Healing, a poem by Danna Faulds

As we work with our practice on Santosha, contentment, we see that there are times when it is easy to feel contentment and other times when it is a struggle.  We want to find a path to contentment in all of those times.  Not to say that it is easy.  Or, to say that you just shake your head and say "snap out of it."  It is a worthwhile and deep practice to look deeply into our moments of delight and our challenging moments.  What is present in our body in those moments?  How is your breath in those moments?  What are the stories we tell ourselves in those moments?  Can we tune into a deeper place inside that can be witness to all of it, the place that can get really big and hold all of it?  The more we do our yoga practices of body, breath, and mind, the more smoothly and easily we can move to that channel that helps us find healing of pain, transformation of suffering, and Contentment.

Healing

There is healing in the laying on of hands;
in the letting go of fear, in asking for help,
in silence, celebration, prayer. There is
healing in speaking the truth and in keeping
still, in seeking sunlight and not shunning
struggle. Laughter and the affirmation of
wholeness hold their owwn healing.  When
the soul dances, when the day begins in
delight, when love grows and cannot be
contained, when life flows from moment
to moment, healing happens in the space
between thoughts, and the breath before
the first sung note.  Healing is a birthright
and a grace.   When we dare to be open to
the unknown, when we extend ourselves
in caring, when we welcome in the vast
expanse of life, healing comes from the
heart, and blossoms from the inside out.


pg. 50, Go In and In, Poems from the Heart of Yoga, (c) 2002

The Second Niyama - Santosha (Contentment)

How timely that on our journey through the Yamas and Niyamas from Pantanjali's Yoga Sutras that we land on Santosha - Contentment for the month of January.  As we look back on the year 2011, at our challenges and delights, we can try to put them in perspective to see how we continue to grow and learn from the unique path of our lives.  We can see how our lives are intertwined with so many others including family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and even those as far away as the other side of the globe.  Honoring our journey and realizing so many others share similar challenges, we can grow our compassion for self and other and come closer to learning the lessons we are given and seeing how we grow from each step along the way.  (See last post - poem Foundation Stones).  Below is a lovely affirmation on Santosha that comes from Kripalu Center for Yoga to help us deepen our practice and experience of contentment.

"I am content.  I am grateful for what I have and for what I don’t have.  I learn from the joys and the disappointments Life brings me.  I honor the good in myself and others.  I refrain from criticism and fault-finding.  I accept Life just the way it is.  I enjoy my Life!"

Foundation Stones, a poem by Danna Faulds

Perhaps we would like to take some time to look back on the year 2011 to notice our challenges, our joys, and how we have grown as a person in our bodies, in our work, in our relationships, in our contributions to the greater good of this world.  This poem revealed itself in a timely fashion to be shared in this morning's yoga class:

Foundations Stones

Here is my past--
what I've been proud of,
and what I've pushed away.
Today I see how each piece
was needed, not a single
step wasted on the way.

Like a stone wall,
every rock resting
on what came before-
no stone can be
suspended in mid-air.

Foundation laid by every
act and omission,
each decision, even
those the mind would
label "big mistake".

These things I thought
were sins, these are as
necessary as successes,
each one resting on the
surface of the last, stone
upon stone, the fit
particular, complete,
the rough, uneven
face of these rocks
makes surprising,
satisfying patterns
in the sunlight.

 pg. 26, Go In and In:  Poems from the Heart of Yoga

The First Niyama - Saucha (Purity)

For the month of December, we have been contemplating the first niyama - Saucha which can be translated as purity, simplicity, refinement.  We can begin our practice of Saucha in the body, looking at what we consume and how we take care of our body - aiming towards more often choosing purity of food and drink and maintaining practices that help us detoxify our body.  We can examine our thoughts and notice how the quality of our thoughts effect us.  Do we tend to go to negative thoughts?  Do we consume tv shows, magazines, websites, etc. that water our negative seeds, like anger, fear, worry, guilt, shame? or can we choose to take in things that inspire us and make us feel the deep joy and love that is our true nature?  Thich Nhat Hanh's translation of the fifth precept as the Fifth Mindfulness Training in the Plum Village tradition brings us back to these deep practices of Saucha - Purity, Refinement, Simplicity.  We can use this training as a north star to guide us on the path.  We know we are not perfect and we don't need to practice with guilt or shame.  We do the best we can and try to learn along the way.


Nourishment and Healing

Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of Nutriments, namely edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. I am determined not to gamble, or to use alcohol, drugs, or any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and conversations. I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing, healing and nourishing elements in me and around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment. I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being in my body and consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family, my society and the Earth.

 http://www.plumvillage.org/mindfulness-trainings/3-the-five-mindfulness-trainings.html


In the season of Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanzaa, we see the element of light in each tradition reminding us of our purity, of the divine spirit in each one of us.  We can use these reminders of the candles, the holiday lights, the prayers, to go deep inside to the witness consciousness, the wisdom, the sense of expansiveness and interbeing that brings us great peace.  Taking the time for contemplation and rest to go into our bodies, breath, and mind, to find the light within, to see first what obscures that light and open to find a path, ask for a path to clarity.  Then bask in that light, however small.  Breathe into it.  Fan the flames.  Let it grow.  And, let it shine.  Be the light, the love, the spirit you want to see in the world.  And, make it a practice to see the light in the other before you speak, before you act, before you make assumptions about them.  The more often we come back to our center, to our light, to what is pure in us, the stronger that energy or groove becomes and the easier it will be to witness our life from that place, to navigate our life from that place.  May we remember this, may we steadfastly do our practices to strengthen this, may we support each other with loving kindness on this journey.



Asatoma Sat Gamaya
Lead me from untruth to truth
Tamasoma Jyotir Gamaya
Lead me from darkness to the light
Mrityorma Amritam Gamaya
Lead me from the fear of death to the wisdom of immortality,
from attachment to what is temporary to the wisdom of what is eternal



Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu

Blessings of Peace, Love, and Ease of Living to you and your beloveds and to all beings!

You are invited to this Concert, Kirtan, Sound Meditation and Winter Solstice Celebration

"Hello Highland Yoga family...
DALIEN, AKA 13 HANDS CHECKING IN
WISHING YOU A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON.....
Coming back Saturday, Dec 17th 2011
hope you can swing by for this
Bru-ha-ha....and recharge your batteries for the upcoming
Holiday season....and celebrating the Winter Solstice and
Highland Yoga community....."
SATURDAY,  12/17/11
DALIEN, aka 13 HANDS
Concert, Kirtan, Sound Meditation and Winter Solstice Celebration
4- 7 pm
$35
HIGHLAND YOGA
BUTLER, NJ
http://highlandyoga.com


For those of you who enjoy chanting mantra and experiencing the vibration of sound and community, and for those who have never chanted mantra before, come have fun and go deep at the same time with this wonderful musician and yoga teacher who shares the teachings of the practice, mantra, and his own music in such a fun, profound, and beautiful way.


Hope to see you there!

No coming, No going

Here is a video of the song we sang for the month of November to help us look more deeply into the practice of Aparigraha (non-greed, non-possessiveness, non-attachment).  Read the blog two posts below this one for commentary on Aparigraha.

No Coming, No Going

No coming, no going
No after, no before
I hold you close to me
I release you to be so free
Because I am in you and you are in me
Because I am in you and you are in me

The Five Contemplations, for your Thanksgiving meal

The following verses are written by Thich Nhat Hanh, based on traditional Buddhist teachings. Reading them aloud is a beautiful way to begin a meal.

The Five Contemplations

· This food is the gift of the whole universe: the earth, the sky and much hard work.
· May we live and eat in mindfulness to be worthy to receive it.
· May we transform our unskillful states of mind including our greed and learn to eat with moderation.
· May we take only foods that nourish us and prevent illness.
· We accept this food so that we may realize the path of understanding and love.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh