Yoga

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Comment by The Ancient One on February 16, 2010 at 2:50pm

Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Bring the Earth your love and happiness.
The Earth will be safe When we feel safe in ourselves.
— Thich Nhat Hanh

Comment by Drea on October 18, 2008 at 7:35pm

Here is another group which presents itself as bridging and collectice....

All Yoga is the corner cafe where yogis and yoginis of all stripes and traditions can gather to share their personal experiences, knowledge, resources, questions, accomplishments and love of yoga. All levels of experience are equally welcome and no question is too basic or too esoteric. All Yoga's intention is for a respectful exchange of ideas and to create a community based on loving kindness.

Namaste (I honor the place in you in which the entire universe dwells. I honor the place in you which is of Love, of Truth, of Light, and of Peace. When you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, We are One.)

If you are new to All Yoga introduce yourself by posting a photo of you in your favorite asana to the All Yoga photo album. I will feature any new member photos as the main photo.
http://allyoga.tribe.net

Comment by Drea on October 18, 2008 at 7:06pm

Does anyone want to do yoga in santa barbara?

I always go that way and never can find a place to stay.... Traveling for yoga gets expensive. I have started a blog to establish some long distance relationships with people in the area, bridging communities and to promote healthy living. I enjoy cross posting to everywhere, so the info spreads..... Stop through and let me know what you know about the area.....

http://santabarbarayoga.wordpress.com/

Comment by Drea on October 18, 2008 at 6:09pm

We loved the dezango words below so much we cross posted it..... into our experimental collective blogroll at plum......

Taking a deep look at, into and through the world around us, we found another yoga collective in pdx that had some inspiring writings too, maybe they can reflect each other a little, maybe not. We haven't even read their words, just looked at their site and felt the love in their communication. It will be interesting to read back through it, but we like to trust in our fellow yoga friends, regardless if practice. Lets see what the have to say.

http://www.one-root.com/writings.htm

tuning in and letting it flow ~

We are unfolding into a time of spiritual energetic connection between members of the vibrational tribe activated here on earth at this time. Cultivating heart connection with our soul family is of the greatest importance ~ the more heart energy we share among us, the stronger will be the energetic field of healing love Qi that we are creating to support each of us individually as a part of the whole.

We are here to bring a new paradigm into being ~ spirit in body, activated and awake to the core. We need each other to do this. We need the unconditional love and support of each family member channeled into the central star which connects us all through filaments of energy. Now, more than ever, we need to be present to uplift each other above the 'red dust' of the world. Many of our soul family are suffering from depression as the fall begins to set in ~ as a whole, we can help to energize and support them with each breath we take in and let out. Here is a simple meditation that feels appropriate for this time ~ we can practice as we go to sleep and again when we wake up each day:

Breathe deeply and arrive fully into the present moment ~

In your heart is a beautiful, shining golden 'heart star', emenating compassion, wisdom, and awakened love in all directions.

Above your head is a beautiful white star, your 'soul star', shining light in all directions and connecting to your heart star energetically.

Your soul star connects through a strand of light to the brilliant central sun, the star to which we are all energetically connected in Unity.

There are millions of strands of light connecting to this central sun, each connecting to a member of your soul family here on Earth as well as on other worlds. Notice how some seem darker, sluggish, or stuck, while others are vibrant and luminous.

Now breathe deeply, breathing in love, blessings and the highest compassion to your heart star ~ feel it overflow your heart and rise up above your head, energizing your soul star ~

As you breathe out, feel this highly charged blessed energy flow from your crown, your soul star, up into the central sun, filling the central sun with your blessings and love.

repeat this as many times as you like, noticing how the other light strands connected to the central sun begin to brighten, to open, to connect more powerfully to this central source of limitless energy.

Know that your kindred family here on Earth are recieving your support and blessings, that their lives are opening, they are awakening through the great
influx of this spiritual energy into their lives.

Take the time to connect and recieve as well . . . allow the blessings to flow into your soul star, and down into your body, your heart. Whenever you need the support and healing of the whole, just connect and breathe. . .

Now return your awareness to your body . . .
Breathe into your lower belly, call your own name silently to yourself
and . . .


blessed love*

Comment by deZengo on October 18, 2008 at 10:58am

My oldest is reading the book - no death, no fear by Thich Nhat Hanh and I found one passage especially touched me and I wanted to share it with you.

Angels Everywhere
Looking deeply into the dimension of space, we will also see all the enlightened beings. All the great beings, the Bodhisattvas. We will see God. Lood hard and you will see Bodhisattvas everywhere. You will see men and women who have compassion and who do everything they canto help and protect humanity. In Plum Village we practice evoking the names of Bodhisattvas such as Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of deep listening; Samantabhadra, the bodhisattva of great action; Manjushri, the bodhisattva of great understanding; Kshitigarbha, the bodhisattva who always goes to the darkets places, where suffering is unbearable, to help all people.

These are the bodhisattvas we know about because thier stories have been passed down to us. There are also countless unknown bodhisattvas everywhere whose work expresses their love, compassion and deep commitment to the world. Their hearts are full of love, and they are not interested in consuming many things. They want to live a simply in order to have time and energy to support others. They are everywhere. I know a bodhisattva who lives in Holland. Her name is Hebe. During WWII she helped twenty thousand Jews escape the Holocaust. I do not know how she did it. Looking at her you see that she is very small and only has two hands. I met her and worked with her and she was helping with Vietnamesee war orphans.

There are also bodhisattvas who do not seem to be very active, but they are very calm and kind and their presence inspires us with love, understanding and tolerance.

There are countless bodhisattvas like that in the world. We should liive so that we have time to recognize and touch their presence. Bodhisattvas are not gods or figures from the past. They are living around you in flesh and blood. They have much energy, understanding and compassion, and we can benefit from being near them.

Great Beings, bodhisattvas, cannot be recognized by their out appearance. Sometimes they are small children who bring us much joy. Our own children and our own friends are bodhisattvas. Sometimes they make us suffer, but they also help us to grow in love and understanding.

The bodhisattvas never grow weary of the suffering around them and never give up. They are the ones who give us courage to live. Kshitigarbha, who goes into the darkest places to help all beings, is not just one person. He has so many manifestations in all the different hell realms, which we can find right in this world.

Sadaparibhuta, the bodhisattva who says, "I woulds never dare to despise anyone," is also everywhere. Even if someoen des not seem to have the ability to be awakened, he sees that within everyone there is that capacity. Sadaparibhuta helps everyone to have self-confidence and remove any feelings of inferiority. This kind of complex paralyzes people. Sadaparidhuta's specialty is to be in touch with and water teh seeds of the awakened mind or the mind of love in us. This bodhisattva is not just a person in the Lotus Sutra but can be fond right here in our society in many different guises. We have to recognize the bodhisattva Sadaparibhuta, who is around us in flesh and bones.

Manjushri is the bodhisattva who has understanding - someone who can understand us makes us infinitely happier. Manjushri is able to see our suffereing and our difficulties and never blames or punishes us. He is always beside us to encourage us and shine light on us. Manjushri is not a legendary figure but is present around us in many guises, sometimes as a younger sister or brother or nephew or niece.

We do not worship imagine or mythological figures. Bodhisattvas are not figures from the past living up in the clouds. The bodhisattva are real people who are filled with love and determination. When we can understand someone else's suffering and feel love for him/her, we are in touch with the bodhisattva of understanding.

The bodhisattva of deep listening, Avalokiteshvara, is also around us. Phychotherapist have to learn the art of listening deeply as bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, the one who looks deeply with her ears. When we can listen deeply to our children or our parents, Avalokiteshvara is already in our hearts.

The bodhisattva of wonderful sound, Gadgadashvara, can use music, writings and sound to awaken people. If you are a poet, a writer or composer you can be that bodhisattva. your artistic creations are not just to help people forget their pain momentarily but to water the seeds of awakened understanding and compassion in others. Among us are many writers, poets and composers who are using the wonderful ocean of sound to serve the way of understanding and love by making the dharma doors, which the Buddha taught, more accessible. That is the meaning of one of the aspirations of Samantabhadra:

I aspire to use the Great ocean of Sound,
Giving rise to words of wonderful effect,
That praises the Buddha's oceans of virtues,
In the past, the present and the future.

When you touch the earth you connect with the great beings because they are part of the earth and part of you. Living in today's world, it is easy to become the victim of despair. You must protect yourself. The best way is to be in touch with the bodhisattva that are active in compassion and love.

We should be in touch with Buddhas and bodhisattva here today, in the present moment, and not just light incense and pray to them. When we are truly in touch with them we have much energy by seeing that they are in us and that we are their continuation, not only in time but also in space. We are one of the arms of these bodhisattvas. Our arm can stretch very far, over thousands of miles. Our arms can reach the darkest places on Earth. We have friends everywhere who are our arms, and we can be their arms also.

"Awakened understanding is the practitioner's only career" is a quotation from the sutra onthe Eight Realizations of Great Beings. All other careers are not really worth following. No honors or fame can be compared with teh awakened understanding that we have when we practice stopping and looking deeply into the nature of tings. When through understanding we cease to be angry, we are already manifesting the see of the great understating from within us. Let us live insuch a way that bodhisattva may manifest within us.

Let us be the bodhisattva right now by the way we speak and act. Do not think tha tyou will be a bodhisattva later on this evening. Evoking the names of the bodhisattvas of deep listening, great understanding, great action and great aspiration and being in touch with the qualities of those bodhisattvas will give us the infinite energy we need to embrace beings who are suffering in the world.

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That was a whole lotta typing - but when I read it last night, I could only thing one thing: I want to share this message.

Comment by deZengo on October 17, 2008 at 12:38am

This is exactly where yoga needs to be - off the mat and into the world. Having leaders in the Yoga community that are taking a stand such as Seane Corne is great. But WE also have a responsibility to be the light we want the world to see.
We are all learning, sharing, connecting, and the ripple continues.
It is inspiring and exciting to observe the changes that occur naturally from exposure to unadulterated GO(o)D-ness.

Comment by Angie on October 12, 2008 at 12:57am

Comment by Amunaptra on July 19, 2008 at 4:37pm

Greetings and Salutations.....hope everyone is well....I am new to this group.......glad to be a part of it.....I am a holistic instructor and teacher and hospital chaplain........I teach something called Yogaerobicise....check out its description below........thanks and Namaste' Amunaptra


Ongoing Yogaerobicise Classes starting Friday 09/12/08 at Desert
Pride Community Center.Palm Springs,Ca and Nationwide/Global.
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Pan-Nirvana Yogaerobicise Classes Developed and Facilitated by: Ron DeNardo; Holistic Instructor & Healthcare Chaplain
Pan-Nirvana Yogaerobicise: a 2 hour, group and or
individual, yoga- like, easy-to-do, gentle, easy to learn
and practice, ongoing class/program which uses both ancient
and modern holistic techniques/modalities to help
participants attain new levels of spirit/mind/body
awareness, better health and blissfulness. Some of the
ancient and modern holistic therapeutic techniques that
will be offered, incorporated and taught, during this
continuous class/program, include: Guided Meditation and
Breathing, Aerobic Exercise, Passive/Active/Mindful
Neuro-Muscular Stretching and Retraining,
Acupressure/Trigger Point Therapy, Trio Reflexology and
Reiki Energy Healing. The last 15-20 minutes, or so, of
each class/workshop, will be dedicated specifically to
individual, free of charge, holistic healing sessions by
Ronald J. DeNardo (nctmb); a Professional, Wholistic
Therapy Workshop Instructor, Facilitator and Inter-Faith and
Hospital Chaplain. These Pan-Nirvana Yogaerobicise
classes/workshops will be held usually/taught during th week and
weekends (morning,afternoon and or evenings), 1, 2 and or 3 times per week, at a pre-selected public facility; such as the Desert AIDS Project, Golden Rainbow Senior Center, the Desert Pride Community Center, eventually at Spa Resort Casino Fitness Center in downtown Palm Springs and possibly at other public and or other private facilities/retreats and or privately on an individual basis/small groups and in private homes. This ongoing holistic class/workshop is open to 5-7 interested members of the general public and Desert Pride Community Center Members. Fee for such classes are based upon
a sliding scale fee schedule.