Category: <span>Yoga</span>

Time is a horse that moves with seven rays,

with a thousand eyes, undecaying,

who projects a manifold seed.

Him the seers mount, illumined in mind.

His wheels are all the worlds.

Time moves seven wheels.

He has seven mouths, whose center is immortal and undecaying.

He anoints himself with all these worlds.  He moves as the first of the Gods.

A full vessel is set in time.

May we who live see his manifold forms.

He faces all the worlds, who, the seers say,

is time

in the supreme

void.  He gathered all the worlds together.

He encompasses all the universe.

As their father, he became their son,

apart from whom there is no other light.

A VEDIC HYMN TO TIME

(Atharva Veda XIX.23, 1-4)

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How we perceive the passage of time depends on how define the word time. Consider this. Scientists define time as something that is mathematical and linear, at least before quantum physics began to shake up that definition. When someone asked A. Einstein what is time, he replied, “what a clock reads.” Philosophers and spiritual seekers believe that time is subjective depending on the nature of our experience. Ram Dass writes, “time is the relationship between moments of consciousness”.

Biologists see time passing as a link between the rhythm of internal processes to the regular rhythms of the outside world such as mating seasons, and the cycle of growth/death of most vegetation. Corporate Executives and politicians see time as something to control as Golda Meir exclaimed, “I must govern the clock, not be governed by it. Everyone has their own way to relate to time.

Astrology views time as a cyclical experience rather than the linear view most others have.

The effects of time on the body has been well documented. Aging is easy to see. When we look closely, minute daily changes steadily progress to  larger, physical changes. Small lines become deep wrinkles. Slight aches become crippling joints. Body postures once limber and upright, become hunched, rounded, and appear to carry tremendous weight on the back. All of this becomes visible over the course of time.

Although things like poor diet, lack of exercise, substance abuse, and ignorance can contribute to this apparent deterioration, time also plays a part. Our awareness of time passing becomes translated into the body. If we believe that we are supposed to age , deteriorate, and get sick as we get older, then that is exactly what will happen. In Japan, many insurance companies are paying out large sums of money to the widows of overworked business men. They call it hurry sickness or kashori and it shows up as sudden death in the workplace. Our perception of not enough time certainly adds to this modern day illness. And that’s exactly the point. It’s our perception of time that holds the key to releasing the stress we feel. Sometimes time goes very slowly, as if one minute or even a few seconds feels like years. Have you ever had a car accident? Perhaps spun out on the road in bad weather? The consciousness slows down and you can sometimes witness the loss of control of the car as if it were happening in slow motion. Other times, time passes very quickly. Vacations, weddings, happy occasions tend to ‘speed’ up time so that 1 week can fly by as if it were one hour.

The key to time management is to learn to recognize cycles, phases, and patterns rather than months, days and hours. To develop the ability to flow with the passing time rather than to fight the clock. There is a certain rhythm in the world that supercedes any manmade time telling device and this rhythm remains constant, stable, and secure and is not subject to the whims of man who we know makes mistakes.

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It’s time for another Yoga Nidra experience.  Who knows what will happen this time?  Surely, not I.  Nevertheless, it’s important to continue the research. Scientific documentation seems to be important to a lot of people, as if that were the absolute truth of any matter.  Those on a yoga journey are learning (or rather unlearning) different perspectives.

I’ve been teaching yoga and yoga therapy for a long time now and it’s interesting to note that insomnia is an increasingly common complaint.  Sleep disorders abound.

Many people self-medicate in order to get a good nights sleep.  Some people die from the medicating substance, whether it be  pharmaceutical, organic, or cooked up in your kitchen by the resident witch/healer.

What needs to be looked at more closely is that all of these cures/methods for inducing sleep are relying on an external something (pill/tea/etc.) to put us to sleep.  Nothing is inherently wrong (or right) with that approach.  Sometimes we need help.  But, here’s an article from Dr. Mercola’s newsletter that certainly deserves some thinking time.   If you do not want to read the whole thing at least scroll thru it and read the headlines, please.

scan0005On August 29 I’ll be facilitating another Yoga Nidra experience in SoCa. I’ve been de-stressing the American population for a long time, or trying to.  I’m learning that SoCa has it’s own unique list of stressor’s, quite different from those on the East Coast….    This past weekend a 6’ bookcase filled with china & glassward toppled over right next to me!  Other people were there too and it was ‘decided’ that it must have been an earthquake.  Yikes!

Stress is everywhere.

If you’ve experienced a yoga nidra before, this one is guaranteed to be different.  It’s built into the ‘system’.  After all,  every moment in time/space is utterly unique and changing at the same time.   Trust that you always get what you need but not necessarily what you want.

Nevertheless, healing happens with yoga nidra practices.

I’ve put together a teacher-training for those who would like to learn more about this pratyahara experience.  Find me if you’re interested.

I’ll be happy to bring this training to your group/studio.

Contact me and we’ll talk about how to do that.

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Looking backwards can be a useful practice at times; especially when you’re pregnant.

We’ve all had the experience of being gestated in a womb.  At least I hope so, still **.  Things are changing so fast now, so much more is possible with the advances (?) of science.  Things just don’t stay the same;  impermanence is the nature of all things.

The environment of the womb is not isolated or separate from the larger world, and  the mother is subject to external conditions & circumstances beyond her ability to control or even process!  Her emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and beliefs are transmitted loud and clear into the fetus.  The watery womb is the perfect medium by which energetic,  non-verbal information enters the fetus affecting not just the physical growth, but the mental and emotional growth as well.  Everything that is happening outside of the womb, happens in the womb, too.  As above, So below.

eclipseAstrology provides a unique insight into one’s pre-natal conditioning and can give you some important information that might have gone un-realized until right now. I am speaking of the Pre-Natal Eclipse. Astrologers locate this by looking back in the ephemeris to find the eclipse that occurred just before your birth. It could be either a solar or lunar eclipse.  Where it was located in the zodiac is where the information is stored. It’ll show up in your natal chart in one of your houses (bhava).

It is a significant place in the natal chart to study, particularly if you are pregnant, have had children, or want to.  It describes the cosmic weather that was and still is in effect during your own gestation.

If you are curious and determined to become more self-aware regardless of where it takes you than you might want to arrange for a consultation with a professional to talk about your personal pre-natal experiences because whether you understand astrology or not the conditions (external & internal) that were present during the ime of the pre-natal eclipse have marked you just as significantly as your personal DNA.

The more we can understand our own Birth Story/History the more we are able to understand and create optimal conditions for the future children we carry in our wombs.  Yes?  No?

Yoga teaches us that the time is (always) NOW.   One of my teachers impressed upon me that what we feel, we heal and what better time to heal oneself?  We all want what’s best for our children.  Becoming a parent, a mother most especially, is such a unique experience.  The more we practice yoga, on and off the mat, the more we become aware of the myriad of sensations, thoughts, feelings, and insights that occur without pause, inside of us.  This is a moment of transformation, this new awareness.  We can intentionally insert a “change” order, if we are so inclined.  Regardless, taking one conscious breath while you continue to observe, is all that is necessary.

The whole birthing process has changed. The advances of  modern science & technology are competing with the previous advances of mid-wifery and natural birth.  The natural flow of intuition is being silenced by a money driven society and many women do not know what it means to ‘trust your body’.  It is vitally important that we remember who we really are.  It is vitally important that we care for our whole selves while we continue to pay it forward to the human race.

 

There’s another reason to study the pre-natal eclipse that’s very appealing to those who believe in reincarnation.  There are so many ways available to tap into this incredible resource of information….your past lives, that is. shamens,  Hypnotists, Psychics, Mediums, Regressionists, etc. all have powerful medicine to aid you in your search.  Astrology can also point a lens at your past lives and deliver some insightful, validating, and perhaps surprising details on who you used to be.  Searching the past helps one to understand Karma.  Creating a ‘now’ that will support you in the future is Dharma.  The pre-natal eclipse as stated above will describe the temporal environment at the time you were a fetus.  (Look for workshop/event on dharma/karma if you’d like learn more.)

to be continued…………………….

 

An interesting debate is available here:    Should we genetically engineer babies?

Om shanti, shanti, shantihi.

Yoga

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Let us  not follow where the path may lead.

Let us go instead where there is no path ,

And leave a trail.

Japanese Proverb

We are in the eclipse season…….

om shanti, peace

quotes Yoga

If you have any planets or points located in the early degrees of a Cardinal sign then I’d like to hear from you.  Your  lives are as eventful as mine these days……or soon to be so.

Cardinal energy/signs really like to make plans and do stuff.  Action is key. There are 4 Cardinal signs in the zodiac: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn.  Together they form the axis of an astrology chart- the cross that puts everyone at angles and odds with each other and the world.

Naturally, each of these signs represents it’s ‘doing nature’ differently.  For instance, Aries does things First; that’s important for this fire sign.  It’s soul purpose is to demonstrate the pioneering spirit –  going and doing what hasn’t been done before. Thinking things through takes way too much time so they’re apt to be quite impulsive as they pioneer headfirst into the unknown.

Cancer is a busy sign, too.  Their ‘doing-nature’ is more directed, but none the less active!  Security is their goal and they spend a lot of time securing it.  Establishing a roof over their head is primary, and a tent will do as long as they can call it home.  However, there is another important thing that Cancer’s must do, and that is to feel their feelings.  Our current culture has not been supportive of this important action…..feeling feelings, and therefore a lot of Cancer energy has been delegated to the unconscious where it does it’s acting out surreptiously.

Action and Libra may not seem to go together at first sight.  Libra is Venus ruled and can often show up as sloth and indulgence.  This is not a pretty sight even though Libra always looks good.  Contradictions reign, even though Libra mediates.   Libra’s don’t do first.  They wait for someone else to do something and then they know what to do themselves, either follow along or go the other way.   They always do their doing nicely maintaining a good public image.

The king of doing-nature could be Capricorn, and that particular cardinal sign is currently experiencing active transformation.  Pluto, the planet that might or might not be a planet, is currently moving thru that sector of the tropical zodiac.  (Pluto is not recognized in the Vedic/Jyotish system).  Expect power struggles for a long, long time.

Who knows what will become of Capricorn’s doing-nature throughout this tranformational transit.  In the past this Saturn ruled sign has represented symbolized authority, structure, and management…..someone has to do it, you know?  Capricorn energy shows where and how we are the authors of our  or other people’s lives. It’s a no-frills kind of energy and the goal becomes the purpose and all actions and all doing is directed towards achievement.  Once achieved, another goal/purpose replaces the first one, and on and on it goes.  Capricorns do a lot.

 

We all have ‘doing-nature’, some of us obsessively.  But, as one of my favorite teachers has said so often, “we are human beings, not human doings”, and that explains a lot to me.

Pluto and Saturn together are stressing out a majority of people on the planet.  That’s a given.  These same astrological aspects are happening everywhere and to all of us.  There’s only one time zone to consider if you look at the life from the cosmic perspective.

Once you understand the cosmic perspective it becomes increasingly important to make life choices accordingly.  During cardinal times, such as these, important decisions and significant changes happen.  These events can be pleasant or unpleasant, either way the physical body responds the same during these stressful times.  Only your mind decides or rather, judges the difference. These human-being-bodies still respond with beating hearts, sweating palms, shortened breaths, and tensed muscles.

I recommend you practice yoga in the ancient ways to help your body/mind integrate all the powerful forces that are impacting our world.   It’s time for me to do that now.  My Moon/Venus/Uranus are all early cardinal.

Om shanti, shanti, shantihi.

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Practice Patience.

(I’m using a very wide orb here)…..

if so, then Saturn is coming up to conjunct your natal Pluto.

Heavy.

Dense.

Solid,

and sometimes Immovable.

Patience is key.

A good time to establish a yoga practice to re-generate your stress and turn it into skillful action and right thinking.

Easily said.

Difficult to practice.

Find a spiritual  teacher.

Commit.

Breathe.

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mercury

Let the mind be the mind.

Behind its restless activity,

just one layer deeper

is stillness, and beneath

even that, is an ocean of mystery and truth.

Swim in this eternal sea

until you know yourself

to be infinity, and bring

that knowing back into

your day.  Why struggle

to be what you are already?

Let the mind be the mind

but don’t bind yourself

to its limited reality.

Trust your experience of

vastnes.  Trust the truth

that never loses potency

or disappears in fear.

Let the mind be the mind

and identify not with

thought, but silence.

…from Limitless by Danna Faulds.

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