Meditation is for the purpose of clarity. At least this is one of the purposes. Through this clarity of your mind you achieve awareness of yourself and the world. And, the Yoga Sutra would say, you achieve Vidya or wisdom.
We can learn a lot about how to motivate ourselves by learning more about our own personalities. A simple understanding of extrovert and introvert helps us to understand ourselves a lot better.
We all have ambitions. Whether big or small, we have desires to be good at something. Maybe it is something you get paid for or just a hobby but we all strive to meet our personal goals. We all desire to create something worthy of praise, something intelligent and original. The problem comes when we call on motivation to push us forward. Continue Reading…
Let me share something with you that God is showing me. Now I have to admit, it’s a little deeper than anything shared in the past but here we are together. Me feeling reflective, humbled, and empowered by God. You feeling curious, receptive, and hopeful. Continue Reading…
How many of us would agree that the many opinions on dieting and nutrition are enough to make us want to spit? Like many things in the world, there is a different expert with a different opinion, a different book, and a different fan club with a different slew of testimonials. It is frustrating! What do we do? Who is right? What is healthy? Continue Reading…
Ok. I have broken down and decided to share some recipes with you on occasion. I did not think it would be relevant at first but after further consideration decided vegetarian eating is a major part of yoga culture. And one thing that is so alluring to me is the challenge. Healthy vegetarian eating is not easy. It sometimes takes time, money, and creativity. But I like the challenge. Three years of practice for me and I am still learning all of the time. But what does help considerably are a variety of good recipes. Here is one I like. Continue Reading…
You will often hear the term mind-body in reference to yoga. This mindset is spiritual, almost mysterious in itself. From my experience this is an awareness of yourself so much that you find yourself able to achieve great strides in your postures. It is finding the mental connection to the pose; maybe it is confidence in yourself. I do not know but when it happens to you, it is mysterious.
Yoga speaks a lot about listening to yourself, listening to your body. Not pushing it when it feels pain but also, gently relaxing into poses. For those who do the same posture time and time again, and cannot move further, the key is sometimes relaxation. You allow the exhalation or relaxation that comes with your exhalation to lead you further into your each pose.
It always amazes me how they taught us to adjust people in postures. It only takes a light touch on someone to guide them where they already know to go in their postures. Yet you find yourself bending in ways you did not know were possible.
It is like they have some sort of invisible string attached to you and the lightest touch gives you the courage to try things you would not have tried before. And yet it was inside us all along.
We always heard when we were little, patience is a virtue. This is true but the older I get, the more I think love is the more difficult of the virtues. There is only so much I can do about patience.
I cannot speed up the natural process of things but I can make the choice to love or just survive.
Let me explain what I mean. Continue Reading…
How many of us still pray before meals? I know I don’t. I gave that up years ago. Yet as a child, I felt it an obligation as a Christian. It set me apart as a Christian in the school cafeteria. Oh. I got taunted for it but I chalked it up to “bearing my cross for Christ.”
As juvenile as that perspective was, I now see better reasons for prayer before meals. Why not slow down our meal process to mentally absorb what is on our plate? A yogi, Richard Alpert, shared his perspective from outside the Christian culture, in the yoga journal. Continue Reading…
I just recently learned some great tips on creativity from an artist. I would never consider myself an artist. I have the handwriting of a third grade boy and I can not cut or draw a straight line. But creativity goes so much deeper than arts and crafts. We are all creative beings. We prove this everyday with our lives. We each have a unique design in each of us, set by our Creator. And being made in His image, I believe we all have the potential to create. Whether that is a new marketing plan or teaching technique, whether a new ice cream flavor or line of clothing. We all are born to dream, to work, and to create. Continue Reading…
The world is spinning. It is filled with so much diversity. Each day brings a different meeting, with a new person, from a different lifestyle, and a different worldview. Science. Philosophy. Theology. Like children on a merry go round. And the more arms who join to push, the faster it spins. You look up at the sky to see colors and shapes blur into one single image of nothingness. Continue Reading…
