Daily Archives: March 31, 2011

La Tour Eiffel….

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 1887 there was a contest to design a building. The structure was to be the entrance for the World Fair in Paris honoring the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille or the start of the French Revolution. Out of 100 submissions a structural engineer and metallic architect won the gig. It was the 19th century version of the reality show without Ryan Seacrest! The structure took two years, 200 workers and many skeptical words and doubts of it’s strength as masses watched and waited, the tower getting stronger and higher. It stands 1000 feet in the air, supported by an iron framework on four stonework piers from rising to four columns that unite to form a single vertical tower.

YOGA

La Tour Eiffel or the Iron Lady was the tallest man made structure (till the Chrysler Building in 1930.)

March 31st, back in 1889, was the official dedication and reveal of Gustave Eiffel’s tower, the most visited paid monument in the world, one of the most beautiful and one that has stood the test of time.

In yoga, It takes a strong foundation and much time to build strength. There are doubts and days of struggle. But the process is the result and the result stands the test of time.

Let's use the collective intention of foundation - building from the ground up and standing in strength and creativity.

A successful person (man) is one who can lay a firm foundation with bricks others have thrown at him. - David Brinkly

People (men) must live and create. Live to the point of tears. Albert Camus

Build this day on a foundation of pleasant thoughts. Never fret at any imperfections that you fear may impede your progress. Remind yourself, as often as necessary, that you…have the power to achieve any dream by lifting up your thoughts. You can fly when you decide that you can. Never consider yourself defeated again. Let the vision in your heart be in your life's blueprint. Smile!” -Og Mandino

Character is like the foundation of a house, it is below the surface. – Unknown

Do you wish to rise? begin by descending. You plan a tower that will

pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility. – Saint Augustine

Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. Saint Augustine

To create something you must be something. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire,

you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. George Bernard Shaw

Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to

receive it. Rabindranath Tagore

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult. to put one's thoughts into

action is the most difficult thing in the world. Goethe

People (men) in the game are blind to see what those looking on see

clearly. - Chinese Proverb

I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but I almost always end up where

I need to be. - Douglas Adams

He who controls the present, controls the past. he who controls the

past, controls the future. -George Orwell

In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity. - Albert Einstein

Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is

inevitable. - Coco Chanel

The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's

heart. - Albert Camus

Learning is finding out what you already know. - Richard Back

All growth is a leap in the dark. A spontaneous unpremeditated act

without benefit of experience. -Henry Miller

There are no such limits to growth because there are no limits to the

human capacity for intelligence, imagination and wonder. - Ronald

Reagan

The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character,

integrity, faith, love and loyalty. - Zig Ziglar

Character is the firm foundation stone upon which one must build to

win respect. just as no worthy building can be erected on such a weak

foundation, so no lasting reputation worthy of respect can be built on

a weak character. - R.C. Samsel

Yoga prepares the body for meditation on which allows us to observe our

thoughts so that we are not controlled by them. Harmonize the mind

with the body. Keep the focus at the heart as opposed to everything

going on in the mind. Dr. Tom Being Erica

We create our faith every day we live. - Henry Miller

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true. -Buddha

The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit

on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they

need a kick in the seat of the pants. Theodore Roosevelt

How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I'm

committed to? Tony Robbins

People create their own questions because they are afraid to look

straight. All you have to do is look straight and see the road, and

when you see it, don't sit looking at it - walk. Ayn Rand

The best way to predict the future is to create it. Peter Drucker

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words, they become

actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. watch your habits;

they become your character. Watch your character; it becomes your

destiny. Frank Outlaw (supermarket manager/created Bi-Lo in So.

Carolina, played supermarket manager in Raising Arizona

Set your intention. Intention is the foundation, the thing that stills the mind. Deepen the breath. Breath keeps your mind intent on one still point of focus, steadying the wind of the mind. Engage the muscles. Muscles support you staying grounded as you strengthen and stretch beyond your edge and what you think you can do in your mind. Do all three together and you've made a song of alignment you can sing louder than any tumult of external circumstances. -c'est moi

You remember when you were little with your coloring book? Think about all those black and white lines forming whatever picture/structure on the page. Without those lines, you just have a white page. Kind of boring. The lines are fun, because they give us the safe structure to help us see beyond. Then you break out the Crayolas. Color, explore, soar and create in and outside the safe alignment of structure. On the page with crayons and on the mat with your body.- c'est moi

Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live

with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny,

inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. Golda Meir

Rainbows and foundation,

Lady