stems from my own ignorance.

Life is a mystery, it really is!

How can we possibly know what is waiting around the corner?

One of the existential facts of life, is that underneath our apparent knowing there is a chasm of meaninglessness. 'WE' that is I, me, you and everybody with half a brain has to find meaning.

It seems to go something like this;
A desire to be released from Ignorance - leads to experimentation and confusion.
Leading to deeper enquiry and possibly even more confusion.
In despair a 'need' to belong or believe in some thing may arise.
Leading to a tendency to join a group or religion or some thing.
Leading, (sometimes) to more confusion.
And then, ultimately, (if we are lucky or unlucky depending on how you see things).
We may end up.
Living in the mystery.
And not only that!
Actually enjoying it too.

Now obviously the above is a rough outline of one possible evolving scenario. But the important thing is that YOGA, at some point along the way, may help with this ongoing journey. It is like a lifeline that you can rely on more and more as you continue to practice.

An old esoteric maxim is; 'The journey is the goal.'

Do it or don't do it, there is nothing else.

right way?

2012-01-02T01:07:00.000-08:00

What is the right way to practice for us?

Do you want to belong to a tribe?
Do you want to do a solitary practice?
Do you like dynamic?
Do you like doing nothing?

Whichever of these you like then maybe you could try the one you don't like.
Failing that you could try doing nothing at all, especially if you are addicted (attached) to an intense and sweaty practice!

There is no right way.
There is only what you choose to do.
And what you choose to do will be based on . .... what?

Now there's another deep ponderance for you.

What are our choices based upon?
Who is it that is making the decisions as to what we 'should' or 'should not' do?

I repeat - Hatha Yoga is not for everyone.

Yogic Fallacy.

2012-01-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

There is a sense I get, and have had many times, that the 'idea' behind yoga is for getting somewhere or becoming something that you are not already.

There is no where to go!

Wherever you 'think' you are going or have gone you may inevitably have to face to unbearable truth of realising that you have not gone anywhere.

'The beginning of awakening is disappointment'. Anon.

I am pretty certain that most of us, or at least some of us, have an agenda when it comes to our practicing, that we are going to get somewhere, anywhere, as long as it isn't where we are now. The reason I am pretty certain of this is because if we were completely happy with where we are now we would have no need of a practice in the first place, would we? So from this perspective it becomes clear(er) that we are indeed trying to change something or get away from something.

What is it?

For me it is becoming clear(er) that 'I' am usually making a judgement about where 'I' am at now, and in order for it to be better, bigger, happier I need to do something. 'I' personally, usually choose to do some Kriya's, Kapabhatti, etc.
Logically 'I' tell myself that the oxygen that 'I' get from doing this will make me feel better, and to be honest, usually it does.
But how is doing Kapalbhatti, etc, any different from having a cup of coffee to feel better? That is an important question for me.

Okay, so in some sense it doesn't matter really, just the fact that I feel better is enough, and indeed they are both temporary solutions.
But what are they solutions to?
What is it 'I' think 'I' need to get away from in the first place?

The practice of Hatha Yoga according to all the maha books on the subject seem to point to an ongoing journey through the 8 limbs of Raja Yoga. Some of these 'masters' tell us these 8 steps should be taken in sequence starting at 1 and working through to 8 and others tell us it doesn't matter.
The question is how do we decide which is the 'right' way?

And that is the question huh?

Omzzzz

Aummmmm

2011-12-31T14:24:00.000-08:00

Aum

Choose

2011-12-31T05:19:00.001-08:00

We are always choosing.Make the choosing that you doBecome something that you really Want......Attempt to wake up ......It takes a small decision .

2011-12-30T02:36:00.000-08:00

No Practice!

What happens to you if you do not practice?

Do you start getting into your head?
Do your energy levels appear to drop?
Do you become more emotional, reactive?

It seems to me that for some of us a practice is not a luxury, for some of us a practice is a necessity.

Those lucky souls that always appear to be okay are a strange phenomenon in my world. Do we always have to appear to be okay? Is there some agenda somewhere that says we always have to be happy?

I think there is - especially in the yoga world.

If you have found it necessary to lock yourself away from the world in an ashram then that is the decision you made at some point for your own well being.

I really don't like it when a 'benighted soul' that is always apparently happy, joyous and free, makes smug judgements about us 'poor miseries' that inhabit the material world.

It is my preference to 'think' that we are all 'free spirits' with individual choices and free will. We are empowering ourselves with our practices to go deeper into our own incarnation in order to seek out our own true will.

If you 'need' to belong to a group or a tribe or whatever you want to call it then do so. But watch out for the hidden agenda of 'holier than thou' looking down your noses at so called 'ordinary people' that aren't as unlucky as you to have 'seen the light' of the one true God!

Abrahadabra!
Omzzzz

2011-12-29T03:44:00.001-08:00

Am I alone in wondering what has happened to Yoga?

Why is there so much focus on Asana, and Dynamic Asana too!

I know the answer to that as you do, it is body oriented practice, the 'look good, feel good,' scenario.

No matter how much we may kid ourselves we are 'not' getting rid of our Ego's are we.

If you live in the world you 'need' an ego.

The only chance one has of getting rid of an ego, whatever that means, is to live a life of solitude.

What do you think?

Who are we kidding? Who am I kidding?

I think that to start with, being happy, is a good enough position to take for the practice we do, whatever that is!

I am so bored with the deification of Asana teachers. They are like Dj's, another phenomenon I can't grasp.
Why should someone deserve praise for;
A. Doing what they love to do.
B. For teaching (or playing) stuff that was written down by someone else.

Come on people wake up!!

Fair enough though, if you're gonna have an ego, have a good and strong one. But back up your thoughts and idea's with experimentation, don't just read it in a book and accept it, try it!
SEE if it works for you!

And if it doesn't try something else............

2011-12-27T01:55:00.000-08:00

Thinking - Feeling - Being - Behaving

Whether we care to admit it or not we are essentially our thoughts and feelings condensed becoming our behaviour.

Our thoughts influence our physiology - our physiology influences our feelings, and the combination of these two influence the way we are and the way we behave.

I would say this is it, more or less. If you disagree please feel free to give us a clue as to what you think or feel.

The question is, can we influence the way we think, feel and behave via our awakening process through Yoga?

Of course we can!

At this time of year more than any other, unless we choose to isolate, we are surrounded by people that we don't normally spend much time with. We have our nearest and dearest around us pushing more buttons than we thought possible.

Behind our reactions, some of us may know that there exists a deeper unfazed part of ourselves that is quietly observing, kind of ommming away in the background. The problem is that some times the noise out there gets so loud that we seem to loose contact with that quieter inner part of ourselves.

So we turn everything to our advantage and see what it is like to be living 'without a practice'. We can experiment and get to experience life living through our reactions and impulses to external events a little more strongly, enjoy it, it won't last!

To me, personal reality appears to be created via a combination of 'mindful' and appropriate thinking. When this is aligned with very good energy received from Pranayama breathing it enables me the bear the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune with a little more panache . . . . . .

Omzzz

2011-12-25T04:03:00.000-08:00

Namaste!

Om nama shivaya . . . . . Ommmmmmm

2011-12-24T06:02:00.000-08:00

Turn on.
Tune in.
And Go deep.

The 60's psychedelic advocate Timothy Leary used the expression; "Turn on, Tune in and drop out," as an address to people to turn their backs on the materialistic world of the time. The way to do this according to him was to take the powerful hallucinogen LSD.
LSD or lysergic d acid, is a derivative of some naturally occurring fungus that has the ability to radically and some times permanently alter the consciousness of the partaker.

Those of us that are perhaps not so radical already know that we can alter consciousness in a more controlled way through the techniques of, among other things, Pranayama, Asana and Meditation.

Leary's idea was to get out of the conditioned thinking of material living as it existed in the sixties by using these powerful drugs, and as in the lines of Leonard Cohen's song 'The Butcher,' "it did some good and it did some harm".

It's all very well getting high for the sake of getting high, and this is what many yoga enthusiasts seem to be doing. But if you look a little deeper into some of the more interesting Yoga books aforementioned, you may find a map of consciousness leading onward and upward.

It's better to travel with a destination in mind, don't you think?

Tune into the breath.
Drop the thoughts.
And dive deep into the experience of being here and now!

Omzzzz

2011-12-22T01:20:00.000-08:00

Atman, is said to be a tiny spark of the divine which exists within all of us.
Brahman is the 'bigger picture'. It is where the tiny spark comes from.
Brahman is an all pervading consciousness, the infinite wisdom of the infinite.

According to Yogic literature it is indescribable, it is beyond intellectual comprehension.
BUT, again, according to the Yogic scholars it can be experienced directly through the ongoing path and practice of Hatha Yoga.

Hatha Yoga is not the only way to experience bliss absolute of course.

We may be nearer to the experience than we can imagine. In fact it is only the mental judgements we place on the 'concept' of bliss that keeps us apart from it.

The world and it woes and worries of course are the greatest obstacle to the experience of peace, bliss, etc.
How can we feel peaceful when we are worrying if we can pay the rent or the electricity bill.

But worrying is no excuse to 'not' practice. If we sit around waiting for the right time or the right teacher to show up, half of our lives may have gone by.
Having said that of course, I know that if we are not ready to do something then nothing in the world will make us do it.

So we conclude, do we not, that we either are, or we are not, inclined towards a so called spiritual practice.
And Yoga 'is' a spiritual practice, in my opinion.
Hatha Yoga and the practice thereof is a very strange thing to do.
Why would anyone in their 'right mind' want to do it?
It makes no sense to feel pain, the way one feels pain in yoga.
Why would we do that?

In my opinion feelings are required to be fully alive and Asana practice will certainly put you in touch with your feelings.

The alternative is to exist inside of your own head and live life in a kind of second hand way via interpretation of realities that you seem to exist in.

Feeling, therefore, is a step closer to the 'authentic suffering' that Freud mentions.
Oh yes we all suffer don't we.........?

If you are not suffering you are probably either dead or in serious denial of the existence of your body. . . . . .

2011-12-21T14:05:00.000-08:00

The thinking mind is useful, we need it. But when the thinking mind has done it's job for us it is nice to switch it off!

It is common in many cultures to drink alcohol as a way of switching off the mind, in other cultures smoking is used.
Watching TV, eating, reading, listening to music are all ways we have of 'not stopping thinking' but actually distracting ourselves from what we are thinking about.

When you do several rounds of Kapalbhatti you will oxygenate the blood and therefore the brain.
This has a profound influence on the mind because the blood supply to the brain improves and the brain relaxes.

Can I prove this? No!

So you will have to try it and see if it works . . . .

Try this:
3-5 rounds of Kapalbhatti pumping - 30 to 100 pumps, no breath retention.
10-20 rounds of deep Yogic breathing - exhaling twice the time of the inhale.
10 - 20 rounds of alternate nostril breathing using a 2-8-4 ratio. Working from 4-16-8 - and going up into longer breaths and longer retentions - focus the mind and breathe deeper and longer.
Sitting for 15 minutes in meditation.

Try it, it shouldn't take too long.

2011-12-20T02:38:00.000-08:00

All in the mind/brain?!

If you don't really know who you are you may become dependent on someone telling you who you are. It's not wrong but it's not right either is it?

A strong 'ego' will be strongly opinionated and a weak ego will be ill defined and looking for some certainty. This is where the Guru/teacher comes in.

If the Guru teacher is 'clean, clear and authentic then some clean, clear and authentic teaching may occur, leading rather rapidly to some (usually) intense lessons in enlightenment teachings.
If on the other hand the teacher/Guru is unclear and in denial then the teaching may meander around forever. The weak ego has no 'real' way of knowing whether a teacher is clear or unclear. On the other hand the strongly opinionated egoic teacher/Guru will have a vested interest in keeping many 'ill defined' ego's wandering around in the dark. This has to happen otherwise the 'egoic' teacher has no role to play and would therefore not exist.

What can we do?
How can we know?
Open the eyes.
Listen very closely to what is being taught and spoken.
If it doesn't make sense it is probably bullshit - Go elsewhere.
The best place to go is within...........

2011-12-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Get Real!

Hmmm, what is it this thing called reality?

I think even if you are only half aware you have to agree that we are, (all of us), conditioned to a certain degree.

What is it that lays behind this so called conditioning?

Does anything at all of any consequence lay behind this conditioning?

Is our condition the same thing as what may call our Karma?

The reason I ask is because what we are born into, whether it is blind fate or a divine plan is still our destiny, it is still our condition, right?!

Getting to the point ; if you are screwed up Yoga may be able to help you. . . . .

2011-12-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

The secret of life!

It's easy really - INHALE AND EXHALE - until you cannot do it anymore.

2011-12-16T07:06:00.000-08:00

"What some people describe as happiness, I see as sugar coated valiumised nonsense!"

"Can we know joy unless we know pain?"

The higher you go the lower you are likely to fall. In my experience this is an existential given. If you don't go up then you cannot go down. So you will then try to stay in one place and live life in a straight line, valium is useful for this effect.
It's like trying to live on the 'flat-line' except that the flat-line usually indicates that you are dead!

I know there really is no high or low, not in terms we can measure. But 'we' know don't we, that we can feel absolutely fantastic and then feel absolutely terrible. Sometimes we may find a rational reason for this peculiarity, at other times we may 'think' we have found a reason for it.

The question is, the real question is, do we really have any control over our feelings, ,thoughts and emotions or are we as much a victim of them as any other warm blooded beast?

It is my experience that the intelligent use of; Asana - Pranyama - and Meditation can sometimes give one the unbearable idea that 'you/we/I' do have some kind of control for certain undefinable periods of time.

Omzzz

2011-12-15T00:56:00.000-08:00

Being alive!!

I appreciate today how lucky I am to be alive.

I've been reading a book about cancer research and how long and difficult a trial it has been and continues to be.

I am alive today largely because of the advent of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant that occurred in 98.

i took up Yoga seriously in 98. I went to three or four classes a week.

It was Pranayama that helped me with my fear and Asana that helped me to regain the physical strength.

I was lucky enough to meet the right Yoga teacher for me at that time.

I am grateful for the fact that Yoga is a complete system of healing and in spite of the (in my opinion) corruption of this incredible practice I believe it has a vast amount of untapped resources to offer all sorts of people.

Personally I feel that some of the yoga publications do more to put ordinary people off yoga then they do to encourage them to 'do' yoga.

Yoga is not an elitist practice it is (in my opinion) an everyman/woman adventure into radical healing.

Hari Om Tat Sat!

2011-12-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

What do I mean?
What is it all about?

I can waffle like the best of them but at certain times I feel the need to be very clear. This is a difficult thing to do, for me.

Anyway here is an attempt to cut through the bull.

(A Story)
At a certain point a person is born. This person is born under certain conditions, to certain parents. These parents have an influence on this child person. Many things may influence this child person. Religion, class, race, gender, geographic location, astrological conjunctions, etc, will all have some bearing on the 'conditioning' of this child person. He/she grows up and is educated, is influenced by friends and/or peers. At a certain point he/she will find a career or calling. This person then may go through life and become successful, may become a failure, may stay single or get married and have children or not.

Underlying this progress through life there may or may not be a deeper part of the person that keeps interfering with the progression in some way. A small voice that keeps him/her awake at night. A sense of doubt or uncertainty about things. Perhaps feeling that things aren't quite right somehow, a restlessness may appear. The person may be able to push these feelings or thoughts out of consciousness, out of sight out of mind, and remain reasonable and relatively calm, continuing on the journey of life.

On the other hand the restlessness may be overbearing and difficult to deal with and different solutions are sought to quell the anxious restlessness. People or friends that are 'dealing' well with life may suggest there may be something wrong with this person and tell the person to seek help. He/she may go to a doctor who prescribes drugs to calm the nerves. After some time some psychotherapy or counselling may be introduced and the person begins to talk more about him/herself. This talking may lead to more understanding and awakening. The underlying part of the person is now being expressed, the secret doubts and fears are being exposed and the person feels better for 'sharing' this burden with someone. Life goes on and it gets a bit better.

At a certain point another feeling creeps in, a sense of dissatisfaction and a gnawing feeling starts breaking through. The counselling is no longer working, the dissatisfaction is not being met through conventional means. The job feels unrewarding, family life is a chore and the person feels unappreciated and ignored, like he/she is just there to provide a service to someone else. A realisation dawns, he/she has become a slave to a system. Working and spending money, for what? Material dissatisfaction is no longer working, maybe it never did?

Oh dear.........Escape is an option. Booze and drugs work for a while, different therapists and counsellors soon follow. Workshops and seminars on various subjects around the idea of healing and health are sought out. There is a respite as each of these distractions gives a small meaning for a small time, but soon the doubt and anxiety return.

Hmmmm what's going on?
What is this anxiety?
Where does it come from?
Is it real?
Hmmmmm . . . . . . .
Aha!
A light switches on.
There is a sense of inner inquiry.
An inner voice is listened to .....at last.
A willingness is felt.
A willingness to look within is acknowledged.

Have you tried Yoga yet?

In my opinion Yoga is a complete system of healing, transformation, or whatever word you want to use.

BUT - it's not for everyone, apparently. :))

2011-12-13T06:46:00.000-08:00

Imagine if you can, a line, an invisible line.

Imagine that this line exists within your mind and it is a horizontal line.

When we function or rise above the line we are awake.

The further above the line we go, the more awake we are.

Below the line we begin to go to sleep, we begin to go unconscious.

The further we go below the line, the more asleep we become.

Although this line is 'really' imaginary, for most of us it is or appears to be very real.

How high on the horizon is your line?

How often are you above/below it?

Do you even know that this line exists?

Do you know what it is like to be above or below the line, the difference, do you know what it feels like to be asleep or awake and the difference between these two states?

In a sense this imaginary line is wherever it is, this is the case for all of us. For some it may be very low, so we are awake a lot of the time and for others the opposite is true.

When you are asleep or unconscious you may find yourself assailed by the dreaded so called unconscious mind. In this condition we can be full of thoughts of past, present and future. Scenario's that are not real can appear to be very real. These imagined scenario's may preoccupy us for most or some of the time.

The body will produce chemicals, hormones etc to comply with whatever we are allowing onto the screen of our body/mind.

Anyway, the thing is, as usual, 'we' come back to a more equalised state of mind when we do our Yogic practice. We become more aware of everything and there is an 'aha' moment of realisation as we begin to climb above the 'imaginary' line once more

All we have to do is remember that it is 'all in the mind' and more importantly than anything else, that 'WE' are in charge of this mind. WE are responsible for what we think about all of the time, whether we care to admit it or not!

If you are not in charge of the things that float in and out of your mind then who is????

GET a GRip Now !!!

Om :))

2011-12-12T02:07:00.001-08:00

Within the mind there are no limits - John Lilly

If you do not play the game of material and financial security - what else is there to do?

If you are not interested, or become uninterested in gaining fame and fortune - what is there to do?

If you were to become yourself 'completely' would you be any different to who or what you are now?

Do you enjoy your life? - I mean really enjoy your life . . . . . . . ?

Asana enables us to hold a 'serious' position with equanimity.

Holding a 'serious' posture for a period of time that makes us uncomfortable is an experiment with being uncomfortable - can we be uncomfortable and stay awake and grounded.

A problem is caused when we avoid discomfort. Life is an uncomfortable process 'sometimes' and in order to get what we 'think' we want we 'sometimes' may have to 'suffer' in the short term. If we don't posses that ability we may convince ourselves we do not 'really' want the thing we 'really' want and drop out of the long term plan.

Doing something that makes us feel uncomfortable in a conscious way can show us more about ourselves than 'doing' our favorite Yoga class with our favorite teacher over and over again for several lifetimes will ever show us, (in my opinion).

"It's not important to be serious, but it is important to be serious about what's important".

2011-12-11T05:07:00.001-08:00

Watch it!

The yoga teacher you choose will have an agenda (probably).

Find out what it is!

Yoga is nothing but the realisation of the self.

Being flexible, fit, thin, happy, peaceful, strong, etc, are all side effects of the practise but they are not what the practice is about!

Who you are is the only important thing to know!
If you are not you then who are you?

Sometimes it is good to imagine lying on your death bed. If you die tomorrow will you be happy knowing you did the best you could to be you?

Or you can pour another drink and watch the sun rise or set :))

YOGA RULES . . . . .There are none!

Or are there?

Ommzz

2011-12-10T07:00:00.001-08:00

Brain hardware - Thinking software.

The brain and nervous system are the hardware of your existence.

You thoughts, ideas, beliefs, fantasies, habits etc, are the Software of existence.

Can Yoga help you change the software and upgrade the hardware.

YES!!

But only if you do it . . . . . .

2011-12-09T16:56:00.001-08:00

Prana will give you everything.

How are you going to get it?

Where are you going to get it?

Who do you need to supply it to you?

You?

Me?

Anybody?

2011-12-09T01:24:00.001-08:00

Asana Practise.

If you went to a so-called Yoga class and didn't know any better you would think that Asana practice is a strange kind of gymnastic class. People sweat and grind their way through a class and feel better at the end of it (usually).

Also you will find that most people won't talk to each other, there is a lot of competitive posturing, and sometimes but not always a deification of the Yoga teacher running the class.

Asana practice, in my opinion, seems to be about 'feelings'. It seems to be about learning to relate to ourselves in a physical way. Joint stiffness and muscular tightness become the object of our discomfort.

When I teach a class I often encourage people to keep their eyes closed and breathe.

In my opinion feelings, if you are not used to them, are hard to deal with. Musculature holds memory and sometimes past trauma can be re-ignited during a particular posture. We may not experience it as a remembered trauma, it may just feel really uncomfortable, or some thing we want to get away from.

Unless we know a little about what to expect we may continue to do Asana practice without realising what we are really doing.

What we are really doing is (I believe) finding a way to relate to ourselves in a physical/emotional way. We are learning to be okay with difficult feelings, we are learning to stay focused under the stress of the particular Asana we are relating to.

If a teacher or Yoga center has a vested interest in keeping you coming back to the class they may not be interested in informing you that 'you' can do this stuff on your own. Indeed it is my 'strong' opinion that 'real' practice doesn't start until you are 'doing' it on your own. Until you are able to relate to your self on your mat with no need of any encouragement or ego tickling from an outside agency, you are still outwardly in 'need'.

The practice of Yoga is taking you to a place where you have no need or reliance on anything outside of yourself. Look at the great Yogi's as an example. They were all solitary figures, they were all (as far as I'm aware) beyond the concerns of the 'silly' people that surrounded them.

Yoga has become a 'group experience' and maybe it has to be that first to give the ego some thing to do. But as you may or may not know 'group dynamics' can keep you pre-occupied for years until you realise that you don't really need approval or acceptance form anyone but yourself.

It seems to me that Yoga practice challenges the very thing we need to get started, the Ego. We love it, we hate it, we like this person then we don't. We go to this class and it's great until it's not and we go to someone else and they are great until they're not.

What conclusion can you come to?
That it is all necessary?
Or you can go straight to the heart of Yoga?

How long do you want to take?

How long have you got?

And .....
Where is it

You think you are going?

2011-12-08T07:57:00.001-08:00

In My opinion!

I'm sorry and I do apologise for not doing what I know I 'should' do.

Which is, before I say or state any thing I 'should' put before it 'In my opinion'.

I don't like it when someone (including myself) makes a statement which has 'is' in it.

A statement such as 'Fred is an idiot'. Would have more truth to it if it read, 'In my opinion Fred seems to behave like an idiot when I am around him'.

So I hereby declare that whenever I make a statement on here, if I 'do not' state 'in my opinion' in front of it, you can 'assume' (?) that I am saying that.
The reason you can do this is because this is 'my' blog and therefore everything that 'I' have written is ' in my opinion'.

It's an interesting subject. We may meet someone that has not had a very good week, seems to be very upset about something and therefore appears to be not very sociable. We may have contact with this person for an hour or a couple of minutes and we may walk away, and without ever meeting him again we have the impression that this person is like that the whole time, for the rest of our lives. We make a judgement about this person forever etched in our memory based on what. 'He is a ''''''''', is based on very little evidence whatsoever.

Being a 'yoga teacher' or whatever you want to call yourself gives you the opportunity to catch lots of people's judgements. They will judge you on your behaviour, your mood, the way you dress, etc. You may be very concerned about being seen in a particular way so may adopt a habit to show people that you are a certain way. You may dress a certain way, be positive, appear happy, etc, in order to give people an impression of what/who you are. This is very tiring!

This leads me to some thing that occurred to me today. If you are yourself you do not have to act in any way at all. You are you and needn't worry about being or behaving any way at all.

How do you know you are you? :))

Hmmm, now there's the thing isn't it. . . . . . . . .. . . . . .

If you find yourself making an effort to be positive, happy, open minded etc, aren't you imposing on yourself a behavioural mode of operating that is or appears to be better than another way of operating?

In my opinion YOGA will enable you to be very clear about who you are!

2011-12-07T07:26:00.001-08:00

it is all in the mind pt4

Everything we have done, thought, good, bad and/or indifferent is logged away some where in the mind.

Freud the cocaine addicted psychologist put the mind (for want of a better term) into three parts.

The Ego
The Super Ego
And the Unconscious.

The idea (I believe) for therapists of the psycho type is to unravel the so-called unconscious mind. It is believed by them and others that the unconscious or unacknowledged part of ourselves can influence our behaviour beyond our conscious control. It is as if we have disowned a part of ourselves and that part of ourselves we have disowned is not letting go, it keeps influencing us from beyond our (conscious) awareness.

We may then begin to use certain behaviours and habits to keep this unowned part of ourselves at bay, e.g, smoking, drinking, compulsive overworking, gambling, over eating, etc.

Okay so that's it more or less. Yes, I know there;s more to it than that! But we need to get to the point.

As we begin to 'do' asana practice we are starting to influence the 'shape' we have molded ourselves into. We are in good or bad shape according to all sorts of dynamics. We are fit, but not fit, we are uptight and inflexible, we are chilled out and over flexible and or flabby and ungrounded.

It's not a question of right or wrong 'it is just the way we are.' How many times do we hear people say, 'It is just the way I am made'.

Really what people are saying when they say that is, 'It is the way I have been conditioned to be.'

Then the process, if that's the right term, begins. We begin to de-condition ourselves with Asana practice. For a start we may stand taller and we may breathe better and deeper. Just these two influences can do a great deal for one's self image, self esteem programmes.

The rest as they say is history, we continue until we either give up or die, whatever comes first.

As we continue through the practicing we will certainly hit very difficult places in ourselves. But the longer you continue the more you realise that these places are conditioned to appear real. But are not!!

They are all in the mind!

2011-12-04T09:24:00.001-08:00

As a small child I went through a phase thinking about death. I worried that my parents would one day die. I can't fully remember how long this fretting went on for but one night I remember coming to the stark realisation that I too would one day die. At that point I felt a relief and I worried no more.

As an adult I have had several close encounters with the 'reaper' and I still have made no conclusions as to what happens after we die.

As the old Yogi says; "It is wanting, wanting and more wanting that makes you worry, stop this wanting!"

Indeed what is it we think we need so badly?
What is it I think I lack?

If I go deep into the process of surrender I realise I lack nothing. I am complete as I am. The lack is in the mind. I may 'Think' I want or need something and am immediately cast into a process of anxiety, doubt, fear etc.

Relaxation is profound!

When most of us think of relaxation we maybe think of watching TV, listening to music or reading. But deep relaxation is a journey, a physiological deepening of the brainwave patterns from Beta - Alpha - Theta and finally into Delta.

This is a scientific fact!
Amazing!
and so simple.
All we have to do is keep still and wait. Focusing on a single point helps the thoughts to drop away. A mantra or the sound of the breath is a good place to focus.

Really you have to admit it is not complicated. It is challenging but not complicated.

2011-12-03T04:23:00.001-08:00

What is it we (as humans) are motivated by?

Why do we exist from the perspective of intelligent enquiry?

What are we here for?

With a little bit of research we (may) realise that we are conditioned to function in specific ways. This conditioning is usually dependent on our birth conditions, in other words, where, when, how, and to whom we are born.

This a generalisation to an extent and there are always exceptions to the rule.

So if we accept that we are conditioned we see next that we will either rebel or conform to our conditioning. A little simplistic maybe but it will suffice to get the point across.

At some point in time some of us reach a crisis in our lives, maybe all of us do, but some of us are more affected by them (the crises).

We seem to live in a very materialistic world and most of us are conditioned to go to work and earn money. We are taught that we need to do this to get on in life and to get the things we think we need or want. Some of us excel in this game and some of us (in the eyes of others) seem to fail.

Carl Jung (apparently) said that any man or woman with problems after the age of 40 had a spiritual problem.

Whether he was right or wrong doesn't matter too much. The truth of it is, if you have a problem getting on in life, or you have got on in life and seem to still be unhappy you (may) have a problem, spiritual or otherwise.

And this is where Yoga can help.

The answer lies within we are told, but where?

When we go within we may find a whole range of voices clamouring for attention (sub personalities) and we may become confused for a while, trying to decide who we really are. we may give up for a while, but sooner or later we see that there is not much of a choice. We either try to stay in denial of our inner voice(s) trying to tell us something, or we stop and listen.

Yoga practice is a perfect and complete system of transformation. (in my opinion).

Ommzz

2011-12-02T12:37:00.001-08:00

What you believe to be true is true or becomes true within the parameters of your ability to transcend varying degrees of truth.

I am a ..... or I feel ------- or I am going to .......... are statements that are more or less relative to some thing - desire, ambition, whim etc.

The relative question 'who am I?' should be delved into as much as possible.

Why?

Why not?

Unless of course you are too busy enjoying yourself, worrying about everything or can't simply be bothered.

Inhale - exhale and watch the clouds drift by.

Omzzz

2011-12-01T01:55:00.001-08:00

For me it's simple.

You either practice or you do not.

You either practice or you do not.

2011-11-30T13:50:00.001-08:00

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).

2011-11-29T00:16:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-28T06:51:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-26T23:58:00.001-08:00

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?"

2011-11-26T04:25:00.001-08:00

'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.

2011-11-25T23:12:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-25T13:37:00.001-08:00

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..........

2011-11-25T11:14:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-24T08:10:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-23T09:41:00.001-08:00

If YOu do PRANAYAMA everDAY You Will FEEL GOOD!!

2011-11-23T09:38:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-11-23T03:08:00.000-08:00

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? ? ? ?

2011-11-22T02:30:00.000-08:00

(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!

2011-11-22T01:53:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-21T01:38:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-11-20T07:21:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-19T02:23:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-11-18T08:55:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-18T01:49:00.000-08:00

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!

2011-11-16T21:44:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-11-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

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 . . . .

2011-11-14T03:52:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

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....

2011-11-12T03:47:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-11-11T02:06:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-11-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-08T03:36:00.001-08:00

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.

2011-11-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

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?

2011-11-05T04:23:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-11-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

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

2011-11-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

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 . . . . .

Easy/Hard - Hard/Easy ?

2011-10-31T02:31:00.000-07:00

It's a simple thing to do isn't it? Sitting still I mean, it's simple to do isn't it!

Sitting down to meditate is the beginning of the 'inner' journey.

Once you have got fed up with finding the 'perfect posture' and looking at yourself in the mirror as you compete with others in the Asana class, you may be ready to really start to practice.

Whether you have the best teacher in the world or the worst is irrelevant in some way, the reason for this is that the commitment to go deeper has to come from you.
It is 'you' that takes yourself to the class and does it!

Don't let the teacher take your glory. They are only doing what someone showed them to do. Yoga is an old technology and all of the different labels that now exist are the 'egoic' stamp of approval of the self ordained 'teacher masters' that decided they were worthy. And of course the silly neurotic devotees that have nothing better to do with there time except do retreats, workshops and seminars because they have nothing inside to connect to are equally to blame for the hyperbole that surrounds the whole silly yoga world!

If you want some inspiration read Krishnamacharya or Satyananda. Both of these people lived very simple lives. Begrudgingly leaving the commitment to the practice they were involved in to teach the idiots that came from the west.

The rest as they say is history.
Just sit still, shut up and do it!

"There ain't no guru can see through your eyes" - 'I found out'. John Lennon R.I.P

Garbage in and out . . . . more.

2011-10-30T02:34:00.000-07:00

Whatever makes you happy - right?

Hmmm - not sure that is the case.

We are (according to what I understand) ideally are meant to live with our feet firmly on the ground and our head firmly planted in the sky. In this way (metaphorically at least) we are integrated above and below, head and heart, body and soul etc.

In yoga we ground ourselves with 'challenging' physical Asana's. Yes, a bit of suffering is good for you ;)
We empower this groundedness and move heavenwards with pranayama breathing.

This is surely not too difficult is it? An hour or two per day or every other day?

Because we appear to live in a world that is 'crazy,' life, instead of getting easier with all the incredible technological inventions, seems to be getting harder. Why is this? Is it really getting harder or have we been hypnotised by the massive media powers and marketing people to think that we do not have to do anything anymore to get anything?

Life for us, according to the hype and bullshit - count the endless silly magazines that are available now - is effortless. We can all live like the Beckhams for free, we can get it on credit.

I know so many people that are working 10 or more hours per day, for what?

The old Yogi says - "All of your problems stem from wanting, wanting, wanting." And he is right!

It's not that we have to live in a cave and live on rice, bit surely this crazy feeding frenzy of compulsive consumption has got to stop at some point. How much do the Murdochs, for example, need?

An addicts first line of defence is 'denial'.

'YOU' absolutely will have to defend your behaviour. The alternative would be to realise what a mess you're in and that is too much to carry.

Sit still and let the mind become quiet - breathe in and out through the nose calmly and regularly.
Relax and realise your true SELF.

Garbage in garbage out . . ..

2011-10-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

Whatever you input into the hard-drive (brain) will result in information/data being processed through the nervous system. As you become more conscious it stands to reason that you will become more choosy about the information input into the hardware/brain/nervous system.

At a certain point along the path of awakening, either conscious or not, we will meet obstacles, usually referred to as 'Samskara's' in Yogic terms. This is essentially where we may come into contact with unconscious material that is, for various reasons, too difficult to deal with under normal circumstances.

BY 'under normal circumstances' I am referring to people that are either not doing a conscious practice of some kind such as Yoga, or are doing some kind of conscious spiritual practice but do not have an experienced teacher/guide.

If you have the tenacity or the commitment or the need to continue through this 'stuff' that emerges you may - if you are doing a regular practice, have to step up the practice, or in some cases, take the practice down a notch or two. If you do not have the necessary 'wisdom to know the difference' then you may get into trouble.

The trouble you may get into would, in medical/psychological jargon be referred to as a crisis/neurotic/psychotic episode and under extreme circumstances a 'nervous breakdown'!

Now to the novice Yogi or otherwise uninformed souls this is hugely traumatic and can lead to a halting of any progress at all. But to the 'informed Yogic practitioner it is the 'golden fleece'.

It is a very bizarre concept to the so called 'normal person' that we as Yogis are looking for crisis on purpose. That is the goal of Yoga - to evoke a crisis. sometimes they are rather mundane such as realising that you 'should' stop smoking. And sometimes they are larger such as realising that you may never have been totally free!

A shock indeed!

This information is here for your perusal to do with as you will.

OMMMMMMMMM

Altered blood chemistry = altered state.

2011-10-27T10:25:00.000-07:00

The physiology of our human body is responsive to chemical influences. We have receptor sites in our body for the receiving of chemical influence. When the body requires a certain inherent chemical it sends a message into the system the chemicals are produced and attach themselves to the receptor site in question and low and behold we have altered out state of being somehow.

Adrenalin is a favorite, a hit of adrenalin will keep us going when we get tired. In order to get the adrenalin we create a scenario (the fight or flight response) and we get a 'hit' of the stuff. It gives us a temporary shot of adrenalin, which would normally last until the 'fight or flight' crisis is over. Some people become addicted to it and keep creating drama's in order to keep the stuff pumping into the bloodstream. Over the long term this can lead to a syndrome known as 'adrenal exhaustion', commonly known as 'burnout'.

Burnout is only taken notice of when it requires us to take time off work, or makes us sick in some way. But it is all around us, all the time. Some of us are living on a knife edge of energy depletion. The question is WHY?

Have we become hypnotised to believe that we need 'lots of money', lots of things to own and have? Well of course we have!
It, like many other bizarre behaviours, such as compulsive gambling, drinking and drugging are now accepted as being totally normal. But if you can just for a second get outside of the box you may begin to realise just how crazy it is - crazy beyond belief!

A whole industry has now sprung up around these issues, the industry is known as health care or healing or some other such thing. But once more we see the craziness of it all. A massive supermarket of healers and therapists telling you what is and what is not good for you!

Ok enough of that - Really if you just stop for a moment and take a deep breath, relax the shoulders a little and relax a bit more, suddenly your whole world has changed. The inherent chemical messengers are going to do the job for you. Relax and the brain relaxes into deeper states or frequencies - Beta - Alpha - Theta and Delta. As you relax your brain all of reality changes before your very eyes.

You may well respond to this by saying - 'it's not that easy', and you'll be right it's not. But you gotta start somewhere - right?

Yoga will help you relax and that is the starting point for change.

Dis - Satisfaction!

2011-10-26T00:31:00.001-07:00

What do you want?

Om ;-)

Wake up an do it - Do it and wake up!

2011-10-25T08:42:00.001-07:00

As soon as you open your eyes in the morning do Pranayama!

What have you go to loose?

Weird thing to do? Too right it is!

I notice a tendency in the morning - first thing - to scan my mind for something to fixate on.
It can be anything from what I did yesterday to what I might do today and beyond. It doesn't matter 'the mind' or the 'small part of me that 'I' call the mind' is looking for it's little fix of what it perceives as 'reality'.

Feeling - Thinking - processing through information is what creates for most of us 'reality', I mean where would we be without it?

If on the other had, as suggested above, you sit up and start to breathe deeply, ignoring the moans and the groans of the beleaguered mind stuff, you may find another way to 'wake up'.
It is a 'real' awakening. It is almost too much to bear sometimes. As the larger mind is revealed into full waking consciousness is can be quite a shock to the 'conditioned system'.

'Necessity is the mother of invention' - and Pranayama is the invention bar none of necessity at this point in time wouldn't you say?!

The harder it gets the more responsibility you 'have' to take!!

Become . . .

2011-10-24T02:16:00.000-07:00

Being, as opposed to doing, is very 'boring' for the continuously seeking soul.

As I am slightly older now maybe my seeking has naturally dropped away.

All I now know is that seeking comes from dissatisfaction - a sense of lack of something.

Seeking leads you into all sorts of interesting places. In these places we sort the 'real' from the 'unreal'. We find out who we are.

We can then relax as we begin realise there is no big secret to life.

Relax.

living is easy . . . .

2011-10-22T04:15:00.000-07:00

"Living is easy with eyes closed. Misunderstanding all you see."

So goes the lyrics to 'Strawberry Fields' The iconic Beatles song of the 60's.

Having eyes closed may appear to be easy, it follows from the 'ignorance is bliss' platitude. It comes from the misguided belief that life is somehow easier if we don't care about anything, or to be more honest, if we 'pretend' we don't care about anything.

Denial is endemic. It is a by product of addictive behaviour. Addictive behaviour can be said to be any behaviour that is injurious to your health - think about that!

When the human brain and nervous system are victimised/compromised by the operator's denial of grounded reality or 'I don't give a damn' attitude, it becomes distorted and corrupted. At this point the psychological issues become physiological issues.

Once we reach this level of conditioning it is harder to change. The longer you leave it the harder it becomes. The issues literally become 'concretised' into the system. All very scary stuff I suppose.

What baffles me (again) is that the solution is simple. One has to find a practice, spiritual or otherwise that keeps the owner of the nervous system living in a grounded reality.
Yoga is the system par excellence for this purpose.

Now as far as I'm concerned, with all the information now available to you from the many sources that exist you have a choice to make - you either do it - or you don't!

Living in misery and drama will keep you pre-occupied forever but it is not much fun!

Apparently Sigmund Freud, the great cocaine and nicotine addicted Psychologist said. "Neurotic suffering is used in place of authentic 'existential suffering!"
He also said; "A cigar is sometimes just a cigar".

BRAIN STRAIN DRAIN . . . .

2011-10-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

As you keep pushing yourself to achieve, overcome, and alleviate the mundanity of everyday life you use the adrenal glands a lot. You may even throw gasoline on the fire by drinking caffeine, eating sugar, drinking alcohol and taking drugs. Wow! As I think I said earlier these habits are more or less accepted as being normal occurrences.

If you are doing these things you are really not going to be too interested in hearing about the damage you are doing to your nervous system. You may 'like some do' believe that the world is coming to an end so 'who cares anyway' ?

I personally find it staggering that some people that purport to be on a spiritual path, working on themselves, doing/teaching yoga, lecturing on health issues and otherwise so called enlightening subjects have the audacity to stand in front of a group of people and pretend they have something interesting to pass on! But hey that's me. . . . .

Please get a life now!

Surrender.

2011-10-20T00:04:00.000-07:00

Of the eight limbs (Ash - Tanga) of Yoga only one of the limbs is a physical practice (Asana).
Pranayama is physical too but mostly it is concentration. The rest of the limbs are concentration at deeper and deeper levels until the surrender of Samhadi.

Surrendering or letting go is something we can do at any time. Acceptance of the now is surrender into the moment. There is no other time.

If we are constantly thinking about the past or looking into the future we are 'not all here'. We are off somewhere else.

Being present does not need to be tense. Practising relaxation in many different situations is a good way to go deeper into being who you want to be.

Resistance to the moment is not being you - resistance is fear based. Of course that is not to say that you are going to put yourself in great danger and not expect to be fearful - fear is an appropriate emotion if there is a real cause for it. But being constantly anxious about life is not good at all.

I really believe that many people are living with chronic anxiety. They have lived with it for so long that they don't realise they have it anymore. Smoking and drinking help alleviate chronic anxiety but do nothing to deal with it.

It is difficult for me to see people that have been practicing yoga for some time come up against something they cannot deal with and give up practicing yoga. But that of course is their problem as they say. 'It's karma innit, as they say'.

Samskaras - Granthi knots etc are a term used for what we may call blocks within our system.
We are happy and can function well under certain conditions. At a certain point if the conditions change we may become triggered into feeling stressful and tense, we then cannot function quite as well, we go unconscious. In order to deal with the anxiety/ stress/ paranoia or whatever it is we may resort to compulsive panic based behaviours such as smoking/drinking/ overeating etc. As we know all of these behaviours are more or less accepted as 'normal' in our addictive society.

To be completely honest I used to think that if a person had enough of compulsive acting out they would be ready to face the music and get on and deal with the 'unfinished business' of the background delusions. But unfortunately I have seen to many people die from 'compulsive acting out' - which is merely another term for 'chronic addictive behaviour'

So to keep it simple you can either let go completely or you can notice what is preventing you from doing that and deal with it. As this is a Yoga website I would encourage the Using of Yoga, of course, to help you.

Upgrade the software.

2011-10-19T00:37:00.000-07:00

Upgrade the input into your brain and nervous system.

Pranayam - Pranayama - Pranayama.

It's all in the mind!

2011-10-18T13:01:00.001-07:00

Never was a truer sentence uttered. . . .

IT IS ALL IN THE MIND!

So be careful what you put into it.

What goes in must surely affect what comes out.

Lots of prana going in will have a very positive effect on the brain and nervous system.

The brain and nervous system are the hardware.
Thoughts, ideas, beliefs, habits etc are the software.

Become more choosy about what you think about.

Ommmminnngs

Coming back to yoga...........

2011-10-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

A swami once said to me, a swami that lived in an ashram, he was speaking of a yoga teacher in my area, he said; "This man is too political." At the time I thought, 'yes he is too political'.

Now I ask - How can you 'not' be political. Obviously yoga per se has no agenda with politics, but the human beings that practice it have to live in it and with it. And whilst they may have no particular political axe to grind, to say, one is not political is like saying I'm only half alive.

To live in this world you 'have' to be political. This current global situation warrants that we all pay very close attention to what is going on. And the 'tool' of Asana - Pranayama - and Meditation is the perfect way to stay sharp and clear.

"If you cannot avoid what's coming towards you, open your arms and welcome it". Anon quote.

In the microcosm - us as individuals - we can deal with our immediate environment - we can recycle - we can buy less junk and stop wasting energy - we can consume less as we become more conscious of our needs as opposed to our wants - and so on.

As we practice we cannot fail to increase our awareness - as we increase our awareness we see more - as we see more we become clearer about what we can and cannot do about all sorts of things.

One of the things about becoming more awake is that we see our natural talents - we can apply these natural talents to the task at hand, whatever that may be.

The alternative it to try harder and harder to ignore the facts and become more and more disassociated from reality. Reality being the grounded experience of living now.

The deception.

2011-10-15T01:30:00.000-07:00

This western modern society we live in is incredible. We have so much and so little. We have so many incredible inventions, technology has blasted through the roof in the last twenty years. We take it for granted now that we can speak to someone on the other side of the world more or less when we want to within seconds, from anywhere in the world - incredible.

We have access to very powerful computers, we can look deeply into the past through powerful telescopes that look deep into space. Hadron colliders are working twenty four seven to find the missing building blocks of the universe - Unbelievable!

In spite of all this we still have people starving to death at different points on the planet. We still have wars over money/oil/territory all over the planet. We have problems with the climate though over use of fossil fuels etc. It is said we are destroying the planet by cutting down huge swathes of ancient rainforest etc. Crazy!

The answer to all of these problems must surely come through the simple realisation that 'we' as a 'species' do not need so much. We need food - shelter - water - company - warmth - community.
The rest is all 'wanting' which stems from lack, or the seeming idea that we lack something.

Why do people (in spite of what appears to be going on - recession, banking collapses etc.) still need to hoard vast sums of money?

Apparently - according to what I read, 3% of the population of the planet own 97% of the wealth. Is this true? Even if it is 20% it still seems wrong somehow doesn't it? I am no expert on the economy but it seems to me that if you spend more than you have it doesn't work.

The media has a huge responsibility to tell us the truth - doesn't it?
But does it?

If you sit still and breathe in and out through your nose for half an hour you may start to see some thing more clearly. Your own perceptions and beliefs, biases and habits will be exposed.
You may see that people are more confused and frightened rather than bad and dangerous.
We have politicians on the TV that look and talk more like the 'Muppet's' than the Muppet show itself!

You have to laugh.

Down we all know the truth - We just have to access it - We have to remove the obstacles that prevent us from seeing with clear eyes.

Yoga is one way of doing that.

Omzzzzz

Deep soul exploration.

2011-10-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

I do go on, I know I do, about the state of so-called Yoga, the so-called teachers that teach it and the so-called people that do it.

But that is my prerogative because this is my blogspot.

Not all, but some of what I say has relevance.

Meditate on the self is the maxim I follow.

Repeatedly deifying Guru's and teachers is nothing. I imagine that some people may think that these benign beings are looking down on them with special favour every time they put a famous quote, picture or something else pertaining to said 'God' on face book or twitter. Even the much maligned Osho said. "Do not worship me when I'm dead. Do not worship a dead Guru". Good for him.

So what have we got with this Yoga thing?

If you get up in the morning and practice pranayama and meditation you will have a different type of day from a so-called normal day. This will occur because that act of practice will awaken the part of you that is asleep most of the time. The part of you that wants to wake up will find a way to do that, so you may as well encourage the process with some sort of conscious practice, i.e, Yoga.

If you can take some time to relax and look inside yourself you will be shocked to realise how much of your time is taken up with trivia. It really is shocking! The shock has a positive effect of waking you up and igniting the spark within to 'get on with it'.

How much money is enough? I think we can all see now that the way things have been going are not really working very well. The order is collapsing to be replaced by a more healthy and functional order. This will arise naturally once the panic has died down - however long that will last we have no idea. So you need to get clear I reckon, grounded in the self, deep in the self there is certainty and peace.

The alternative is to keep grinding away and partying harder and harder. The problem with that is that once it wears off (the party effect) life hasn't changed, and more often than not it seems to get worse.

On that cheery note - Good morning . Om

onward and upward.......

2011-10-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

You can do it!
In spite of all I say.
It is not too hard.
All you have to do.
Is do it
Do it everyday!

The 'gene' of spirituality may or may not exist. We are either predisposed to a so called 'spiritual path' or we are not. If you try to do the drinking and drug thing and the spiritual path at the same time you may have a nervous breakdown. It's not wrong to do this it is just rather stupid!

Stories of 'great people' having mind blowing epiphanies abound in stories from all over the world. For most of us however it is slow and steady. We wake up gradually to the realisation that only 'we' can make a difference. It is a sad blow to the childish part of us to find out that there is no big mummy or daddy to look after us anymore. The inability to come to terms with this fact 'as an adult' leads many to become hooked on therapy, guruism, or some other such co-dependent device. Like I said before, it's not wrong if you 'need' to be told what to do, but it is unnecessary.

And maybe this is where the 'dreaded' karmic factors come into the fray. Some of us may be predetermined to live a life of sleepwalking, maybe we need a rest from the harsh responsibilities of being a grown up.

Hari Omzzz

Mind - Boggling

2011-10-11T01:12:00.000-07:00

If you need to have a bath fitted you go to a plumber, likewise, if you need some electrical work doing you go to an electrician. You would generally go to the person that will do a good job for you and at a price that you are happy with.

When we enter the world of healing we enter a very strange domain. It is mostly a wild and woolly place, filled with all sorts of strange people who have their own ideas about what healing is.

25 years ago when I staggered into the cold hard light of day after a sharp reality check I was amazed at all the healing available. I had a book, I think it was called the 'The illustrated book of healing', and it was full of all these wonderful 'new age' healing techniques. I was fascinated and went on to try many of them so that I could be healed.

After ten years of adventure I feel I was finally 'washed up on the shores of yoga' nothing worked for me. Or if it did it was only temporary and warranted a certain dependency on the so called 'healer in question.

Among the things I tried were: Reflexology, Rolfing, Rebirthing, Homeopathy, Osteopathy, Psychotherapy (several different types), Crystal healing, Psychic surgery, Raw food therapy, Juice therapy, Alexander Technique, Radionics, Cranial Sacral Therapy. There are many more that I can't remember.

In my experience, it wasn't the type of therapy that impressed me it was always the attitude of the therapist that i responded to. I learned the difference between a 'healed healer' and an 'unhealed healer' very early on I am glad to say.

A healed healer 'in my opinion' is someone that is currently working on their own issues and is more concerned for your well being that their own egoic or monetary needs.
An unhealer is the opposite, concerned with 'what you think of them' and how much money they are making. Usually these people are less likely to be empathic and not working on their issues 'cos they don't think they have any!

I'm not saying that you won't be helped by an unhealed healer, in fact I did find it necessary to go to some, sometimes. But in the long term you will have to tune your bullshit detectors anyway.

The Yoga world is full of all sorts of people that have strange ideas about yoga. They think, like everything else, that you can, 'just do what you like' and you will be okay. This is not true.

I have found through my own trial and error adventures that there are certain things that are not okay to do if you are seriously practising Yoga.

Yambazza boo baaar !

Relax

2011-10-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

After you've done all the retreats and workshops. Once you have spoken to all of the guru's, teachers, saints and sages. Once you have heard the sound of one hand clapping. there is only one thing left to do -

Get A life!

Om

de-conditioning.

2011-10-08T03:00:00.000-07:00

Conditioning or the illusion that we are something will be brought into sharper focus as we continue to practice Asana - Pranyama - Meditation. This is challenging, we see who we are, who we have become. It takes some time to learn that we can 'surrender' the past. It takes time for us to 'real' - ise that we can change, that who we are is not solid and unchanging. Once we 'get this' we can move forward or upward or wherever we see ourselves moving. In fact we are not moving anywhere are we, we are actually 'incarnating' deeper into who we are now and who we are now becoming. This person we are becoming is becoming through conscious choice as opposed to unconscious mess making.

All very simple really.

Don't let the bullshit people mess up your mind - you know who you are, you really do!

Don't you?

Om

you are what you think . . . .

2011-10-07T02:52:00.001-07:00

'What you believe to be true is true and becomes more true as time goes by. All such truths can and should be challenged, dismantled an reassembled to a higher, clearer truth. If this is possible it begs the question what is truth and what is the ultimate truth?"

"We are what we think."

These ideas about thoughts creating reality have some validity.
'I think therefore I am'. Descartes.

Thoughts such as 'I am tired/angry/strange/upset/not good enough', become reality.
If you were told as a child you were 'not good enough, at some point in time you may begin to believe it is true. You then become 'not good enough'. This is all psychological nursery school stuff, but it is worth reminding ourselves now and again that what we think is very powerful and influential in our manifesting reality.

Needing to be told what to do is a very insidious common fault in our way of modern living.
Why do we need therapists, teachers, guru's etc? Because of some defect? Because we are not enough? It is a valid question I feel.

We are fully formed humans, we have an incredible piece of equipment called the brain, a 100 million (or is it billion?) celled organ sitting in our skull. Why don't we use it?

Pranayama is the single most direct route to accessing higher levels of consciousness, it's not that difficult either. So it completely baffles me when I hear of Yoga teachers getting drunk and taking drugs. What are these people teaching?

Om Nama Shivaya.

Regular practises

2011-10-05T14:44:00.000-07:00

If you do a full yogic practice to the best of your ability it will lead you into a crisis - this is what it is meant to do!

You enter the crisis because the structures that were supporting you, before practice, become unstable. Physical, mental and emotional structures become unstable because you are now using Yogic technology to undermine outmoded support processes on all levels.

Once you pass through the crisis your system will integrate the experience and move into a more efficient way of functioning.

On the way to becoming more efficient and Yogic you may start to believe that 'you' are great and that you have super human powers - these are known as Siddhis - and they include telepathy, visions, the ability to perform magic etc. You may start to believe your own hype at this point and become a guru or something and start charging vast amounts of money just because you exist on the physical level.

It can all be very funny, but you have to watch out for the pitfalls, such as nervous breakdowns and psychotic episodes, which are quite prevalent at the higher end of psychic dismantling!

'Never Mind'

OM

Krishnamacharya said . . . .

2011-10-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

Apparently Krisnamacharya was a very simple man. He lived a very simple and spiritual life. He was a Yogi.

One of the last things he said was that money was not needed for a fulfilling life.

He was concerned with the so called modern ways (30 years or more ago). I think he would be appalled now at what has happened to Yoga.

It has made quite a few people very rich. People are charging ridiculous amounts of money to teach yoga classes. One example I heard recently is £125 for a personal 75 min class. I'm sure there are some 'super yogi's that may charge 'probably' more.

This is surely wrong! Isn't it?

Yoga is a gift handed down through history by devout Yogi's. It has been turned into business deal, a money making enterprise for those willing to take advantage of the gullibility of people with too much money.

I would like to think that some of the money made in this way was given to a good cause.

This could be construed as Judge mental? Yes!
Am I Jealous? No - I think not!
I think it's wrong and greedy - that's all.

Life is suffering!

2011-09-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Life is suffering - this is what Buddha said.

What do you think? Is it really?

Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't - is more or less an honest answer.

Now if we become more conscious and therefore more aware can't we make our lives so that we suffer less.

According to some we will only suffer if we act unconsciously. If we become more conscious of our thoughts and how they relate to the reality we want to live in then surely we can create the life or (reality) that we want rather than be lumbered with the one we think we have got no choice over.

If we are conscious of what we do and why we do it, would we ever choose to create a mess for ourselves? I don't think so.

So the answer is to become more aware.

We have the tools for this with Yoga - the full picture of yoga provides us with what we need to activate a faster transitional consciousness expansion. It provides us with the tools and also supports us through the various events that will precipitate consciousness expansion, usually these events are referred to as crises.

Om

needing and/or wanting

2011-09-28T02:00:00.000-07:00

Yogic practice, apart from anything else, has taught me about economy. Energy economy and how I use my body/mind.

Determining for myself what I really need and differentiating need from want.

Compulsive wanting keeps me addicted to things and I become miserable.

'I think therefore I am' - becomes - 'I think therefore, I think, I want'.

According to someone, and I can't remember who, humans have few needs. As far as I can remember they are; food, shelter, warmth, human company, (debatable), water, sleep, going to the toilet ;) and maybe some other things too.

But when it comes to wanting the list can be endless!

Of course it is okay to want things, the same as it is okay to work, eat, go out and play etc. But when the wanting become an addiction, a thing that becomes a compulsive need as opposed to a healthy need, then we/I/us are in deep poo.

'The truth shall set you free, but first it might really piss you off!' Anon quote.

Remember the one great truth - yoga will work, but you have to do some first.

Tranit time.

2011-09-27T05:09:00.000-07:00

It looks on the surface of things as if the global financial crisis is here for a while.
Add to this the already gloomy prospects for the future of the planet, or more directly, the future of the human race as it exists now on this planet and we could easily begin to feel a little stressed or unhappy or both.

It appears as if times are getting hard and all the predictions seem to be pointing at the prospect of things getting worse.

Never more was the time right for paying attention to detail.

What can 'you' do about it?
What do you want to do about it?
Can you do anything about it?

Peace lies within.
Whether you believe this or not it is true.
How can you find peace within?
By shutting up and sitting still and getting on with doing nothing.
By trying to do nothing you will become aware of how difficult that is.
Then you may realise just how busy your mind is.
Then you may start to see what you are up against.
Then you will either give up or get on with it.
Get on with looking inside to see who you are.
It may make it easier if you do some Asana practice first.
It may make it easier if you do some Pranayama first.
When you look in the mirror you will see the cause of and the solution to all of your problems - or at least some of the more important problems that you think you have.