Tag: Meditation

Satya as a Form of Grace

September 12, 2018
Posted by Sharon

Satya is one of the most complicated of the yogic ethical principles.  It is translated as “truth” in many texts, but truth is, in and of itself, a construct of culture.  For example, I may hold as “truth” in my Quaker faith that everyone has the light of God in them (no matter behavior or evidence that seems to prove otherwise), while others may have very different ways of looking at the concept of Holy Spirit or the concept of the divine.  Am I telling the truth when I pray in this way?  Are the other understandings of the relationship between humans and the divine the NOT-truth?  And, how can we relate this use of the word “truth” when describing a commitment of faith to asking a person we work with if they are the ones who ate our yogurt in the shared refrigerator?  In the case of the yogurt, it could be seen that this is completely different.  Our colleague either ate our yogurt or they didn’t.  But, maybe when they answer us it turns out that they, in fact, had brought the same brand and flavor of yogurt to work and assumed the one they ate was theirs?  Maybe your yogurt got pushed to some dark corner of the refrigerator and you just assumed someone else ate it? Maybe this colleague was hungry and didn’t have any food, forgot their wallet at home, and in desperation chose to eat a yogurt in the refrigerator and since your name wasn’t on it they had no way to ask for permission or to know who it belonged to?  Do their personal circumstances change the “truth” of the stealing?

I am in a situation right now in which there is a great deal of confusion and a story is being told about me that does not resonate with me as true–at all.  It seems so fantastical that it’s almost impossible to defend myself.  I don’t think that this is a rare experience and that most humans have found themselves at one point or another feeling a profound dissonance between what is true for them and how another person is perceiving the situation.  It seems clear to me that the root of this concern can’t be solved by discovering THE truth because each person involved is secure in what they believe to be true.  Just as I can’t be shaken from my version of the story, my role in it, and my intentions, neither can the other people involved.

In this way, I invite myself to practice and see “satya” as a form of grace.  How can I stand in my own satya with confidence AND compassion?  Unless I can soften the edges of my narrative, then resolution remains near impossible.  And, I must remain anchored in my personal commitment to peace and non-violence above all else.  If I truly believe in the infinite nature of the life of spirit, then I must accept that a resolution may not be possible in this lifetime, but I can always choose peace in any moment.  The ethics of yoga are part of the practice.  Therefore, I challenge myself even in this most difficult of moments to practice “satya” as a way to extend grace into my life and the lives of others.

When I did my first yoga teacher training program, it was at a studio called “Satya” in Brooklyn that was sold before I even finished the program and became some other yoga studio and now it is even some other yoga studio (or maybe a falafel stand…..things change!).  In a 200-hour teacher training program that is registered with Yoga Alliance, the curriculum must include a certain number of hours studying Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.  I dutifully memorized the yamas and the niyamas and promised as a teacher and student of yoga to bring satya into my work and my life.  But, truth isn’t just the opposite of telling lies.  The pursuit of truth is a process and a yoga practice of its own.  It turns out that satya is one of the most challenging aspect of practice and to bring into life off the cushion or mat.

A term that has come into use in the past few years is “fake news”.  When the truth is inconvenient, then the person who wishes it wasn’t the truth can point at it and declare it to be “fake”.  All the people who agree that if it really was true then it would be a terribly inconvenient and damaging situation can then get behind that person and say, “Yep, it’s fake all right.  FAKE!” (It turns out that exclamations and the confidence behind them make the statement even more powerful.).  But, there are all these other people who are hurt by the negation of what they feel is the obvious.  Uh….we all saw the video/heard the tape/saw the picture of the body of the dead baby washed onto the shore……what do you mean FAKE?  Someone had to clean that blood up, someone had to spend years healing their body and spirit after having their body grabbed in an unwelcome way, someone lost their retirement, someone’s child is irreparably hurt by lead poisoning because they drank the water that flowed through their kitchen tap, and someone had to wrap that baby’s body in a sheet and bury him.  In these situations, all these someone’s have had their lives completely altered by a truth that other someones are convinced is completely fake.  And, we can feel however we feel and get behind whatever truth resonates with us, but we can’t get justice for the victims this way.  There is no justice without grace.

In his book “Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy” by Sadhguru, he instructs us to consider the yogic path as one of experiment.

“The yogic path is not a path of inherited belief; it is the path of experiment (page 69).”

As a spiritual scientist, I would suggest that in our commitment to practice as experiment that whenever we find ourselves feeling committed to a certain satya that we ask questions as an expression of curiosity:

  1. Where do I feel this “truth” in my body?  What emotions and state of mind are inspired by this “truth”?  As Rachel Carson suggested in The Sense of Wonder, “It is not half so important to know as to feel.”  Does this truth resonate in my spine?  Does this truth inspire me?  Does this truth make me feel angry or fill me with regret? Does this truth open my throat or give me a pain in my neck?  Is this truth opening my heart or making me feel tight and restricted?
  2. How does this truth impact others?  Since we are all “one” and interconnected in both the obvious and many unknown ways, it is important to explore with curiosity how this truth is working in our daily lives.  Does this truth improve the quality of my relationships with my co-workers?  Does this truth hurt anyone in their body or on an emotional/spirit level?  Try to ask questions without judgement.  Just because a truth hurts other people doesn’t make it false, but it creates some space around the fact of it just to ask questions and to explore the entire picture.  Therefore, in questioning this impact on others, allow all the answers to be felt in your body and known to your heart-mind.
  3. Have you ever felt in a different way about this truth?  Allow yourself to acknowledge if there have been times that something different may have be true for you or just to see that this truth has evolved over time.  If there has been change over time, what has inspired the change?  For example, maybe you have never trusted doctors….they are just out to get your money, they prescribe medications unnecessarily, they don’t really care about their patients, etc.  But, in the past year, your parent became very ill and you found their physician to be a healing force for good.  Your parent’s condition improved and you had excellent communication with the doctor and felt cared for and listened to.  Well, it doesn’t mean that their aren’t bad doctors out there, but now you have had an experience that has shifted your truth to allow for a truth where SOME doctors are honest and compassionate and worthy of your trust.  Don’t feel ashamed if you find that the truth has shifted over time.  It is important to explore and be curious without judgment.
  4. Is there a version of this truth that is an expression of grace in my life and the lives of others?  Is there a version of this truth that allows for the humanity to be honored or dignity extended?  If there isn’t a version of this truth that expresses grace, then I suggest that you question if it truly is “satya”.  For, any spiritual truth must also be grace. If a truth diminishes a person or group of people and strips them of their integrity, their spirit, their heart, or their ability to move freely and express their karma and dharma in this lifetime, then it is unlikely to be true.  If you are holding a “truth” about yourself that holds you back from your full expression, then it is unlikely to be “satya”.  Sometimes, the least honest truths we hold are the ones we hold about ourselves and then project onto others.

In the forward to the second edition (1989) of M.C. Richards’ “Centering: In Pottery, Poetry, and the Person”, Matthew Fox refers to centering as “the process of righting things, of making justice happen (xiii).”  In our meditation and mindful movement practices, we center and calm ourselves.  The more centered we are, the more likely that we can explore a truth to come to a place of genuine satya.  Standing in mountain pose, we can take a deep breath and feel the soles of our feet reach infinitely through space and time into the ground beneath us (Is it really solid?  Who is holding who up?) and the crown of our heads expanding infinitely into space on our out breath (Where do we end and begin?  What am I expanding out into?).  In that moment, the truth is the breath.  The satya of breath is always there for us to ground in, until, it isn’t.  It seems important, while we have breath, to keep taking this opportunity to find grace and extend it to as many other people as possible.  Everything else can just fall through our open fingers, but an investment in satya will always provide high return.

 

Beautiful and Sensual

May 3, 2018
Posted by Sharon

I have been using essential oils in my practice and for self-care for many years.  It all started when I participated in some classes and workshops taught by Amy Galper and Schuyler Grant around yoga, acupressure, and aromatherapy about sixteen or so years ago.

A couple weeks ago, I received an offer from Utama Spice.  They very generously sent me a complimentary nebulizing essential oil diffuser with a bottle of their own Cajeput essential oil in exchange for my honest review of their products on my blog.  How could I say no?  Also, I very much appreciated the genuinely personal communication I received from Utama.  I made it clear that I would only write a completely honest review and they were in agreement with the conditions I presented to them.  As soon as I opened the package from Utama, I knew I was in for a treat.  The Danau Satu diffuser came in the most tasteful packaging with a floral decoration.  As soon as I pulled it out of the box I was amazed at how beautiful it was.  There is a wood base and a glass bowl and diffuser nozel.  While it is small enough that it can blend into any environment, it is also classy and ornamental in its sensual shape and design.  The instructions for putting it together were easy to follow and included just a few steps.  It is glass and needs to be cared for and maintained.  Replacement glass parts can be easily purchased on the Utama Spice website.

For me, like many parents, bedtime can be stressful as my children seem to resist putting the day down and their own exhaustion can be a barrier to welcoming nourishing sleep.  I decided to give diffusing some relaxing lavender essential oil into their rooms as we put on pajamas and started the bedtime routine a try.  The diffuser has a mellow LED light that provides almost perfect sleep light for children who may be afraid of the dark or resistant to complete darkness while they are falling asleep.  It’s a really pleasant light.  As soon as I turned on the diffuser, I noticed a very light “hum” of the motor, but it is a very quiet machine.  At even the lowest level of diffusion, my daughter’s room was almost immediately filled with the lavender oil scent.  This is very clearly explained in the instructions, but I must have missed it the first read through, so I thought that maybe the diffuser wasn’t working well when it just kind of stopped diffusing after the first minute.  I kept turning it on and off again when this would happen.  It turns out that it has an automatic cycle of diffusing for a while and then resting for a minute, then diffusing again.  And then, a miracle happened……..this was the calmest and most peaceful night we have ever had!  My daughter and I have been enjoying Kate Coombs mindfulness poems that are accompanied by the most magical of illustrations by Anna Emilia Latinen in the book, “Breathe and Be: A Book of Mindfulness Poems”.  So, we enjoyed this scented air and lovely poems and…..she just fell asleep.  No fighting, no complaints, no problems.  And, I woke up alone in my bed in the morning having found that my daughter had a most peaceful night of sleep where she remained in her own bed the entire night without waking me up or asking to get into bed with me—not even once!  After my daughter had fallen asleep, I unplugged the diffuser and put it in my son’s room and he immediately said that he liked the scent.  He also fell asleep without problems and as soon as he was sleeping deeply, I snuck into his room and took the diffuser back to my own space.

I added about 15-drops of an essential oil blend by Aura Cacia called “Meditation” that includes sandalwood, cedarwood, patchouli, and myrtle to the remaining lavender oil and diffused for 10-minutes into my practice space.  This is a really perfect diffuser for use in a meditation and yoga practice because it scents the air very quickly.  I felt that my space was energetically clear and peaceful before I even started.  I chose to turn the diffuser off during my practice, but depending on your personal preferences and choice of oils, there is no reason why you couldn’t leave it on for your entire practice.  The motor is so quiet that I didn’t even notice it and the glow of the light in the glass bulb would have made for a very calming way to light a night practice.

The next morning, I decided to give the oil that was provided with the diffuser by Utama Spice a try.  The cajeput essential oil is a very light herbal scent that has a hint of eucalyptus and tea tree oil refreshment, but is much less astringent or medicinal.  I found it invigorating for the morning, but it also created a very peaceful energy in my space.  I complimented this scented environment by drinking a cup of jasmine green tea and the floral and light green notes of the tea felt so joyful in that light and peaceful feeling space.  The scent of cajeput is very clean and bright and I am so delighted to have been given this opportunity to try it.

As much as I have enjoyed using essential oils for many years, this is the first time I have used a diffuser like this.  I am absolutely amazed with what a big difference it makes to use this Danau Satu diffuser!  Using a diffuser allows me to bring a significant scent into the environment in a short period of time and to either continue that level of diffusion or enjoy that shift in energy for a shorter period of time.  Also, it truly is a beautiful object that complements my meditation and yoga space and home.  In order to be thorough in my review, I did follow the instructions for a quick cleaning with alcohol that is recommended in the instructions.  It was easy to do and since this is such a lovely and useful machine, it is absolutely worth it to take a few minutes a week to care for it so that it will last for a long, long, time.  This diffuser was perfect for shifting energy in my home to promote restful sleep for my children, but was also ideal for scenting my practice space to prepare for a relaxing seated meditation with mindful movement.  I also use insense for this purpose, but that can be smoky and I liked being able to scent the air and then turn the diffuser off so that there wasn’t any smoke or oils in the air while I was practicing pranayama (breathing exercises).  It’s nice that I could choose to keep the diffuser on for up to two-hours so that I could also keep it on for an extended restorative yoga practice or yoga nidra practice.

I am so grateful to Utama Spice for this beautiful gift that has genuinely improved my quality of life.  If you are looking to buy a diffuser, while I have never used any others and can’t “compare”, I can assure you that this one is lovely, works incredibly well, and has features like a low motor hum and graceful light that make it ideal for using to create peaceful sleep and practice space.  I’m so pleased with this product that I’m hoping to try some of Utama Spice’s yoga mat sprays and other products very soon.  To buy your very own Danau Satu nebulizing diffuser, please follow the links in this review or head right on over to : https://utamaspice.com/danau-satu-nebulizing-diffuser/

Unicorn in the Sky and Other Magic

February 24, 2018
Posted by Sharon

Hello there dear!  It’s Bibliotherapy Saturday  and I decided to start today’s exploration with a magazine I don’t usually read.  Ever.  I decided to start with February 2018 issue of Astronomy magazine.  Why you might ask?  Good question!  It’s because there was a hook on the cover that suggested that I could “TOUR Monoceros the Unicorn” on page 60.  I love unicorns.  How could I resist?  Monoceros the Unicorn is the 35th largest constellation out of the 88 constellations and the figure lies within the “Winter Triangle: the stars Sirius, Betelgeuse, and Procyon.”  The short article then has some pictures of and features of the area around the constellation and notes what is special that you can see either with the naked eye under a dark sky or what kind of telescopic enlargement is required.  This kind of night sky exploration is what I had been hoping for when I signed up for a basic astronomy class in college.  Instead, I got a whole lot of physics and math that I didn’t have the background to do and wasn’t sure what any of it meant.  I don’t know about you, but I feel kind of excited about this Unicorn dancing around the Winter Triangle of our night sky!   Recently, I have also come across a number of books and articles that refer to star bathing, which is just like sun bathing, but under the night sky.  While it may be difficult, or even impossible, in urban areas to isolate from other light sources, I have to believe that, with intention, one can go outside in the night to absorb the light of the stars and receive some of the benefits.  And, if those stars happen to be in the shape of a unicorn……..that HAS to be some extra special and nourishing star bathing.

When I was designing the curriculum for my new Buddhist meditation and nature focused yoga teacher training program, I felt called to pull ecospirituality into my yoga and meditation practice and work.  I also read an article in the November 2017-January 2018 Womankind magazine today called, “The Gardening Effect” by Lucy Treloar that quotes a biologist by the name of E.O. Wilson:

“…nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.”

Wow!  Go ahead and read that a few times and think about how much time you spend outdoors, about the quality of water and food that you consume and make a part of your body. I love an essay/memoir in this magazine by Katherine Scholes about her time as a child following her father, a physician, on his travels through Tanzania before independence when it was called Tanganyika.  The memoir is called “Home in the Open Savannah” and there are fabulous pictures of the author and her siblings as children.  In many of the pictures they are holding up dead birds with huge smiles on their faces.  I think of my children all stressed out about school schedules and homework packets and spending too much time on their iPads and how different their lives will be for not having had this kind of adventure in childhood that the author describes, but also how different they will be for having the ones that they are having.  Because, it’s all an adventure.

Also in this magazine, Womankind (11/17-01/18) on page 93, there is a Tanzanian proverb:

“A wise person will always find a way.”

This proverb is interesting to me, especially completely out of context, as it brings to mind my knowledge of the Tao….which is a certain kind of “way”.  Perhaps a wise person always finds a path to the flow of spirit?  Finds a way to a path, any path that will accept their feet and they walk it until the path unfolds and things seem more clear.  Or, maybe it is an invitation to the power of intention, that once we are determined, we relax around that determination so that we can be creative about how to manifest our desire?  It would be interesting to use this as a positive affirmation when I feel like something is impossible to remind myself that there is, in fact, a way.  There is always a way.

Here are some other books that made it to the reading pile:

Attracting Songbirds to Your Backyard
By Sally Roth

Did you know that some songbirds won’t ever consider a bird feeder, no matter how well-stocked, to be a food source?  This book is filled with interesting projects for making and providing food sources for song birds to diversify the birds that come and serenade you in your yard.  I also learned a lot about birds that are native to other places other than the Eastern parts of the USA where I am most familiar with bird populations.  Invite the birds to sing to you this spring and summer!

The Art of Stopping Time: Practical Mindfulness for Busy People
By Pedram Shojai

I like this meditation book a lot. There are lots of little tricks and exercises for finding ways to be mindful through your day.  I especially appreciated the suggestions on learning how to relax your neck, learning animal tracks, and taking five deep breaths every thirty-minutes throughout the day.  Sometimes, a little shift in attention can make a huge difference in your quality of life.  This book offers a lot of suggestions on how to make little shifts.

The State of Mind Called Beautiful
By Sayadaw U Pandita

Well, this is a vipassana meditation book with a very interesting name.  But, the perspectives and techniques offered are inspiring and a great way to either begin a personal meditation practice or to inspire and enhance an existing practice.  I find that this book has a very unique discussion on the challenges that come up during practice, such as pain in the body and a wandering mind.  The suggestions offered for working with obstacles within and around practice are very helpful and creative.

Flavor: The Science of Our Most Neglected Sense
By Bob Holmes

Just fascinating!  I’ve always thought that flavor and taste were synonyms, but, it turns out, they are not the same thing at all.  This is a very easy to read book and I found the discussion on what gives vegetables their flavor, or makes us believe them to have flavor, especially interesting.  It turns out that sometimes, what we taste as being a very sweet tomato isn’t sweet because of sugar content necessarily—its the hundreds of volatile aroma molecules.  And, cheap wine tastes better when people are told it is expensive even when, in a blind taste test, most will think the cheaper wines taste better anyway.  So, pour that $10 bottle of wine into a carafe and tell your guests it’s a $90 bottle of wine…..to enhance their enjoyment!

What’s in your reading pile this weekend?  Please comment below.

 

Barbarians and Blockheads

August 19, 2016
Posted by Sharon

It’s always the same.
Barbarians and blockheads, rival queens and kings,
The drama rolls on and on.
When people honor you,
You are supposed to feel honored.
When you don’t get respect, they expect
You to sulk in indignation.
One minute you are cruising on a throne in the sky,
The next you are standing on some bleak patch of dirt.

~Yukti Verses #102, Radiance Sutras

This verse, part of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra translated by Lorin Roche in his book, The Radiance Sutras, has helped me to put into perspective the characters and actions that grace American politics and the local and global violence, destruction, hatred and greed that unfolds before me on the news, in my social media feeds and in discussion boards where my neighbors complain about a 2% increase in some tax or another.  It is, quite frankly, why I don’t belong to any “mommy groups”.  Quite frankly, I don’t care how you potty trained your little genius and I certainly don’t want to waste time watching an argument between strangers regarding the appropriate techniques to unfold before my eyes in varrying degrees of aggression, shame, and self-absorbed righteousness.  But, I digress!

It is important to recognize that we are not special.  This time is not particularly special either.  The first written version of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra appeared in Kashmir around AD 800.  The drama rolled on and on then and it continues to roll now.  I recently read Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, “Inside the Now: Meditations on Time” and he introduces the book with a very matter of fact listing of all of his little brother and older brother monks who were killed during the colonial war with France in Vietnam.  Young, un-armed monks, shot to death at temples and on the street.  What do we have now?  We have little children gunned down in their elementary schools, the victims of a storm of mental illness and a culture that accepts violence as quality entertainment.  We have marathon runners losing life and limbs and a heroin and opiate addiction problem and college students inebriated and using sex like a weapon against themselves and one another. We do nothing to help new mothers and families with young children, yet we are quick to judge and “click clack” our tongues when we see on the news that some napping mother’s two-year old toddled out the front door in a wet diaper—again.  We are asleep with our eyes open.

The verse ends with a great instruction in how to release ourselves from this cycle of ups and downs and the drama that rolls on and on:

I say, the Sun regards all with a steady eye.
The force sustaining Earth and Sky
Calls everyone to awaken from this trance.
This whole world revolves around an axis, and I am that.

When you are friends with the Friend to All Beings
Nothing is the same.
Rich beyond measure, abundant beyond counting,
You can move through this life laughing.
Opinions of others have no rulership over you.

The Sun Regards All With A Steady Eye

Sometimes, I like to use a visualization with the sun for a sort of quick cleanse.  I invite you to try it too.  No matter what is happening, while sitting or standing somewhere safe and somewhat quiet, feel the soles of your feet growing roots down into the earth.  Feel these strong roots as cool, wide, and deep.  Then, picture a sun, a glowing orb of yellow light, sparkling right above the crown of your head.  Feel the sparkly yellow light cover the whole outside of your body like a sparkle poncho.

Don’t roll your eyes at me!  Give this a real try, then, whether it works or not, start a band named “Sparkle Poncho” and give me a little shout out when you play your first Super Bowl half-time entertainment gig.  Better yet, why not send me a small percentage of the check in gratitude with a little note about how I changed your life and you can’t believe you rolled your eyes at first.  Now, back to the visualization…….

Let your skin soften and relax and feel the boundaries of your body ease into the safety of this bright light of covering.  You may find that all this relaxation has caused all the tension in your body to travel to a specific spot.  For example, you are all blissed out, but your jaw is clenched and mouth tense.  Or, maybe you are wearing your shoulders like earings. Try to let that go too.

Now, allow a gentle warmth to spread into the cellular body, filling your bones with this sparkly yellow light and then your organs and all the fluid of your body.  We are mostly water and you can see yourself like a glistening ocean in the sparkly sunlight.  Feel all of your opinions, identifications, ideas, commitments, priorities, attachments soften with each exhalation until all you are is sparkly light.  Know that this is the same sun that warmed the faces of your ancestors and shines upon all living beings.  Share in this light that is beyond time and space.  In this knowing and sharing, we can access our friendship to the “friend to all beings”.  We don’t have to like everyone or be friendly to everyone or act like someone we aren’t, but we can use this shared light from the sun to enjoy a moment of connection to the “friend to all beings”.

Finally, re-connect to the cool roots through the soles of your feet and feel that earthy energy as it moves up through your legs, hips, belly, spine, middle back, heart, shoulders, arms, hands, throat, neck and face. Enjoy this grounded feeling into your skull and whole head.  You have been cleansed of all negativity and fear by the sparkly yellow light of the infinite sun that shines upon us all equally.  You can not be swayed by winds of this time that attempt to yank you around in swift contradictions.  You are grounded in the truth of the timeless sun that shines equally upon us all.

Here is an MP3 recording of this visualization for you to listen to or download and play whenever you need it.  It is less than four-minutes long.  Just don’t play while you are driving, operating heavy machinery or trying to change a poopy diaper because all those activities require your full attention.

Barbarians and Blockheads

If you ask me to name some people that I think fall into the “barbarians and blockheads” category, I can answer you quickly.  Actually, the list is long and ranges from people I have known intimately to people I just see on television or read about in the Atlantic Monthly.  Recently there has been a video traveling the interwebs of a little five year old Syrian boy who is covered in dust and bleeding from a head and face wound and he is alone in an ambulance. He was in a building that was bombed.  We see this suffering and we don’t know what to do with it.  Even worse, it pulls our own history of suffering out of whatever cave it might have been resting in and chokes us.  We shout out in genuine compassion for this young child who is a victim of circumstances he certainly isn’t to blame for.  But, we also cry from this wounded place inside of us where we have held on to experiences that left us “standing on some bleak patch of dirt”.

Whenever we find ourselves “standing on some bleak patch of dirt” we have options.  I believe we have infinite options.  Sometimes I like to just stand there and sob and then send text messages to anyone I think might read them about how bleak my little patch of dirt is at the moment.  Many times these good friends take a moment to remind me of times when I empowered myself jump off that bleak patch and used that leap of opportunity to shift my enegetic geography.  Many times these good friends stand with me in solidarity and let me know that they see me there in that patch of dirt and, for what it is worth, I’m not alone.  I’m grateful for this message too.  But, Thich Nhat Hanh has a message that releases us from that geographic location of the bleak patch of dirt and provides the instruction that:

Each moment can be all the moments; each moment is an opportunity waiting to be seized.

If you feel that you have been wasting time trying to garden in a bleak patch of dirt or you know you are guilty of engaging with the barbarians and blockheads du jour, Thich Nhat Hanh says that this is ok because you can re-connect with the now.  In this moment, there is an opportunity.  Right now.  Each moment can be all the moments.  The Sun regards all with a steady eye.  Make friends with the Friend to All Beings.

REFERENCES

The Radiance Sutras: 112 Gateways to the Yoga of Wonder and Delight.  By Lorin Roche, PhD. Sounds True Press 2014.   The verse used in this blog post can be found on page 137.

Inside the Now: Meditations on Time. By Thich Nhat Hanh.  Parallax Press 2015.

This was written by Sharon Fennimore.  Please join me for an online course or a class or workshop.  Share this post and guided visualization with all your friends.  Subscribe to my newsletter and never miss a new post and get FREE access to my online course designed to help you clear emotional and physical clutter.

Buddhist Philosophy and Yoga Anatomy Workshops

August 9, 2016
Posted by Sharon
These workshops are no longer being held fall 2016. Please check back for future collaborations and check out Mark’s website for his teaching schedule.

Philosophy and Embodied Anatomy Workshops

I am honored to host our guest instructor, Mark Chandlee Taylor, the Director of BodyMindMovement to facilitate the following embodied anatomy workshops yoga students and teachers.  All workshops are held at Mookshi Wellness Center in the Regent Square neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  Sessions begin with an hour of practice and discussion of the required text with Sharon which will be followed by a short break and then three-hours of anatomy with Mark.  All workshops are from noon to 4:00 pm.  I recommend that students obtain a copy of “Awakening of the Heart: Essential Buddhist Sutras and Commentaries” by Thich Nhat Hanh and read both his translations and commentaries in preparation for discussions.  Alternatively, I have provided links below where you can find PDF versions of the required texts.

As space is limited, pre-registration is highly recommended.  Workshops are $45 when you register online.  If you are blocked from online registration, please email Sharon Fennimore with your interest and you will be added to the waiting list: sharon@yogamatrika.com.  If space is available on the day of workshops, you will be warmly welcomed for $60 drop-in tuition.

October 16, 2016 (SUNDAY)
Text: Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breath (Anapanasati Sutta)
Anatomy Focus: Anatomy of Movement & Bone

November 6, 2016 (SUNDAY)
Text: The Foundations of Mindfulness_ Satipatthana Sutta
Anatomy Focus: Knees, Hips and Pelvis

December 10, 2016 (SATURDAY)
Text: Heart Sutra (Prajnaparamita Hrdaya Sutra)/New Translation by Thich Nhat Hanh
Anatomy Focus: Spinal Anatomy & Alignment

I Am The Door

May 18, 2016
Posted by Sharon

Here are two common scenarios for me:

Scenario One: A Friend or Client is Stuck

This happens to me a lot and I guess it is an “occupational hazard” of sorts, but people come to tell me their stories when they feel stuck.  Many of my clients and students have tried everything, gone to every doctor, had all the tests, done all the treatments and they still don’t have the results they desired or the well-being that they were hoping for. I have friends that tell me about their stuck feelings in jobs, work relationships, personal relationships and just how they feel in their lives at this moment.  In many cases, though not all, a path to freedom seems clear to me, the observer.  When I first started this work, I was so delighted when I saw such a clear path because I assumed that if I could communicate it, then my clients could folllow my vision and get free fast.  But, what I immediately realized is that the clear path has always been present for my friend or client and for some reason, they aren’t going to walk down it.  Each of us has to keep putting one foot in front of the other and find that next step on our own.  In many ways, this has been my greatest challenge as an integrative health coach—-learning to walk beside my client offering insight and clarity, but not getting so attached to the “results”.

Scenario Two: I Am Stuck

Oh yes, I get stuck in the ditch of life myself quite often.  And, when I am down there in the darkness of the ditch, all I want is for someone to yank me out and say, “Girl, THIS is what you have to do right now.”  I want someone to provide me with direction, the next step, the right thing to do to get out of the ditch and back on level ground.  Except, just as in the case with my clients and friends, I also know that I would be unlikely to just accept and follow that advice, even if some magical force did yank me out of the ditch and tell me what to do.  It’s likely that I’m down there in the ditch with a shiny and solid ladder right in front of my face.  Why am I not climbing the ladder?  I don’t know.  Why aren’t you climbing the ladder in front of you?  You don’t know.

I AM THE DOOR

We don’t climb the ladder for a lot of reasons, but it is likely because of a spiritual issue, a karmic matter or a soul condition.  I don’t like to talk like this because we all want scientifically proven and documented treatments, cures and methods.  I don’t like to talk like this because as much as I am confident that it is true, I don’t actually know what it means.  All I know is that if you are down in a ditch, that there is a ladder in front of you and you aren’t climbing it because divine order wants you to sit down there a little longer.  Who knows “why”?  Maybe Divine Order wants you to climb up that ladder at the precise moment that you would meet someone walking along who will change your life in a profound way?  Maybe you need to be a certain age or have a certain amount of experience before you can accept what is at the top of that ladder?  It’s absolutely maddening to be in relationship with someone who isn’t climbing their ladder.  You know the friend I’m talking about, the friend who does nothing, day in and day out, but complain about their awful job, but they haven’t even dusted off the old resume to even consider a new job search.  Or, whatever it is…….joyless lovers, sullen sisters, tempestuous rascals….ditch dwellers!  All of them!

IMG_6947That’s why I can’t shout enough about how much I love, adore, admire and am inspired by these church doors in Philadelphia!  The ones that say, as if these red doors weren’t flipping obvious enough even to the legally blind, I AM THE DOOR.  Just in case you were wondering how to get in there, the path to God, to figuring out your relationship with the Divine with a capital “D”, you FOOL with a capital “F”—-I AM THE DOOR.  Because, this is the nature of the human condition.  The human condition is that all that we need is right in IMG_6946front of us, but we need to walk through the door, we need to take action.

The key though is not to think that the fact that the door is obvious makes it “easy” to walk through it.  If we aren’t ready, we can walk in and out of the doors as much as we like, but we will still feel stuck.  They key is being open to inspiration, transformation and the energetic shift required to open to joy.  This is the radical reason why we don’t do anything that is good for us.  I tell people I’m a yoga teacher and they generally have one of three responses:

  1. Oh, I’m not flexible.  I can’t even touch my toes!  I can’t do yoga.
  2. Oh, yoga……I NEED yoga.  I should do yoga.  Really, I am supposed to do yoga.
  3. I love yoga.  I take yoga classes all the time.

Yoga IS a transformative practice.  For the record, you don’t need to be flexible and touching your toes is neither a measurement of general flexibility nor relevant to the practice of yoga.  But, the second response is interesting because it means to me that the person talking knows on some level that practicing yoga would be transformative for them, but they don’t do it.  They are choosing not to walk through the door.  The unlocked door just sits there, closed in the cobwebs of their conciousness, but they aren’t going to approach it and open the door.  They don’t want to know.  “Knowing” doesn’t solve any problems and it might just create additional ones.  Yes, doing yoga can cause a lot of problems.  Walking through the door, coming up on the ladder—it’s messy, ugly and potentially going to rock the quiet little rowboat of your life.

My favorite is when people tell me that they “can’t meditate” because as soon as they sit down their mind starts to race.  News flash!  You know what this means?  It means that your mind is CONSTANTLY racing and you are just letting the distractions of life keep you from this fact.  Your mind didn’t start racing when you sat down, it’s just that you finally took a moment to observe your mind.  That racing mind of yours is causing all kinds of problems for you under the surface.  And, I’d venture a guess that it is causing all kinds of problems for you in your relationships, at work, with your diet and with your satisfaction with life.  You are eating when you aren’t hungry, making agreements you don’t agree to, buying things you don’t really want or need, signing gym contracts when you’ll never see the inside of that locker room, going on that second date with that guy who had too many drinks on your first date but you are really hoping it isn’t a problem and yet you know that it IS a problem…………..Yes, I’m suggesting that you sit there all uncomfortable with your mind racing and your stomach in knots and your shoulders all tied up and tense around your ears and your breath shallow and unsatisfying in your chest.  Just sit there and suffer.  Because that suffering is your door.  You can’t medicate it, avoid it, distract yourself from it, circumambulate it—all you can do is be with it.  Go through it.  See it.  It’s just as obvious as the fact that the red door is the door, yet that church leadership knows that they need to make it plain and simple regardless of how obvious it is.

I AM THE DOOR.

Written by Sharon Fennimore, a rogue anthropologist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  I love to travel, take walks and seek inspiration in my environment.  When I find something interesting, I share it on my blog and Facebook page: Pilgrimage Pittsburgh.

Creation Meditation

May 5, 2016
Posted by Sharon

I was doing some internet research on energetic wounds and back pain and happened across a recommendation for this “Creation Meditation” (this is a very feminine meditation, but it is made available to men as well) and you can also find an audio guided experience here (NOTE: the actual meditation doesn’t start until around 7-minutes into the recording).

Enjoy!

Written by Sharon Fennimore, a yogini teaching yoga, meditation and providing integrative health coaching services to women and families with young children based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Sign up for my newsletter and get FREE membership in my online community “Make Room” where you will get all the support you need to clear emotional and physical clutter.

Say What You Mean

May 4, 2016
Posted by Sharon

There is a short essay by Brian Doyle in the March 2016 issue of The Sun literary magazine titled, “The Way We Do Not Say What We Mean When We Say What We Say” (page 23) that suggests that, “Perhaps languages invent themselves and then have to hunt for speakers.”  When I read this, it made me think of a poem by Hafiz:

Your Beautiful Parched, Holy Mouth

A poet is someone
Who can pour Light into a spoon,
Then raise it
To nourish
Your beautiful parched, holy mouth.

(Translated by Daniel Ladinsky and found on page 59 of “I Heard God Laughing” 2006)

Many of you who have studied with me know of my fascination with the Matrika, the vibration of truth that finds its home in the central energetic channel of the subtle body.  It is the vibration of that which is most true and each of us has a unique symphony, that the human ear can never hear, yet is playing within us since the moment of our conception.  This truth, one that we can never speak with our mouths, is vibrating in every cell of the body.  We know that we are in alignment with this vibration of truth when we experience well-being, peace and a calm sense of purpose.  When we are out of alignment with our Matrika, we feel anxious, worried and find ourselves in comparison with others and failing to recognise our gifts and contributions to the life force around us.  For, the magic of Matrika is that all living beings are vibrating with their own symphony. When we witness someone who is intimate with their Matrika, we have a sense of their peace and it is a beautiful thing to see and feel.

Lissa Rankin, in her profound book, The Fear Cure, says that, “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80 percent of visits to the doctor are believed to be stress-related.  Yet …what is ‘stress’ if not fear, anxiety, and worry dressed up in more socially acceptable clothing?” (pg. 11, 2015).  If  friend asks us how we are doing, claiming we are “busy” or “all stressed-out” are not only socially acceptable, they are badges of being “responsible”, “productive” and “active”.  What would happen if we told the truth?  What if we said, “Well, I had a really nice breakfast and my kids are healthy, but I can’t escape this terrible nagging fear that I’m not living my best life and I’m simply terrified of everything, all the time!”.  If you were in alignment with your personal sense of truth, you would not worry, would not rush, would not feel a sense of loss even when everything around you is “ok”.

So, we medicate our anxiety with diets.  Food diets that support our greatest health and help us obtain our “ideal weight”.  Organization diets that support us in our scheduling, sorting, managing our stuff and our time.  Relationship diets that help us know what it is ok to ask for from our partners and what makes us selfish or unlovable and instruct us in how to schedule social time, date nights and be a really wonderful parent at the same time.  Beauty routines, exercise routines, and self-control so that we get enough sleep and wear just enough make-up to look alive enough to be “presentable” and we walk around like we are about to fall apart, but the package sure looks nice. As Ben Franklin said, “Some people die at 25 and aren’t buried until 75.”.  For many of us, hours, days and weeks….years!…go by and we are just trying to “get by” or “fake it until we make it”.  I’m no exception.

I will say that my yoga and meditation practice, over the last twenty-years, has become a barometer of my alignment with my Matrika.  I can tell when I need to attune to my inner guidance and find a more open ear for divine guidance.  I watch for patterns, repetitions, chance meetings and shifts in my energy, weight, flexibility and experience.  I notice my sensitivities to touch, smell and temperature.  If I start to have any physical symptoms, then I pay attention without judgment.  I go to places where they sell herbs, teas and supplements and I see what makes me curious and asks me to pull it from the shelf.  Just yesterday I bought some kukicha (twig tea) that I haven’t had in years and having a cup this morning it felt like my feet were more firmly planted on the earth.  Why twig tea? Why now?  It doesn’t matter.  If it feels good, tastes good, smells good, then I say, “More please and thank you.”.  I start to eat by desire and I pick out the vegetables that seem bright and joyful, try out a new cookbook that happens to catch my eye at the library.  I try to spend more time with people who are inspiring and less time with those who drain my energy. Basically, I sense into what I need to move forward in alignment with my purpose and true path.

What language has put its words in your mouth?  What scent, taste or environment is calling out to you?  What people and foods nourish you?  Say yes to what brings you joy and you will find yourself in greater and greater attunement to your Matrika.  If you are so lost that you don’t know anymore where the words you say orignated and you can’t taste your food and you can’t feel your joy, then do not despair!  For me, the first step to tuning back inwards is through movement.  I choose yoga and walking.  I love to swim and to dance, but these aren’t always possible.  I can do yoga and walk pretty much anywhere.  When I move, my thoughts roam freely without my judgement or commentary for my interior narrator.  After I move, I usually have a lot more thoughts about what I like or want more of.  I don’t pressure myself to take action.  Sometimes I just let the idea sit out there as a reminder that I have choices, that I have preferences, that I am a person who knows how to access joy and creativity when the time is right.  I’ll tell you, I’ve got an idea in my mind these days that I’d like to go to Portland, Maine.  I’ve never been there, but it has been calling to me.  There’s an aromatherapy workshop I would like to go to this summer in New York.  It’s kind of expensive and it’s before my kids are out of school, so it’s not convenient or probable, but it is out there.  Even if I never go to Maine or take the workshop, having these ideas help remind me of who I am.

Many of my clients come to me because they have lost this ability to dream, to desire, to open to the languages that wish to come to them.  I have sought out mentoring, training and counseling for this very reason myself.  Sure, we could put a label on “it” and call it depression or “the sadness” (as I like to call mine sometimes), but it’s really when the weight of ourselves, our lives, our fears and the desires and wants and judgments of others and ourselves has gotten so heavy that it has blocked the light.  The sound of our own personal symphony is muffled or stamped out.  But it can’t be stamped out forever.  Our Matrika is, in fact, infinite.  Our Matrika is patient.  Our Matrika will wait for you to step outside and walk around the block, to daydream, to write some words on paper, to color something, to imagine, to get on the plane, to say the “no” that really means “YES” to something else that you really, really, really want.  It’s like that brilliant Jim Carrey movie (2008), “Yes Man” where he has to say “YES” to everything.

I hope you sip the light from your spoon soon my dear!

Written by Sharon Fennimore, a yogini teaching yoga, meditation and providing integrative health coaching services to women and families with young children based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Sign up for my newsletter and get FREE membership in my online community “Make Room” where you will get all the support you need to clear emotional and physical clutter.

Everything Changes

April 16, 2016
Posted by Sharon

[I said to Suzuki Roshi,] “I could listen to you for a thousand years and still not get it.  Could you just please put it in a nutshell?  Can you reduce Buddhism to one phrase?”…He was not a man you could pin down, and he didn’t like to give his students something definite to cling to. He had often said not to have “some idea” of what Buddhism was.  But Suzuki did answer.  He looked at me and said, “Everything changes.”

~David Chadwick

For the past 24-hours, here in Pittsburgh we have been bathed in the light of the sun through clear blue skies. I feel the sun in the fluids of my body and, all of a sudden, my dreams seem possible.  When you live in a place that offers shades of gray (and not in the exciting way) for most days of the year, the light of the sun brings profound shifts in conciousness.  This shift is welcomed because it is warm, light and inspiring.  As much as this change in season from cold and dark to warm and light is welcomed, the truth is that at the end of last summer I welcomed the cooler air.  The abundance of heat had become stifling and I desired a shift towards cooler breezes and an internal retreat.  Therefore, it is neither cool or warm that is desired in and of itself, but rather the energetic shifts that come with those changes.

It is curious to me that I can see how these shifts in temperature and light and energies related to the seasons are important to my well-being, creativity and mind-body, but I hold on so tightly to so many things.  I worry about losing things.  I am terrified to lose people, either through death or natural shifts in relationships of all kinds.  My dog is very old.  She is such a sweet and loving soul and sometimes I feel my heart breaking just a little, tiny bit, even while she is still alive and well because I know this can’t go on forever.  My clients are terrified by global warming, their mortality, their mental and physical health concerns.  I feel my own suffering and that of others so deeply.  All of these sufferings and fears are rooted in my inability to embody the wisdom presented by Suzuki Roshi, “everything changes”.  When things are “good”, I am already suffering because I know that they will change and I wish I could hold onto that “good”.  When things are “bad”, I forget that they won’t walways be that way and I identify with that darkness as if it will go on forever.

A few days ago, I was standing outside of a building and a woman appeared who was searching for a medical office, but it seemed like she was at the wrong address.  I had my phone with me and offered to use Google maps to search for the address and see where it was in relationship to where we were and as I searched, she told me a little bit about her story.  You see, she was going to have her second open heart surgery in the next week and she needed to see a dentist before the surgery.  Somehow, she used to have dental insurance, but her health plan was switched without her knowing it and she no longer had insurance.  She was rushing around and trying to get the pre-surgical care she needed and she was upset and scared.  On top of her concerns about her health and having to recover from having her “chest cut open again”, she didn’t know how she was going to pay for the dentist and now she couldn’t even find the dentist that had agreed to see her without insurance. This is not healing.  This woman needed to be cared for, nourished and soothed.  I wanted to sit with her in a calm and beautiful place and help her visualize a healing surgery followed by an uncomplicated recovery.  I wanted to sit with her around lush greenery and nature so that the color of the heart chakra, green, was surrounding her and she could breathe it in. I didn’t want her to worry about the dentist or how she would pay for it or the pain.  It’s so easy for us to become completely absorbed by our own story and our own suffering that we forget that everyone is also experiencing these cycles of suffering.  Everyone.  No matter how much money you have, resources, education, or fancy shoes that match your suits……..it simply doesn’t prevent change.

My students know that I have been working with a gatha (meditative poem) by Thich Nhat Hanh for the past year and I believe it is the perfect way to work with this energy of suffering around change or to release attachment to change that is perceived as beneficial.  This poem brings a sense of equanimity.

Breathing in, I calm my body.  Breathing out, I smile.  Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is a wonderful moment. ~Thich Nhat Hanh

In his book of guided meditations, The Blooming of a Lotus (1993), Thich Nhat Hanh provides this same gatha with breathing instructions for each part of the poem:

  1. Breathing in, I calm my body.
    Breathing out, I smile.
  2. Breathing in, I dwell in the present moment.
    Breathing out, I know this is a wonderful moment.

In short:

Breathing in: CALM

Breathing out: SMILE

Breathing in: PRESENT MOMENT

Breathing out: WONDERFUL MOMENT

I hope you will find this simple poem and breathing practice as helpful as I do in bringing peace and equanimity into this moment regardless of our circumstances.  It is in this state of equanimity that we can also be compassionate to all other living beings as they navigate their changes.

Written by Sharon Fennimore, a yoga and meditation instructor and women’s health coach based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Please join my online community MAKE ROOM and learn how to meditate for clarity and peace. I’d so very much be delighted to have you join us!

Benefits of Reading Sutras

April 1, 2015
Posted by Sharon

This month, I am starting an online course called Radiant Heart and we will be reading a number of Classical Buddhist texts that provide guidance for both meditation and interacting with others that builds our capacity for happiness and joy.  This course is appropriate whether you identify with “being Buddhist” or not as none of the texts ask you to pray to a certain God or believe anything in particular.  Therefore, this course will not challenge your current belief system or commitment to a particular practice of religion.  Instead, the course challenges you to experiment with breathing, movement and mind practices that have the potential to change how you experience daily life.

In the preparation of this course I have come across a relatively new science: neurotheology.  Regardless of what part of this science makes sense to you or doesn’t, it appears that reading religious texts and taking the time to consider ourselves as living beings in relationship to higher power is good for our health.  I don’t know very much about this, but it is something that I am profoundly curious about because of the role that faith, in general, has played in my life.

My goal for this course is to help participants learn how to breathe, meditate and move in ways that create an improved sense of peace and well-being regardless of current circumstances.  Whether you have been practicing yoga and meditation for years or just feel curious, but have never tried to meditate, this course will be beneficial to you.  For yoga teachers, this course has the opportunity to earn 15 CEU credits for maintaining your registration with Yoga Alliance.  Find the complete syllabus, reading list and lecture and office hours schedule HERE.  This is an online course, so you can work at your own pace and all lectures are recorded so you can download the videos and watch anytime.

Course will be accessible on April 3, 2015, but you can register anytime before the course ends in June.  You will have access to the live events and office hours if you start in April, but everything is recorded and available online so you don’t have to worry about being able to keep to the schedule.  Start at your convenience and complete the course at your own pace.

Here is a list of the five texts we will be reading and exploring practices for:

Finding the Breath of the Heart
The Sutra on the Full Awareness of Breathing
Pali of the Anapanasati Sutta

The Heart’s Intelligence
The Sutra on the Establishments of Mindfulness
Satipatthana Sutta

Mindful Heart Practices
The Heart Sutra
Prajnaparamita Hrdaya Sutra

Radiant Heart
The Radiance Sutras
Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

The Sutra on Happiness
Mangala Sutta
Cultivating joy and abundance