Monthly Archives: September 2011

Emancipate this…

Dahlings,

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued so long ago on this day, Sept. 22, 1862. The main purpose of the proclamation was the freedom of slaves and to restore peace and Union control amidst the civil war.

Looking back into history, we can see how far we've come as a collective. We have made grave mistakes and seen the errors of our ways, healed and made ammends by moving forward in strength and togetherness.

We need to know WHERE we came so stay present and know where we are going.

We might not have been slaves in this era, but at times, we find our self slaves to something that tugs us away from our highest purpose and passion.

Let's discard the ties that bind and explore the idea of freedom and liberation so we can live fully in the present, in our bodies and on the divine right path we are here to explore and share with others.

Emancipation means...

Liberation,

freedom,

liberty,

Independence,

salvation.

Celebrate it in history and celebrate it here in your life now.

The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self. - Albert Einstein.

When you lose all sense of self, the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish. Lose yourself completely. Return to the root of the root of your own soul. -Rumi

Travel light, live light, spread the light, be the light. - Yogi Bhajan

Don't wait to find solid ground, dance in emptiness. - Lama Surya Das

It is with our capacity of smiling, breathing and being peace that we can make peace.- Thich Nhat Hanh

Nothing is more difficult and therefore more precious than to be able to decide. - Napoleon Bonaparte

You have freedom when you're easy in your harness. - Robert Frost

Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. - Albert Camus

Freedom is the oxygen of the soul. - Moshe Dayan

We feel free when we escape, even if it be from the frying pan into the fire. - Eric Hoffer

Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth. - George Washington

Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you chose. Anything less is s a form of slavery. - Wayne Dyer

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires. - Nelson Mandela

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

It's only after you've lost everything that you're free to do anything. - Chuck Palahniuk

The anchor in our world today is freedom, holding us steady in times of change, a symbol of hope to all the world. - George H. W. Bush

All the great things are simple and many can be expressed in a single word - freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope. - Winston Churchill.

Sincerely,

Lady Yoga

Fall

Darlings,

It's that time of year again. Autumn. It's a great time to give yourself permission to fall, in love, out of a posture, while texting and walking at the same time. Ok, not the last one.
It's the beautiful cycle of life.
A few people and I were talking about the idea of surrender and how some words just freak us out and make us respond in the opposite way. I told one of the girls, I had the same problem with the word, relax. Like, relax Lady. It makes me tense up.
Sometimes, when you go to your regularly scheduled yoga class and you find there is a sub in your teachers replacement, there might be a bit of uncomfortability. Then, after a while, you find the sequencing and postures are similar and you can soften. Then, you might find the teacher saying the same thing your other teacher says but this time, you actually 'hear' it. You understand it and can integrate it into your body in a way, you couldn't before.
This doesn't make one teacher better than the other, just different.
I told the girl who had the problem with surrender, the story about when I did the trapeze in Santa Monica. I had taken enough lessons to do tricks etc., but I still couldn't do 'the catch'. All it was was letting go of one bar and reaching out at the exact time prompted towards the arms of someone else swinging on another bar.
Timing or maybe the teacher was just wrong for me, but I finally understood what my issue was.
I couldn't 'relax', 'surrender', or another definition I'm trying on, 'turn over' to another.
If we can change our idea of things, it maybe easier for us to understand.
The woman I spoke to got - 'the catch' in her mind and was finally able to understand in her body, what that meant to surrender physically and let the peace of a posture take over.
For me, I was able to turn over my stress to something else so that I could relax physically while driving in traffic or taking on a new challenge.
With a new season ahead of us, there is always the vata (wind) of change.
To stay grounded we need to root ourselves in the the surrender/catch/turning over of this season or more appropriately, new leaf!! Get it, leaf, fall...
Centering ourselves amidst the transition of warm to cold, introduction of newer, more comforting, wholesome foods, faster, more heating postures, more contemplative and reflective mindset; these are all difficult things to do if forced.
So give it time to adjust just like the weather.
Understand that it doesn't happen overnight and sometimes you need a new, different, substitute perspective on the same things you've been doing the last season.
When I was walking down Montana the other day and started to notice the first few colorful leaves dropping off the trees (we're a little behind the east coast foliage), I looked at each individual, they looked different but the same. They all came from the same tree and had these strong center lines in the middle with little branch lines coming out of them and turning into vibrant colors of red, orange, green, maroon.
Later that day, during the Sivasana point of class, I looked at all the students lying on the floor, some breathing short and heavy, some slow and steady. I saw their strong center lines and arms and legs of strength reaching out in different vibrant colors of energy. We are all such unique impressions from the same tree or studio in this case.
How alike we all are, in our differences.
And just like that, after all the years I've been teaching, I saw in a different way.
I could literally feel, the catch, the transition, the turning over of a new leaf and perspective in my teaching.
It happens every cycle of the moon, the seasons, the tides and beginning and end of a practice.
We are constantly transitioning. If we can stay steady in that and surrender to it, we will be in bliss and flow in the stillness.
Autumnally glowing,
Lady

New York Times

On September the 18th, 1851, The New York Times was published for the first time. With 106 Pulitzers, the most of any new organization and the most popular on-line news organization with 30 million unique visitors per month, The NYTimes is a mainstay of our country’s information gathering, conversation and crosswords. It’s the largest local metropolitan newspaper and the 3rd largest overall behind the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. The Gray Lady is its nickname and their mantra/motto is, ‘All The News that’s fit to print’.

The paper was started by Henry Jarvis Raymond with the model of conservativism as essential to the public good and radical in everything that requires reform. He did not believe everything in society is either right or wrong but had the desire to preserve, improve and reform.

He set an intention and it has stood the test of time. When you set an intention, it gets you to your goal. It keeps you in clarity so that the distractions of your life fall away.

When you repeat that intention inside and out, you have laser beam focus that keeps you on your path.

The NY Times looks the same with it's black and white columns that get your hands dirty, but every day the news changes.

Every day you come to the mat, your body looks the same, but the information inside and out changes. Use the news you feel and use it as fuel to stay with your intention, move through your practice and your day.

Preserve your intention, improve our strength and flexibility and reform our ideas about the past and future remaining grounded in the present moment.

Conserve your space, breath and energy on the mat and in the world. Be clear and concise with your movement. Stick to the headlines and allow your story to unfold.

The energy of the mind is the essence of life. Aristotle

Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. Oprah Winfrey

Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin

All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.

Napoleon Hill

"The more you seek security, the less of it you have. But the more you seek opportunity, the more likely it is that you will achieve the security that you desire." - Brian Tracy

All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant's revolving door. Albert Camus

Every day we should hear at least one little song, read one good poem, see one exquisite picture, and, if possible, speak a few sensible words. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The pursuit of truth and beauty is a sphere of activity in which we are permitted to remain children all our lives. Albert Einstein

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't. Mark Twain

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

Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear. Mohandas Gandhi

All great achievements require time. Maya Angelou

Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. William Shakespeare

Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. John F. Kennedy

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies. Mother Teresa

I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific. Lily Tomlin

I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong. Bertrand Russell