Beginning...

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.

Today, let's celebrate the idea of new beginnings. When gathering info for this historical class, there, I uncovered many beginnings and endings. To quote Seneca, every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.

There is a little thing called Samadhi or bliss in yoga. It's that beautiful feeling of peace while practice yoga. It sneaks up on you. Many people practice yoga because it's a great physical work out but after practicing a while, you realize you feel really good inside and out...Samadhi.

The satisfaction you have when you complete a yoga practice goes beyond the physical and you actually return to the original state you were born with, peace, calm, awareness of everything around you, openness to everything like it was the first time and wonderment. Each time we practice, we return, right back to where we started...but better.

Samadhi the 8th limb of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and the 8 in Hot 8 where I teach yoga faithfully!

Call it one-ness or heaven or nirvana, we can experience it any time we want whether we are on the mat or in our lives by tapping into our breath and being mindful in whatever we are thinking or doing. Wherever you are, when we are one pointed in focus, fully conscious with what we are doing, engaged but in a state of surrender, our mind becomes still and we are home, residing deeply within, peacefully and passionately.

Savor that space between engaging a muscle and letting go, focussing the mind and feelings into bliss.

On May 31st 1879 Madison Square Garden opened in NYC.

...in 1907, the first taxi cabs were introduced in the states, NYC being the first city for it's swift and reliable, albeit crazy transport.

...The famous tower clock known as Big Ben, located at the top of the 320-foot-high St. Stephen's Tower, rings out over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, for the first time on this day in 1859.

On June 1st, 1980 CNN launches for the first time. We no longer had to rely on the 6 and 11 o'clock news to be informed but could tune in at any hour of the day for up to the minute news around the globe. Where would we be without that information?

Ok, probably getting better sleep, but it is a source for information when and how we need it when we tune in and that is a great beginning, people!

On June 2nd Babe Ruth retires in 1935. One of the greatest baseball players of all time, he set the record of 714 home runs until that record was beat 40 years later by Hank Aaron. He was a pioneer from the Red Sox to the Yankees to the legend.

This month, Hot 8 Yoga celebrates it's one year anniversary, My HistorYoga has it it's one year mark as has the Lady Yoga Comic Strip in LA Yoga Magazine.

The Endeavor Space Shuttle makes it's final journey through space and back again after 25 years.

And one of our great role models, Oprah Winfrey, has turned off her ABC studio lights and hung up her lapel mic on the Oprah Winfrey Show of 25 years.

Things begin, they have their journey or they end, leaving room for more new beginnings.

What's your story today? What would you like to begin and what has run it's course in your life. Let the body tell you and let it unfold. Push through the sonic boom and celebrate.

Quotes

Those things of real worth in life are worth going to any length in love and respect to safeguard.

Everybody has a calling, and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it. It lights you up and it lets you know that you are exactly where you're supposed to be, doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing. But you also have to know what sparks the light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world. Oprah Winfrey

You are what you want to become. Why search anymore? You are a wonderful manifestation. The whole universe has come together to make your existence possible. There is nothing that is not you. The kingdom of God, the Pure Land, nirvana, happiness, and liberation are all you. Thich Nhat Hanh

Letting go is the lesson. Letting go is always the lesson. Have you ever noticed how much of our agony is all tied up with craving and loss? — Susan Gordon Lydon

The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places. Author Unknown

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. Josh Billings

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground. Author Unknown

He conquers who endures. Persius

Don't be discouraged. It's often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. Author Unknown

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. Buddhist Saying

Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb but how well you bounce. Vivian Komori

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. Robert Schuller

Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over. F. Scott Fitzgerald

The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings. Ralph Waldo Emerson

But the moment you turn a corner you see another straight stretch ahead and there comes some further challenge to your ambition. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Not being tense but ready. Not thinking but not dreaming. Not being set but flexible.

Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement. It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come. Bruce Lee

It is easy to believe we are each waves and forget we are also the ocean. Jon J. Muth

Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate. Zhuangzi (Chwang-tse)

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. Thich Nhat Hanh (Tik · N'yat · Hawn)

It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable. Lucius Annaeus

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? Eihei Dogen

When the mind is exhausted of images, it invents its own. Gary Snyder

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success. Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. Henry Ford

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time, more intelligently. Henry Ford

If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possible have imagined. Johnny Carson

There are two mistakes one can make a long the road to truth…not going all the way and not starting Buddha

There are no classes in life for beginners – right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult. Rainer Maria Rilke

There will be a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. Louis L’Amour

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with one step. Lao Tzu

To have begun is to have done half the task. Dare to be wise. Horace

All glory comes from daring to begin. Eugene F. Ware

The beginning is the most important part. Plato

Beginning is easy, continuing is hard. Japanese Proverb

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. T.S. Elliot

Beyond the mountains, there are mountains. –Haitian proverb.

The Secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings. –David Weinbaum

He who chooses the beginnings of the road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determines the end. Harry Emerson Fosdick

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford

In every way and every day you are showing people exactly who you are. You're letting your life speak for you and when you do that, you will receive in direct proportion to how you give. You can help somebody. You can listen. You can forgive. Look around and you'll see. You many not have to look any further than your own family or maybe even your own self. The power is the same. Carry whatever you're supposed to be doing - carry that forward and don't waste any more time. Start embracing the life that is calling you. Oprah Winfrey

Ending,

Lady,

Beginning,

Lady,

Bliss,

Lady