Monthly Archives: February 2011

A wise man once said…

Darlings,

In Lady Yoga fashion, it is my goal to look back in history to see where we have come from, find the yoga in the moments past to keep us rooted in the present and passionate about where we are going in the future.

On that note...

In honor of Presidents Day and the assassination of Malcom X, one of the most important yet radical human rights leaders, we honor the leaders of this country, man and woman and lead ourselves through our practice in grace and honor of our selves.

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! – Maya Angelou

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
-- Eleanor Roosevelt

A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything. Malcolm X

Don't be afraid to see what you see. Ronald Reagan

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.

Abraham Lincoln

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. John F. Kennedy

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. (and women) John F. Kennedy

Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction. John F. Kennedy

Happiness is not being pained in body or troubled in mind. Thomas Jefferson

It is neither wealth nor splendor; but tranquility and occupation, which give you happiness. Thomas Jefferson

But what we can do, as flawed as we are, is still see God in other people, and do our best to help them find their own grace. That's what I strive to do, that's what I pray to do every day. Barack Obama

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. Barack Obama

If we do not lay out ourselves in the service of mankind whom should we serve?

John Adams

I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color. Malcolm X

If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything. Malcolm X

If you have no critics you'll likely have no success. Malcolm X

In all our deeds, the proper value and respect for time determines success or failure.

Malcolm X

Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it. Malcolm X

Stumbling is not falling. Malcolm X

The future belongs to those who prepare for it today. Malcolm X

You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom. Malcolm X

It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company. George Washington

A good conscience is a continual Christmas. Benjamin Franklin

Fatigue is the best pillow. Benjamin Franklin

Each year one vicious habit discarded, in time might make the worst of us good.

Benjamin Franklin

When you're finished changing, you're finished. Benjamin Franklin

There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.

Benjamin Franklin (He didn't mention that stealing a diamond is quite the hardest of them all!)

Take time for all things: great haste makes great waste. Benjamin Franklin

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. Benjamin Franklin

You can do what you have to do, and sometimes you can do it even better than you think you can. Jimmy Carter

Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity. Herbert Hoover

Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough. Oprah Winfrey

Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure. Oprah Winfrey

Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.

Oprah Winfrey

It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it. Eleanor Roosevelt

Great necessities call out great virtues. Abigail Adams

Become so wrapped up in something that you forget to be afraid. Lady Bird Johnson

Do what you can to show you care about other people, and you will make our world a better place. Rosalynn Carter

If you don't accept failure as a possibility, you don't set high goals, you don't branch out, you don't try - you don't take the risk. Rosalynn Carter

Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give. – Barbara Bush

Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others. – Barbara Bush

Get involved in some of the big ideas of your time. Barbara Bush

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be. Rosalynn Carter

Pomp and circumstance,
Lady

Chrysalis…

Darlings,

In Lady Yoga fashion, it is my goal to look back in history to see where we have come from, find the yoga in the moments past to keep us rooted in the present and passionate about where we are going in the future.

On that note...

Chrysalis is the process a butterfly makes when it develops from a small claustrophobic state into it's beautiful spread winged wonder.

On February 17th, 1904 Puccini's Madame Butterfly opens in Milan Italy. It's an opera in three acts. It was panned.

An opera that emphasized living and dying for love, Puccini ever so in love with opera and the story, went back to the page and rewrote.

He was met with resistance, walked and wrote through it with courage, and came out the other side with an opera that is a staple of standard operatic repertoire for companies around the world and number one in operas list of top twenty preferred operas.

Puccini dedicated his life and love to opera writing La Bohem, Tosca and Turadnot.

Let us use whatever resistance comes up for us as we practice or read, meet the resistance with courage and come out like Puccini did, on the other side, with dedication, passion, love and gentleness.

Art begins with resistance. At the point where resistance is overcome, no human masterpiece has ever been create without great labor. - Andre Gide

A ship is safe in harbor but that's not what ships are for. - William Shedd

Belief like any other moving body follows the path of least resistance. - Samuel Butler

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear - Mark Twain

Despair and frustration will not shake our belief that the resistance is the only way of liberation. Emile Lahud

Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory. Frederick William Faber

I asses the power of a will by how much resistance, pain, torture it endures, and knows how to turn its advantage.- Friedrich Nietzsche

Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting. -Sun Tzu

To fly we have to have resistance. - Maya Lin

What is to give light must endure burning. - Viktor Frankl

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Burdens are the foundations of ease and bitter things the forerunners of pleasure. - Mevlana Rumi

Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all others. -Winston Churchill

History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be un-lived, but if faced with courage, meed not be lived again. - Maya Angelou

Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and trying when you know you can lose. - Tom Krause

If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone. - John Maxwell

If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it. - Jesse Jackson.

And on THOSE notes, I close this week, the week of hearts and flowers, the invention of the teddy bear and chrysalis on inspiration by Madame Butterfly, with this, that said of Christopher Robin to Pooh, the most zen Teddy Bear of our time and written by A. A. Milne ~

Promise me you'll always remember - You're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.

~Lady





Teddy Bear….awwwww

Darlings,

In Lady Yoga fashion, it is my goal to look back in history to see where we have come from, find the yoga in the moments past to keep us rooted in the present and passionate about where we are going in the future.

On that note...

On February 15th, 1903 the first ‘Teddy Bear’ showed up in a store front window. There were 2 stuffed by Morris Michtom and approved by President Theodore Roosevelt to use his nickname to don as the signature name, Teddy Bear.

After that, competition spread and it became a childhood institution that, even in this day and age of computer technology, still remains the kid calling from birth.

What started out as a seed, an idea, became that wildfire spread of joy.

As we practice today or if you are just blogaperusing, think of your childhood. Think of the playfulness of yoga and the beginner’s mind you can bring whether it’s your first time or 108th time practicing. There is always more to learn and always somewhere to grow from.

Like a seed, sprouted and bloomed, explore the fullness of each posture to your level today, and allow forgiveness if it doesn’t grow or sprout as far or fast as you hoped it would. Celebrate it’s valor if you express it to your max.

In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind, there are few. – Shundyu Suzuki

When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely like a good bonfire – leaving no trace of yourself. – Shuendyu Suzuki

Zen is not some kind of excitement but concentration on our usual everyday routine. Shuendyu Suzuki

Success is 99% failure. – Soichiro Honda

The possibilities are numerous once we decide to act and not react. – George Bernard Shaw

Every child comes with a message that God is not yet discouraged of man. – Rabinidrath Tagore

Our genes make us immortal. – The Secret Life – PBS

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way and not starting. – Buddha

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. – Jim Rohn

Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end. – Seneca

An inordinate passion for pleasure is the secret of remaining young. – Oscar Wilde

There is a fountain of youth. It is your mind, your talent, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you’ll have truly defeated age. Sophia Loren

Perhaps a nice closing routine is a nice take on one of my favorite calm down kid routines called swimming stuffy. In our case, we'll call it swimming sweaty. Place your sweaty towel or in a kids case, their favorite toy or if you are lucky and still have it, your teddy bear, and place it on your belly while lying down. Take your gaze to the stuffy, towel and watch as it rises with the inhale, falls with the exhale. It's relaxing for the mind and the body and a whole bunch of fun, keeping you childlike and playful.

Bear hugs,

Lady