Fall Teaching Schedule

FALL SCHEDULE!

I am happy to announce the beginning of something destined to be beautiful! I have partnered with Emily Arger of StudioFit here in the Valley to bring you MORE full length (90 minute) yoga classes influenced by the teachings of John Friend and the method of Anusara Yoga.

Beginning Wednesday, September 8th I will be teaching at StudioFit:

Wednesdays 6:30-8:00 PM (Mixed Levels...all are welcome!)
Fridays 9:30-11:00 AM (Mixed Level)

At the Valley YMCA (unchanged):
Sunday 2:00-3:30 PM (Mixed Level)
Tuesday 10:50-11:50 AM (Mixed Level)

Thursday 10:50-11:50 AM

At the 4th Avenue Spokane Club (note time changes):
Monday 10:30-11:45 AM (Yoga Therapeutics)
Tuesday/Thursday 9:00-10:00 AM (Mixed Level)

I am also available for private therapeutics and full-length yoga classes for individuals or small groups. Please contact me.

Thank you for your studentship! Happy FALL!

LOVE!

Theme Intro "Looming our Tapestry"

Funny. Really. Who KNEW?!

Today, my yoga theme was completely inspired by a song that anyone would NOT associate with yoga...yet, I felt it so COMPLETELY in my body that I had to share it. That's right. This song tells the tale of my journey to where I am right now...in life. In yoga. And, I dedicate this rendition entirely to my teachers...particularly John Friend...who, I believe, would thoroughly appreciate the humor in converting this hard rock (and not ENTIRELY inappropriate) song into that of devotion and gratitude. Yeah...I had a bit of fun. It's corny...but, truly IS what happened (and continues to happen) to me. I WAS Thunderstruck!

Shaktified
(to the tune of "Thunderstruck"...many thanks to Bon Scott and the other, lovely members of AC/DC...ROCK ON!)

I was Caught
In the middle of a railroad track (Thunder)
I looked round
And I knew there was no turning back (Thunder)
My mind raced
And I thought what could I do (Thunder)
And I knew
It was all ‘cause, all ‘cause of you (Thunder)
Sound of the guns
Beatin' in my heart
The thunder of guns (it)
Tore me apart
I’ve been - Shaktified (Thunderstruck)
[Rode | Went] down the highway
Broke the limit, I hit the town
Went through to Texas, yeah Texas
And I had some fun
I met some Dude
Some yogi who knew a good time
Expanded some old rules, They were really COOL
Yeah, yeah, they, they, they blew my mind
I was shakin' at the knees
Could I have found peace?
Yeah this yoga was sublime
I've been - thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Yeah yeah yeah, thunderstruck
Yeah
Oh, thunderstruck, yeah
Now I'm shaking at the knees
One more time again please?
Thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Yeah yeah yeah, thunderstruck
Thunderstruck, yeah, yeah, yeah
Said yeah, it's alright
We're doing fine
Yeah, it's alright
We're doing fine
(So fine)
Thunderstruck, yeah, yeah, yeah,
Thunderstruck, thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Whoa baby, baby, thunderstruck
I've been thunderstruck, thunderstruck
Thunderstruck, thunderstruck
I've been thunderstruck

New York Times article...blah, blah, blah, blah, blah...

Interesting conversation today. With a student. On the subject of Anusara yoga. Hmmmm. Student had read the recent NYT article about John and wasn't enthusiastic about practicing a method of yoga that he interpreted as highly "commercialized." Hmmmm. I found my temperature rising a bit...(being the firey girl that I am...) but, I took several deep breaths as I nodded and "hmmmm'd" along with his explanation. Yes, I'd read the article too. Yes, John Friend is my teacher. Yes, I do my best to align my classes with the Anusara method. Yes, Anusara is growing. No, it certainly is NOT about the money or fame. Is John a mogul? Hell if I know...I don't really know what that word means, but what I do know is that John is a VERY astute business man. And, well yeah...he's an American. And, yeah...he's really good at marketing. Yeah...he's REALLY brilliant at yoga. And yeah, he's one of the scant minority who has developed a way to support himself through doing what he loves...yoga. Wow. So. While I initially felt a bit defensive of John...instead of going to that place...I asked "Bob", "So, have you enjoyed my classes?" Bob, "Yes. Very Much. But, if I would have read this article before attending one of your classes I don't think I would have given Anusara a chance." By the way, let me just add that "Bob" has been traveling well out of his way at least once a week to attend my classes (...taking the place of a more convenient location and class) to receive the teachings that have been put in place, by none other than John himself (and, yes, I OFTEN refer to my teachers by name...)

I didn't need to defend Anusara (so I didn't.) Or John (so I didn't.) The teachings and the method speak for themselves. So, us John "groupies" ...well...we'll just keep on doin' what we do...shining our light with an open heart...and, well...y'all know the rest :D ...

...We'll just SHAKTIFY THE HOUSE!

Shine on

As the Heavens are reflected

in the mirror of the Sea,

I am reflected within You.

As the sheen of glass mirrors

the neighboring Shrine,

You are reflected within Me.

As the Moon glows with
the veiled light of the Sun,
We are the shared
luminosity of Perfection.

Divine connection without condition

we are the image of Supreme Love.

The purity of our Spirit

cannot be masked

by the transience

of Mortality.

Together, reflected, we are the Effulgent,

Sacred embodiment of Love.

Main Street Yoga, LLC lives..

A little over a year ago, the space at 20 W. Main in downtown Spokane known as heart-centered Main Street Yoga was put to rest. Literally, to sleep. The teachers and students who were the heart of our little studio moved on...the former to other venues of teaching and the latter, to other teachers or venues of teachers. But, the essence of what was (and remains) Main Street Yoga lives NOW and will rise again in the form of a studio when the stars are aligned appropriately and the Universe offers It's auspicious blessing. Until then, you will find our teachers throughout the city of Spokane and as far away as Palm Springs, California (Love and miss you, Scottie!) teaching privately and in studios, colleges and health clubs. Although I was the "director" with my name on the lease, it was all of the teachers and the students that were the Shakti of Main Street Yoga. The power, will and LOVE. To you all, I offer my deepest gratitude.

Lot's of love to you,

Kim

Carrying on the tradition of heart-centered practice, I continue to offer yoga classes in Spokane at the following locations, and private sessions by appointment:

Sunday: Valley YMCA - 2-3:30
Tuesday: Spokane Athletic Club, 4th Avenue (Valley) - 9-10:15 am
Valley YMCA - 10:50 - 11:50 am

Thursday: 4th Ave Spokane club - 9-10:15

Non-Yoga Classes
Monday: 4th Ave - Pilates - 10:30-11:30 am
Valley YMCA - TRX Basic Power Drills - 12:15-1 pm

Interested in private sessions, call for appointment 509-869-0817

Preferences

Coffee over tea. Broccoli over cauliflower. Chocolate over licorice. Orange over green. Snorkel over scuba. Arctic over tropic. Old over young. Books over television. Humor over drama. Outside over inside.

These are just a few of the ways I roll. They haven't changed much over the years...until now. I suspect many of my preferences are melting away due to the 'path' racing up to meet and greet me at an ever-increasing (and somewhat mind-numbing, stomach-churning) pace. I don't care so much anymore if my 'preferences' aren't met. No...REALLY! My attitude (heh heh) has slowly become the cliche' that I've DESPISED for years (due to the 'stoner' class I used to find myself surrounded...and annoyed...by during the impressionable era of my formation...):

"Hey maaannnnnn, it's ALLLLLLLllllllll gooooooodd." (insert lopey grin here)

It still irritates the hell out of me when I hear it (ever so subtly now, of course, as I've begun to learn how to be as a 'seeper hose' and let all the negative Shakti dissipate gradually out of my pores...)

Yep. Preferences are like opinions (...a slight variation of a saying my husband likes to use...) "Everybody's got one..." or a million. And, the challenge is in not letting them "stink" up the experience when I don't get 'em. In not making my preferences judgments. Well. Okay then. Chocolate's cool, but I'll take some licorice. I like rockin' with the grandmas and grandpas, but I'll hang out on the monkey bars with a kid or two.

So, yeah. You bet. This Tantra. It helps me REALLY see the sparkly awesomeness of it ALL.

Well...almost all. The jury's still out on mosquitos.

The Devil in Prana

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company ...a church ...a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past ...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude ...I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes."

Charles Swindoll

For 3 weeks, I've been stumped. Iccha Sakti Uma Kumari...'kay. The only personal interpretation that I have been able to come up with goes something like: Whatever I want...if I want it bad enough...I will MAKE it happen. Through my energy...the power of my intuition. Okay. So. Good enough. It's true! It's happened. Playfulness and all...even things that don't appear very "playful" at the time. Death. Disease. Poverty. Failure. Divorce (or, near divorce.) Break-ups. Looking back, everything that has happened in my life has been willed by my thoughts. No kidding. You know, it seems whack-daddy. I know. I'm a little bat-shit crazy...so having something like this erupt from my pitted and pocked mind is no surprise to those who know me well. But. This "theory" I believe. Because I've lived it...and been able to trace every occurrence to a particular thought (or series of thoughts) that I had. Yep. And, the CRAZIEST part of it all is that it wasn't so much the thought itself but the TONE or ATTITUDE I had at the time of the thought. I KNOW! Flippin' nuts! The playfulness of Uma...hmmm. 'kay. It all goes back to spanda. You know. One person's idea of Heaven is another's Hell. I think I've danced with the Devil a time or two (...really?...well. Who hasn't? I wanna know...) And...enjoyed EVERY torrid minute (or lifetime) of it...right? You see...playfulness is perspective. Attitude is everything...the road to Hell is paved with Good intentions...A cat plays with the mouse it eventually kills...cliche' after cliche'. I get it. Sort of. Though, tomorrow it will look different to me. Here's what I resolve: Observe my attitude. Get less of a bad one. Combat (or at least tussel with) my ridiculous ego. And...give my husband more attention. Which would mean, in a nutshell...give MORE of myself to those closest to me. Play more. You know. Dance. More.

Flashes

My oldest daughter has informed me that she fully resents my disposition toward exercise. Yoga is at the top of her list...though we all know that yoga is FAR more than physical exercise. She can't see that...yet. One day, she may change her mind but right now I don't really talk about it with her. She gets touchy and cuts me off if I begin to defend the practice. She wants to NOT talk about it. See it. Hear it. Read about it. Yep. She's closed herself completely off. She's a stubborn one, that girl. But, I know from experience that she isn't impossibly so. She told me that she would NEVER go skiing. (She had her one and only bad experience at age 5 and insisted that it would always be like that...) And, she found a new love for it when it was a required part of her school expedition this year. Ah. Yes. Gotta love it.

I feel the same way about "flash in the pan" fads. Resentful. Rebellious. I've always stood by the 'tried and true', classical things...in fashion and fitness. It even carried over a bit into electronics. But, every once in awhile, a 'fad' grabs me and I'm a fan for life. I've ALWAYS loved short boots (remember the 80's scrunch boots...they were SOOO cool!) I've always known that a person needs to exercise at least 60 minutes a day (with at least 30 minutes of that cardiovascular conditioning...) I'm sorry, but there really is NO shortcut to health. You must MOVE YOUR BODY. But, occasionally, something new comes out that just blows my MIND. Right now, that is the TRX functional training system. It's really not a new concept, suspension training has been done in a variety of ways since I can remember (let's see, without dating my self, that would be 1974 at age 5 when the over-the-door stretchy band thing was big...we even owned one.) But, my favorite part of the workout is the varying intensities...without huge, time consuming modifications. I can go from REALLY easy to REALLY challenging in less than 3 seconds (typically.) And it is so portable. I sound like an ad for the company "Fitness Anywhere" (I promise that I am in no way receiving monetary kick-backs from this...) You can do every single exercise on the TRX (in one variation or another) that you can do in the gym with free weights. I love it. We're getting one for our home. I showed my husband some of the exercises on it the other day and he was impressed at how much of a challenge it could be...with just two simple straps of webbing and a 'biner. Yeah, baby. I also love that all your using is your own body weight, gravity and lever length.

So...while my oldest girl is defiantly opposed to my teaching her meditation and asana, I know she'll get a big kick out of hanging from the ceiling like a circus freak.

"It's a BEAUTIFUL day!"

Astonished. I am incredibly happy. Joyful, even. Intense, yeah. Severe, maybe. Offensive, whatever...probably. But/and/also...blissed out. "It's a BEAUTIFUL day!" My new mantra. Strangely, repeating it in my head, out loud, or on Facebook makes it completely true. The inspiration for this is a wonderful man that has been personal-training my husband. His name is Ben. He says "It's a BEAUTIFUL day"...every day. Every session. He makes everyone smile...and BELIEVE that it truly is a beautiful day. What is so amazing to me is the existence of people like Ben and his wife, who are so authentically pure, joyful, GOOD spirits. It makes me laugh when I think how hard I work at being what they are so innately. It's FUNNY. Really. But, I find humor in everything. I laugh. A lot. Mostly at myself, 'cause I think I'm pretty funny (...but, I also think I'm a rockstar...) I realize that the joy I find in everyday things makes me super woman. No kidding. If I'm rockin' the smile, feelin' the beauty in the day...I am UNSTOPPABLE. It takes years off of my true age. I can run with the big dogs (well...I can TRY to keep up with Heather, but I think she, too, has found the beauty in the day and the joy in little things...) My life hasn't been easy. I haven't made the best choices. But, astonishingly, all of that doesn't matter...except that it's led me to the joy I find in the easy-ness of my life. The sparkle of my husbands eyes (they DO sparkle...) and the supreme wisdom of my youngest child (she is an old-soul for sure...) And the sweetness in the spirits that surround me EVERY day. Yeah. This life is a good one. A BEAUTIFUL one. Rock on.

Me breathing...

Just relax. Prana will flow. This week has been an amazing adventure into the realm of breathing. My most outstanding revelation has been this: When I pay attention and observe my breath, all negativity leaves my mind and body. My back body softens. Everything slows down. Dancing with the Goddess. Not my nurtured tendency to Jitterbug...but, my NATURAL tendency to Waltz. Goddess. All is the Goddess. Yes...

I've seen a lot of death. I've witnessed innumerable 'last breaths'. One thing is common...the slowing, the shallow reduction of inspiration. To share the last breath of someone is sacred. Like a birth...quite. I haven't been hardened by deaths...at all. A last breath is a testimony to the life a person has lived. Holy. Unrepentant. You bet. At that moment, the spirit knows what a carnival mortality is. Whether they've ridden their years on the Ferris Wheel or the Zipper...or a bit of both...the stamp on their hand STILL gets them in...wherever "in" is.

conundrum of polarity

Two sides. That's me. Gemini. ALL THE WAY. I forgot about that a bit, during this journey in yoga. Yesterday in my advanced immersion kula, I was abruptly reminded of my own duality. Not in a terrible way...somewhat disturbing, yes...but ultimately bearable. Everyday life is systematic...I might even say routine (gasp!), but when I am holding space within my study circle I discover the polarity of my experiences. In yoga. As a teacher, I am confident in front of a class. Solid within the teachings I've assimilated. Steadfast in my determination to pass them on. Being in the Seat is a fabulous challenge for me...the preparation involved in developing my theme and sequence is completely engrossing. I chant. I journal. I chant. I study. I write. I chant. It is not without significant dedication that my class is "born". But, as I sit in Kula. Among my "peers"...many of whom are significantly more practiced and studied and wise...the soap that is doubt bubbles to the top, nearly washing away all of my confidence as a 'teacher'. It is with deep appreciation and reverence for the teachings that I sit amongst the circle, and my love and devotion only grows stronger...with every second. As for my ego, well, it disintegrates ever more minute by minute. Yoga is a work in progress...as are we. Finding joy...amidst the suffering of life. The inescapable pain is, ultimately, what leads us (like a horse to water) to the bliss. So, yeah. My study. My "self" observation hurts. A lot. But, in a way it's like the scab that you can't resist picking. Or itchy eyes that you can't escape rubbing. The pain is kinda good. I can't help it. I keep coming back for more. But, unlike scab-picking and eye-rubbing, I KNOW that it's good for me...in the long run. Immediately, it feels like torture. My mind is a garbage-heap of questioning doubt: "Who the HELL am I kidding? I don't know SHIT! How can I call myself a yoga teacher!??" But then. I leave kula. My life returns to it's cycle. I sit. I journal. I chant. I study. I chant. I pause. I breathe. I know. I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing. To the capacity that I can be doing it. There is a minor amount of ego...but not so much that I'm unaware of my frailties. Not so much that I will not admit my fallibilities. And NEVER so much ego that I can not feel compassion, love, and empowerment for the lovely beings who sit with me and share the space we call "kula". To them, I am most grateful.

Making Meaning

Ishvarapranidhana. Faith that gives my life substance. Belief that there is a grand Cause of all that is this Universe. Making meaning happen in the mundane occurrences of daily living. Donna Farhi says if we insist upon believing we are the controlling factor...life itself can be meaningless and empty. Especially when “things” fail to go the way we want them to. It’s the spiritual element to life...the prime facet that makes us much more than instinct-driven mammals. That which gives meaning to our movements, actions, relationships. When life’s experiences, accomplishments and trials are given the understanding of being somewhat influenced by a greater Force, we can accept fully our journey as having purpose...whether or not we understand the “why” is what gives our life mystery. It is not fatalism. We still have a choice, and each choice will lead us on a different path with a different outcome. Without faith in some Supreme force, how do we continue to serve the Greater Good?

Spiritual practice is the cornerstone of yoga. Simple focused attention will give the most basic activities meaning. Thoughtfully washing the dishes one piece at a time with a feeling of appreciation for the utility of their service. Pausing over a meal to invoke or intend gratitude for the abundance upon the plate...attending to the details involved in bringing this nourishment to your home and to the kitchen table. Listening to a stranger with compassion and interest while in line at the grocery store, bank, news stand, etc. In my life, it’s attending to ONE activity at a time. Not two, three or ten. Bringing my full awareness to the subject or activity. That means keeping my mind in the same place as my body. Having reverence for, literally, everything in life. It takes constant reminding. Slow down. Pay attention...BE attention. Be attenTIVE. Be. When I practice yoga, every pose and every transition is imbued with devotion, love, awe, and yeah, rapture. Asanas are a prayer, a sacred offering to the Supreme. I open to what the Highest has for me. I feel Mother earth dotingly beneath me. I hug in with strength of my intention and the ever-growing power of devotion. I create space in my contractions and soften my hard places. I firm the boundaries that will channel the ferocity of my spirit. Emanating out through my very skin, I demonstrate the love that so fills me. I shine out with immense, blinding light that is undimmed by this mortal journey. I thank God. My practice softens me. Blatantly. Obviously. While I move on the mat, my mind, affect and aura brighten. I melt into the sanctuary of Divine nurture and Supreme love for what this body holds. Consciousness. Sharing for what is True. Unconditional, always present, completely embracing, rapturous LOVE. Divine, uninterrupted ecstatic bliss.

AMEN!

Kitcheri Recipe

Kitcheri

1 cup brown (or white) basmati rice (white rice makes for a 'mushier' consistencey)
1/2 cup mung beans
1 Tsp Curry (or to taste)
1 Tsp Cumin (or to taste)
1/2 Tsp Turmeric
Salt to taste

3 cups water (less for thicker, more for soupier...I like it thick and fluffy)

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low overnight or several hours. Recipe can easily be adapted to stove top cooking, cook it like you would brown rice...maybe a little longer. This is a great, wholesome, nourishing one-pot meal. It is good if you are 'cleansing' but not fasting. It is good for ALL constitutional types (Vata, Pitta, Kapha)...though ingredients can be modified allowing for balance of doshic 'derangement' .

Enjoy! All my love! Kim

Pondering the Moon

It's the full moon in February. Also the last day of the month. As I research potential themes for my classes this week, I ran across the Ashtanga yoga tradition of not practicing on full moon or new moon days. Hmm. It seems that it has to do with the body's vulnerability to injury during these days. Our body is comprised mostly of water, and is therefore affected by the phases of the moon (like the tides of the oceans). In the Anusara tradition, the moon would be likened to Muscular Energy. As it reflects the rays of the sun and is wholly dependent upon another source for it's light. It draws from outside in. Without the nourishing, Organic illumination of the sun, it is dark and cold...and in fact, without the sun our galaxy would cease to exist as we know it. All life on this planet would end. Our planet hangs in the balance between two necessary extremes. Ha - is the Sun. Tha - is the Moon. Hatha yoga is the scientific practice of finding balance in our selves as our world has between the polarity of the Muscular Energy of the Moon and the Organic Energy of the Sun. This week we will play with Muscular and Organic Energy and pray for the discovery of balance in our bodies. Eventually, the physical practice of Hatha yoga will lead us to the richer, deeper revelation of inner balance. Or, at least direct us on the path...if not actually, perhaps cosmologically :D

De-fanning the Fire

I'm a Vata-Pitta. Air and fire. That means I'm either anxious and afraid or angry and determined...or some of both: Anxiously pissed-off, fearfully angry, afraid that I'm angry, or pissed-off that I'm scared. Which could be scary (and life-threatening) when combined with 'determined' providing: A) There are any sharp objects nearby. B) there are any sharp, projectile objects nearby. C) there are any sharp POTENTIALLY projectile objects nearby...hell, and D) make that any objects that could become potentially projectile...blunt, sharp or able to be improvised as such.

While I've embraced my fiery nature...put it to good, constructive use...I'm a little less enchanted by my proclivity toward anger. My air fans my fire causing me to 'react' without thinking through the consequences (many of which affecting the lives of other people...)...just some of which may be hurt feelings (not mine.) I'm a mouthy girl. Sassy. A bit sarcastic. Even a little too honest sometimes (where others have the sense to veil the truth enough to soften the caustic facts...) This path of self-discovery unearthed (from the deep recesses of my ego) these non-life affirming vices. WHOA. Never mind that in the process, I've veritably torched (INCINERATED) numerous friendships...I've spent a good many years attempting to mend broken (burned) fences. Sadly (for me) most of which attempts got nowhere...neither absolution or satisfaction. Anxiety. That's it. Blah.

This path has showed me just that. The past is the past. AHA! My intentions to repair past failed relationships...or at least the hearts involved...never really succeeded. So. My change is thus: With awareness, I will cultivate and nurture the relationships that I now have. Use my loving words, not my acidic ones. Shine more. Dim less. Hug more...grab more ass...(well, you know what I mean ;) ...show the lasting LOVE that I really have...not the fleeting ire. What an epiphany!! An EXPLOSION of consciousness! Who'd a thought...?

This is a FIERY, WILD RIDE...gonna live it...LOT'S...with love.

Hard turns to soft

This is my heart. On fire. Melting. It's ecstatic. Over time, I have begun to ease my mind around particular ideas. No way to really explain how or why I've finally started to let go...but this is what's happening to me, now. Make no mistake, sometimes it's unbearable...excruciating. But, I'm all the softer for it. "Softness" was never a word I would use, willingly, to describe what I wanted to cultivate as a virtue. But I sure as hell didn't want to be "hard", either...which is, honestly, the more accurate description of my nature. Fiery is me, but it is fire that has melted my resistance to acknowledge (and change) my 'hard' ways. Fire describes my personality...but, it is also the method to my healing. "Poison as the cure" . My burning heart fills me with enthusiasm and fascination for this life that surrounds me...envelopes me. Unbridled love brimming over my sharp, steep edges. More now than ever before...even during moments of frustration and ire, I expand with understanding, even reverence, for my fallible nature. It's not like my old days...when I may not have even been aware of an outburst, or if I was, I would have been likely to chastise and denigrate myself for the behavior. Though the outbursts or frustrations may still occur more frequently than I'd like them to, I am consciously aware of them slowly (...ever so slowly) becoming less and less. This is what I strive for. More patience. Understanding. Compassion. Love. Toward myself as well as others. This heart of mine is a'melting. It's pure bliss. It's Shri. It's a journey. Walk on, Sister...

"Straight" Heart Afire

This great uprising of joy...of sensation. It's like when a fire begins at the base of a mountain, or canyon, and explodes chasing the tips of it's own flames to the top. It seems to be what is happening for me in this place. And, I have found that the more I open to the experience, the wilder the ride. It REALLY is blowing my ever-lovin' mind. It's not something that is fleeting (like a fire burning up a mountain side.) I can feel that it is sustaining...and, of course, the more I'm aware of it's sustenance the more I enjoy it. It fills me, quite literally, all the way up and expands in every direction from it's origin...which I feel is in the physical region of my pelvis. There is no denying it's effect on me...though it's intensity seems overwhelming at times (a lot of the time.) It's a big, gigantic, "YES!" And a big, hearty laugh. And, it casts a sparkly illumination on everything around me...especially people. Unbounded beauty surrounds me. It's a very good, powerful...BLISSFUL...fiery ride (all the way to the top.)

Lost (and stoned) In Translation

Okay, since I'm still trying VERY hard to wrap my brain around this yoga 'stuff' (and therefore can't really speak articulately about the richness and depth of it all)...I'm going to tell of an experience I had as a youth that I consider to be relative to opening up and receiving a great "AHA!"

As an eighth-grader, I was very sick with pneumonia and home from school for several weeks. In my abundance of downtime, I became fascinated with cryptic puzzles. Now, first, it's important to state the obvious, that I was heavily medicated...with antibiotics and pain killers (my pneumonia was accompanied by a case of bronchitis, so I was very uncomfortable...) One evening, I was puzzling over the intricacies of a particular cryptogram...struggling with the possibilities of translation. Ages and ages of frustration and contraction. At least, it had felt like ages. Hours really. Eventually, I became too tired (or perhaps, too stoned) and just sat staring at the puzzle with absolutely no effort. And, wouldn't you know it. It came to me. Just like that. Seemingly out of nowhere...."FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE." I was SO thrilled. Udyamo Bhairavah. But, the revelation only came to me when I finally let go of effort and contraction. And, of course, only AFTER hours of studying and staring at the same lines over and over and over and over and over (...so, not without Sakti-cakra-samdhane visva-samharah) did the puzzle finally open up to me. This is why we study. Eventually, my mind WILL begin to wrap itself around this stuff called 'Yoga'...but not without ages and ages of dedicated study (and practice) over an extended period of time.

Tat Sat.

Duh

Sensitivity. The more open I become, the more I feel. The less I contract, the softer I am. My connection to everything around me is entirely dependent upon my ability to open and soften. My nature is to armor myself through muscle and competition. when I open and become soft and receptive, I no longer want to win--or even join the race. I just want to surround myself with the ecstatic vibration of creation. I see nothing but beauty. What a revelation it has been to discover (awaken to) that everything shimmers in the light of Divine Grace. There is no need for me to search further for contentment outside of what I already recognize, but to recognize that what surrounds me is just enough. Supreme beauty.

Shri--ever present, within and without. I open and, BEHOLD! It has, and will always be here. Right HERE! Tat Sat.