February 7, 2013 at 5:29 pm (Connecting to self, God, holistic, Journey, Reiki, Spiritual, Spirituality, Stress, Yoga, Zen)
Tags: Breathe, Connect, Journey, letting go, praying, Reiki, Spirituality, Stress, yoga, Zen
When I woke up this morning, I made a call to my brother but strangely his phone went straight to voice mail. Even though we are miles and miles apart, I typically talk to him several times during the week before he goes to work. This morning I called him because I saw a story of a highway pile up on the news, where several people had died and quite a few were injured. Whenever I hear stories about severe weather or something going on in his residential state, I give him a call to make sure he is safe and far, far away from whatever is going on down there. This morning he didn’t answer his phone and instead I got a text message a few minutes later telling me he was in the ER. I know things have been really weighing heavily on him lately and even though he puts on a good poker face it has not been easy. His stress levels have been intense for several years and now that stress is showing up physically much more often.
That text message caught me off guard but more than that it made me take note of how I handle my stress. How do I handle it? Does my body react to the daily stresses that I incur while running a small business? Have I simply ignored the signs? Do the little aches and pains that just don’t seem to ever completely go away, take up residence in my body because of stress? Do I allow outside forces, something or someone I can’t control cause me stress? I practice yoga, I practice Reiki, I sit in meditation but have I truly learned the art of “stress-less-ness”? I’d like to think so but if I’m truthful with myself, I still allow things that others do or don’t do effect me immensely even if only for a short while.
All of the practices that I have put into place have certainly helped me to talk myself back from the ledge many, many times. Yoga helps me to energize and focus on my breath. Reiki is a very calming practice that puts me in tune with areas of my body that are blocked or stagnant. Meditation is my favorite but oh how I wish that just for that small span of time I could turn the volume of the world to silence. I am grateful that I have an arsenal of holistic and spiritual weapons to draw from. I am grateful that I have found a connection to God that allows me to speak effortlessly from my heart and then listen for an answer. On this, my journey to Zen I am grateful for another day to practice all the things I love and stay mindful to stress LESS.
Namaste
Yogini KP
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January 12, 2013 at 12:28 am (Connecting to self, Thoughts, Yoga, Zen)
Tags: age, ardha chandrasana, Bakasana, Balance, Chaturanga Dandasana, Pattabhi Joi, practice, Virabhadrasana, yoga, Zen
Hello Beautiful Souls, today during my morning practice, I made a mental note that my balance was off. During the short meditation that followed I had a chance to ponder where I am in my life and what is in and out of balance. I noticed that as I have aged, my physical balance has decided that it no longer wants to be taken for granted. It will show up when it wants, just to say hello and remind me that while I’m no longer 20 my balance is still in there hiding. There are days when I am steady and strong in my poses and there are days like today where props were not only needed but required. So how do I fix that?? ahhh yes practice.
Let’s see there’s quite a few asanas (poses) that could help convince my balance that I am no longer taking it for granted, that I am paying attention. There’s Virabhadrasana III, Chaturanga Dandasana, Bakasana, Ardha Chandrasana and who could forget Garudasana (or what I fondly refer to as my I’m a pretzel pose) just to name a few. Age is just a number, so practice I will, practice I must.
My time on the mat this morning also left me reflecting on the non-physical things that are out of balance in my life. My diet is out of balance, my thought process is out of balance, my schedule is out of balance and even some of my relationships are out of balance. So how do I fix it? What came to mind is something that I learned while becoming an instructor. A simple quote by Ashtanga Yoga Guru Pattabhi Joi which says “Practice and all is coming”. I want to thank my brain for allowing that one quote to show up this morning right when I needed to hear it most.
Namaste
Yogini Kp
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January 5, 2013 at 5:13 am (Connecting to self, Yoga, Zen)
Tags: choose, Intentions, Journey, Path, yoga, Zen
How do I get there?
Sometimes the best of intentions are sidetracked for one reason or another. We give ourselves so many excuses to stop start, stop start, stop start. However many excuses we give ourselves it doesn’t matter. What matters is that we start again. Your Journey is just that, your journey. There is no perfect method, right or wrong way to go about it, it is simply your journey. I am guilty of examining my journey every step of the way, from every angle. I stop to ponder why, I stop to wonder how, I certainly wonder if. I have a pattern of allowing such fervent examination of my journey that it often comes to a grinding halt, where I usually put it up on a shelf to collect the proverbial dust only to be revisited again at a later date. I know what I want, so why do I spend so much time off of the path just looking at it? There are certainly things I have been considering needlessly that don’t have anything to do with the end result I am trying to achieve. I must stop trying to give my journey a rigid outline and trying to force the inclusion of things that don’t fit.
The word Journey is a verb for me. It means movement, going somewhere, putting one foot in front of the other. I decided several months ago to start my journey again with new resolve to stop examining it and just “BE” the journey itself. No questioning just stay in the moment and go with the flow and guess what, the accomplishments have been steady. I am now a certified Reiki II practitioner and considering Reiki III. I have stayed with my yoga practice and even did 108 sun salutations to bring in the New Year (OK, minus a few here and there while I rested in child’s pose). Intention means aim or objective: something that somebody plans to do. Not a bad word but for me planning or aiming gives me too much time to examine it again. It gives me too much time to consider what others think and what part they play in my journey. I think I’ve finally learned my lesson about that. What truly excites me is NOW, this moment, this space in time. Now is important. For a Yogini like me who is methodical in thought and a procrastinator by nature, it is imperative that I live in the now. Commitment in the moment is what has propelled me forward. I am happy with that.
Namaskar
Yogini Kp
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August 31, 2011 at 4:47 pm (Connecting to self, Journey, Thoughts, Yoga, Zen)
Tags: ardha chandrasana, Journey to Zen, virasana, yoga, Zen
Namaste beautiful ones. Recently I was called upon to step up and take care of a “little people” who just happens to be my great niece. She’s all of 5 years old, a breath of fresh air and has come to live with me for a while. Her small frame is packed with energy and flexibility that I long to regain in my life. Oh I do OK for 56. I still work out regularly and of course I practice Yoga almost daily but when I look at the unbridled energy that this rambunctious little 5 year old possesses, I feel a since of urgency to make much more of an effort to get back to a place in my life where I could be described as energetic and rambunctious….the thought of that almost makes me giggle.
During my practice earlier today I took stock of where the resistance has chosen to take up residency and I again resolved to focus on those trouble spots. Instead of going through a familiar flow such as my Sun salutations, pay much more attention to the asanas that I have avoided because it has just been easier to skip them. For example there is virasana (hero pose) that my thighs and knee’s have repeatedly told me that I should avoid and Ardha Chandrasana (half moon pose) that challenges my balance or the lack there of. To date I’ve been able to do most asanas with assistance from props but I always wonder how long it will take until I reach a place where the props will be left in the corner and no longer needed. Perhaps my approach in the beginning was a a little over zealous and I didn’t give myself enough credit for the Asanas that I was able to perfect. Maybe in the beginning I did too much too soon and when it caused me pain, I backed off of that asana and gave up on some of them all together.
Perhaps I should listen to my great niece when she says to me “it’s OK Aunt Karen, you can try it again” “it’s Ok to make mistakes, right Aunt Karen?” This evening she showed me her bridge pose which was really the wheel pose and I smiled and asked her where she had learned it. She told me she learned it last time in her gymnastic class. I smiled at her little face when she told me, she would teach me how to do it. I love Little people…they are so very very wise. I invited her to join me tomorrow evening for some time on the mat and she is so excited to do so as long as we can hula hoop afterwards too. Of course we can, I’m pretty good at that.
Namaste
Yogini KP
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August 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm (Spiritual, Yoga, Zen)
Tags: chanting, inner spirit, peace, praying, singing bowl, yoga
This past weekend I saw a movie depicting the life of Tina Turner and in one segment of the movie a girlfriend taught Tina to chant. It helped Tina to reconnect with her inner spirit and find the strength to push through the tragedy that had become her existence. After watching the movie I reflected on how I had pushed through things in my life and what methods I had used. First and foremost was prayer coupled with the firm belief that things would turn out just as they should. After my yoga classes, my instructor would sometimes end the class with a chant. I immediately fell in love with that practice but I admit it felt a bit strange in the beginning. Chanting against the back drop of a “singing bowl” gave me the feeling of connectedness to everything and everyone but more importantly to that which I acknowledge as GOD the Creator of this Universe. It had a calming effect and seemed to melt away the tiniest bit of stress still lingering around after my practice session. It was like praying, it was praying in a very simple and pure form. Chanting has been around for over 5000 years and used in everything from healing to praying, to supporting your favorite sports team. Chanting was heard coming from the temples during worship back in the time of Christ and prayers are still sung by Catholic Priest in churches today. There are millions of chants in the world and chanting is practiced by many. The chanting that I have come to love is the continuous recitation of Mantras. Mantra is a Sanskrit word that loosely translated means “to deliver the mind”.
One example of chanting is Om Shanti which we used at the end of our practice at SEY. “Om” represents the entire universe, past, present and future. Notice I said “represents” and not means. Shanti is a Sanskrit word meaning peace, tranquility, rest and bliss. So in essence to chant Om Shanti at the end of my practice of yoga or meditation is a prayer for Universal peace. Sometimes before my meditation I simply chant Om and it really helps to still my mind and allows the connection that I seek to take place. How does chanting fit into yoga? Well if you look at the word Yoga, it means to unite the body with the mind and spirit, which is connected to the Universe. Om is merely a way, my way of making that connection. Do I still pray in the traditional since of the word? Yes. Does chanting mean I’ve joined a cult of some kind? I hardly think so but I am sure that not everyone will embrace it as I have. For me, Om is another way of simply saying “in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word was with God”. Om for me is more like the first breath of GOD, the first sound. I will continue to chant peace into the world and into my life. I will continue to connect.
Next time you stand up and cheer for the home team with something like “D-Fence, D-Fence” you have just chanted. 😉
Om Shanti
Yogini KP
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July 21, 2011 at 4:00 pm (Zen)
Tags: Journey, Journey to Zen, Life, Peddlers Pose, quiet, supta baddha konasana, yoga
A very dear friend of mine gave me a gift several years ago and it has been sitting on the shelf collecting dust for some time but this morning it caught my attention again. I appreciated the gift when it was given to me but like I tend to do with so many things, I put it over “there” until I could make some more time to really appreciate it. The gift was called “bliss in a box” created by Susan Piver. In the box there are tools to help you achieve bliss. Two CD’s, a small booklet, and some flash cards. The cards in the box are broken down into categories of welcome, preparation, contemplations and vinyasa flow. As I looked over the contents of the box, one card in particular caught my attention and since I don’t believe in coincidences I am positive the Angels gave me a gentle nudge this morning. The question is: “What would my life look and feel like if I were able to live from my deepest self? Describe it in detail.”
Very quickly I tried to come up with the answer so I could rush to my desk and start working, but the card said from my deepest self, so I reclined into peddlers pose (Supta Baddha Konasana), settled my mind again, closed my eyes until the vision became clear. From my deepest self I would live a life of simplicity, not having to worry about bills or the next contract or money. I would walk out on to my very small veranda (just big enough for my yoga mat and perhaps a small table with two chairs to enjoy my tea) while I look out through the beautiful majestic trees surrounding me and listen to the sound of the ocean. I would go through my Sun Salutations each morning, take long walks along the beach, tend to my organic garden, while contemplating some new recipe. I would meditate and nurture my true spirit. My life would be quiet and serene, filled with soft music and beauty void of aches and pains, surrounded by the people who I have attached to my heart. What would it feel like? It would feel like “bliss”. On my journey to zen, I promise to come here much more often until it becomes my life.
What would your life look like from your deepest self? How would it feel? Close your eyes and see it in detail.
http://youtu.be/sQDu4AJHMlwYogini
Namaste
Yogini KP
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July 7, 2011 at 9:00 am (Zen)
Tags: Breathe, choose, Journey to Zen, Path, quiet, Sukhasana, yoga, Zen
As I sat in Sukhasana “easy seated pose” this morning trying to quiet my mind and ease into my day, I suddenly became overwhelmed with the thought that lately I’ve been surrounded by change seemingly moving at the pace of a tropical storm. One moment I was doing the mundane, handling several contracts, growing my small business and without warning the breeze of change swooped in and swept away the familiar. Breathing deeply I try to shake the thoughts out of my head and come to a quiet place but this morning I am struggling to reach my goal. I start to focus my mind on the breath once again “I am breathing in, I am breathing out”. Finally I managed to quiet my mind for a few needed moments. As I came out of my Sukhasana, even though I was feeling a bit more relaxed, my mind went racing back to the thoughts of the changes taking place around me and I began to wonder where life is taking me? I can’t help feeling as if I am at a fork in the road of my life and what I choose here could make a huge difference. I suppose that if I stop thinking about the “what if’s” and trying to predict the outcome of my choices it will be a lot easier. I can choose the path of familiarity or I can choose to be bold and walk the path of the unfamiliar and live in the moments as they unfold. That’s not to say that I’ll do absolutely nothing while it unfolds but instead try to open up to the possibilities of the unforeseen. Hmmm…What to do, what to do? On this journey of enlightenment, perhaps the answer lies within the quest. Perhaps I need not choose a path at all. Just maybe, being present right here right now is all that is required. My yoga pose for today has been Sukhasana. If I still my mind and connect with Source, all will unfold as it should be. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6OgiwCkVWk
When everything is seen as One, we return to the Source
and stay where we have always been.. -Seng-t’san
Namaste
Yogini KP
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June 30, 2011 at 2:17 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: evidence, false, fear, Journey, pain, suceeding, yoga, Zen
My Yoga Instructor, a very beautiful person both physically and spiritually, shared a piece of wisdom that until now didn’t have my full attention. The pearl of wisdom she shared was the belief that FEAR is nothing more than “False Evidence Appearing Real”. It has been over a year now since I first heard those words spoken but during my present journey it has been playing over and over in my head. What is stopping me from reaching all of the goals I set for myself? What is holding me back from becoming my best self? So many times in my life I’ve been decidedly afraid to finish. I will travel the path and suddenly find myself standing beside it and looking at it from all angles in an attempt to figure out if it will work or how it will work. Usually this is when the “false evidence” finds a way to keep me off the path for long periods of time and sometimes forever. I am not yet certified as a yoga instructor. I have but a 90 minute practicum to take and provided I accomplish what is required, I will receive my certification to teach what I love. I’ve been dealing with a lot of aches and pains here and there….left knee, right heel, right shoulder. Sometimes the anticipation of the pain will actually become larger than life in my head and I will back off for days or even weeks. Have I convinced myself yet again that there is evidence that I cannot achieve my goal?
Recently I went to visit my Instructor who I also consider a very dear friend and during our conversation she said that perhaps it is my fear of success that is the real issue. When she said it, I didn’t quite absorb it as I have already convinced myself that it was the physical pain that has really kept me from attaining my certification. Now that I’ve had a few days to reflect over our conversation, it makes perfect sense. Do I actually have pain? Yes I do but is it the complete reason for not moving forward? I now completely reject that idea as the sole reason for standing still. On my journey to zen I resolve to stop and consider the F.E.A.R. in all areas of my life, recognize it and move beyond it because I can. Thank you Dana.
Namaste
Yogini KP
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June 23, 2011 at 12:20 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: Journey, Savasana, yoga, Zen
In my last blog, titled “The great Misconception”, I shared with you food for thought and invited you to take a look into a practice that gives you one of the most beautiful ways of looking at life. My hope is that you will explore what I share with you here, find some peace and maybe even “a piece” of yourself you had long put up on the shelf to gather dust. It is true for most of us and certainly it has been for me that we limit time for ourselves and put everything and everyone else first. We put up fences around our minds. We tend to over think things, and over analyze instead of allowing ourselves the freedom to just “be”. After years of conditioning to the contrary, this can be harder than it sounds. Society has taught us that we must perform a certain way in order to live in this world. It is difficult with all the things that we must do daily, swirling around in our heads at every second to just “be”. With my yoga practice I have learned that there is a place in our lives to take time out to breathe and “be”. What good is all that you are trying to achieve if there is literally no time left in your life for “you”. I am inviting you to come along with me on my “Journey to Zen” and slow down long enough to spend time with the most wonderfully made person you will ever encounter…..YOURSELF.
There are many different types of Yoga and I promise that I will get to all of that later but today I’d like to share with you a very simple way to just “be”. I know the kids are running around and everyone is probably calling your name for something but go ahead, write DO NOT DISTURB on a piece of paper, tape it to your locked door OR maybe just before you go to bed tonight after everyone else is tucked in, allow yourself 15 minutes to just “be”. The pose I’d like to share with you today is a personal favorite because no matter what type of yoga you practice, you will want to end up here. The pose is called Savasana pronounced (shah-VAH-sah-nah). Lie down on your back, Let the feet fall out to either side, bring the arms alongside the body, but slightly separated from the body, and turn the palms to face upwards, relax the whole body, including the face. Close your eyes let the body feel heavy and let the breath occur naturally. Allow yourself to just “breathe and be”. I usually stay here for 15 minutes or more. To come out of the pose, first begin to deepen the breath, and then move the fingers and toes, awakening the body. Bring the knees into the chest and roll over to one side, keep the eyes closed, stay here for a minute or two then slowly bring yourself back up into a sitting position. Now see how easy that was. Remember to take time out to reconnect to self and join me next time as I continue on my “Journey to Zen”. Here is a link for a visual of the pose. http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/482
Namaste (the divine in me bows to the divine in you)
Yogini Karen
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June 14, 2011 at 9:00 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: Journey, Misconception, yoga, Zen
I’ve been asked many times “what exactly is yoga”? Is it a cult? Is it a religion? Is it a weight loss program? Why do you do it? The questions kept coming the entire time I was studying to become an instructor. I’d like to share what I’ve learned and hopefully put a few of the misconceptions to bed for those of you who are reading this. First; the word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word “Yuj” meaning to yoke, join or unite. This implies joining or integrating all aspects of the individual – body with mind and mind with soul to achieve a happy, balanced and useful life, and spiritually, uniting the individual with the supreme.
The first time I read this, I knew I had to explore it further. Being raised a Christian; my entire life was dedicated to the practices and rituals of the Baptist Church. Early in my practice of Yoga, I was a little conflicted as to whether I was doing something wrong or not but each time I went to class I left feeling lifted. My spirit was going through a change along with my body. I found myself slowing down to really connect with the Creator of the Universe. I’d like to say that there is no need to be afraid of Yoga. Instead of going in with any preconceived notions, leave what you think you know at the door and instead of finding out what Yoga is you just may walk away completely surprised to find what Yoga is NOT. In the end I’d like to say that what I found on the mat is that instead of conflicting with my lifelong beliefs Yoga opens up the door of inclusion. I finally found a place where they leave the judgments and negativity outside the door.
Namaste
Yogini Kp
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When I woke up this morning, I made a call to my brother but strangely his phone went straight to voice mail. Even though we are miles and miles apart, I typically talk to him several times during the week before he goes to work. This morning I called him because I saw a story of a highway pile up on the news, where several people had died and quite a few were injured. Whenever I hear stories about severe weather or something going on in his residential state, I give him a call to make sure he is safe and far, far away from whatever is going on down there. This morning he didn’t answer his phone and instead I got a text message a few minutes later telling me he was in the ER. I know things have been really weighing heavily on him lately and even though he puts on a good poker face it has not been easy. His stress levels have been intense for several years and now that stress is showing up physically much more often.
Journey to zen 
