Green Space Part 2
Current mood: artistic
Category: Travel and Places

Rama Workshop in Tucson

Angie, my good friend , and I went to Tucson to see Rama Jyoti Vernon. I am constantly amazed at Rama and the newness and the freshness of her teachings. I have been studying with her since 2003 (WOW) and I never tire of the yoga. This time what stuck with me was a comment: "The mind is in every cell." I am not sure where I thought the mind was prior to the workshop . Maybe in the brain, left ankle, or right hand??? I never really thought about it. No. I knew it had to be somewhere in our skeleton. It is in our cellular framework. We must remember that when we are yoga-ing. When we are in communion, we are training the mind. Let's bring the mind to oneness.

Green Yoga 

What is the pure energy of green yoga? It is the essence of knowing that we all came in on planet to be happiness. Does this really have anything to do with money, status, materialism, beliefs, ideals or attachments? No, not really. We came to know and seek the law of universal happiness. So when we talk about the Green movement, aren't we really talking about making the earth mother happy. Aren't we talking about making the wildlife happy? I hope we mean that we recognize the connection between all beings. It means that nothing is independent of another. I want to be happy or infused with the energy of happiness. Guess what! So does that soil you walk on, the rock beneath the soil, the planet, and the bluest ocean across and yonder. It is the natural state of being within the internal matrix of us all. Green yoga is a return to connection within, through and through. Do we need to buy the newest products to receive this connection? No, we just need to be mindful.

More mindfulness coming soon.

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Green Space
Current mood: accomplished

Well, I've been thinking a lot about how we are seeing so much of Green this and Green that. To be Green is suddenly a trend and we are seeing more an more commercials that advertise Green products. What are we really talking about when we see Green this and that? It is more than products that are earth-friendly. Could the Green Revolution also mean a different energy of how products are processed and distributed? Could it also mean that every part of the processing, creating, and distributing is green as well? But what is exactly earth-friendly? It is constructive instead of toxic and destructive. So tranforming a product into green is more than considering the solid form of matter of that product, it is also the energy subtleties that have been applied to the product as well. Aren't we just searching for a certain energetic that is green? Maybe I have more questions than answers.

The green energy as I have learned it through my yoga studies and metaphysics is healing, heart-felt, and transformative. So maybe just maybe what we are all yearning for in this Green Revolution is the energy of what it means to be green and beautiful. The green energy has also been  linked to money and materialism. The green energy is abundant, that is true, but in ways that will blow the mind out of its shell. Blow the mind wide and wider and wider still. Abundance is perspective, as I have seen time and time again when I travel to places around the world.

Recently, I went to a wedding in Hermosillo, Mexico. The people of Mexico sometimes remind me of India. I love to see the statues everywhere of Mary and Jesus. I love to be on a highway where you pass atleast seven or eight prayer shrines on the side of the road. I love the speech of abundance I hear from Mexicans. Every meal they give thanks for their food for the day. I was eating and coversing with a few of my Mexican friends. They were so grateful for their abundance. The wedding was magnificent and abundant. Laughing. Crying. Yelling. Passion. Compassion. I loved it.

More to come on my thoughts about the Green Revolution....

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Super Chocolate
Current mood: blank

Extra Space

I am watching the Suns game and I don’t usually watch the Suns. It is a bonding opportunity for me and my hubby. I like Steve Nash though. He is the first player to wear the green shoes. He is one professional athlete with great integrity. He works very hard, (on the off season he plays professional soccer). Everytime he speaks you can tell how incredibly humble and grounded he is. I think in some way Steve Nash and I were connected in a past life or something like that.

I have a writing student that only writes about chocolate. He can write a whole paper on how much he loves chocolate. He will give vivid, well- written phrases on why he loves chocolate. In fact, I think he has mentioned chocolate in every writing assignment I have given to him. In one story, he wrote about an evil monkey that attacks him and tries to take his chocolate. I laughed through his story. I like his writing.

Super Chocolate  

Organic Chocolate

How I love thee

My ancestors too

Loved the magic of chocolate

Oh, how I wish I can have you all day, everyday

But I can’t.

Organic Chocolate

The taste of God

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To Write Again
Current mood: peaceful
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

I woke up this morning and thought of writing. Sometimes I feel like it and sometimes I don't. I think it is all the paper work that I do already in my job. Words. Signatures. Papers. Grades. Files. It is part of spending all my time with the healing laughter of children. My students are so great. I love them. They are the light so naturally, free, and loving. On another note, my husband and I have been playing music again. The  song we are working on is called Falling Slowly. If you have seen "Once", you know what song I am talking about. I love it. It is so sensual and inspiring. "Falling slowly eyes that know me and I can't go back." Sweetness like a morning kiss on the nose or cheek.   I sing. He plays along with his guitar. I told him that we should do a gig soon. He just laughed and said I was star-crazy. I think that playing out would be so much fun. Maybe for our wedding anniversary, that would be our gift to each other.

Dreams that were meant to be played out

I need to start writing down my dreams again, so here it goes. How often do I tell my students not to think about writing, just write. In a vision I saw one of my favorite persons in the world. I entered the great hall of many rooms with my sister and my husband. The rooms were full of people meditating and praying. Laughing with happiness. Singing. Dancing. Eating. The Great Hall. We entered  all of the rooms and looked around at the celebrations. It was spectacular, like the Amma Concert. People were truly happy. Not the kind of false happiness that comes from short lived addictions. Not the kind of false happiness that comes from other outward fullfilment. Just pure happiness, like God meant it to be. The moment of stillness and silence. True Divinity. Happiness that is here already when we stop and listen. From room to room, I saw the faces of everyone that lived disciplined in their heart's work, whether that was praying, meditating, speaking, or stretching in asanas. Yes, I was so happy to see some of the most amazing asanas. I saw people that defyed all earthly laws and limitations. We entered this particular room of the Sanskrit language and saw a beautiful householder.  This householder in particular has made dynamic contributions to us in terms of spreading the knowledge of Ayurveda. His light. Uhm...I don't know how to express it correctly. He took my sister aside and then I saw the Guru in all glory in the front of the room on stage. Sparkling face and eyes. I became light. I wanted to jump on stage and talk to him, but I contained my action. I watched and allowed my heart to swell with Guru energy. You who have been around the Masters know what I mean. The Householder came back with my sister and began to make jokes. He wanted to see my sister laugh and so did I. Then the Guru on stage began throwing us treats. "Are you going to get yours?" asked the wise Householder of Ayurveda. We both said yes. I went for mine and opened the treat. It was chocolate. It was wrapped in Gold. I ate it with complete grattitude. My sister began to chant in Sanskrit and ate at the same time. Her chant is one the wise Householder taught her. The Guru looked at us from the front of the of the room and smiled. The wise Householder went into one position and then another. An amazing example. In the room, there were cats, purring and eating. Durga near? Shortly after, My hubby, my sister, and I left the temple. 

What Can We Make of Today 

How often to wake up in the morning with inspiration or drive to meet the day ALIVE, AWAKE, and JOYFUL? Everyday is an opportunity to live in enlightenment. Can you imagine the gift that has been given? Everyday is a different opportunity to love. Uhm...love. This is a loaded word. I talk about it all the time with friends,students, and family, but I want to be clear of what I mean. I don't mean that teenage love sick feeling that is being sold to us by media. No. Love is something that you find for yourself. It grows inward, and then outward. Not the other way around. Sometimes I feel hesitant to use the word in my yoga classes because people already have a prejudice about the word, LOVE. But this is a lifestyle beyond Pop culture. Do not seek its definition from without, but from within. I can't give you what it is. I can only give you my own stories of love. Thank God I have many of them. I have been blessed.

8:42 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos

peace
Current mood: contemplative
Category: Dreams and the Supernatural

My husband and I disagree on the war in Iraq. He is in support of the war and George Bush's actions. I am indifferent.  I don't hold an opinion and this drives him mad. "How can you be on the fence about this subject?" But he knows that I am a peaceful person. I often talk about peace, but sometimes it is difficult for me to speak about peace when I have thoughts spiraling in my mind that seems like WW3. I am against injustice in any form. I have hope that things are changing in Iraq. I pray for peace in Iraq and around the world. But to go as far as to go to peace ralies or anything else would be too militant for me. I have protested before, many times in my life. I have marched for immigrant rights and hispanic rights (in Washington DC) during college. Overall, I felt like it was a militant form of protest: "Us versus them." "We are better than them." "They have something that we want." "We have less than them." These feelings and sentiments just don't sit well with me. So after a march or protest, I didn't feel like anything got done. I felt angrier and unhappy with the world in general.

Rama's Work on Peace

If you have gone to any of Rama's workshops, you know of her peace work in Russia and other places around the world. I had the opportunity to study with her and Max. Their workshops on conflict transformation (resolution) has had a powerful impact on my life. The tools I learned from them helped me to reconcile many wounded relationships. Rama and Max talk about holding two perspectives simultaneously without shifting one's own center. This is one of the main themes of their work. They ask, "Can you hold the two perspectives at once?" When you are mediating, you don't have an opinion and you talk to each members separately and listen. You do more than listen, you actively listen. You make eye contact; you listen with your whole body and enter into the experience with them. You hold no judgement.

Rama does this so beautifully when she speaks to others. She doesn't gossip and she doesn't give out judgments. She is very centered. Everytime you speak with her, you feel like you are the only person that exists. She is an expert listener. She always makes the speaker feel heard and special. It is truly amazing. She is a living example of what she teaches. She uses her words for Light, not to create separation. She was able to do the peace work in Russia by using these techniques. In Russia, she organized peace dialogues between Americans and Russians. She negotiated with top officials in both countries. She speaks so humbly of her accomplishments.

Stop of the March of the Mind

So I have decided to keep my thoughts hopeful for the future. It serves no one to think that we are all going towards doom and darkness. The Light is here. I am so excited about it. Just the mere fact that someone like Rama decided to reincarnate and be here in the United States during this time of many changes is revolutionary and beautiful. Can we hold the perspective that things will get better and is getting better? Can we be examples and models of peace? Instead of examples of hopelessness and anger? In holding anger, there is a high cost in our cellular health and overall immunity.  If we only knew this?

9:12 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Rama Jyoti Vernon Part 2
Category: Friends

The Community

I just returned from a yoga training with Rama Jyoti Vernon. I felt like this one was special. I have been studying with Rama since 2003 and this one is like the first time I studied with her. New openings happened and I felt deeper and deeper into the yantra of the pose. I felt like I was in a different dimension most of the time I was practicing. It is the breathe and the depth of the practice when the breathe is used like we use it. I also felt an overwelming sense of being okay. The community that Rama has created is unbelievable. There is such an open network of wonderful men and women. Natasha, Kristi, Ginny, Lalleshwari, Mira, and Shraddhasaggar. (We missed your presense Ruth and Kathleen.) These women are so lovely, and the new faces that I met. I felt so privileged to see them be inspired by Rama and her teachings like I have always been. I even appreciated the people of 4th avenue in downtown Tucson. They were pleasant and friendly. As we exited for our day of yoga, the people of the lovely Co-op Food Consipiracy was there to feed us. There was such beauty in the air of the training. Everything was magnified so much. The blue air looked cleaner. The clouds looked happier. Ahhhh, yoga.

Rama's Childhood

 Rama grew up in a normal household. That is really what she wanted in her teenage years, I have come to learn. Her father and mother were both pioneers in spreading the benefits of and practicing natural medicine. Her father was a chiropractor and fought to get licensing in the state of California. Her mother was a pyschic and practed reflexolgy. They both were so advanced in their healings. They were the original healers; the pure souls of health. Rama was exposed to these ways of being during her childhood. On Rama's Thursday night talk, she explained how she wanted to be normal. She wanted to have white bread like other girls and boys. She laughed when talking about it. She further explained how grateful she was to be born into her family. She feels so lucky to have chosen the parents that she had. As she was talking about her parents, you can visualize them and feel the love that only is between parents and children. I love to hear her talk about her parents. It is so honest and truthful. Everything Rama talks about comes from the deepest part of the universe. Her voice is always calm and steady and relaxed.

It is truly beautiful to be in the presence of Rama. When you are near her and listen to her speaking, you know that truth follows her lips. Every word and every gesture and every sparkle is truthful and beautiful. There are not many places you can go to these days where people speak truth. Rama has it in her veins, down deep in her breats and her root. She is Mother in every way.  She talked about that although she was in a natural household, she still got sick quite often. She did not feel well, and she knew something was missing. Her mother took her to her first yoga class. Rama's mother was a follower of Paramahansa Yogananda. She remembered thinking that she did not want or need to be there. The yoga teacher went to her and said that yes she needed to be there. She was so surprised that he was reading her thoughts. The experience certainly caught her attention.

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Rama Jyoti Vernon- A Revolutionary Yogini-Part 1
Category: Friends

Reflections on Rama

The more I think about Rama, the more I have realized that she is truly revolutionary in her way of teaching yoga. I don't know that much about teaching yoga, but I do now that Rama's style of teaching is beyond this world. I have spent many hours contemplating yoga and what yoga is. My journey began with the rigorous POWER yoga. Whew! My sister fainted once in class and it changed me forever. I wasn't so sure that yoga was what I thought it was. When I saw my sister on the floor, I felt sad. How could something that is supposed to be so healthy make you faint? Looking back on it, there were so many factors that came into play. The yoga was in a heated room. She did't eat properly. (Her pitta was high.) The summer heat was tremendous. So I developed doubts about yoga. I was a beginner and was not sure what to do. When I first was introduced to Rama's style of yoga, I was captivated immediately. When I heard her chant, I cried. I cried from the pure conciousness of her voice. I opened my eyes a fews times to see what was happening. I could not believe that the sound was coming from Rama. I felt like I was listening to the voice of God and I was in a dream. The tears swelled easily, like water pouring through a creek. I knew that I had found my teacher. Then, the asana practice happened.

Everytime I practice with Rama, my body changes. Energy that had been blocked gets moved and my brain gets rewired in some way. I feel like time does not exist and I enter into a portal. The place where the mother is. The place of the womb. The place where I am held by the arms of God. None of this happens externally. Integration. I am not sure if what I am saying makes sense. I just know what the feeling is from deep in my heart and soul. The asana is a yantra and we enter this sacred space each and everytime we move into the position. Why would we rush? Rama taught me how to ease into myself with confidence and patience. Her style of teaching has taught me how to live inside of a postition with God's grace and happiness. And yes, she does say the g-word...GOD. She is the only yoga teacher that I have met that talks about God and with complete faith and truth. The way she moved us from asana to asana was careful and loving. Her voice carried us slowly and gently as if it was wrapped around us like a baby wrapped in a blanket. The asana connected me to the deepest part of myself. Maybe even the forgotten part of myself. There are many experiences of blankness. Complete white canvas moments. I loved being in asana with a feeling of freedom, effortlessness, and esteem. Rama has taught me that asana does not need to be forced; infact asana is effortless with the breathe. Rama teaches this style of yoga from her inner strength of compassion, happiness, and love.

Rama has demonstrated her inner strength through her teachings. She has showed the meaning of true strength as an example of strength. She has taught me how to soften through my muscles and let go.    

More to come. I just wanted to let some of this our for now. Thanks for listening.

Namaste

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India
Category: Friends

Calcutta, India

India is on my mind. I should write a song about it. Everyday I wake up and India is on my mind. India on my mind...oh India...capture my heart...India on my mind....What a beautiful journey this is? In India, there is a different rhythm of life and you are more aware about is truly important. There is a spirit and a glow to the devotion of the people. It is in everything they do and who they are. They pray and meditate in the morning and pray and meditate in the evening. (Not all, just the friends that I met while I was there.) I met an orphan from Mother Theresa's orphanage, which is still in motion alive and well. He worked at the resort Eric and I were staying at while in Calcutta. He was so nice and invited us to his home. We visited the orphanage and you can feel the love. You can still feel the Mother there walking around in compassion and deep surrender. She has inspired us all and used her life in full service. When we visited the tomb, there spelled out was "ALL FOR JESUS". I still remember my reaction. I cried. The love swelled up in me like a flower ready to blossom and open up. I knew that heaven existed in me and in others. I knew that there was deep rooted hope that has always existed and will never leave. We must remember. We must recall and yet forget right away. We must know when to call upon our memory and know when to release it into the records of the past. As a collective, we are called to remember the teachings of the great ones that have traveled the same spiritual path unto heaven. India on my mind..India in my soul...

Next on the Horizon 

A dear friend of mine is having a difficult time with making a decision. (This is usually me, mind you.) I wanted to give her some positive energy and synergy. Make a decision with faith, not with the illusion that you know what is going to happen as a result. We love knowing everything, don't we! We love controling what will happen. It is not as much fun as we think. Dear friend, please let go. Whatever is going to happen, allow your devotion to seep through like eating a juicy orange on a hot summer's day. (Organic, ofcourse!) Be ready to do whatever God wants you to do. Do you ever think that you can wrong!? Forget it. There is no such thing as going wrong. This is fun, right. On Wednesday's flow class, I said to the students: "This is fun!" They looked so serious that it didn't look fun at all. Everything we do can be and is fun! We are servants of God, not slaves. When we allow God to suuport us, magic happens in the form of fun and laughter. So my advice-- laugh more and let God decide your next move.

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Rock Climbing and Prana
Current mood: sore
Category: Sports

Rock Climbing

I am not the best rock climber. I have accepted the fact that my body is just for the yoga asana practice. Believe me, I am really okay with this realization. Today, I rock climbed with my hubby, our friend and her two daughters. About an hour into it, I was less enthusiastic and my arms started to feel like jelly. The fingers were no longer willing to grip and my legs were giving out. I saw my hubby flying through the course so naturally. He is a natural athlete. It was fun though and I love heights. You know how some people are afraid of high places. I enjoy them a lot. I didn't realize it though til the last two years. In Sedona, there are so many mountains points to climb and enjoy. This is when I started loving heights. There is something about looking from above and the richness of the air. I also like the feeling of the harness and rope holding me all the time. I feel I can do flips and hang out for a while and everything will be okay.

We all have the support we are looking for. Sometimes it is not apparent like in rock climbing, but it is always there. I know what you are thinking: Yeah right! But it is so true. This is faith. We all have invisible beings going to bat for us. (Baseball analogy, again.) The invisible beings are protecting us, guiding us, laughing with us, and loving us. And we are all one with them as we are all one with all beings on the earth plane. So wonderful! Thank you God.

Compassion

We must have compassion for everyone. The Anahata is endless and eternal. I was teaching on Thursday and I started saying that we must have compassion for everyone because we do not know what is going on with people on a personal level. We must not take anything personally. Forgiveness is essential. Then while the words were leaving my lips, it occurred to me that we even don't know what is going on with ourselves some of the time. How many times have we been in a state of mind or an emotional process where we have no clue what is happening on any level? Sometimes I ask myself: What just happened? So if we don't even know what we are going through, how can we be so quick to judge what others are experiencing. We must be compassionate; we are all at different places in our spiritual growth, but at any moment the light can shine and wake us up. Again. Thank God. This is the hope shining through and through with you and us all.

Teacher Dream

Last night, I had such an incredible dream. I love my dreams. It is such a good opportunity to communicate with people and travel to different places. I saw my teacher and she gave me a book or Bible. I am not sure which one she said it was. When she gave it to me, my whole body vibrated. It was so powerful. This book came alive as it was given to me. I could feel it everywhere in my body. She told me to read it. I started to focus on the words and I could not read it. I said, "Teacher, I can't read it. The words are getting blurry every time I focus on it. I can't read it." I tried and tried again. I forced myself to focus, and it seemed the more I focused the more the words faded into a big ball of blur. I flipped through the pages and suddenly, I started to read the words. And the ink of the words turned red and pink. It was glowing like words of God. My teacher began to talk. She said, "You know Ana, my teachers always told me that I was enlightened. This is even when I didn't think I was. I felt uncomfortable with it. But they knew way before I ever knew the meaning of enlightenment. My teacher Vanhusionate (I don't remember exactly the name. It started with Van.) told me that I was enlightened." I looked at her and couldn't believe that this walking master could have ever doubted her own enlightenment. She is human and just like us all. She added, "You must meditate, Ana." I stopped and hugged her. I am so grateful when she comes to me in dreams and teaches through the dream time state. I am so much more receptive. After hugging, I went into her yoga lecture. I was in the front row with my hubby and that was my dream.

I often dream about my spiritual family and I miss them. In my heart, they are always there. I know that it is silly for me to miss them, but I still do. I have fond memories of them. Attachment. ugh. I am not sure what the dream meant. I don't want to analyze it to death. I know that I must meditate. I must meditate on the word of God and in silence. My mind is active and I am still learning how to manage this. It is not active all the time, but it is what it is. I accept it and I accept where I am at this moment. In any case, I am happy. This is a good day.

7:47 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Shraddha- The Science of Being a Student of God
Current mood: loved
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

Freedom

I am listening to music as I write this. Chanting of MA. It brings me into the complete celebration that life is. We are so loved, beyong what we can fathom. We are here on earth as students. I read something that touched me and brought to light the meaning of my life and many others. I am reading at the moment: They Lived with God by Swami Chetanananda. These are the life stories of some of the devotees fo Sri Ramakrishna. I bought this book used from a lovely German lady who came to the Prema Rupa kirtan on Friday. She is on her way to India to live in Meher Baba's ashram outside of Dehli. The following quote (I sound so academic, ah)  is from Great Swan: Meetings with Ramakrishna by Lex Hixon. 

O Beloved Friends, please listen to my words! The sole purpose and goal for human life, the supreme ideal of which all other ideals are simple an expression, is to cultivate love--the most pure, passionate, intimate love that the milmaids and cowherd boys in the green groves of Vrindavan cherished for the captivating , dark blue Krishna, the very incarnation of Divine Love.

I believe that this is the type of love that is everlasting, without end. It really has nothing to do with being "nice" or with sentiments. It is the love that makes you glow at the sight of beauty; birth of a child. It is the love that allows you to drown in sorrow one moment to dispel fears, and the next let go of the fears to keep moving gracefully into ecstacy. It is love that can not be expressed by the mind. The assurence or faithfulness of action and word and thought. There is an explanation for everything; we just don't need to KNOW it now. We just need to love whatever is NOW. The masters are masters of love. They are like us in every way.

This last week I watched Freedom Writers with my 7th grade students. The part that I absolutely love about the movie was when the woman who was responsible for sheltering Anne Frank came to speak to the high school students. This was such a wonderful event for the high school students in the movie because they worked very hard to raise the money to bring her to the school. In one part of the movie, a student expressed that Miep Gies was the student's hero. Miep Gies responded like a master. She told the students that no she wasn't a hero; she simply did what was the right thing to do. She stated that even ordinary people could do anything beyond the mind. A miracle. I don't know if the movie had dramatized her visit with the class or not, but I do know that a woman that sheltered Jews during the Holocaust had to be strong of character and heart felt love.

In any case, I feel this to be true. We are all spiritual beings having human experiences. (I heard this recently on the radio- XM 156.)We are the capcity to do anything. Once we tune into that part of ourselves there is not turning back We are fully engaged in the Anahata.

Shraddha

I am also reading Meditation: Mind and Patanjali's Yoga by Swami Bhaskarananda. Another treasure found before the Kirtan on Friday. Let me say something about the reading process of these beautiful books. The experience of reading these books are unlike any other. I can't read them linearly. I can't read them from front to back. I read them in pieces. Sometimes I read the middle first, then I go to the end of the book. I even just read one sentence and then close the book because I want to contemplate the wisdom of the words. Feeling. I want to feel the words in my bones and cells. I want to transfer myself to the spirit of the book. Do you know what I mean?

The folllowing quote comes Swami Bhaskarananda's book:

Shraddha- A Necessary Ingredient of Student Life

Shraddha is a sanskrit word with an exact counterpart in English. Shraddha means respect, faith, and trust. It also means self-confidence.

We are all students and teachers in one way or another. As a student and teacher we must have Shraddha in everything- people, thoughts, intuitions, actions, words. There is no heirarchy. We are all learning in different paces and different lessons. We are all here now. WOW. Thank you for being here with me.

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