Creating energy for the new years

  The year of 2013 is leaving and a new year is coming to us. Like a new book, still empty, we turn the pages with curiosity and our mind travels on the waves of expectations for the new chapter. The new plans for 2014. We hope with the new year new good stuff will come.
  The fact is we are just sleeping and waking up like any other day. Its so powerful how much mental energy we put into thoughts and desires during this period. We want to achieve something. At the same time its pathetic how we do not use the power of our mind to evolve this felling. With time the energy created will diminish little by little...until get in our subconscious part of the mind.There is a lack of believe. But wait!

  Believe in yourself! If you believe in yourself, you open a door in your mind to create positive energy towards your dream.  Enjoy the process with all your love and no expectations. We can not make our future, only the present moment. The future we offer to God, with no anxiety, no insecurities.
 Share the light in you! The Divine energy is everywhere. Share a sincere smile, a hug, a word with someone that is in need. Share your patience. What goes around comes around. If you truly believe we are all connected through God any little act of kindness is a gift to God! Just imagine in this perspective: you are smiling at God, God smile back at you... You hug someone, you get divine energy back, you feed someone with love and kindness you make God happy... Such a beautiful thing. We heal as we receive, we heal as we give.
  The more you share, more healing and happiness is experienced. More energy is put into the right path. The path for your enlightenment is created towards the Divine within yourself. We see God as our light reflects in the others.

Hope this new years is just the beginning of a endless flow of consciousnesses peace. Its a everyday practice in searching  and discovering, learning and sharing, love and being loved by God.
Namaste

The Process VS The Results

  Everyone wants results right? In our jobs, our bosses want to see results. As citizens we want to see and have results. Society want results. We expect results in our relationships. We want the things done in our time. Our mind is trained by generations to think and act like that. We are attached to results and we totally rush in the process.
  As yoga is my primary teacher I learned that the process is the most important phase to be lived. The results is just the consequence that we have to face without expectation. In the process we learn, we fail, our ego is little by little destroyed, because the process is a slow transformation that must be accept with patience and love.Our mind is direct to accomplish the results but not in the process. When we start to train our mind to live the present and in the process, we are living fully.
  In Ashtanga Yoga method is a very slow process of learning. There are different series of poses to learn in a formal sequence. We can not skip one to practice the other( even if we know the other ) because this method train the mind to accept the challenge of the process.  I have notice in myself and lots of students the necessity of perfecting an asana. Asana is just a vehicle to experience the inner self. While performing the asana the focus should be in the breath, gaze and Divine. Letting the ego go with the expectations for results. Experience the present moment even if brings pain, insecurity or fear. Being out of our comfort zone we start to see and feels things with equanimity. We start to train our mind to be in balance in the mat when we are felling good or not. Taking the lesson out of our mat into our everyday lives.
  One of the beauty of Ashtanga yoga methods is that you have no choice...It is what it is.... I can not choose what I like and practice. Every asana was knowledgeably put in a sequence by Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois.
  You go to a yoga studio and the boom of the class is the crow pose, headstands and handstands :)" Yes I feel in power"....and when you can not do it you feeI bad...and sad, because you see everyone doing, you see that awesome handstand picture on instagram. The asana don't make you became a big yogi or yogini...The process of learning and accepting where you are is the yoga in a pure essence.
  In the physical aspects when you focus in the process you build more awareness and strength. You are preparing you body and mind in a slow process for the result that may or may not happen...But who cares? Live the experience of the present moment.
 This lessons I take out of the mat to my personal life slowly also. We all have dreams,goals and plans to accomplish. Nothing happen in the time we want. We do our part, living fully with love, respect and devotion and God take care of the rest. Giving the fruits of our actions to God, detaching of the results is live in yoga.

Facts about full moon

 When I first started to practice Ashtanga yoga I did not understand much why we can not practice during moon (New and Full moon) days. When is a full moon day, that means the practitioners will take a rest.

 The logic behind is very interesting and go back many many years back. Like the ocean and all things of watery nature we are affected by the phases of the moon( human beings are about 70% of water). Our energy changes as the cycles of the moon. The full moon is considered a holiday in the Ashtanga tradition. It is also a fact that during the full moon we have more energy and passion, resulting a more aggressive practice where we can go more " deeper " than we are suppose to and end up hurting ourselves and or having an injury. During the new moon days we rest to retain energy. It is the day of the month that is believed we have less energy in the body.

 Its is important to remember that is the rest of  ASANA practice only ( third limb of Ashtanga Yoga ). Yoga is not asana. Asana is just a piece of the Ashtanga system. The other limbs are to be planted in our beings to be practice and to be flourished every day, all the time. Specially the Yamas and Niyamas.

Curious facts of full moon days:

  

1-In a study of 1,000 tonsillectomy operations, 82 per cent of post-operative bleeding crises occurred nearer the full moon than the new moon, according to the Journal of the Florida Medical Association.

2-The Californian grunion only spawns on the three or four nights after the highest tide associated with each full moon. The fish come ashore to lay their eggs.

3-Siri Lankan government rule bans playing sport on a full moon. 

4-Wesak, the most important of the Buddhist festivals, is celebrated on the full moon in May. It celebrates the Buddha's birthday and, for some Buddhists, marks his birth and death. 

To Be or not to Be

  "To be, or not to be" is the famous opening phrase of a soliloquy in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Debate surrounds its meaning, and that of the speech, but most agree that it asks the fundamental question "why live?"

  Now a days many of us have noticed the impact of social media in our daily life. There are good and bad things about it.Some people may call "trend", but today let's call fad. Fad is any form of behavior that develops among a large population and is collectively followed enthusiastically for a period of time, generally as a result of the behavior being perceived as popular by one's peers or being deemed "cool" by social media.A fad is said to "catch on" when the number of people adopting it begins to increase rapidly. The behavior will normally fade quickly once the perception of novelty is gone.The specific nature of the behavior associated with a fad can be of any type including language usage, apparel, financial investment, and even food. It is a never ending cycle. In this passionate madness we sacrifice out time,wisdom and essence.We recreate ourselves like in a Matrix movie, and we truly believe that what we see are ourselves, and where is our true self?

  Lots of people say they love to travel, so they can experience new cultures, new people, see life with new eyes. Its just a reflection that how deep inside we are tired of our own surroundings and society. Social media have a goal of selling ideas and if we buy them we lost our essential value. With a beautiful heart and knowledge of who you are, you no longer need to proof anything to the world. You are satisfied and in peace. I call one of the glimpses of Santosha.

What is Santosha?

Santosha means contentment. By including contentment as an active practice rather than a reaction to events around us, peace of mind can never finally rely on external circumstances, which are always changing in ways beyond our control. Santosha requires our willingness to enjoy exactly what each day brings, to be happy with whatever we have, whether that is a lot or a little. This second niyama uncovers the hollowness of achievement and acquisition; while material wealth and success aren't evil, they can never in themselves provide contentment. We can easily practice santosha in the beautiful moments and joyous experiences of our lives. But true contentment means being equally willing to embrace the difficult moments. Only when we can be content in the midst of difficulty can we be truly free. Only when we can remain open in the midst of pain do we understand what true openness is. In our relationships, when we accept those around us as they truly are, not as we want them to be, we are practicing santosha.

Yoga physical aspects and beyond

   Yoga Asanas or poses(how we call in the west)is the third limb of the Ashtanga Yoga practice. I see the Ashtanga Yoga method as the pure essence of yoga. To experience the deep aspects of this practice we first start with the Yamas and Nyiamas. There the transformation starts. The third limb is the asana, what we generally aproach first in the west and most of the people think what yoga is all about. Yoga is a philosophy of life, which also has the potential to create a vibrantly healthy body and mind.

   Ashtanga Yoga, practiced in its correct sequential order, gradually leads the practitioner to rediscover his or her fullest potential on all levels of human consciousness - physical, psychological, and spiritual. ` In Ashtanga yoga method we practice an asana at a time until we are ready to practice the next one. It takes time, devotion and a daily practice. The goal is not to be able to do the next asana or posture.

  The goal is through the asana prepare our minds for the other limbs of yoga : pranayama (breath control), pratyahara (sense withdrawal), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation), and samadhi (contemplation). These branches support each other. Asana practice must be established for proper practice of pranayama, and is a key to the development of the yamas and niyamas. Once these four externally oriented limbs are firmly rooted, the last four internally oriented limbs will spontaneously evolve over time.

  Sri K. Pattabhi Jois said to practice one asana 1000 times to make it perfect and at least 100.000 times to start to understand ourselves from that asana. From that point of view we realize how the practice its the main role of the asana limb. How important is to repeat again and again, be humble and learn from whatever feeling comes out of the practice. Everyday people create different styles of yoga, different names for the yoga asana practice.Giving to the student what he/she wants. The Ashtanga series are made to carefully study with dedication and devotion. We all get tempted and curious about doing advanced asanas,but if we just practice what we want or what looks cool, we are just getting attached to the asana itself and not focusing in the main goal of yoga.

  The evolution of asanas comes from Surya namaskara A and B ( The Sun Salutations A and B). It is how in the Ashtanga method we start. We also find called as Mysore style (Self practice). From the Sun Salutations on your own pace you open an space in your body and mind for the following asanas and psych and subtle levels. It is recommended to study under a guidence of a Guru or a authorized/Certified teacher. If is not possible, continue your exploration through practice and study and when the opportunity comes to have a directed teacher from the lineage embrace it! Studying from a directed teacher we call parampara.

What is Parampara?

Traditional Ashtanga Yoga is founded on the concept of parampara, a term meaning direct, experiential knowledge passed in succession from teacher to student. Our teachers have committed themselves to the instruction of Ashtanga Yoga as it was taught to them from the source in Mysore, India by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, R. Sharath Jois, and R. Saraswathi. Ashtanga Yoga and Parampara ‘Parampara’ literally means an uninterrupted succession and denotes the direct and unbroken transmission of knowledge from teacher to student. Traditional Ashtanga Yoga is founded on parampara and a commitment to its established instruction. Shri K. Pattabhi Jois took this method from Mysore, India and disseminated it all over the world. Guruji’s teachings are now continued by his family: R. Sharath Jois, R. Saraswathi, Manju Jois, and Sharmila Mahesh. Surrendering to the lineage of Astanga Yoga is to enter a river of teachings that has been flowing for thousands of years, a river that masters, past and present, have followed into an ocean of knowledge and wisdom.

Your practice is your gift

What brings to you inner peace? 

 I believe that any peaceful feeling is related with the Self presence in us and around us. You can call the Self as God,The Great Consciousness,Love,The Unborn,Eternal or the way you feel in your heart. Each everyone of us find a way to connect with God through something.Usually something very simple,with no price, label or form. We just need to look with another perception what really matters to our happiness and inner peace.
  First we analyze what it is by self study. Many of us sometimes have this empty feeling that we don't know how to fulfill our lives. Giving time to think and discover simple things we can do to ourselves that will make us experience life.

What is your practice?
  You may experience God through your art,in silent or in prayer,in the nature or in the church, reading sacred texts and during your yoga practice. I believe there are many ways to approach God and no one is better than you to know what is the best path to live on. There is no way to love one another and live in harmony with the universe if you do not live in love and harmony with yourself. The point is, we must to live and practice whatever takes us to this path toward something greater than us! Practice is not easy. You have to make time, effort, renunciation, detachment and so on... Our mind trick us all the time: I'm too busy,tired,angry,hungry..It is hard to make our mind still and listen the voice of the Self in our hearts. Every time we make an excuse, we stop taking care of ourselves. As soon we realize what bring us inner peace we evolve from that point,we awake and do not regress to the past or to habits and feelings that will take us further from our main goal that is be ONE with the SELF and be fulfill by His love.
  Its is very important to be honest to yourself to know the difference of having the pure feeling coming from the Self and the momentary pleasure happiness coming from the ego. When we act from the ego, our lower self, we have expectations in everything we do that lead us to have painful experiences.

 "Be focused on action and not on the fruits of action. Do not become confused in attachment to the fruit of your actions and do not become confused in the desire for inaction" (2,47). ********************************************************************************
"Perform all thy actions with mind concentrated on the Divine, renouncing attachment and looking upon success and failure with an equal eye. Spirituality implies equanimity."
Bhagavad Gita

How did I become a vegetarian? How to be a healthy one?

   being vegetarian.....

  I have been a vegetarian for less than a year, but feels like a long time now...in my body as well in my mind.The benefits in my body so far are the improvement of digestion, smoother skin and hair and also I feel more energy during the day. Pretty awesome results in a really short time.

   My diet option came naturally with my yoga practice. I was not a red meat eater but I was a seafood lover! Its is hard to detach from something when you really like and enjoy. I stopped eating all meat excepted for seafood, just because somewhere in my mind I had this idea that they are different of other animals, we don't use them as pets and I don't know much about if they suffer or not.

  So in a beautiful day, I went for a dinner at a seafood restaurant. The waiter recommended us to sit in front of the lobsters aquarium. Watching them was really powerful. Their legs and claws were all tied with elastic rubber bands.When the cooker came to get one, the lobsters all back up on the aquarium forming a big group, trying to be far away as possible of his metal tool. As he gets one, the other lobsters around and even with their claws tied, try to help their friend, trying to keep their body in the aquarium while the waiter pulls the unfortunate lobster up. After that, all the lobster didn't stop starring up looking for their friend and believe me, with a sad look in their eyes. This scene repeated for every 3 minutes for about 2 hours while I was sitting there. After that day I took Ahimsa in my heart and I do not eat any living being.

  The problem begin when we label everything and we see ourselves separated from others. A dog, fish, cow or a pig, independent of the shape, we are all made by the creator with living energy on us. As we start to respect all living beings as One, we live one of many glimpses of Ahimsa.

What is Ahimsa?

Ahimsa is the first of the moral observances on the 8 Limbs of Ashtanga Yoga. This is the first of the first. Where we begin our practice. The other limbs evolve from here. Ahimsa means non-violence or no harm.

The practice it can mean do not kill, injure or harm any living being in thoughts and actions. Therefore many practitioners of yoga are vegetarians. Taking Ahimsa a step further, we must consider how we are harming ourselves through poor dietary and exercise habits, sleep deprivation and stress.

How to be a healthy vegetarian? Sattvic Diet!!!

   The basis of sattva is the concept of ahimsa (non-harming). A sattvic diet avoids any foods that involve killing or harming of animals. Sattvic diets also encourage foods grown harmoniously with nature, and foods that are ripened and grown naturally. 

  In addition, the foods that we eat should be prepared with love and positive intention. In eating a yogic diet, we are increasing prana and a higher state of consciousness. Please take note of these suggested yogic foods, while avoiding foods that do not align with yogic principles. These suggestions are recommended for any level of yoga practitioner or individual seeking a healthy, spiritual path.

Foods to Eat When Following a Yogic Diet

1. Fruits of all types, especially those that are naturally sweet

2. All vegetables, except onions and garlic

3. Whole grains, especially oats, wheat, and rice

4. Beans, tofu, mung, aduki

5. Plant-based oils, like sesame, sunflower, and olive oil

6. Nuts and seeds, yet not salted or overly roasted

7. Natural, raw sugar, maple, molasses

8. Herbal teas, water with lemon and/or lime

9. Sweet spices, like cinnamon, cardamom, mint, basil, turmeric, ginger, cumin, fennel

10. Food prepared with love, and gratitude given before consumption

Foods to Avoid or Reduce When Following a Yogic Diet

1. Meat and fish of all types, including eggs

2. Processed and/or artificial foods, junk food, artificial sweeteners, soda

3. Animal fats, margarine

4. Fried foods

5. Canned foods, except naturally canned tomatoes and fruit

6. White flour, white sugar

7. Garlic, onions, spicy foods

8. Stale or overly cooked foods

9. Microwaved foods

10. Alcohol, tobacco, stimulants

11. Foods that are genetically engineered

12.  Foods that are eaten in a rush or in a disturbed environment 

 Its is important to do not force yourself. If you are reading this you probably have the seed planted in your heart for change. Let it flow naturally. Don't judge yourself and enjoy the path!

Namaste

Vrtti Sarupyam Itaratra

VRTTI SARUPYAM ITARATRA. Vritti= Modifications of the mind-stuff; sarupyam=assumes the forms; itaratra= at other times. At other times (the Self appears to) assume the forms of the mental modifications.You seem to have lost your original identity and have identified with your thoughts and body. Suppose I ask you who you are if you don't identify with anything whatsoever. If you say "I am a man", you have identified yourself with a masculine body. If you say "I am a professor", you are identifying with the ideas gathered in your brain. If you say, "I am a millionaire", you are identifying with your bank account; if "a mother", with a child; "a husband", with a wife. " I am tall; I am short; I am black or white" shows your identification with the color and shape of the body. But without any identifications, who are you? Have you ever thought about it? When you really understand that, you will see we are all the same. If you detach yourself completely from all the things you have identified yourself with, you realize yourself as the pure "I", In that pure "I" there is no difference between you and me. ...... Book one Samadhi pada. Yoga sutras. Patanjali.

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This sutra is a great one to analyse ourselves. With the detachment of the idea of identification the ego is vanish when we truly live the bliss of Ahimsa.