Complementary Holistic Health Expo

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Time	Saturday, October 29 · 8:30am - 1:00pm
Location	West Side Presbyterian Church Varian Fry Way 6 South Monroe Street Ridgewood, NJ
Created By	Pat McGlade

We know what you're thinking? What is a Complementary Holistic Health Expo? Well, we can tell you what it isn't. It isn't an event that you attend where people tell you how nice you're outfit looks on you or how nice your new haircut is. Rather, it's an event where you can be given information from professionals on how to make you're body, mind and spirit tell you "Thank You." What could be better than that?

The West Side Church's Complementary Holistic Health Expo features:
-Yoga classes for adults and children 

(Note from Angela:  I will be teaching sessions at 9:15am and 10:15am.)
-Energy medicine
-Therapeutic Touch message therapy
-Chiropractor
-I Pad posture screening
-Zen Meditation
-IGM therapeutic acupressure
-The Healing Harp
-Spiritual Direction
-T'ai Chi Chih
-sound therapy
and more!!

We will provide three 45 minute sessions for you to experience and learn. This is a great way to ask, see, and feel what complementary health is all about!

*Some classes are limited by size, so a reservation for your time and spot is recommended. You are welcome to come even if you do not RSVP .

To see the flyer: http://www.westside.org/files/PDFs/flyerComplementary%20Holistic%20Health%20Expo-1.pdf

See a full listing of events here: http://www.westside.org/files/PDFs/Complementary%20Health%20Expo%20brochure.pdf

Register for classes here: http://www.westside.org/324816.ihtml

or email pat@westside.org. 201 652-1966 ext. 35 to leave a message.

Please send this on to your friends if you think they might benefit from this day! Thanks, and I hope to see you there!

**There will also be a blood drive for our area in the parking lot from 9:30 to 1PM. call 201-251-3703 for an appointment.

How do you manage your energy? (Brahmacharya)

This month we are contemplating Brahmacharya, energy management or moderation, the fourth Yama in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.  In our culture, we can use this yama to pause and consider what gives us energy and what depletes our energy.  So far in yoga class this month we've had some nice insights about this.  Noting how food, sleep, movement, breath, people, and mindset, are some elements that help support our energy.  We also noted how these same elements can be depleting to our energy.  So let us consider:

• What kinds of food do we eat?  Are we using food as fuel or as entertainment, distraction, comfort? 
• Are we getting enough sleep?  good quality sleep?  in a comfortable place and position that our body can truly rest and restore itself?
• Do we take the time to move our bodies?  Even when we are tired and don't feel like moving it may benefit us to "get the juices flowing" by going for a walk in nature or doing some simple yoga stretches.  If we start out slow, follow the messages from our body, and gently invite it to "wake up" we may find we have the energy for some sun salutations and warrior poses.  Remember the flow of a yoga class: warm up gently (use the six directions of the spine - cat and cow, side stretches and twisting), heat up to ignite your prana (life force energy), enjoy the vibration and glow of your true nature, and cool down to a relaxation pose to let the subtle vibrations bring you the peace and healing you need.
• How often do we bring our attention to our breath?  Simple breath awareness can help balance our energy by calming the mind and delving more deeply into the signals of the body.  Movement and breath help each other.  The more breath we invite into the body, the more energy we may have for movement.  The more we move and energize our body, the deeper our breath goes to respond to the movement.  In yoga class, we practice pranayama, the expansion of our life force energy, with special breathing practices:  sitali breath, alternate nostril breathing, kapalabhati, etc.  Each breathing practice has its own sutble effects on our energy body (pranamaya kosha).
• Who are the people in our lives who contribute to our feeling good, feeling love, feeling peace, and feeling joy?  Do we make time to spend with those in our lives who raise our vibration to a higher level?  Can we set better boundaries (physical, mental, or emotional) around those people who contribute to depleting our energy?  Are we making good choices in our daily activities to arrive in places where we meet people who inspire us?
• What frame of mind do we filter our lives through most of the time?  If we have reinforced a negative mindset over the years, it can take time to slowly change it.  We do have the choice and the ability to do this.  At the brain level, we create new neural pathways that are more positive and ignite more compassion, love, and joy.  We form the connection in our brain over time that helps us to see the struggles we have in this life as our work to grow and learn - not as a punishment or a signal that the world is a bad place.  In yoga, we talk about this as a samskara or a groove.  These samskaras are created and we get stuck falling back into them until we create new ones.  So with all our habits of body, breath, and mind, we can make choices to create new samskaras that we fall into more positive grooves.

How do you practice non-stealing (asteya)?

We have been chanting OM HRIM SHRI LAKSHMI BHYO NAMAHA this month.  This video from you tube is a beautiful recording of it and inpsired me to use this chant.  I was looking for a chant with Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance since we are contemplating asteya this month.  Asteya is the third yama from Patanjali's eight limbs of yoga from the Yoga Sutras.  It is translated to mean non-stealing or generosity.  We invoke the energy of Lakshmi to recognize the abundance we have in our life that we may transform our habits of stealing our own happiness with our negative self-talk, stealing others peace with our unskillful reactions to our own anger, frustration, and irritability, and lessening our impact on the earth / living more in harmony with the earth by increasing our mindful consumption.  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

When we create new habits of recognizing our talents and how amazing we are, we stop second guessing ourselves and criticizing others.  We stop internalizing other people's negativity as though it means something about us.  We give others the space to be themselves and deal with their own "stuff" while honoring our own boundaries.  We try to notice the blessings of each person we encounter, especially those with whom we have difficulties.  This can potentially lessen our suffering.

The more we get in touch with our truth (satya) through the lense of compassion (ahimsa) the more we are able to skillfully communicate our difficulties with others or decide it doesn't serve either party well to confront the matter.  This is not to say we will never communicate displeasure or confront someone.  (See previous post for excerpt on satya-truth)  Perhaps there are some occasions where not speaking up for oneself is in fact stealing our sense of our right to be here.  As in any endeavor we seek the middle path.

And, finally, how can we practice non-stealing with the earth?  Nothing will be a perfect practice in this human form.  Even if we are vegetarian to lessen the killing in the world, we still inadvertently harm insects when walking on the ground.  So we do the best we can with what we can in our lives to make an impact.  Perhaps we drive our cars less, eat less meat, recycle more, start composting, buy local produce, eat what is in season, etc.  

There are many things we can do and likely already do.  Let us acknowledge our efforts and continue to practice for the good of all beings.  Keeping in mind, we need to "put on our own oxygen mask first."  And, finally, I need to share again this wonderful sentiment of interbeing by Thich Nhat Hanh:

We are not better than the other.
We are not less than the other.
We are not even the same as the other.
We are the other.


PS  Please feel free to share your insights on non-stealing, abundance, generosity.  We learn and benefit so much from each others practice.

Finding inspiration and perspective when we need it

I have been wanting to share this excerpt from Reverend Jaganath Carerra's Inside the Yoga Sutras.  I read it in class a couple weeks ago and find it so helpful in doing the work of practicing Ahimsa (non-violence/compassion) and Satya (truth).  It is during these times of difficulty following a trauma like Tropical Storm Irene that we can find support in our inspirational readings whether they be the Yoga Sutras, the Dharma of the Buddha as written by Thich Nhat Hanh, the Bible, or others including secular authors.  Whatever speaks to you and helps give you perspective and comfort. 

"Truthfulness measured against nonviolence.  Ahimsa is the first yama Sri Patanjali lists and so is the touchstone for determining behavior.  Even truthful words, if they cause harm to another, should not be spoken.  However, before giving up our course of action, we could consider if there is a more auspicious moment for doing what is needed, or a more appropriate approach.  In any case, it is always advisable to do some soul-searching to determine if the desire to act is motivated by an interest in the welfare of others or by a need to vent our frustrations or punish someone with whom we have problems.  Motives that are tainted by selfishness obstruct the experience of the Self by maintaining or strengthening the influence of ignorance over the mind.

 How can we tell if we are doing harm or just causing temporary discomfort?  First, we need to discriminate between the two.  Discomfort indicates the struggle of the individual to adapt and adjust.  To do harm is to destroy or inhibit proper functioning.

We know that there are times (such as when teachers discipline misbehaving students) when words can cause pain but the intent ultimately brings benefit.  The opposite is also true.  There are times when people use sweet words (as in con games) in order to deceive others.  Their behavior may feel good at first but will cause harm later.

We may not experience the consequences of our actions until much later.  If we do not know the nature of the tree, we need to wait until it bears fruit.  In order to perfect truthfulness, yogis need patience to observe the ultimate outcome of acts, clarity to make the proper assessment of their outcome, and accurate recall not to forget the lessons of experience.  Fortunately, patience, clarity, and good memory are also products of the Yoga practices."  --page 132

Our practice of Ahimsa and Satya is so important as we repair any damage and do whatever clean up is needed from the recent storm.  We are faced with discerning whether discomfort, maybe extreme, or harm has been done to us and notice if we can find our resources to adapt, adjust, and grow given this opportunity.  All along honoring our truth to take care and pace ourselves as we need to, remembering compassion for self and others in our daily interactions since stress is high and we may struggle to remain skillful with our speech and actions. 

Connecting with our sangha (our supportive community) is so important in these times.  It has been an honor to share the practice in class both before the storm as we tried to settle our minds and prepare for what was to come as well as after the storm, coming together as a community for support and to check in with one another.  I felt blessed to have the opportunity to join my sangha for meditation tea ceremony on Monday evening and left with this wonderful quote of Thich Nhat Hanh shared by my dharma sister, Jan:  "We are not better than the the other, we are not less than the other, we are not even equal to the other.  We are the other."  We can gain perspective from such a sentiment and be inspired to send our thoughts and prayers to others in this time.  We may like to chant Ra Ma Da Sa Sa Say So Hung, a powerful healing mantra, to send those wishes to all beings and the earth and atmostphere that we may live in harmony with each other.

I will close with one of my favorite poems by Danna Faulds from her book Go In and In:

Let It Go

Let go of the ways you thought life

would unfold; the holding of plans

or dreams or expectations - Let it

all go.  Save your strength to swim 

with the tide.  The choice to fight

what is here before you now will

only result in struggle, fear, and

desperate attempts to flee from the

very energy you long for.  Let go.

Let it all go and flow with the grace 

that washes through your days whether

you receive it gently or with all your

quills raised to defend against invaders.

Take this on faith: the mind may never

find the explanations that it seeks, but

you will move forward nonetheless.

Let go, and the wave's crest will carry

you to unknown shores, beyond your 

wildest dreams or destinations.  Let it

all go and find the place of rest and

peace, and certain transformation.

The second Yama: Satya (Truth)

Here is an affirmation to focus on Patanjali's second yama from the eight limbs of yoga: 

"I live in truth.  I speak the truth to myself and to others (when appropriate).  When offering my truth in the form of feedback I am sensitive to the feelings of others; I speak in the spirit of love.  I also take responsibility for my actions.  I do not blame anyone for my experience; I honestly see my own part in every situation."

When practicing the second Yama, we need to remember the first:  Ahimsa (non-violence/compassion).  If we speak our truth in a way that is mean, we are not making our best efforts on the path.  So we need to find a way for Satya and Ahimsa to coexist.  Let us be reminded of the affirmation for Ahimsa:

"My thoughts and actions are focused on loving awareness.  I nurture and cherish myself and others.  I am aware that the mind sometimes entertains thoughts of fear, anger, or selfishness but I do not get caught in these thoughts or act upon them.  I accept without judgement any uncomfortable mental states.  I release them and return to gently, non-violent expression of my energy."

When we want to speak, we can consider the following sentiments before we do:

"Is it true?  Is it kind?  Is it necessary?"   -- Sufi saying

"Most people will not remember what you said or what you did.  But they will remember how you made them feel."   -- Maya Angelou

"If in doubt whether to observe Ahimsa or Satya, always go with Ahimsa."   --Swami Vivekananda

A Powerful Healing Mantra

Ra  Ma  Da  Sa  Sa  Say  So  Hung

"The sun, the moon, the earth, infinity.  Totality of experience, I am Thou."

Our chant for this month reminds us of the buddhist concept of interbeing.  Thich Nhat Hanh writes beautifully about this in his book, Peace is Every Step.  Could you exist without the sun, the moon, the earth?  What do you feel inside when you contemplate the awesomeness of the sun? the light of the moon? the support of the earth?  Do you know that you contain those qualities of the elements in nature?  Within us, we have the power and self-effulgence of the sun; we have the light and cooling quality of the moon, we have the regenerative power of the earth and the ability to transform difficulty (garbage) into wisdom and beauty (flowers).

As we contemplate the second yama, Satya - truth, we remember these universal truths to help us navigate our difficulties and to enjoy moments of delight.  We take the time to notice what is true for us in the body, with the breath, and in the mind.  We take care of our body with yoga, healthy food, water, and rest.  We take time to breathe fully, deeply, slowly, to help care for the body by oxygenating the blood and regularly releasing all the carbon dioxide in our lungs.  As we care for our body and breath, we are preparing the way for our mind to become calm and clear.  In those moments when the mind is clear and calm, we can see what is true in our "wisdom body" - our intuition - vijnamaya kosha.  This is where we tune in to find our truths, get clarity about our path in this life, and open up to the possibility for them to manifest.  When we align these layers of body, breath, mind, and wisdom, we easily feel the quality of interbeing, the sense of expansiveness and connection to all that is, the bliss body - anandamaya kosha.

Remember we are not alone.  Our sangha is all around us:  our yoga class, our family, our pets; the sun, the moon, the earth; the trees, the flowers, the birds; the rain, the snow, the wind; the streams, the lakes, the oceans.  Wow!  There is so much awesomeness around and within you!  Let us remember and take it all in.

Ra  Ma  Da  Sa  Sa  Say  So  Hung

"The sun, the moon, the earth, infinity.  Totality of experience, I am Thou."

Love Meditation*

The following is from Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book.

May I be peaceful, happy, and light in body and spirit.
May I be safe and free from injury.
May I be free from anger, afflictions, fear, and anxiety.

May I learn to look at myself with the eyes of understanding and love.
May I be able to recognize and touch the seeds of joy and happiness in myself.
May I learn to identify and see the sources of anger, craving, and delusion in myself.

May I know how to nourish the seeds of joy in myself every day.
May I be able to live fresh, solid, and free.
May I be free from attachment and aversion, but not be indifferent.


"We begin practicing this love meditation focusing on ourselves.  Until we are able to love and take care of ourselves, we cannot be of much help to others.  Next, we can practice towards others (substituting he/she or they), first with someone we love, next with someone we like, then with someone neutral to us, and finally toward someone who has made us suffer."

 * Adapted from the Visuddhi Magga.  For other practices to nourish love, see Thich Nhat Hanh, Teachings on Love (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1997).