meditation

Meditation both stirs things up and clears them out.

Each of us needs to find our own way inside, and how long we sit for and how long we practice is for us to find out. Now matter what though, don't give up, even if you only practice for five minutes. Meditation is something that strengthens us, brings more balance to our live. We may also become more patient, calm, more compassionate.....helping us to understand our own mind, overcoming any negative thought patterns..so that we can find some inner peace and happiness.

quote

Introspect. Analyse your own mind and try to imporove it. Introspect and findout your eternal Self.
SS

breathing

Most people use only a fraction of their lung capacity for breathing. They breathe shallowly, barely expanding the ribcage. Their shoulders are hunched, they have painful tension in the upper part of the back and neck, and they suffer from lack of oxygen.

There are three basic types of breathing.
1.Clavicular breathing is the most shallow and worst possible type. The shoulders and collarbone are raised while the abdomen is contracted during inhalation. Maximum effort is made, but a minimum amount of air is obtained.
2.Thoracic breathing is done with the rib muscles expanding the rib cage, and is the second type of incomplete breathing.
3.Deep abdominal breathing is the best, for it brings air to the lowest and largest part of the lungs. Breathing is slow and deep, and proper use is made of the diaphragm.

Actually, none of these types are complete. A full Yogic breath combines all three, beginning with a deep breath and continuing the inhalation through the intercostal and clavicular areas.

Learning The Abdominal Breathing
To get the feel of proper diaphragmatic breathing, wear loose clothing and lie on the back. Place the hand on the upper abdomen, where the diaphragm is located. Breathe in and out slowly. The abdomen should expand outward as you inhale and contract as you exhale. Try to get the feeling of this motion.

ahimsa

So for the last few days I've been taking classes with a few different teachers from different traditions at the Yoga Conference that's going on..first time I've ever been and it was good.

There was someone who's class I probably enjoyed the most, more because it was aligned to the tradition of yoga that I follow. It had a more of a spiritual aspect to it and he gave a very good talk on Ahimsa. And as many times as I've given talks on the same subject or myself heard it, listening to it again today was great. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was like going to Satsang, which is important, because your listening to or reading scriptures, which you reflect on, discuss, assimilate their meaning, meditate on the source of these words, and bringing their meaning into one’s daily life.

Because of this, I decided that on Sundays for however long it last that I would talk on the 'Eight Steps of Ashtanga Yoga'....so a quick overview, the eight steps are Yama, Niyama, Asanas, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dyana, Samadhi. Now the Yamas and Niyamas have five sub-divisions each.

The Yamas are:
Ahimsa (non-violence)
Satya (truthfulness)
Asteya (non-stealing)
Brahmacharya (celibacy)
Aparigraha (non-covetousness)

The Niyamas are:
Shaucha or purity
Santosha or contentment
Tapa or austerity
Swadhyaya or self-study
Ishwar-Pranidhana or meditation on the divine.

Ahimsa or non-injury, of course, implies non-killing. But, non-injury is not merely non-killing. In its comprehensive meaning, Ahimsa or non-injury means entire abstinence from causing any pain or harm whatsoever to any living creature, either by thought, word, or deed. Non-injury requires a harmless mind, mouth, and hand.

Ahimsa is not mere negative non-injury. It is positive, cosmic love. It is the development of a mental attitude in which hatred is replaced by love. Ahimsa is true sacrifice. Ahimsa is forgiveness. Ahimsa is true strength.

So practice Ahimsa it develops love.

thought

The core of things is God, outside of the edges is frayed and crazy..the hub of calmess is your heart..so stop looking outside for answers to the world, just keep coming back to that center and you'll always find peace.

recipe

Now this is a recipe for a salad dressing, but what I really like to use this for is more of a dip..I'll add a couple extra tbsp of nutrional yeast so it will make it thicker...it's keeps and it's really good for a few days..Enjoy!


Dynamic Dressing

1 cup of Almonds
1 cup of Oil
1 cup of Water
3 Tbsp of Tamari
3 Tbsp of Lemon juice
3 Tbsp of Nutritional Yeast

yogaaahhh..

Yoga can make you strong and fit. With proper breathing and consistent practice, yoga can help circulate blood flow and oxygen to all areas of your body, strengthening and toning your muscles and giving you more energy. But yoga is not only a physical practice, it is a mental, and spiritual practice made up of asanas (poses), as well as seven other components: constraints, observances, breathing techniques, sense control, concentration, meditation, and divine union.

proverb

Only when you can be extremely pliable and soft can you be extremely hard and strong.

Zen Proverb.

prana

Control of the prana controls the mind and body. Mind cannot operate whithout the help of prana, the vibration of prana produces thoughts in the mind. It is prana that moves the mind. Breath is the gross manifestation of prana. Breath is gross, prana is subtle.

quote

Be in the world, but not of the world. Lead a simple life. Lead a regulated life.
SS

what is your choice?

We gallop through lives like a circus performer, two horses side by side, one foot is on one horse called "fate" and the other "free will"..and the question you have to ask everyday is, which horse is which? Which horse do I need to stop worrying about because it's not under my control, and which do I need to steer with concentrated effort.

There is so much about fate we cannot understand, but there are things that fall under our jurisdiction..I can decide how I spend my time, with whom I interact, whom I share my body with and life with, my money and energy with. I can select what I read, eat study, etc...I can choose my words, tone on how I speak to others and most of all I can choose my thoughts.

tips..

When I started this blog I had a certain name in mind for it, but found out that someone had the same idea as me, no big deal but it gotten me started on reading yoga blogs, which oddly I'd never done before.

So about once a week or so I spend some time reading blogs. I had no idea there was sooo many, and tonight not feeling that inspired to write the blog, as you can see by the time I spent changing the layout, and being the procrastinator that I can be, I started to read some newer blogs, and came across something that was really upsetting.

I was reading a certain blog where this teacher was talking about finding the 'right teacher training course'. And someone had made a comment that was not so positive, but not about the article. So this made me go to her blog to learn more, and it was this comment that really got to me. She mentioned that in her training that "Not everyone got injured in my program, but a lot of us did. I ended up in physical therapy". This comment shocked me, I've seen how much yoga has changed in the last fifteen years since I started, how much more physical it's gotten, but aside from all that, the one thing that is consistent with all the different teachers and schools is that you never you should never get injured doing yoga, that if preformed properly it's completely safe.

So for those who are just starting to do yoga or if you've been doing it for 10 years or more, experienced or beginners, to remember a few basic pointer when we practice.

Progress slowly, if your a beginner learn the basics, if your experienced remember that your practice changes daily, that your practice will be different in the winter than in the summer, that your mental attitude will be different daily, to have patience with yourself. Don't Compete, not with the instructor or other students, but also not with yourself. Listen to Your Body it's the best tool for telling you how your practice will go that day. There where days that I thought, 'I feel great I'm going to do a full two hour practice, and then ended up doing twenty minutes, and vice versa ,where I though I'll just do the Sun Salutations today, and ended up doing a 2hr practice'. Focus on the breathing, not on the posture or how you look. Pace yourself....not that you can't challenge yourself but take it slowly and enjoy your practice. Remembering that at the end of your practice you should be feeling refresh and rejuvenated.

recipe

I just happen to come across this recipe last night and can't wait to try it out. I love Gazpacho but my old recipe had items in it which I no longer eat. Anyhow with the weather being so unseasonably warm this last week, and I'm not complaining, it's a good time to make this.


Ingredients:

450g (1 lb) ripe tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
50 g (2oz) fresh breadcrumbs
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp chopped fresh root ginger
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
125-250 ml (4-8 fl oz) tomato juice or water


Preparation

Put all the ingredients in a food processor, or blender, adding 125 ml (4 fl oz) tomato juice, or water.
Blend until thick and smooth.
Add the remaining tomato juice, or water, if the soup is too thick.

I'm going to try this as is, but one of the items that I also use is cucumbers. Also another method of preparation is to chop all the items or part of them and put them in the fridge and adding them towards the end, this makes them nice and crispy. When all done, I like to add a dollop of sour creme, it's so good, and if you find tomotoes to be to acidic, this will cut into it.

Enjoy!

BG quote

The Bhagavad Gita..simply put is considered a sacred Hindu scriptures where they say that all the answers to your problems and spiritual difficulties can be found, a practical guide to life.

I simply love the Bhagavad Gita. I studied it in my training, advanced training, consistently sit in other trainings to hear it again. I've read it a few times and last year I started another course on it. Truth be told I was soo excited that the teacher( who btw is amazing) only got through two chapters, it made me realise that if he continued at this rate, we would be doing this for another eight years. I'm not sure if this is so, but I'll get a better idea this year when I leave in a few weeks to continue the studies.

Every time I study the Bhagavad Gita, another layer of understanding occurs, there are new realisations.....it's truly a beautiful book.
I do recommend however, to get a better comprehension, it's really best to study it with a teacher, not saying however that you cannot read it on your own.

Anyways this all leads up to the fact that I came across one of it's more popular quotes today.
"Fixed in yoga, do thy work, O Winner of wealth (Arjuna), abandoning attachment, with an even mind in success and failure, for evenness of mind is called yoga"

this is taken from the Karma Yoga section of the Gita and implies "that action should be done without thought of gain."(without the concern for results)

Matsya the first Avatar of Vishnu

To recap an Avatar descends for a very specific purpose, to bring dharma, or righteousness, back to the social and cosmic order.

Matsya is the first avatar of Lord Vishnu, took this form of Matsya in order to retrieve the Vedas from the demon Hayagriva, who stole them from Lord Brahma. Without the Vedas, Creation of the Universe cannot take place. He slayed the demon Hayagriva, recovered the Vedas, and also saved the pious king Satyavrata from the deluge so that life and religion can be preserved for the next cycle of Creation.

Matsya was discovered by Satyavrata, who was the prajapati(prajapati is a Hindu deity presiding over procreation, and protector of life)of this Kalpa(a large span of time)
Satyavrata was washing his hands in a river when a little fish swam into his hands and pleaded with him to save its life. He put it in a jar, which it soon outgrew. He then moved it to a tank, a river and then finally the ocean but to no avail. The fish then revealed himself to be Vishnu and told him that a deluge would occur within seven days that would destroy all life. Therefore, Satyavrata was instructed to take "all medicinal herbs, all the varieties of seeds, and accompanied by the seven saints along with the serpent Vasuki and other animals."
To restore the Vedas Matsya dived into the ocean to kill Hayagriva, in which he was defeated and the Vedas were restored.
The deluge occurred and the lord reappeared as promised and advised Satyavrata to board the boat and fasten the serpent Vasuki to his horn as a rope to the boat.

symbolism:
-the ocean is the churned subconscious
-in its state at the beginning of sadhana the fish he found was small at first and continued to grow until there was no where else for him to go, this is the growth of spiritual aspiration
-the lord is the light that guides the devotee through the floods of past lives and suppressed memories samskaras etc

quote

We hold in our hands the power to mould our life the way we want. Thoughts are like bricks that make up our destiny. Everything that we are today is made up of our thoughts. "If you sow a thought, you will reap an action....;action-tendency; tendency-habit; habit-character; character destiny."
SS

neck exercises..

Having yogi's as friends sometimes is interesting, because they don't let you get away with things.
For a couple weeks there when I was sick and a little bit blue, I was having the worst neck and shoulder pain.
Now since every injury and pain we have can be related to an emotion...(neck problems usually relate to feelings of having "the weight of the world on our shoulders"). So instead of getting any sympathy, I was asked what was wrong, being psychoanalyzed..and having to deal with the issue instead of getting a little bit of comfort. However you always get what you need and I'm very thank full to my friends.

Now what came out of this was that I started to do the neck exercises again, and it's always interesting sometimes to start over in your practice. We think sometimes when we first do Asana's that we will reach a certain goal and that will be it, but due too injuries, stress or not doing our practice for awhile, that isn't always the case. These gifts and that's what I like to call them, help us get back in touch with the importance of some of the more basic practice. Doing the neck exercises reminded me how much of a struggle this can be for some people and how important they are to do, especially if its cold out, early in the day, if your on your feet all day or at the computer or just haven't practice in awhile . To remember that some of the more passive exercises can have the strongest benefits.

So if you haven't done them in awhile give it a try....

Sit cross-legged and practice each set of neck exercises at least three times.

- Back and forth. Drop your head back gently and then slowly drop it forward
- Side to side. Tilt your head to the right shoulder, to the center, and to the left.
- Turn your head. Turn your head to look over each shoulder in turn.
- Circling. Inhale as you rotate your head to one side, exhale to the other.

postures..

POSTURES:
Inverted- Mental Strenght
Forward- Effects the brain
Backward- Exhilarating
Twisting- Cleansing
Balancing- Lightness
Standing- Vitality
Sitting- Calming

thought

When a negative emotion comes up, regard it as a guest, welcome it, acknowledge it and then let it go, watch it as you would a movie.
conscious welcome, conscious goodbye

soup recipe

"Nothing is more warming or fulfilling that a hearty bowl of soup on a cold day-it nourishes both body and soul.”

and today is just the day...hasn't stop raining all day so I decided to make my favorite soup......


Miso Soup

8 C. Water
3 Carrots
1 Celery
1 Beet
1 Tbsp of Ginger
1 Tsp of Wakame
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
Handful of Soba Noodles
11/2 teaspoon of Miso per person
Tofu

Begin by soaking the wakame, draining the tofu, and boiling 8 C. of water (this speeds the cooking process, but its not essential).
Chop vegetables. Heat large pot, add seasame oil. Sautee Ginger and root vegetables for 5 min. Add water, bring to boil. Add wakeme, simmer till vegetables are soft. Add soba noodles and tofu and cook for 6-8 minutes till noodles are tender.
Place miso in bowl and take a cup of the heated broth to mix the miso till smooth. Turn off the heat and add to soup. (Never add miso to boiling water, it will dissolve the beneficial digestive enzymes and nutrients). Enjoy!

Prana and Mind

The mind of a man can be made to transcend ordinary experience and exist on a plane higher than that of reason known as superconscious state of concentration and gets beyond the limit of concentration. He comes face to face with facts which ordinary consciousness cannot comprehend. This ought to be achieved by proper training and manipulation of the subtle forces of the body, so as to cause them to give an upward push to the mind in the higher regions. When the mind is so raised into the superconscious state of perception, it begins to act from there and experience higher facts and higher knowledge. Such is the ultimate object of Yoga. The control of the vibratory Prana, means to a Yogin, the kindling of the fire of Supreme Knowledge, the realisation of the Self.

-Raja Yoga

quote

Attain Truth through speaking the truth and practicing truth in all your daily actions and behavior towards others.
-Swami Sivananda

eye exercise

'The eye is the most important organ. With good eyesight, you can do more service to mankind'
Swami Sivananda

One of the things I use to stress in beginner's courses was to keep up with the eye exercise after the course was finish. To remember that the eye is also muscle, and like we exercises our body, we should also exercise the eyes.

Exercising the eyes releases any buildup of tension and aids relaxation. It's also been known to improve vision.

There are many different exercise that you can do, some of the more simple ones are:
up/down
side to side
diagonal
full circle
focusing on the tip of the nose, 30secs, no blinking
'palming' at the end...is very relaxing to the eyes. It is also most important for preserving the eyesight. Palming also has a beneficial, relaxing effect on your nervous system.

if you wear glasses or have an interest in learning more, there is a very good book by Dr. Jacob Liberman called 'take of your glasses and see'
if you have any interest in knowing more on the exercises themselves or would like to an extended list of exercises, feel free to email me.

remember one thing when doing them, make sure your alone or not facing anybody. I made the mistake one time of doing it at a table while waiting for someone and freak out my friend and someone at the next table..






When practicing, keep your head still and move only your eyes.

guru

I just had a conversation with someone that always challenges me..love him dearly but sometimes I just want to strangle him, of course this is said with love...
He always make me think, always pushing me to better myself, throws me some challenges, and in the years I've known him, I consider him a very important person in my life, a teacher an upa guru is what I call him.

Now the guru is one, but the upa-guru can be many, from whom anything is learned.
Guru itself is defined as:
Gu-like goo-darkness
Ru-light
Out of darkness into the light

The true guru is god himself, the human guru is an instrument of himself. In the beginning we can have many teachers on our path for self-realization and if we are earnest disciples we might be lucky enough to meet a Sat Guru.

A Sat Guru is the man or woman of God, an instrument of the Lord, who will quicken the enlightening process. He or she enables you, the seeker, to overcome your ego and delusion — not only gaining realization of higher consciousness but enabling you to live in higher consciousness.

It's said that no book, however noble, is a substitute for the guru. And my upa-guru today remind me that "information is useless without experience" and though I love to read all about yoga and all it's components, (and that will never change).
I will try and do what he asked of me today. It was for one month to do 10 rounds of Japa...I'll let you know how that goes.
Om Namah Sivaya

Vegetarian Pad Thai

So after months of eating quinoa salad three times a week, I seem to have moved on to a new obsession, one that I decided I needed to start making so as not to spend so much on take out, and after finding a recipe...I didn't do such a bad job..
So here is a recipe for Vegetarian Pad Thai:

Ingredients:
•8 oz. (SERVES 2) Pad Thai rice noodles (thin, flat linguine-like noodles)
• 1/2 cup soft tofu
•3-4 "heads" of baby bok choy, roughly chopped
•2 cups bean sprouts
•1/3 cup fresh coriander/cilantro
•1/4 cup ground (or well-chopped) peanuts

•PAD THAI SAUCE:
•3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste
•1/4 cup hot water
•3+1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
•1/2 to 2 tsp. chili sauce (to taste)
•3 Tbsp. brown sugar
•OTHER:
•3-4 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying
•2-3 Tbsp. vegetable stock
•lime wedges for serving

Preparation:
1.Bring a pot of water to a boil and remove from heat. Soak noodles in the hot water for 6-10 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Tip: Noodles are ready to drain when they are soft enough to eat, but still firm and a little bit "crunchy". The noodles will finish cooking when they are fried.
2.Dissolve the tamarind paste in the hot water. Add the other pad thai sauce ingredients and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Add as much or as little chili sauce as you prefer, but don't skimp on the sugar (you need it to balance the sourness of the tarmaind). Reserve.
3.Place your wok (or large frying pan) over medium-high heat. Add 1-2 Tbsp. oil
4.Add the bok choy plus the stock. Stir-fry 2 minutes, or until bok choy is bright green and slightly softened.
5.Push ingredients aside and add 1/2 Tbsp. more oil using soft tofu:stir-fry briefly. Now add the drained noodles and 1/3 of the sauce. Stir-fry everything together for 1 minute using 2 utensils and a tossing motion (like tossing a salad).
7.Add a little more sauce and continue stir-frying in the same way for 1-2 more minutes, or until the noodles begin to soften and become sticky. Reduce heat to medium if noodles begin to stick and burn.
8.Add the bean sprouts plus the remaining sauce. Stir-fry to incorporate everything together for 1-3 more minutes, or until noodles are done. Noodles are cooked to perfection when they are soft but still deliciously chewy and a little bit sticky.
9.Remove from heat and taste-test, adding more soy sauce if desired for more salt/flavor.
10.To serve, scoop noodles onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with coriander/cilantro, and ground nuts. Add wedges of fresh-cut lime on the side. Serve immediately and ENJOY!.

quote

"Truth is within you. Select that for meditation, which, at once draws your mind irresistably, dropping all other objects.

-Swami Satyananda

quote

He alone who has controlled his mind will be ever peaceful and joyful.

meaning of Avatar

So as I mentioned I want to connect certain days of the week with certain topics...
Wednesdays being stories.

Now stories in Hinduism are important because they help you to learn, understand and discern.

For the next ten weeks I thought I would write about the ten Avatars of Vishnu
Avatars refers to a deliberate descent of a deity from heaven to earth
The concept of avatar within Hinduism is most often associated with Vishnu, the preserver or sustainer aspect of God within the Hindu Trinity.
Vishnu's avatars typically descend for a very specific purpose, to bring dharma, or righteousness, back to the social and cosmic order. So next week will start with the first one, Matsya a fish avatar.

reading

in my mini satsang this morning, this was one of my readings and I though I would share it with you today..

Thought can be either negative, positive or shallow. When thought becomes negative it is very painful and when it is positive, it lifts you up. Depending upon the condition into which you are thrown, thought plays a most important role in your life. You meet a person on the street, you fall in love...just like magic, so you call it 'love'. The thought waves take a specific pattern and suddenly there is a meeting of thought. Thought waves merge. Then after some time, perhaps, the thoughts change and instead of 'I love you honey', it becomes 'I hate you!' These phrases are only thought, nothing more. It is not that the person has changed, it is that the thought waves are no longer merging and there is now no communication, So there is friction, separation, suffering and you will never see that person again. The moment you think of that person you have unhappiness and pain.
Wherever there is union of thought it brings peace, love, happiness and joy. Whenever thought becomes unbearable due to different or opposite wavelengths there is suffering, pain, war and calamity. So the whole world is nothing but a projection of your thought, There is nothing but thought. Reality is thought.

back to my blog...

As hard as you try sometimes in your practice it's just hard to maintain things sometimes, it's like a rollcoaster, up and down....this blog was started to give me encouragement in my own practice, to uplift me.
And one of the things I've learned in my spiritual practice lately is to have patience with myself. I got sick a few weeks ago, so sick that really the only thing I felt like doing was sleeping..of course when I'm sick I try and do some practice and take alternative healing methods, but what I learned, and what I needed was to take a break, and I took a break from everything and it's only been in the last few days that I'm getting back into my practice..

so I'm back with my blog and in the time I've been away I've also been giving some though on what I originally wanted to do with this blog and I've done some, but wanted to incorporate some other things. I've decided to have days of the week correspond to certain topics, so far I only have a few, but hopefully after awhile each day will have a certain topic.

so to begin..Monday will be about asana's..Wednesday will be a stories of deities..Thursday will be a quote from a teacher, since this is the day of the Guru.. and Fridays will be a vegetarian recipe. This is what I have, so if anybody has any suggestions let me know, I welcome any thoughts or opinions.