Emotions and energy

Attention is energy. And the one thing in life that we are trying to always get more of is energy! The stores try to sell it to us in the form of vitamins, Starbucks will package it in the coffee cup and coke a cola gives it to you in the form of soda pop. We run our lives constantly trying to get or gain energy. And we do this by getting energy from the people around us. When we receive the attention from another maybe in the form of "Oh you look so beautiful in that outfit!" we are boosted up. And can then move on with more energy. And when someone doesn't give us the attention that we crave we "shrink" or loose or spend our energy in a negative manner.

Our being has five layers: (body) the physical layer, (breath) the breath layer, (mind) the mental layer, (emotions) the etheric layer, (spirit) the ananda layer or bliss layer. If we want to work on staying centered with out loosing energy let's take a look at the etheric layer or the emotional layer and see just where we may be loosing energy. Let's see if we can learn more about our very own relationships and know just where we are giving too much energy in an area where we don't need to be.

Technique: Visualize all of the emotional (love/hate) relationships that have a hold over you. For example if you have a love/hate relationship with a boss in Paris, imagine that you can expand you body or being to include them inside your expanded self or new extended boundary. Include the emotional relationship as part of who you are! So, with that boss in Paris if you are still harboring guilt or hate or anger keep that with you as part of who you are and then keep doing this with each and every relationship that you have.

You will just see how much energy is held up in this emotional layer. Now ask yourself how much of there emotions are taking away your energy? Do you need to hold on to all of these emotions? Are these emotions serving you in the present moment? Can you drop these feelings and only call upon them when needed in the present moment?

Try this technique for 10 days and just see what is revealed to you. There is no right and wrong. Just enjoy, explore this part of your being and see what happens.

Enjoy!

Intensity is key

Coming back again and again to you center, inside the boundary of your very own skin is a key to uncovering your very own truth. Every time you remember come back inside. Feel the sensations of the body. Witness. Maybe throughout the day you notice that you are aware and then you start talking with a friend, and you forget to stay mindful, inside your very own body, as the viewer or observer of all the sensations and happenings that are going on in the body. You drop the awareness of your very own being. It's okay. Don't worry. Just come back. Don't judge yourself or harbor more negativity like "I'll never accomplish this" or "I am a failure". Be very clear if you have these thought you will be come them. Just relax. Keep coming back again and again till the very muscle memory of your body stays with that awareness. Till your body craves for you to be in that constant state of awareness.

Intensity is key. The father of yoga Patanjali says this notion of coming back again and again is more crucial than your very own enlightenment. Having the diligence, the will and the fire to graciously keep your efforts alive is all you need. The rest will happen on is own. Don't concern your self with how well you are practing or how poorly your efforts are taking root. Again and again come back.

Intensity to keep going is key. Use it to open another door and fall madly in love in the wondrous universe that is on the other side.

I am not a ballerina

I am not a ballerina. And yet I am. I am not wife and yet I am. I am not a corn field and yet I am. I am nothing and everything. Well, actually the moment I am nothing I become everything.

When I am nothing I play with the world around me. When I am someone I go to work. When I am nothing I have fun and time has no hold on me. When I am someone I am serious and I am a slave to the clock. When I am nothing I simply relax and enjoy. When I am someone nothing can satisfy me.

Live the paradox. Become a nobody and see you are everybody! I couldn't have thought of a more perfect game.

fall into love

The birds sing. The cat naps. The sun shines. And I struggle to write. Something seems wrong here? Where is this struggle coming from? Nature isn't struggling and yet I am nature so why do I struggle? Some how it must be simpler than I can imagine.

What is it in me that is making me struggle to achieve a desired result? Am I that thing that is propelling me to try with fight and might, to make perfect, to succeed, to go and go? Some how I have this feeling that I can go and go with out this desiring to be perfect, or be just so, or right or in the exact the way I want. Somehow the river flows down stream just perfectly with out trying and brilliantly falls into the loving arms of the ocean.

Maybe I need to know, trust and have faith that I too will fall into the loving arms of the ocean such that I can sing and play like the birds. There is no struggle when I can rest in the arms of my lover or mother or child.

I think the Beatles were right. Love is all you need. Be love and there is no fight.

me time

The simple things in life are so divine. A walk in the park can clear the mind. A bike ride can boost our energy. Listening to someone we love can bring compassion. It's all so simple yet we easily forget.

It is our nature to forget. That is why we have routine and ritual in our lives so we can learn to remember. Enjoy the morning routine. Take the time to indulge. Be with your self. Take a bath with your favorite music playing. Maybe even sing along. Really feel your skin when you cover your body with cream. Take care of yourself like you would your lover. If you give yourself this divine time first thing in the morning you whole day can be full of love and compassion and then you can give this same spirit and feeling to the others around you.

Give to yourself so you can give to others.

we know nothing

We always think that we know everything. We consider ourselves to be experts in our fields. Some of us have been studying since the age of six. We think we are accomplished. We think we know it all. Well, this couldn't be further from the truth! The truth is we know nothing.

We get in the way of our very own selves. We are limited to our routines. We struggle and fight against the our very own selves who are here to just enjoy and experience in order to selfishly accomplish results.

There doesn't need to be such a battle. When the fighting stops bliss enters. The intelligence that is alive in each and every cell knows how to take care and direct ourselves more than we want to believe or trust. My identity is not needed. Is yours?

A castle built out of cards falls the moments one card is pulled. What kind of castle have you built? There are two options: Protect your castle in fear or just let go and see what happens! In the end it's all make believe anyway. You can't take any of it with you!

stuck in your path?

Sometimes we try to control our lives so much that we don't leave room for the divine play and the spontaneity to make clear moment to moment decisions. We think that our lives should work out in a certain way so we fight and struggle to execute our lives just how we think fit. It's kind of like trying to fit the square peg in the the circular slot. We think that we should have everything all figured out and maybe even planned. Well, maybe the way we think it should be is terribly different from what is meant to be. Do we even know what our unique gifts are?

What happens if we just let go and open ourselves up to new opportunities? Maybe we will find a hidden talent. Maybe we will be lead down another career path. Maybe we will experience life in a more pleasurable way.

Let go and let the universe take care. Mother earth knows exactly what it is that we all need. Let her provide for you. She will guide you in the most beautiful way imaginable.

Your mom knows you best! If you can't ask her for guidance, really, where else is there to go?

seek not change

Everything is just as it is supposed to be. There is no need to change a thing. With awareness if something needs to be changed it will happen on it's own. Awareness is like a magnifying glass. With awareness we slow down so our speech and action have clarity and reveal truth.

Everything is just divine. We are just not aware. Miracles are happening all around us. Open up to awareness and see with new eyes. You may just be surprised.

rise and shine

We are all living in fantasy. We are all dreaming. We are all hoping to be somewhere else doing something else with someone else. The truth is there is no where to go and we are by our very nature alone. Exhale and relax. Now is the time to wake from the dream.

enjoy your coffee

The western idea on birth and death says that this is it. This live is all we have. We only have this one life to live, accomplish and realize all of our hopes and dreams. So, we better get a move on! Hurry up! Experience all that we can now because we only have one chance. This philosophy keeps us running. This philosophy keeps us in fear. Fear that if we aren't active and productive then we will sure miss out.

In the east they believe in multiple lives. They believe in the idea of reincarnation and in the idea that we have many life times and opportunities to evolve and grow. Being productive is not everything in life. This view gives us the mind set that we can relax and enjoy. We can take our time and be grateful for what we have because ultimately we have all the time in the world. One view keeps us running. The other let's us enjoy.

Have you ever wondered why we in the west drink coffee in the car? We are in a rush. We are told to be in a rush. In India it is unheard of to drink coffee in the car. But they are also dodging random cows!

Sit and have your coffee. Be a few minutes late to work. Enjoy your life.

twisting words

Words can confuse. We twist the meaning of words in order to suit our needs. Take for example the word sensitive. How many of us have said, "I can not take the criticism of others. I am a very sensitive person."

If we were really sensitive people we would be flowing, porous, soft and caring. We would let the criticism wash over us. Pass through us. We would learn from the situation.

Think twice about your words. The truth may hurt. And ignorance is bliss. Pick you evil.

why wait be in the now

We live expecting our destiny to present its self to us. We live waiting. If we find our selves waiting know that we have misunderstood entirely. Just take a look at our day. We wait in line at the coffee shop. We wait for a phone call. We wait for dinner to be served to us. The list could go on and on. What does this waiting feel like? We are impatient. We are in a hurry. We want the universe to sing to our tune. Impatience is nothing but our arrogance. We want it our way and now.

If we let go of this anxiety of having to be instantly served we can relax. We can breath in, breath out and begin to see the miracle of life happening all around us. The unfolding of our path or truth will happen on it's very own time not our time. And not the time that we think it should happen, but the time that it needs to happen. So in the meantime enjoy.

If we want love in our lives we can not wait for it to happen we must become love ourselves and then we will have love in our lives. If we want our dreams to manifest we must be patient and enjoy every detail in the planning and know that it is currently unfolding. It is not enough to just have the desire to make our dreams a reality. We have to be in love with the research. We have to be in love with the relationships we make along the way. We have to be centered in the other. We must enjoy each and every moment and slow down such that we can see the right choices to make. Only then will we have clarity of mind to assist the navigation of the unfolding.

So often we miss out because we are impatience, in a hurry and don't want to be available to talk with someone that we don't know. We are rushing off to go home. We are rushing of to be somewhere else. We want to escape the present moment. We are running. We are avoiding relationships and situations. We are guarding ourselves. Well, where is this somewhere else? Why are we running from the present? Relax into the present and see that we are already living our dreams. If we don't like what we have created for our selves change it. It's up to us.

Next time we find our selves rushing off, relax. Settle into the moment a little deeper. Enjoy the air around and maybe have a glass of water. Change the habit. We'll see that there is no where to go. Where we are is where we need to be.

Impatience is just our arrogance. It's okay we all have it! Drop the arrogance and settle into the gratitude of the given moment. Try it next time in the Starbucks line. Every moment can give pleasure.

life has meaning not purpose

Life is not about how much we accomplish. Life is not about how much we have in the bank account. Life is not about how successful we can be. Life is not about keeping up with the Jones'. Life is not about finishing the to do list because there is always more that comes along to do. So why are we choosing to create stress for ourselves and run the rat race?

Life is for us to enjoy. When we shift our awareness and see that the purpose of life is purposelessness then all of a sudden everything we have, say and do becomes meaningful. The smallest task becomes a joy, a pleasure, and our being becomes light and radiant. Try for yourself. Have a friend over for no reason. Serve them for no reason. Enjoy what they have to share and offer for no reason. Find out who they really are. So often our relationships have turned into contracts. We only meet with people because we have a contract with them. We are in relationships in order to get something. Our relationships now have become like business deals. If you give me the comfort and support that I need only then you can be my friend. But the minute you are not there to fulfill that part of the contract as a supporter to my life then I shall move on to the next person who can satisfy my need. But if we drop the purpose we can then start to see the beauty and uniqueness in everything and everyone.

Stop running after goals. See your friends for who they are. Slow down and enjoy the process as it continually unfolds. There is no purpose but meaning. The artists paints for no reason at all. Share, enjoy and create your very own work of art. Start living and stop running.

work as play

It doesn't matter what we do but how we do it. Sometimes we are so caught up in our identity of being a doctor, a musician, or a mother that we forget how we are fulfilling these responsibilities. If we are resentful of our responsibilities then we need to take a moment to look a little deeper into our actions. What is it energetically that has propelled us to stand up into these rolls? Can we uncover the spark that led us down the path?

The intention behind our actions is essential to blissful living. How do we care for our loved ones? How do we address our clients? How do we say "I love you" to our partners when they leave for work in the morning? Our actions speak louder than out words. How we do something implies that we see and understand the relationship in which we exist. How show that we have care for the other or object. How implies that we see beyond our selves. How shows our deep understanding for the whole that we too are part of. Move from what to how and from separateness to unity and the responsibilities take on a whole new meaning.

Everything exists in relationship. What is your relationship to the whole? Your responsibilities are your contracts to the universe. Your responsibilities show that you care. The question is do you really care? If not re-evaluate. Take up something for no reason and do it with loving kindness. You will see the sheer joy that comes with purposeless action. Do something for no reason. The bliss reveals itself as a gift.

Be blissfully responsible. Work becomes play and the marriage, well, it gets a little easier.

there is a safety net

Where does the courage come from to rise above fear and make our dreams a reality? Success and failure can be a deadly trap. We usually want to experience more moments of success and reduce the times that we are in failure. But what really leaves us in in-action or fear of stepping forward? The fear of not knowing. We can handle a little failure hear and there but the fear of not knowing is what gets us in the end. We want to be in control or have security at all times. Only then will we jump! This leaves us paralyzed and left with unfulfilled dreams.

What we don't know is that existence is there supporting us all the time. What we don't realise is that if we jump there is a safety net several feet down. There is nothing to be afraid of, but we will never know this until we jump off the the high diving board.

Take the jump. Risk and see that mother nature holds us in her arms the whole way along. Believe it or not we are actually craving these moments of intensity and risk. We want to be in love, we want to expand our horizons we want to experience new adventures that may appear scary. Our nature is to evolve and grow. Just take a look at nature. The river bed changes shape and form, the trees grow and evolve and the seasons transform from one to the other. Have we forgotten that we too are nature? When we take a chance, have a quantum leap of faith and jump our whole being lights up! And yes, we may skin our knee here and there but that is not the end. There is an experience to share and like our children we just get back up on the bike and ride.

There is nothing to be afraid of. Look in and see what is in your way of taking that risk. See that it may just be your very own mind getting in the way. Know that nature supports you. It's only you that is getting in the way of being and radiating the best you that there is!

Dive in. Share your joy with the joyousness of existence. Mother nature is waiting for you to stand up. She is you mother! She wants you to be your best.

mind is an action

Once we fulfill a desire another comes along right behind it. Fulfilling one gives momentum to the next. This action keeps us running or in motion, like a strand of pearls each bead follows the next. This is beautiful as long as we are not attached to each pearl. Rest your awareness on the larger whole, and the thread that holds the necklace together.

What propels you into action? See the stillness in the action and the action in the stillness.

Look not and find

There is nothing to figure out. The mind desperately wants to solve the beautiful mystery of life. The questions of the mind keep on coming just like that of a small child. Why this? Why that? Just why? Maybe it's like this, maybe it's like that. If I just do it like this then great. What if I were to just do it like that? The mind keeps us searching.

Well, when you have had enough with the questioning mind only then will the answer present itself. The search ends. You must exhaust all the questions so the truth can reveal itself. This is surrender.

When we give up we find what we are looking for. We realize there is nothing to search for.

the art of observation

It's all so easy but we make our lives so complex. In the act of trying we actually get in the way of the happening. If we could just relax then we could experience our potential. Sometimes we want it to be over and sometimes we never want to start. But the truth is it is forever happening.

Next time you engage in a difficult task melt into the difficulty and you'll see that it is only you who is making it difficult. Maybe even give a new name to the 'difficulty' and observe it. You'll see it isn't really difficult at all and it isn't as solid as you think.

Move from difficulty to awareness. Beyond attachment and non attachment. Live like Buddha. You are Buddha.

how not what

What is yoga? The best way to know what something is is to know what it is not. Yoga is not limited to complex body movements or shapes and yoga is not just breathing techniques. To say that yoga aims at optimal health and well being is just not enough. Health and well being happen to be a wonderful bi-product of yoga but yoga doesn't stop there. If we reduce yoga to just the physical plane, or a work out program then it is like using a diamond as a paper weight. But because we are obsessed with body awareness and not consciousness yoga has been reduce to a workout routine. There is more to this wonderful continual happening that we call yoga than meets the eye. Yoga is a holistic science of our inner landscape. It is a beautiful system that reveals our true nature which is one of bliss and creativity.

There is nothing outside of ourselves that we need to acquire in order to become whole and complete. Yoga says that we are already whole and complete unto ourselves. We are divine by our very nature. Just like a sculptor reveals the masterpiece that already exists inside the slab of marble by carefully removing some of the outside layers, the continual process of yoga reveals that at the core of our being lies a masterpiece as well. The journey of yoga asks us to look in and removes some of the external layers that may be blurring our vision. This limited vision of ourselves gives us a limited vision of the world. And therefore our actions are limited.

So how does this work you may wonder? Can one just think that from now on "I am great!" so therefore I am? Ultimately yes! But our minds have a hard time believing this. This is where the practice of yoga comes into play. Yoga is our tool. See our minds are ready and willing to believe everything negative about ourselves. "I am not good enough at this or that." "So and so can do it but not poor me." This is the scrip that is running through our minds and and even our very veins. Yoga is a vehicle for us to observe the flux of the mind and observe these negative thought patterns. In yoga we use the body to get a closer look at the what is happening at deeper layers of our being. For example we can look at our mental layer where our thought rest or our emotional layer to understand and experience deeper truths about our very being.

Yoga, through its dynamic and active practice, gives an experiential understanding that is beyond book knowledge. It is one thing to know an eastern concept from a book on Zen that we are all one and united. But it is whole other dimension to have the very experience that we are all one and united. Yoga is the magical flying carpet for us to be able to have these beautiful understanding via experience. Much like traveling to Africa and merging one's self in the culture is different than looking at a picture of Africa in a book and telling ourselves that we understand all about Africa. Do we really know Africa from a book? Do we know the smells of Africa? Do we know the feeling of Africa? Do we know the sounds of Africa? No. Once the mind labels and defines we have reduces the object (Africa) into something that it is not. Like life itself (Africa included) yoga is dynamic, changing and in constant motion just like our very beings.

Yoga says we are whole and unique. With what ever intention we move the body that intention, that purpose gets inscribed in the being and in the very bio memory of the muscle tissues and muscle fibers themselves. So, if we are running a script of negativity be very clear that we are cultivating a lifestyle that is fulfilling that negative outlook. Yoga imbibes the quality of nature. We are nature ourselves we are not separate from it. Yoga is a tool to bring us back to our true nature, we have just simply forgotten. We may think of ourselves as separate.

All the physical posturing in yoga resembles nature plants, animals and hero's alike. If we practice imbibing there qualities of strength from the image of a warrior, flexibility from the image of the bamboo tree, and courage from the image of the lion be very clear we will have there qualities to serve us in our lives. And the next time we show up to a job interview we will have the courage and strength to share our own unique vision and contribute to the whole.

If we practice yoga postures or asana with the intention of making perfect shapes and having the perfect heal to toe alignment then be very clear that we are imbibing the qualities of a perfectionist. And each yoga class we will inscribe that quality deeper and deeper into our being and muscle memory. Maybe we are even telling ourselves that we are NOT "good" if we can't do a headstand. This negativity is going to the root of your being. Look in. Create the qualities of a nurturing compassion being. It all starts with yourself. If you are negative towards yourself you will be negative with others. You will not know of another way of being.

Yoga is a gift to yourself and therefor the gift to the world. Get on your mat and find a good teacher. Look inside and surely the teacher is there. Reveal yourself to yourself.

red light green light

Imagine that you are in your car waiting at a red light with your eyes fixed preparing to make your move the second the light switches to green. Your patients may be starting to waiver and the intensity is building as everything rests on the one moment when your foot makes contact with the accelerator. The light changes and you don't miss a beat. Off you go. Exhale. Your body now relaxes and you are once again amid the sea of other drivers. What is happening here? Why do we put so much attention and pressure on certain moments or events, possibly creating tension, stress, and anxiety and not other moments? What makes one situation more important than another?

Well, actually one moment in time is no more important than another! We can not say that doing the laundry is more important than getting an oil change. They cannot be compared. They are two separate goals. Depending upon our present life situation one moment may appear to have more value and more importance, but in truth, that is an illusion. You have decided to give a certain task more value than another based on your needs at that given moment in time. But you will notice that your needs are constantly changing. So, one moment, you may think that the goal of changing the oil has more value, but lets say you don't need to get an oil change because maybe you have an electric car, then, the value of the oil change is quite different. So, we can truthfully say, one goal is not better than another.

Goals are solid. They give you a reason to be running. They say that you are important what ever it is that you are chasing. But is this the truth? Is the moment you sit in the car at the red light any more important than the next moment when the light reads green? No, not at all. Just two different situations that are quite similar if you really take a deeper look. Drop the goals.

You may argue that if one drops having goals then one will have no direction in life and the possibility of becoming lazy may manifest. This is the thinking of the rational mind. Actually, the opposite is just the case. If you drop the goals (the object that you are running after) more intelligence opens up to you. The shift is from the narrow view (a goal) to a larger scope including all possibilities. If all possibilities are there, present in front of you, your chances of making clear life decisions is far grater than the narrow view you may have carried earlier.

In having to accomplish a particular task or goal that you set for yourself you may carry underlying emotions of fear and tension because all your effort and energy are now on this one important event. You have now singled out this one event and made it very worthy. If one can widen their lens and accept any task with bliss and joy as the underlying motivators then every opportunity or event has the potential for ease, grace and greatness. Then, it is not a matter of what we do but it is more about how we are doing it. The intention becomes key to truly living. And the more we resonate in the high frequency of joy and bliss we will surly come to understand our very own dharma or unique path. Goals can create tension because they are fixed and they ask us to perform with perfection. Our results are then only results of tension and anxiety due to the pressure to perform.

Be blissful. Find the joy in everything. The car in front of you on the freeway has every right to be there, just like you. Even if they are going 55mph. Be grateful you have a car.