One of the challenges of yoga is to find balance in difficult poses. When I hit what seems to be

the perfect balance, I yearn to stay there, but soon my body sways and I lose my balance. Or,

sometimes I struggle to stay balanced the whole time I am in the pose. My moment of glory may

last for few seconds, but then I am back to reality.

I now see balance and imbalance as identical. Non static, ever-unfolding, and ever-expanding.

Both have potential to teach us something, even though we strive to remain still in blissful

balance as long as we can.

Health, love, and wealth are three basic areas we try to balance in life. When we feel balance in

these areas are lacking, we often seek articles to read or turn to others for help. It is normal to

seek balance in our lives because our nature is to live with joy, love, and abundance.

But, if you only look for moments of satisfaction in physical and mental balance, that can lead

to contradiction and tension. That approach is like taking painkillers or developing addictions to

numb the pain.

Can you recall a time when you were so upset that you filled yourself with junk food and

beer? I used to suppress unpleasant sensations in order to seem balanced from the outside. I

developed this pattern in childhood, and suffered the consequences of pretending to always be

fine and perfect. That was my way of numbing the pain, but I learned that the glory of balance

only lasts for a short time.

Yoga study, coaching, and books have guided me to confront and accept negative thoughts

and feelings. It isn’t easy to observe and acknowledge fear, shame, sadness, and/or dishonesty

in my body and mind after burying it all for so long. Ultimately, I discovered the possibility for

profound change from this dark place. The more I faced my vulnerability, the more I gained

courage, compassion, and connection to myself. The parts I thought were creating imbalance in

my life had the potential to help me find balance. In the process, I learned to practice gratitude

and to feel I am enough.

If you find yourself trying to numb your fear, shame, or sadness with substances or actions to

stay in balance, it might be time to look at your imbalance and what it is trying to teach you. It’s

scary but worth a try for the insight you will gain.

Naoko teaches at Abhaya at 9:30 a.m. Tuesdays. Check out other posts at

naokomoritayoga.com

Life has a way of playing little tricks on you. Like Iʼm getting on the F train

to get to York Street so I can go to Abhaya to practice Yoga. And then, BAM

it hits me, right there on the F train that I can be practicing even as the

train doesnʼt stop and takes me half way to Coney Island. Or you are going to

finish school, so you can get a job and get what you really want so you can be happy.

And it turns out that a year or two has passed…….. wait, did I miss my stop?

There is cause and effect, because the Universe has a deep and profound order.

You squeeze an orange and you donʼt get orangutans, you get something

to quench your thirst that makes you happy. And because the Universe is beyond

anything making it do something (I tried for a while, it didnʼt work so well) it unfolds

as it does because it can. And when we do something simply because we can and it

brings us delight we call that play. Whether you play a guitar or baseball or scrabble

it can bring delight to you and others.

Yoga teaches us that everything is a balance, and what balances the cause and

effect of Karma is Lila, or play. I planned on doing this, so I went there, and then

the Universe played a trick and I fell in Love. Because the Universe plays out of

Love. It simply loves being. As kids we played at this and that because we could and

we were delighted to play. And then we simply forgot that we are playing. Things

became very serious. “If I donʼt get an A, I wonʼt get the job, I wonʼt meet my mate, and

Iʼll certainly never be happy.”

But when we come to our mat we get to play again. Look at me Iʼm a tree! Iʼm a

peacock! Iʼm a warrior! If we take it too seriously we can lose the sense of fun and

delight. Yes there is cause and effect. If I skillfully play with the Universal Principles of

Alignment I wonʼt get hurt and I will get to play more, and more fully. But if I forget

the element of play, the delight in doing it just because it is fun, just because it is

good, just because…then the principles can become as dry and dusty as Mr. Iyengarʼs

dhoti.

Then, through our practice we can get all bent out of shape, twisted in knots, have our

world turned upside down and inside out and BAM it hits you: WOW Iʼm having fun!

This is delightful! I LOVE THIS. Yes it takes practice, yes there is skillful technique,

but have fun, because you can, and then you can be happy, anywhere, anytime,

even on the F line.

Come on in and play, the water is fine.

Michael teaches Tuesday and Thursdays @4:30. (Donʼt forget to bring your smile.)

It was fun shopping in the Indian market and learning about new foods such as mung beans. How would I feel about these little split beans after a week??? Turns out we are best buddies.

Suddenly there’s a new scent in my kitchen, and now after eating ktichari konsistently it’s releasing through my pores!  That is a change from the inside out.

The daily rituals of preparing food, detox tea, and nourishing body massage is a mindful discipline of self care.

My energy level went up a few notches, my skin became smooth and eyes bright. Physical alignment led to greater universal alignment as the pure energy flow moved through all areas of my life.

I am endlessly fascinated by how applicable ancient yogic teachings are to our lives today, thousands of years later and thousands of miles away. The Rig Veda, circa 1,200-900 B.C., outlined the four aims – or four desires – of life: artha, our basic needs (food, clothing, shelter); kama, pleasure; dharma, purpose or calling; and moksha, spiritual liberation.

My mother, long my inspiration on the yogic path, has in recent years found her dharma helping others to uncover theirs. The course she is teaching at Abhaya this weekend is called The Four Desires, based on a new book by her teacher, Rod Stryker. Rod has turned these ancient teachings into a powerful process for self-discovery and realization that he has authorized my mom and only a handful of others to share.

Think about the four key areas of your own life. If you were living the life of your dreams, what would each one look like? What do they look like now? And what’s blocking you from getting from here to there?

After contemplating and journaling on those questions through specific exercises, participants in The Four Desires leave with three statements: 1) a dharma code, your life’s mission statement, 2) a sankalpa, a resolution of the most important thing you are going to achieve in the next six to 18 months to move toward living your dharma, and 3) a vikalpa, a statement of the unconscious patterns that have been holding you back.

You can complete the process on your own by reading the book and doing the exercises, but if you are available to devote a few days to do it in a supportive environment under the guidance of a teacher, I highly recommend it.

My mom taught The Four Desires to me and a group of my friends at my apartment last year. One friend discovered he needed to focus on artha. He resolved to stop smoking and get out of debt. He hasn’t had a cigarette since and within a few months, he had not only paid off all his debt but gotten a big promotion at work. For me, the transformation has been more internal. The discovery and subsequent release of self-sabotaging thought patterns I had carried since childhood enabled me to start living each day with gratitude and contentment, to greater embody some of the yogic teachings I’ve been studying for so long.

I am eternally grateful to my mom and proud to be bringing her to share her wisdom with my students and friends at Abhaya.

Sue Neufeld will teach The Four Desires from Friday, March 23 to Sunday, March 25. Please see our workshops page for more information and registration.www.sueneufeldyoga.com

Sara Neufeld teaches at Abhaya at 6:30 p.m. Mondays and 10 a.m. Saturdays. She is the studio’s program coordinator. www.saraneufeldyoga.com ]]> http://abhayayoga.com/2012/04/finding-your-lifes-purpose/feed/ 0 http://abhayayoga.com/2012/04/our-soul-is-love/ http://abhayayoga.com/2012/04/our-soul-is-love/#comments Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:45:15 +0000 admin http://abhayayoga.com/?p=880 By Adriana Rizzolo March 7, 2012

Dear Abhaya kula,

Inside these amazing vehicles we use on our mats is a whole world of energy waiting to be caressed or expanded or soothed with our breath.  Through meditation we have this beautiful opportunity to heal ourselves & give us what we need each time we take a seat.  Sometimes our true nature of Love is revealed.  The mystery is at times the scary or painful reality of being alive but also wondrous & exhilarating — an internal poetry casting our love energy inside & out.  Our bodies & minds are ready to go deeper — to understand internally what needs healing & how we can then choose to love & serve the world.

Deep down at the core of our being there is a well of love constantly flowing or waiting to be recognized &  released out into the world.

The opportunity is there — we can learn to love ourselves & be held in the arms of Grace everyday.  Through having the experience of feeling her sweet embrace & knowing that it’s always there.  Truly loving others without co-dependence or the need to look outside of ourselves for happiness & love is a gift!  Then as this newly free love manifests in our worlds we are there to feel it in a whole new way.  Getting present in our bodies & hearts we are in the now —  the possibilities are endless.  We haven’t adopted this practice as another thing to feel like we’re not doing enough of but as a way to access the beauty of hearts & souls.  I am forever honored to have  teachers who are also my friends — helping along my path towards liberation & love.  This path flourishes with the support & guidance from others & setting goals is highly recommended!  So come in, get in your body, meditate, ask questions –

The whole world is waiting for you to love.

So much,
Adriana

Adriana teaches on Tuesdays at 8:15PM, Wednesdays at 5PM, and Fridays at 4PM

Or because we experience a crisis of some sort and we are then forced – with fierce – demand to land back into reality, into our feelings, into our bodies, and actually back into deep relationship with ourselves and life, back into dialogue, and propelled to speak what we’ve desperately tried not to say, not to see, not to feel, not to do, not to be … 

Seeing something in a new light - insight – requires us then to mobilize and use our creativity to redirect ourselves and our lives – YET in order to not just run away to fix it - we must first FEEL where we are at, and make space for our loss, pain, disappointment, anger … and all those fellow citizens we avoid so well!  We cannot believe that we can manage ourselves and ONLY feel certain things – unless we want to be fake, unhealthy, and continue to force feed and entertain our magical thinking of happily ever afters.

My often phobic reaction to feeling disappointment makes me react as though I have to immediately solve it, manage it, arrange it, and quickly make it go away. I do this because it is and can be scary to experience the falling away of my hopes, ideas, notions, expectations, fantasies, and need to find that “perfect” thing that will never fall, never change, never betray me, never hurt me, never grow … 

I remember the day I heard that intimacy is as much about learning to tolerate disappointment as it is about not being in perpetual agreeance with another to avoid showing my differences or experience conflict (which can lead to repair, further growth, and re-negotiation!).

Well, I can tell you that - that was a very disappointing moment! HA!

We are human beings : spirit experiencing a limited existence and lifetime in a body that is vulnerable, alive, ever-expanding, and impermanent. We have personalities to attend to, no matter how much spiritual work we do - and it is in giving attention to both : our human aspects (personality) and our spiritual life that we integrate and experience our wholeness.

Response (from one of Harrison’s friends I don’t yet know): You just described every day of my life since becoming a stay-at-home-mother.

1. Open and soften (remove onion skins) – Invite yourself to soften and open to possibilities. Allow your own sense of boundaries, limitation, and difference to dissolve.

2. Intention (chop an onion) – Setting an intention is the first step in manifesting your vision. An intention helps clarify what you want for your life and helps you focus on the goals you wish to obtain. Be attentive to your highest desires.

3. Steps that matter (1: heat, 2: oil, 3: chopped garlic) – In Anusara yoga, poses follow the Universal Principles of Alignment. The five main alignment principles, which apply sequentially in each pose, are: Opening to Grace, Muscular Energy, Inner Spiral, Outer Spiral, and Organic Energy.

4. Be patient and consistent (stir over low heat) – Listen to your body and maintain a steady awareness of the breath as you move. Begin easy and move forward gradually. Patience and consistency will be the keys for your life-long practice, so pace yourself and plan to practice regularly. FYI: Tapas in Sanskrit means “internal fire,” “self-discipline,” or “effort.”

5. Sweetness (a rich, browned colored onion) – When you slowly cook onions over an extended period of time, the natural sugars in the onions caramelize, making the result intensely and wonderfully flavorful, and very different from the original onion. In the same way, when you align with your intention and act from your potential, you will also change and taste the sweetness of your “self.”

6. Creativity (add any ingredients you like and then add water) – Adding different vegetables and spices makes every soup taste delicious in its own unique way. Be playful and honor what you want to create in your life that is deeply connected to your heart’s desire. Express your unique self on and off the mat and let your beauty shine from inside out. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been practicing for 6 years or 6 weeks. This recipe is for people who are ready to take their wellness seriously.

Abhaya yoga studio offers all types of classes such as open level, prenatal, restorative, therapeutic, beginner, and workshops for all. Grab your mat and come to practice with us this winter!

Naoko’s class at Abhaya Yoga: Tuesdays 9:30am (Open Level)

Come catch Jenny in her classes  at Abhaya on Wednesdays at 12:00PM, Thursdays 8AM, and Saturdays 12:00PM!