Mondays, Newtown, and Transformation Through Yoga

There's just something about Mondays.  You wake up with your week's worth of work on your mind and just go about your life.  This morning, I was about half way through packing my children's lunch thinking about throwing an extra orange in my son's bag (he has a cold), when I again remembered that 20 families weren't packing lunches today.  I looked down at the orange, I smelled the orange,  I pressed it to my heart and then my lips and placed it in my son's bag as if that piece of fruit magically infused with a mother's love could keep him safe. 

As my son and daughter headed out the door, a nasty waive of fear started to build, and I reminded myself that they would be okay.  It was an aberration.  It couldn't happen at my children's school.  I mentally walked through all the ways anyone could possibly get into their school given the lock down procedures there.  I found more than a few. 

So what can be done?  What actionable steps can I personally take today to facilitate a transformation in the consciousness of a society that to me is archaic and violent despite incredible access to knowledge, education, freedom, and money.  My first answer was I don't know.  It seems that the wheels of government are stuck, the desires of individuals are in conflict, and the ideas of most are rooted in fear.  It's like we are on some slow moving luxury train.  We are warm, dry, and very comfortable.  We know the track ends, but the train is moving so slow and that track sure isn't going to end for awhile.  In fact, I bet in the future, they will build more track before we even get there....right?  And no worries for me, I'm in the middle, not the front of the train, so I'll be alright.  Nothing will happen to me.

My second answer was yoga.  We can all do more yoga; life as yoga.  We can learn to do the following:

• Take a pause.   In every moment of stress, conflict, or anxiety, just pause and breathe.  Give yourself a moment to respond instead of react.
• Be kind.  Just be sweet to those you meet.  Be sweet to even the not so sweet.  Wish them light and love and let them go their way.
• Do a little black and white thinking.  In any moment of choice for thoughts, words, and deeds, ask yourself if your choice is bringing darkness or light to the world. (Guns are dark in case you were confused about that).
• Be an example.  Show up as a beacon of light, love, and compassion. 
• Express your desires.  Every time you spend money, you are voting for how you want your world to be.  Vote for light.  Things that cause darkness include:  guns, violent movies and books, pornography, alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and of course all the non-food of SAD (Standard American Diet).
• Be the healer that you are.  You are here to help and to serve others.  Notice those around you suffering and take action.  Don't wait for solutions to come from that slow moving train.  

If you would like to help the families in Newtown, click here>>>
 

Relationship of Yoga

Elemental OM is a spiritual yoga studio and not really a “power” studio, so we are not flooded with young people.  Mostly, we are all over 40 and figuring it out on some level.  During the summer months, EOM offered a really sweet package to kids home from college.  We had a dozen or so take advantage and hang out with us for the summer months.  I just loved it.  All were fresh, vibrant and amazingly curious about the philosophy of yoga.  They were dedicated and passionate in the quietest way.  On some level, they brought out the best in me when I was teaching.  I guess you hit 43 and look back at your life and get nostalgic.  I don’t want to live a life of regret on any level, but dear Lord I wish I had found yoga earlier.  All the different choices I would have made….

I digress.

One of these students is a young budding artist.  She’s introspective, hard working and lovely.  We didn’t really talk very much at all.  I learned bits and pieces about her and met her boyfriend once.  I loved watching her practice.  She simply exuded an elegance and poise that I found fascinating.  As we practiced, I always found myself wondering if she was turning her yoga into art or was her art turning into yoga.

She went back to school.  Yesterday was our last practice together.  I hugged her goodbye and was quite shocked to find myself in tears.  I’m going to miss her so much.  I find this so weird because on a personal level, we really didn’t share too much yet I grew to love her like a mother simply through the daily movement and breath of yoga.

For me, this is a deep lesson of yoga revealed…a tangible experience of the idea of energy being transferred between two humans simply because we consciously move and breathe together. Missing you...

Shanti,  Pamela

What's the easiest path?

The 6 am practice is well underway.  I've got about 11 individuals that are showing up daily to experience yoga and meditation.  Today was day 4 of our 30 day journey.  There were lots of yawns in the room, including my own.  It isn't easy to get up at 5 am.  It's hard work and requires a lot of commitment and discipline.  Looking around the room this morning, I was overwhelmed for a moment to have such amazing people in my life.  As tired as I am, I can't think of a more wonderful way to start each day than with the energy of these committed and dedicated yogis. 

They get it.  They are doing their work.  They are on a spiritual journey full of self-discovery and hard work.  It's not just the getting up at 5 am that makes this journey hard work.  It's also the process of looking inward and allowing oneself to change.  It's the self awareness and self discovery.  It's more than hard work.  It's bravery.

Some people can't stay the spiritual path.  They think it is too difficult.  I personally believe that being on a non spiritual path is just as difficult.  Perhaps you don't arise at 5 am, but there are other hardships.  Illness, disease, unhappiness, lack of fulfillment and ever eroding less favorable habits are just a few of the hardships.  I think it takes the same amount of energy to stay in one spot as it does to grow and expand.  Staying in a spot simply means you have to constantly battle the emotions, situations and people in your life that are trying to get you to change.  Changing simply means you are battling the emotions, situations and people in your life that trying to get you to stay the same.

Regardless, it's hard work both ways. 

The idea that one is easier than the other stems from the fact that staying the same has quick results.  Changing takes time.  To stay in your habits, your thought patterns and your belief system appears easy and takes no time.  It's impossible for some to envision the long-term consequences and hard work of staying the same. To challenge the ego and the mind and embrace the spiritual appears hard.  The ego does not like uncertainty and battles every step. 

Ultimately, as the ego subsides and the soul emerges, life does take on effortless ease.  In the end, the hard work was worth it.

Om Shanti,  Pamela

What is yoga?

I'm in Salt Springs, Florida hanging out at the Amrit Yoga Institute for a few days.  It's a chance to observe their teacher training program and learn about Amrit Yoga from Desei Amrit, affectionately know as Guru Dev.  He is truly one of the last living Yogi Masters and it is a true blessing and honor to sit in his presence. 

Today he talked about Yoga and what it really is.  We tend to think of Yoga as this physical practice of becoming strong, lean and flexible.  Certainly, yoga postures are part of yoga, but yoga is much more than that.  As Guru Dev said, yoga brings spirituality into practicality.  It is a system or a technology that allows a person to feel harmony, inner balance, unification and most importantly integration.  It is a way in which you learn to disconnect from what you are not, and connect to what you are, a soul.  

What are you not?  That's a good question.  You are not your name, your occupation, your house, your body or your mind.  You are that quiet place in you that can observe all of those things.  For a moment, just sit with your eyes closed and notice your thoughts.  Just watch them.  Thoughts are simply fluctuations of the brain.  If you can watch them, who is watching?  That's the real you.  The silent witness that observes and does sometime participate in this drama.  This part of you is a constant.  It doesn't change.  It is eternal.  It is Soul.

The reason that you suffer in life is because you have become detached from Soul.  You think that you are your name, your occupation, your house, your body and your mind.  Anytime anything doesn't go right with one of those, you become unhappy and suffer.  You suffer because you are unable to sit with the fluctuation.  For example, on a typical day you make dinner.  This may be something that you enjoy doing.  On some days, however, you are tired or in a hurry.  Making dinner gives you no pleasure and you become resentful that you are the only one who cooks.  You wish your partner or children would help.  This makes you angry and bitter. (It also makes the food angry and bitter so be careful!)  The fact that you make dinner didn't change.  It's just your attitude around making dinner that changed and made you unhappy. 

The physical practice of yoga on your mat is a safe place for you to begin to notice the fluctuations in your mind and cultivate the ability to take that practice off of your mat.  In Hatha Yoga, you get into a pose, you hold it.  You hold it for a long time.  It's uncomfortable.  Your mind will start to tell you a story.  Mostly it's telling you that you can't do something, that you are out of shape, or that the person next to you looks better than you.  You pause, you realize that that is just a story.  You feel the sensations of the pose and you realize that is just a story too.  Your mind goes quiet and you connect.  Back to our dinner example, you would realize that you are just having uncomfortable thoughts that are changing your experience of making dinner which usually makes you happy and doesn't have to make you unhappy.

Do you have to do yoga to have this experience?  No.  Lots of people run, clean or paint and end up in the exact same place.  Yoga is simply a directed approach to making spirituality accessible in your daily life.

Om Shanti,  Pamela

I really don't have time for this....

So, the UPS truck made its daily stop today at my front door.  That guy in brown knows I have an affinity for amazon.com.  It seems the older the get, the more I believe there isn't anything worth spending my money on other than books.  Go ahead, recommend one and it will be on a truck the next day headed to my house.  I can't help myself.  I want to learn everything.  I blame it on my Vata nature.  Vata is the energy in your mind that is responsible for your creativity, your enthusiasm, your willingness to try new things and impulse shopping.  It is also the reason that you do not follow through, that you cannot remember and that you become distracted.  It is the reason that I walk around with 5 books in my briefcase, 1 in my purse, 3 in my car and hundreds more stacked around my house.

Today's book is "Mantra Yoga and Primal Sound" by Dr. David Frawley.  You see, I'm in charge on a yoga teacher training that begins on Sunday and it is expected that the teachers in training will learn some Sanskrit.  I think it would be nice if I actually knew some to teach them.  Now I know the usual stuff you hear in the yoga studio like "yoga", "karma," and "dharma," but that's about it.  I have always stayed away from Sanskrit because (1) it's hard to learn a foreign language, (2) none of my students know what pose to do when I say it in Sanskrit, and (3) Sanskrit is the language of the Universe and very powerful.  In fact, Sanskrit is so powerful that if you use just the right mantra, you can destroy and recreate the entire Universe.

I'm not kidding.

So, it's important to understand tone, inflection and meaning.  You could spend your entire life reciting a mantra intended to bring you enlightenment and if spoken incorrectly be asking for a new dishwasher instead.  (btw...I love mine.)  

So...back to Dr. Frawley.  His book is amazing.  It's also impossible.  I don't have time for this.  I mean I really don't have time to learn an entirely new language.  I skip ahead, of course, and get to the first letter....The Short Vowel A.  I pause....

Did you know that you could simply learn this one little letter "A" pronounced as in the word "another" so aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaanother (go ahead and do it) and receive all of the following benefits:

• Energetically, it connects you to pure existence.  
• Spiritually it is the absolute, pure consciousness, Godhead...the Supreme Shiva
• Physically it activates the top and back of your head.
• Psychologically it is the source of the mind and prana.  
• From a yogic perspective it promotes meditation, bliss, detachment, energizes the crown chakra and pratyahara (withdrawals the senses).

All that in one little letter.

I can do that.  Geez.  I could simply aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa the rest of my life and that would probably do it for me.  Breathe in, breathe out aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Breathe in, breathe out aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.  I'm going to do one letter a week.  Just a little meditation every day with one little letter.  In 16 weeks I'll be through the Vowels.  I already know the semivowels and didn't even know I knew them!  

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I do have time for this.  Om Shanti,  Pamela

Are we in denial? The end of times?

So yesterday, some pretty bad news was released about CO2 worldwide emissions.  In a nutshell, Al Gore was right.  We are directly on target to a total disaster in the form of a 6 degree Celsius increase in the temperature of the planet translated to around 42 degrees Fahrenheit.   Of course the end of the century is 88 years away so who cares, right?  I'll be dead by then anyway.

My children won't be.  Your children won't be.  

My grandchildren won't be and neither will yours. 

To prevent this disaster, we really can't rely on our governments to take action.  We can't rely on other nations to do the right thing.  We can't rely on some unthought of new invention that will stabilize the planet.  We can't rely on some incredibly slow timetable and plan for change that includes shifting 7 billion people to clean energy.  What we can rely on is yoga.

The founding principle of yoga is Ahimsa or nonviolence.  This means that you should practice nonviolence in thought, word, and deed.  How can you save the planet with this principle?

THOUGHT:  Every morning when you arise express gratitude for the beauty that is mother nature.  This is really going to shift the experience that you have with the earth.  If you got to know the earth, the pain and suffering that it is experiencing would become your own.  This is what would happen:

• You would stop eating so much meat which  contributes to the CO2 emissions, not to mention make a small dent in the 10 billion animals that we kill each year in America to eat cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets. (here's the report on cow's and CO2>>>)
• You would look at the empty spaces in your yard and think how lovely it would be to plant a tree.  You personally make 2.3 tons of CO2 each year.  One tree consumes 2.6 tons in a year.  Do the math.  Plant one tree each year and you are offsetting your footprint.  
• You would plant a garden.  Did you know that most of the food you eat travels 1,500 to 2,500 miles?  How sweet would it be to walk from your back door to a potted plant or a little garden and help yourself?  
• The next time you are at Wal-mart, Target, Costco, Ikea or the mall, you would stop and pause and look around the 50,000 square feet of garbage and perhaps think..."oh my God...all of this came from the earth! I really don't need any more landfill that takes 1,000 years to decompose.  I just really don't need any more unnecessary junk."

WORD:  Spread the message.  Teach your children, your friends and your family the importance of spending time in nature, planting a garden, consuming less, driving less, consolidating trips, turning the air conditioner up, wanting less and appreciating what you have more.  This is what would happen:

• You would become an ambassador for the planet.  You will touch other people with your passion and commitment and then they will touch other people and so on and so on.  
• The word would get out the way it does in America, through the green voting system.  When I say "green" voting, I'm talking about money.  If we collectively demanded to only spend our money on sustainable energy, goods and food, the ears of Wall Street and our government would listen.

EVERY TIME YOU CHOOSE TO SPEND MONEY ON ANYTHING YOU ARE VOTING

DEED:  Take action.  Do something.  Do something today.  Shifts in consciousness begin with one person.  Choose the better choice and will start the shift.  This is what would happen:

• By the end of this century, we could have clean water and air.
• By the end of this century, there would only be clean energy.
• By the end of this century, no one would be hungry and without water.
• By the end of this century, your grandchildren will live in a Utopia that we can't imagine.

As you read through the links below, ask yourself, "Is this the end of times?"  If you are 1 out of 5 children in American who is hungry, the answer is yes.  If you are 1 of the 3.6 million people dying each year due to disease from water, the answer is yes.  If you are 1 of the almost 900 million who don't have access to clean water, the answer is yes. If you are 1 of the almost 35% of black or hispanic children living in American and in poverty, the answer is yes.  Yes.  This is most certainly the end of times.  Take action.  Do something.

LINKS TO EDUCATE YOU:

 Link to full article on emissions>>>

CO2 emissions rose by 3.2 percent last year to 31.6 billion tonnes, preliminary estimates from the Paris-based IEA showed.

China, the world's biggest emitter of CO2, made the largest contribution to the global rise, its emissions increasing by 9.3 percent, the body said, driven mainly by higher coal use.

"When I look at this data, the trend is perfectly in line with a temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius (towards the end of this century), which would have devastating consequences for the planet," Fatih Birol, IEA's chief economist told Reuters.

 From water.org>>>

3.575 million people die each year from water related diseases  (size of LA)

884 million people lack access to clean water  (3x the population of America)

Every 20 seconds a child dies from a water related illness

From the National Climate Center>>>

Human activity has been increasing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (mostly carbon dioxide from combustion of coal, oil, and gas; plus a few other trace gases). There is no scientific debate on this point. Pre-industrial levels of carbon dioxide (prior to the start of the Industrial Revolution) were about 280 parts per million by volume (ppmv), and current levels are greater than 380 ppmv and increasing at a rate of 1.9 ppm yr^-1 since 2000. The global concentration of CO₂ in our atmosphere today far exceeds the natural range over the last 650,000 years of 180 to 300 ppmv. According to the IPCC Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES), by the end of the 21^st century, we could expect to see carbon dioxide concentrations of anywhere from 490 to 1260 ppm (75-350% above the pre-industrial concentration).

1.6 million children in America do not have a home.....Campaign to end child homelessness>>>

American Progress.org>>>>

The poverty rate rose to 15.1 percent in 2010—its highest rate since 1993. The African American poverty rate was 27.4 percent, the Hispanic rate was 26.6 percent, and the white rate was 9.9 percent in 2010. The poverty rate for children under the age of 18 stood at 22 percent. More than one-third of African American children (39.1 percent) lived in poverty in 2010, compared to 35 percent of Hispanic children and 12.4 percent of white children. The prolonged economic slump, following an exceptionally weak labor market before the crisis, has taken a massive toll on the most vulnerable.

Yoga and Christianity

I got a call from the mother of a potential student the other day. She was trying to find an appropriate class for her daughter to attend while she watched the new grandbaby. We talked extensively about body types, styles of yoga and the most efficient forms of exercise.

At the end of the conversation, she threw me the wildcard which is “She is Christian, and just wants to make sure that she won’t hear anything spiritual or anything like that. “

Sigh…..

I told her there were lots of places to a fitness version of yoga devoid of spirituality. Elemental OM is not that place because we are founded deep within the philosophy of Ayurveda. Yoga is one branch of Ayurveda that addresses the spiritual aspects of man. Most people don’t realize that about yoga. Most people think that since you are moving your body and learning to breath, that yoga must be about the body. It is not. Ayurveda is about the body. Yoga is about God.

I’m sure you’ve heard it said a million times that Yoga means to yoke or to join the body, mind and Spirit. It is the merging of three systems of being human into one divine expression of being. The body, as temple, moves to become healthy physically and energetically. The breath, as the life force animating you, moves to deeply bond the mind and the body. Moving in a devotional manner with intent, you fully realize your spiritual nature.

This experience is unique to each individual. There are 7 billion people on the planet and 7 billion ways to get to heaven. Your experience of yoga will be unique to you.

Ayurveda is not dogma. It is a philosophy that is ever expanding and all encompassing. It honors the unique nature of each individual. It is elegant and intelligent. It is a philosophy that honors that there is a creator, a spirit or a God. How you choose to visualize, connect to, talk to or be with this creator aspect is unique to you and probably very much connected to the family you were born into as well as the culture.

Gurus come in many forms. As my friend and teacher Mark Whitwell says, a Guru is a friend no more, no less. Of course you can call your partner, your family, your friends gurus easily because you are having a tangible relationship with them. Can you say that of God? Can you say that of Jesus? Are you in a conversation? Are you learning and feeling supported?

Yoga creates the conversation with that which you believe. Of course if you come to a class and the teacher is talking about a Monkey god or an Elephant god, you are not going to understand. That is Hinduism and probably doesn’t relate to you on an emotional level. Think of the other religion’s deities as you would a character from mythology. The stories and lessons are really good and there is much wisdom and insight to learn from them. You, however, are probably not going to start praying to a monkey or an elephant. For you, these are just stories to inspire.

You will hear all kinds of things in a yoga class meant to get you thinking and connecting. Yogis believe that Jesus was a guru. When you call in your guru or begin your conversation, call in Jesus. Wouldn’t it be amazing to feel that Jesus was your friend?

When your yoga fails you

I've been doing this for a long time. My actual yoga experience began in 2002 with a back injury, a dissolving marriage, depression and truly a lack of purpose. I'm sitting here 9 years later having learned so much. My yoga toolbox is stuffed to overflowing with breathing modalities, meditation techniques, self-analysis worksheets and reams of journals. I've taken the art of Svadyaya or Self-Study to levels that the Gurus probably didn't imagine. Each problem methodically analyzed and resolved with the determination of a Warrior. My niyama (personal mission statement) has been "I've never met a problem I can't solve". In fact, I thrive on problem solving...mine, yours, the deficit, global warming and race relations. I never stop.


It seems that I burn through one Karma (problem) to simply wake the next day to a new one.


I tell myself that the Universe continues to throw stuff my way because it must have big plans for me. Perhaps my Soul planned a super-charged existence of Karma busting because it was intent to resolve this humanity and not come back in the future. Regardless, the lessons keep coming.


At some point, the desire to throw my hands up and turn in my yogi towel overcomes me. My yoga fails. My mind turns negative and pessimistic. I tell God that I don't really want to do this anymore. I'd like to have a normal life. I laugh knowing that there is no turning back and that normal doesn't exist. I grow grumpy and resentful of the people who appear to have it all and then experience disdain for the people who aren't doing their work. Who am I?


I go back to my meditation chair and simply pray for God's grace to resolve all things in my life. That's called surrendering and that's when you realize that there are bigger plans for you. It's also when you realize that you are very small and fragile and perhaps it would be okay to let someone else take care of you for a while. Breathe in, breathe out. Remember you are only human. A sudden realization dawns that my personal niyama is dictating my whole life. I've been sending out a powerful subtle intention for problems to come to me to solve.


A new niyama comes to me as if by magic, "embrace each moment in joy..." Wow, now that's a big shift in thinking...I better go get my toolbox.

The Divinity of a Yoga Teacher

There's something different about yoga teachers. There's a longing there...a desire...that can never be fulfilled. We reach out to others to help and serve trying to heal ourselves.

I wrote the above quote in response to one of my teacher's requests to teach a private for donation because she just felt she needed to do something giving for someone to help her shift through her own grief. She'd moved through anger over her loss and really just needed to reach out and support others to shift her back to her sattvic (pure) state.

Wow. Read that again.

Elemental OM is blessed to have some of the most amazing Yoga teachers in all of Cincinnati. Everyday I learn something from them. Taking their classes, hearing their words and most importantly watching the way that they live teaches me so much. Each and every one is a divine example of how I wish to live my life. Each brings her own unique skills and talents. Each brings her own style and enthusiasm. Each brings their own brand of healing that flows from their own personal life experiences.

If you'd like to learn more about Elemental Om's instructors and what they love to do, CLICK HERE. We'd love to know how they have affected your life....

Union

Yoga is a Sanskrit word. It means "union". It is often simply explained as the unification of your body, your mind and your spirit. Yoga is way more than that though. Yoga is the realization of the self. Yoga is realizing that you are at the center of the world co-creating your existence with all other beings and non-beings. Yoga is realizing that through your thoughts (conscious and unconscious) you are creating your reality. Yoga is realizing that through your choices, you are determining the path of your life.

This is how yoga works. Through living a socially morale acceptable life (this will vary by culture and upbringing although the basics are the same), we diminish social drama. Through living a personally morale life, we diminish personal drama. Through movement, we heal our bodies and begin to line up our energy body or chakras. Through breath, we begin to appreciate life, pause and relax. Through meditation, we become aware of our thoughts and aware that we can control our thoughts. Through service to mankind, we find our life's purpose. At the end of this, is a happy person who has had a happy life.

Choose Happiness!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 8 LIMBS OF YOGA

Why does Yoga detoxify you?

Yoga is a beautiful system of postures that lengthen and strengthen every major muscle group. More importantly, yoga acts to detoxify you through twisting , bending and stretching your internal organs. Its the equivalent of receiving a massage from the inside out.

Concentration on breath brings more oxygen to your organs to nourish and cleanse them. Practicing a simple Durga breath can quadruple your lung capacity. Durga translated from the sanskrit means "invincible". To practice, simply imagine that you have a balloon in your belly. Inhale deeply into that balloon and fill it all the way up pushing out your belly. Pull the air up into your lungs and let it out through your shoulders. Use this breath when energy is low, if you have a headache or if you wake from sleep in the middle of the night.

The combination of Yoga and Breath facilitates a calm, connected and peaceful mind. Through yoga and meditation, we connect to our higher selves and find our life's purpose or dharma. When you are living in your dharma, you are happy and the world seems easy and perfect. You feel blessed.

Today, yoga is being used as a therapy to treat arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disease, weight gain, depression, asthma, chronic pain, inflammation, fibromyalgia, menopause symptoms and stress to name a few. We use as part of our Elemental Immersion to facilitate the detoxification of your body and mind and to connect to spirit.

The Yamas

There are 8 limbs or branches of yoga. The first branch of yoga is called Yama. The Yamas are rules of social behavior. The purpose is to set guidelines for facilitating a peaceful and ethical society. The Yamas include the following principles:

1. Ahimsa or nonviolence
2. Satya or truthfulness
3. Brachmacharya or appropriate use of one's energies including sexual abstinence or commitment
4. Asteya or honesty
5. Aparigraha or generosity

When the Yamas are practiced, they morally purify the Yogi to enhance Yoga.

Choices

I am so blessed to be able to do what I love for a living. Owning a yoga studio is joy and bliss on a daily basis. I’m spoiled rotten too because I’m surrounded by people who are consciously trying to heal their minds, bodies and spirits on all levels. They are people who are intent on facilitating change in their life. They are looking inward, not liking this or that and consciously changing. It is powerful to watch and a blessing to be part of.

I’m so spoiled in fact that I just assume the entire planet is full of humans just like my yogis...people who want to make a difference and want to be better people. People who care, are nonjudgmental and working consciously to realize their dreams. People who realize the importance of having a vision and a dream.

Because of this, I struggle in the real world. I find myself more and more frustrated with people who are not doing their work. This is my biggest challenge. They actually make me mad. I want to grab their shoulders and shake them and scream “Make a different choice TODAY”. Please stop feeling sorry for yourself, please unstick yourself. Dump him, dump her, quit that loser job, stop eating crap and go for a walk. Get rid of the cigarettes and bag of potato chips. Just do something...anything...I’m begging you....DIFFERENT! Anger is exhausting.

What is the lesson? For me, the lesson is obviously nonjudgement. I think the bigger lesson, however, is to know and honor that each person is responsible for himself. Each person is on their own singular journey and not every person is on a spiritual or self-improvement quest. You can only help the person that wants help. First, they have to help themselves just a little to get things moving.

That having been said, please just make one better choice today. Please?

who am i?

I've been on this journey for a few years. It began on May 2nd of 2002, but that's a whole other blog. I'm a big reader and studier. I tend to be very analytical in my spiritual pursuits so in my spare time, you can find me cuddled up somewhere reading and learning. Sometimes I feel like I have read it all and that everyone is saying the same thing in a different way. I wonder what I would say....

I have a friend who says to fake it until you make it. I've pretended to be Deepak, Dr. Dyer, Louis Hay, Claire Diab, Shiva Rae and Rod Stryker while teaching my yoga students. Lately, I've started to notice who I actually am. I do have my own philosophy and my own voice. I've started to use my own ideology and it seems true and resonates.

Sometimes I feel so much just like me that I can't even believe how good it feels to just be me. When I feel just like me I feel soft and fun and energetic. I feel creative and vital. I don't feel that way all the time, but I do more and more. Sometimes I just feel perfect.

We are all perfect in this moment. Love yourself. Each person is unique and has a purpose or "Dharma". What is your truth? Who do you sound like?

Mini Ayurvedic Detox to reset digestion

Everyone has had the experience of going on vacation or simply having a big party weekend.....like memorial day......and waking up at the end of it feeling lethargic, bloated and having put on a few pounds.  The following "mini" detox is the perfect way to quickly pull yourself back into balance.  Go to www.elementalom.com for recipes and instructions for meditation and the eating routine.  Have fun!

Your Daily Plan

Breakfast           

Heat skim milk or soy milk in a pot with a little bit of honey, nutmeg and cinnamon. You may add some almonds to the bottom of your pot.  They get warm and soft and taste great!

Lunch & Dinner

brown or white rice and the detox dish.

Snack

Herbal tea, bliss balls or hot water with ginger or lemon

Ginger

Eat ginger mix before each meal.

Herbal Therapy

Neem & Triphala

Hot water

Sip hot water with ginger or lemon throughout the day

Eating Routine

No eating 3 hours prior to bedtime, eat 3 meals a day around the same time each day.

Meditate

Daily, 20 minutes

Exercise

Daily yoga & walking

Massage

Daily self massage with Sesame Oil.  Have one professional Ayurvedic massage on the last day.

Sweat Therapy

Seek out hot baths, saunas, sit in sun