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Monday, June 22, 2009

Taking a Break

To all of you that have checked in, commented, or followed this blog, thank you. Currently my life is taking on some transitions and I find transitioning easier when my energy is on where I am going and taking more time to clean up--literally, I'm talking the piles on the desk, at the bedside, and spewed about the kitchen counter. Between that, the kids being home for school break, and our wonderful--all too short--summer finally here, I find taking time to blog is like a task instead of a joy. Being someone that likes to limit tasks and increase joy, this blog will be inactive, at least for the time being.

If you're looking for an inspirational and authentic yoga blog there are many out there. Doug Keller at www.doyoga.com gets deep into the philosophy and is one of the kindest gentlest people I've ever met. Nadine Fawell at http://nadinefawell.net/blog-posts/ is filled with love, honesty, and really embodies (in my opinion) what the yogic path is about. There are other wonderful ones out there, these are just two with very different voices on similar paths.

My facebook (through extras@wi.rr.com) and my email are still up at least for now.

Thanks again and may I part with these words from Yogi Tea,

Travel light,
live light,
spread the light,
be the light.

Follow your own path, everyone elses is already taken,

Kris
www.TotalHealthYoga.com

Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

Monday, June 8, 2009

I CHOOSE LOVE

This is amazing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMOMgQCRAqM


Choose Love,

Kris
http://www.totalhealthyoga.com/

Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Spiritual Beings

My son, Jake, just posted the following on Facebook:

"Man and god are one and the same. Man need only strip away the illusion of god as we see him now and see the truth. Man is not god.......god is man. - Jake Kramer(to the best of my knowledge)"

He's 14.

Love Much,

Kris
www.TotalHealthYoga.com

Today is the first day of the rest of your life!

Monday, June 1, 2009

Master Yoda



Is Yoda a Yogi?

Okay, so he's short, green and has three toes--not your typical yogi. I've yet to see him doing trikonasana (triangle) or suyra namaskar (sun salutation). However, his wisdom is profound and universal.



So what is a yogi? Just because someone practices asanas (hatha yoga postures) or teaches a yoga class does that make them a yogi? Krishnamacharya (the father of most yoga practiced today) said, "Anyone who claimed to be a yogi, wasn't." (pg. 23 Yoga and the Living Tradition of Krishnamacharya) Even though this great master, who only allowed the title "Professor" to be bestowed upon him, may not have called himself a yogi, those around him would say he was. Looking to his son, T. K. V. Desikachar for a definition of yogi we find the following: "[A yogi is] someone adept at yoga." (pg. 242 The Heart of Yoga)

Pantanjali laid out a concise definition of yoga 2000 years ago in the Yoga Sutras. "Yoga is the restriction of the whirls of consciousness." (pg 215 The Yoga Tradition) So to be precise, perhaps no one alive today is truly a yogi. But Yoda does move entire ships with shear concentration and oneness with his surroundings. That's gotta count for something!

Additionally, notice some of the wise words that this sage brings us and the correlations to yoga wisdom:

"Try not. Do or do not, there is no try." (Simply "do your work in the peace of yoga, free from selfish desires, not moved by success or failure." pg 223 The Bhagavad Gita in Yoga Masters)

"Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” (Fear stems from thoughts of loss--loss of materials, relationships, respect, or life itself. To see that we are not our things, relationships, attitudes, or even our physical bodies is part of the self-actualization that yoga brings. When we know this, fear disappears.)

“Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is.” (We practice savasana -- corpse -- at the conclusion of almost every class to remind us that death is part of life. To bring us back to Source and temporarily release the physical body.)

“Named must your fear be before banish it you can.” (Svadhayaya, self-study, is one of the attitudes Pantanjali cites as part of the practice of yoga.)

"Energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship." (Samadhi--the highlight of meditation--is to merge with an object.)

"[Luke:] I can’t believe it. [Yoda:] That is why you fail." ("The mind controls the body." pg 44 Japanese Yoga)

"Feel the force!" ("We are one with the universe, we are therefore imbued with the energy of the universe..." pg 27 Japanese Yoga)


So what do you think? Is Yoda a yogi?



Kris
http://www.totalhealthyoga.com/

Today is the first day of the rest of your life!