To hold and release

The yoga students that I have met and am teaching have motivated me to find ways of improving myself as a yoga teacher. I love seeing the smiles on their faces when they reap the benefits off each pose. More so when they find their inner and outer strength to maintain poses they have found difficult to manage before. With their consistent practice and perseverance, it is always nice to see their hard work 'paying off'.

My challenge is when I meet a student who's pretty much low in self esteem and confidence. And then to change their way of thoughts from 'cannot' to 'can' is something the individual can only do for themselves. But when a student faces her challenge with courage, subconsciously or consciously, I know he/she will continue to discover her other hidden qualities he/she did not know existed.

The strength to maintain Warrior 1,2 and 3 is powerful. To stay focus and to hold the pose for a period of time takes endurance, willpower and determination. And when you release it, it is that moment of freedom from the pose that feels exhilarating. To let go of the pose is not to amid the defeat, but to feel the wonders of surrendering without resistance to changes. Like in life, we endure things, we persist, we fight to survive challenges then comes the moment where you just have to let go of the issues or situation you have been caught in. Having to surrender your emotions and feel it's okay to just 'go with the flow'. Let whatever the situation be to take its course without having to 'direct it' the way you would want it to be.

I remind my students each pose they do carries a different story each time they practice. You can only wear the issues 'on your sleeves' for however long, but know this, it is always more exhilarating and joyful to be free of your issues even for a day or more.

Seeing The Bigger Picture ( The Daily Om, Madisyn Taylor)

August 5, 2008
Seeing The Bigger Picture
Together On Earth
Seeing an image of the planet Earth taken from space inspires awe in many of us, since we can clearly see the connectedness of all of us who live upon this planet. We have created imaginary boundaries, sectioning ourselves into countries and states, forgetting that in reality we are all living together, breathing the same air, drinking from the same water, eating food grown from the same earth. We share everything on this planet, whether we are conscious of it or not, with other people, and those people are our brothers and sisters. Keeping a photograph or painting of the planet Earth in a prominent place in our homes can be a positive way to remember our interconnectedness.

Meditating on the fact that any sense of separation we have from one another is truly an illusion, we will naturally begin to make more conscious choices in our daily lives. The simple act of preparing food, or determining how to dispose of our refuse, can be done with the consciousness that whatever we do will affect all our brothers and sisters, no matter how far away they live, as well as the planet herself. When we foster this kind of awareness in ourselves out of a feeling of awe, it becomes easier to be conscious than to fall back into old habits of thinking of ourselves as separate.

When we contemplate the earth in her wholeness, we attune ourselves to the truth of the bigger picture, which is the Earth, and all of us, every one of us, living on her body. We are connected to one another in the most intimate way, because we literally share our living space. As more people become aware of the reality of our interdependency, things will shift in a positive direction, and much of the discord that we see now will give way to a more cooperative, loving conscious. This is happening already, so as our consciousness grows, we can join with the many other minds working to live in the spirit of togetherness.