Category: <span>Yoga</span>

Published June 13, 2009 by

Musings

Recently, I have had many good reasons to delve further into how & why we heal. Because, some of us actually do heal from our physical/mental/emotional/spiritual challenges. And some of us don’t.
It’s a fine line that divides those that do from those that don’t, and it takes a  subtle, intuitive eye to discern. Microscopes are useless if you’re looking for the big picture.
I’ve learned from a 40+ years of raja yoga practices that we are, indeed, more than just our bodies. We are more than our minds and our emotions, too. This is a concept not easily grasped by many. And yet, there are certainly changes to see. Look around. Beginings and Endings are what help us be ‘in time’.
When I began to learn about symbolic languages, brand new neural pathways formed in my brain. Modern day brain science has validated for me, everything that I knew intuitively growing up. And, I am not alone. Many, many, many people, everywhere are waking up to the same realizations about who we are, and who we are not, every day.
The Alphabet vs The Goddess, by Leonard Shlain is a wonderful book that really makes a bold statement about how language has shaped us as a culture, and as individuals. A fascinating read.
Many of my early astrology teachers required us to memorize the meanings of the houses/signs/planets by using KeyWords. Once you had established a growing vocabularly it becomes easy to create interpretations. Whether they are accurate, useful, or necessary is a discussion left for another time. It was clearly understood by many, that you cannot understand and learn astrology from just reading books about astrology; most especially if you were planning on consulting with clients as a practice.
Gotta run.
Om peace.Man's First Breath

Astrology Buddhism consciousness Yoga yoga nidra Yoga Therapy

changes Leonard Shlain symbolism symbols

Published April 29, 2009 by

Saturn Time….a slow, long view

If you’re coming around to 30, 60 or 90 years of age (rounding off the numbers for simplicity….consult a professional astrologer for your exact dates.) you’re probably approaching The Saturn Return. A return is when a transiting planet arrives at the same place it was in when you were born. Every year around your birthday you have a Solar Return.

Volumes have been written about the Saturn Return and I encourage you to ‘google’ the term and do your own research. I have a list compiled at librarything.com and as soon as I develop some more technical skills I’ll share it with you. However, be prepared. You may not like what you read. Saturn has a reputation of bringing us face to face with cold, hard reality.

If you move thru this transition time with consciousness there are some very definite rewards to be gained if you are willing to work hard. It is a time for discipline and patience.

The Saturn Return presents us with choice points: critical decisions are considered, and changes can be implemented ……consciously and/or unconsciously.

All that said, the focus of this post is on the ~3 year period of time that precedes the return, beginning somewhere around the ages 27, 57, or 87 approximate.

Read MoreSaturn Time….a slow, long view

Astrology Feng Shui Karma Planets and their Cycles Saturn Time Management Yoga

cycles sade sati saturn return transitions

Published March 21, 2009 by

Case Study

A typical yoga therapy session:

Female, 49 yrs. 5’5″, 180, thining dyed hair, round. Although I do not have a birth-chart to refer to, the fact that she is 49 is enough to remind me which cycles usually dominate our life experiences during the years around 50.

Chiron’s cycle is approximately 50 years. The wounded healer, heals.

She arrived before me for our session and was eager and willing to fill out intake forms.

We spoke about the program and this session in particular. We agreed to follow the yamas & niyamas for our work together.  We did this by practicing co-listening techniques in order to develop a clear channel for communication.

She describes herself as exhausted, and can feel some obstruction in the heart & throat area. She recently suffered from pneumonia and continues to be concerned about her health. She felt it was a wake-up call of some sort and wanted to pay closer attention.

She is frustrated with her current career. Although she loves being a teacher, she feels stuck in her current position. It feels like a long, hard struggle and she’s out of energy.

We discussed different yoga practices that can be of benefit to her if she chooses to commit to a ‘practice’ at all.

For the experiential part of our 1st session we spent time doing a seated body scan thru the kosha’s. Periodically, I would ask her to write/draw/record her awarenesses on some paper.

By the time we finished with the kosha’s she had experienced quite an ‘energetic’ shift inside and was quite amazed at what she had discovered. Most notable was that the entire left side of her body was numb when compared to the right. The imbalance was enlightening in and of itself to her in that moment.

We completed our session with savasana, pranayama and meditation.

During meditation, we explored Anjali Mudra in some detail paying attention to the sensations in each fingertip, it’s proximity to the heart chakra, its guiding the energy upward, etc.

I guided her back to the previously blocked throat area and encouraged her to chant om for a short while, and I noticed that each om sounded stronger than the one before it.

She felt like there was more work to be done, and seemed quite at peace and possibly enthusiastic about what might come next.

She left feeling well-balanced, energetic, and relaxed.

I could have taken an entirely different tactic with this women, and spent our time together working more on asana’s and that would have been okay, too. However, in my mind, asana’s and Chiron just don’t go together very well unless you have a committed client who will be returning often. At this point in time she was unable to commit to more than one session at a time. (I usually encourage everyone to commit to 6 sessions, however that can be a financial/economic burden in 2009.) Chiron and Neptune are closely aligned these days, so for those clients around 49 yrs of age, their particular crisis in this moment requires a spiritual (neptune), healing (chiron) flavor to it. Much of what happens during guided healing/therapy sessions happens on the subtle & causal layers of the body. To some it’s very, very, “woo-woo”. To others, it’s safe, non-invasive, and easy to participate.

Yoga Yoga Therapy

chakra healing transformation transitions

Published March 6, 2009 by

Swallowed Whole by Danna Faulds

When I let go of what I know, what’s left?

If I set off without a compass, will I be led?

IMG_0894_1An inner urge too strong to overlook insists that I go forward.

I stumble, fall, get up and start again.

Longing lights the path like a lantern.

The mountaintop looks so far away that I stop to rest, and in the quiet I realize that practice isn’t about getting anywhere,

changing anything,

making something happen

or slowing what’s in motion..

Union can’t be forced, won’t be won by fighting.

It alights like a moth on a dandelion or swallowed whole like Jonah’s whale.

All it takes is receiving what is here right now, being intimate with all that is, and knowing that the act of offering what i really am will never be refused.

On the road again today.

Wish me safe travel. please.

Ommmmmmmmmmmmm.

 

Poetry Yoga

Danna Faulds writing

Published January 28, 2009 by

Time to Dance……………….!

Tribal Dance

Find Center…………………….Stay There……………………….Keep Moving…………………Breathe…

dance Music

Danskinetics Ecstatic Dance Trance Dance YogaRhythmics

Published January 17, 2009 by

Mercury Retrograde – Oh Yippee!

I’ve returned to my homebase recently after spending a lunar cycle on the West Coast. My Pluto line ran right through the locality I spent most of the time in.

For the last 3 days of my trip I was able to travel to a Sun/Jupiter paran to experience some relief from those intensive Pluto vibrations.

Understanding your personal Astro-Cartography can be very helpful when traveling. My preparations were successful and effective.

My plane landed at the same time as another one in the area was crashing into a nearby river….give or take a few hours…. both of us were flying under Mercury Retrograde with saturn/moon conjunction forming. Good Fortune was present for All. Ommmmm.

How blessed I am to have this retrograde period. It will give me time to process my journey and convert all that I learned into my teaching for this new DAY

Mercury Retrograde periods can be very productive times for cleaning up the lose ends of projects that are not yet complete. This particular Mercury Retrograde period began at 8 Aquarius. If you have planets in Aquarius you need to do a little more research than this blog. But, for now here’s some input from An Astrological Mandala, a book on the Sabian Symbols by Dane Rudyhar, a master for sure.

recommended reading...
A great resource for Sabian Symbols.

BEAUTIFULLY GOWNED WAX FIGURES ON DISPLAY

…..a time to consider the “fixed symbols upon which a culture is based, with mental archetypes.

…a stage of vision

….new forms are revealed to the consciousness “

Wow. That seems pretty interesting me considering the state of world affairs these days.

Oh well. More coming as soon as I re-acclimate to the local time/space conditions of the East Coast.

May all beings be peaceful.

Astrology Blogging consciousness journal entry philosophy Planets and their Cycles Time Management Yoga

mercury mercury retrograde travel

Published October 30, 2008 by

Yoga Legislation in NJ

As you know, I don’t usually engage in online political discourse however I am going to make an exception here today.
In our Tuesday am class we discussed the link that I am sending you and as a group we sort of decided that this NJ Congressman needs to hear from us, us being those practicing yoga.
As you will read,  Assemblyman Joseph J. Roberts from District 5 (Camden & Gloucester) has submitted a bill to the legislature of NJ that would require yoga teachers and studios to be licensed by the State.  He lumps us in with “exercise facilities” & “fitness professionals”, disregarding completely the uniqueness of yoga.  His ignorance reflects that of the mainstream with regards to what yoga really is.
Now, I do not claim to KNOW what yoga actually is, or isn’t.
I’m still engaged in the practice of knowing who I am or aren’t and we all know how long that can take!  Nevertheless, I feel that it’s my civic responsibility to add my voice to any issue that touches my heart.  This one, ‘got me’……………………………….
I feel that I am doing a part by keeping you informed.  Integrating skillfull mental activity (buddhi) with willfull action (tapas) and a spirited purpose (karma) is tough stuff and needs lots of practice.
My intentions are to join with other yoga/wellness/holistic professionals in NJ in educating our legislature as to the reality of yoga.
Many voices speaking truth at the same time can be ‘transformational’.
Do what you will.
Trust that everything is good.
And, please, share your yoga experience(s) with those around you so that we can bring more people out of ignorance and into the light.
Om shanti.
Om.
All that said, here are some links to check out regarding this issue.

Education Miscellaneous NJ The Jersey Shore Yoga

NJ Gov. nj legislation state.nj

Published October 23, 2008 by

…………more on stress-management

I began facilitating stress management classes around 1989,  but here’s a tidbit of information Ilearned in a recent YTT class on stress-management.

When they did all those studies to determine what is known as the fight or flight reaction they used men. After observation those were the words that were chosen (Fight/flight) to represent  the surges of adrenalin and cortisol as witnessed in a male human body. Fight. Flight. Sounds simple enough , and it’s quite true. Remember, that primal brain is still operational, despite modern evolution.

The tidbit though is about how a woman’s body responds to those same adrenal gland secretions.  Recently they duplicated the same studies and discovered that neither fight or flight were the most common responses for the females.  At All!  What had been observed  was that female bodies tended  more to Freeze during stressful conditions.  Think ‘deer in the headlights’ kind of reaction.

When I took a little survey among  my students, men & women, I discovered that The Freeze feels much more resonate with them than fighting or fleeing….not always, but most of the time.  Nearly all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief by just hearing that alternative F-word. (freeze)

Whatever. Stress is stressful. There’s no doubt about it. Yoga helps. Find a teacher that you resonate with. Go often. Relieve your stress. It’s good for everyone. Yoga Nidra tonite.

Come, The Door is Round and Open. (rumi)

Here’s some information on my studio.

Holistic Health Time Management Yoga yoga nidra Yoga Therapy

adrenalin cortisol fight-flight stress stress management

Published October 23, 2008 by

Here are some pictures……………..

Asbury Park Astrology Education Feng Shui Holistic Health My photos NJ self-promotion Teachers The Jersey Shore Yoga Yoga Therapy

Main ST.

Published August 25, 2008 by

The pause in-between……..

As we transition from the joy of competition (The Olympics) , to the agony of defeat (The 2008 Presidential election) it’s a good time to remember the yoga practice of breathing in the pauses.  For those who live their yoga, here is an opportunity to add another ‘level of awareness’ to your practice.    (Personal note: Kripalu Yoga is especially suited to elevating your awareness thru breath.)

Remember that, your intentions modulate and create your experiences.

Picture 001 Let’s practice now………….

Take one, just ONE really, really long breath and remain as focused and attentive to it, as best you can. Pay attention to body sensations, mental activity, emotional impulses, and the fact that you are a spiritual entity in a human body.  See what happens.  Repeat….often/when necessary.

Good work.

Now.

Check out these posts I wrote a while ago and then return to your either your breathing practice or your favorite media and see how the headlines really do mirror the astrology.  It’s fascinating to watch.

Last Days of Sag…

There’s a lot going on……….

Time Management Yoga