Monday, December 02, 2013

the search


There was a child made of all salt who very much wanted to know where he had come from. So he set out on a long journey and traveled to many lands in pursuit of this understanding. Finally he came to the shore of the great ocean. How marvelous, he cried, and stuck on foot in the water. The ocean beckoned him in further saying, "If you wish to know who you are, do not be afraid." The salt child walked further and further into the water dissolving with each step, and at the end exclaimed, "Ah, now I know who I am."

~Traditional~




Thursday, November 28, 2013

Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!


i thank You God for most this amazing
day; for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes. 
~ e.e. cummings


Sunday, November 03, 2013

Reason to celebrate : Sita and Rama return!

Happy Diwali!

Light the lamps and celebrate!

Shubh Dewali!


Diwali celebrates the return of Rama and Sita - in the story from the Ramayana. The story shows how good wins over evil.

Prince Rama and his wife, Sita, are banished from their home in Ayodhya by their father the King. Rama's brother, Lakshmana, goes with them to live in a forest. They are banished for fourteen years.

After many happy years, Sita is kidnapped by the ten-headed demon Ravana. He takes Sita to his island of Lanka. With the help of the monkey warrior, Hanuman, Rama rescues his wife.

The people of Ayodhya light divas (oil lamps) in rows to guide Rama and Sita back from the forest to Ayodhya. On their return Rama is crowned king.

from Juliet Dunn

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Change is gonna come

Life is full of changes. Life is change! When we stop changing we stop living because change is forward movement, and we humans are moving beings; we're born to move and change. Evolution and involution are change. Sometimes change comes from the inside, as a by-product of our sadhana or spiritual work. Other times change comes from the outside, causing us to address our habits, asks us to step out of our comfort zone, and offers a new opportunity to practice. Change is new and is ultimately positive. Change is not always easy, and is sometimes painful, even destructive. The yoga sutra of Patanjali teaches us to expect some pain when it says, 'parinama tapa samskara duhkhair guna vritti virodhac ca duhkham eva sarvam vivekinah' – To one of discrimination, everything is painful indeed due to its consequences: the anxiety and fear over what is gained: the resulting impressions left in the mind to renewed cravings; and the constant conflict among the three gunas which control the mind. (translation by Sri Swami Satchidananda Yoga Sutra of Patanjali) Some pain is expected in all worldly experience by anyone who is awake. Fighting the natural progression of life, of change, only creates more suffering.

Change can be practiced. More than one of my teachers has said, "We don't come to yoga to stay the same, we practice yoga to change." Routine in asana practice is important because repetition helps to rewire the body, the mind, and the nervous system. When routine becomes mechanical we plateau in our practice; we stagnate. This is why it's important to move in familiar ways without always moving in the exact ways we've moved before. In asana practice if there are equal parts routine and new, we stay awake in our practice; we ride the waves of change deeper and deeper to our deeper selves. In the same way when routine in our life loses its forward flow, we need change; we call out, sometimes without even realizing, for change. As practice deepens and we begin to connect more with the source within, our thoughts and words are more charged and have power. In these moments of deep connection our thoughts, even unconscious thoughts find life. Change! Of course, when change presents itself we still have to decide if we really want it. Do we really want to step through the door? This reminds me of a passage from Everyday Osho:

Always remain adventurous. Never forget for a single moment that life belongs to those who are explorers. It does not belong to the static; it belongs to the flowing. Never become a reservoir; always remain a river. 

The mind cannot cope with the new. It cannot figure out what it is, it cannot categorize it, it cannot put labels on it; it is puzzled by the new. The mind loses all its efficiency when it confronts something new.  With the past, with the old, with the familiar, the mind is very at ease, because it knows what it is, how to do, what to do, what not to do. It is perfect in the known; it is moving in well-traveled territory. Even in darkness it can move; the familiarity helps the mind to be unafraid. But this is one of the problems to be understood: Because the mind is always unafraid only with the familiar, it does not allow you growth. Growth is with the new, and the mind is only unafraid of the old. So the mind clings to the old and avoids the new. The old seems to be synonymous with life, and the new seems to be synonymous with death; that is the mind's way of looking at things. You have to put the mind aside.
Life never remains static. Everything is changing: Today it is there, tomorrow it may not be. You may come across it again; who knows when? Maybe it will take months, years, or lives. So when an opportunity knocks at the door, go with it. Let this be a fundamental law: Always choose the new over the old. 

Right now, everything is changing and I'm embracing it. A door has opened and I'm stepping through because on some level I know I've been asking for something new. But stepping into the new doesn't mean forgetting the old. Moving forward doesn't mean never looking back. The old is where our roots live. The old is where we were formed. The old is to be revered as much as the new. One day the new will be the old and there will be a new new. That's the nature of change. Move forward. Don't forget. Move forward. Don't forget. Move forward. Don't forget. The sankofa bird symbolizes this in the way he leads with his heart but turns his head to retrieve an egg from his back. The West African proverb that gives birth to this symbol is “Se wo were fi na wosankofa a yenkyi," which translates to "It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten." Stepping through this particular door for me means leaving. Embracing this change means starting a new life in a new city. Moving forward means leaving the Bay Area. In August my little family and I will take up new residence in a little house in Madison, WI where Johannes will be the new Director of Jazz Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison. It will be what Ruth Forman calls, "a day of painful breaking/a day of peace beneath" because we are excited to embark on our next adventure, but saying good-bye is never easy. Moving to Madison puts me closer to childhood turf of Chicago, and in some ways feels like going home. The new is the old.

Over the next couple of weeks I will scale back my classes a little to help facilitate a smooth and graceful transition at the Lotus. The time between now and then will go quickly, and the days leading up to my departure will be hectic. In these quiet moments before the real shift begins I would like to take a moment to bow and say thank you. Thank you to my teachers Jasmine and Danafor believing in me, supporting me as a teacher, for guiding me and for helping to mold me into the teacher I am. Being on this journey with you as examples has been a gift that I will treasure with respect for ever. Thanks to the Lotus, both Lotues. Being a part of this very special place for the last twelve years (nine as a teacher) has been truly transforming. Thank you to my fellow Lotus teachers for being you, for being inspiring, for stepping in and for rising up to support Laughing Lotus San Francisco. Thank you to all of you who have been willing to accept the teachings I have had to offer. I am constantly humbled that you continue to allow me to share with you what I love. Thank you to Oakland! You have been my home for these last five years. I love all your color, style, diversity, sunshine, and your issues. *snap* Thanks for keeping it real.

I'm not sure how life in this next chapter is going to look. Madison is wonderful city with a lot of good to offer. Johannes and I have already been welcomed with huge, open arms, and it feels like a place we'll be happy to call home. I'll be out in the world not quite on my own for the first time in my teaching career, and I don't know how that will feel. I hope to find a place or a couple of places to share these practices that I love. It's what I do. I will be on the road – Santa Fe and Joshua Tree in the Fall, Germany in the Spring and Portugal in the Summer. Look for me. I'll be releasing Soul Sangha's first album in the Fall too. Stay tuned for more info on that. I plan to begin working on my prerequisite classes in preparation for a degree in Physical Therapy. It feels like the natural next step for me. Mainly I'm open for whatever life and this change want to throw my way.  Like the sankofa, I know that the egg on my back is always in reach. I'll try not to forget anything I've learned here, but when I do I'll pick up that egg and hold it close. I'll remember. One thing with change is certain: it ain't easy but you gotta do it.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Monday passage

Here's this morning's meditation passage, as requested. Sit, and discover your freedom.

Let nothing upset you;
Let nothing frighten you.
Everything is changing;
God alone is changeless.
Patience attains the goal.
Who has God lacks nothing;
God alone fills every need.
~Teresa of Avila
from Passage Meditation by Eknath Easwaran


Sunday, May 13, 2012

Sharing the Love in Santa Fe

I'm thrilled to be sharing my passion for music, movement and devotion with Body of Santa Fe. 
Stop by or tell someone who can.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Ram Ram Ram

It's kirtan night. Join us tonight at Giggling Lotus at 8 PM. Let's chant the night away!


Sunday, April 08, 2012

Happy Easter!

On this holiday, the cornerstone of the Christian faith, and during this week of Passover - both being celebrations of freedom and new beginnings - it is always good to remember we're not so different from each other. Religions, faiths, Gods/Goddesses my have different names, but the seeking and the sought after are the same; love, light, wholeness and spiritual freedom are not exclusive to any belief system. With that, here's the passage from Life of Pi to which I referred to this morning in my Easter class.


image by collective dogs

I know a woman here in Toronto who is very dear to my heart. She was my foster mother. I call her Auntieji and she likes that. She is Québécoise. Those she has lived in Toronto for over thirty years, her French-speaking mind still slips on occasion on the the understanding of English sounds. And so, when she first heard of Hare Krishnas, she didn't hear right. She heard "Hairless Christians", and that is what they were to her for many years. When I corrected her, I told her that in fact she was not so wrong; that Hindus, in their capacity for love, were indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Hey Krishna!



I'm working on the tracks and arrangements for the Soul Sangha's album (to be recorded this summer), and I've decided this one is a definite!

He Krishna (Sri Krishna Pranama)

he krishna karuna-sindho
dina bandho jagat pate
gopesha gopika-kanta
radha-kanta namo 'stu te

O my dear Krishna, You are the friend of the distressed and the source of creation.
You are the master of the gopis and the lover of Radharani. I offer my respectful
obeisances unto You.
Here's a clip of this mantra from our kirtan last month in New York.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

What does it mean to practice yoga?

I usually prefer not to get involved in the yoga wars, either praising the latest article celebrating the practice or decrying the ones which cast the practice in a less-than-flattering light. My opinion is as valid as anyone's but, yoga is understood through direct experience only and nothing I say or write on the subject can change what someone has already experienced or the opinions formed by that. There have been many responses to William J. Broad's NY Times How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body from January 5, 2012 but I think this offering is pretty spot on: Yoga Can’t Hurt You: If You Can Find It. ~ Godfrey Devereux. Enjoy.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

cult of personality

When Yoga Journal published it's 35th Anniversary issue in 2010, the online gallery of covers provided a unique view of modern, popular yoga in America dating back to 1975. It was cool to see those early issues with their varied and sometimes esoteric articles, but I was struck by a marked change in YJ's look and approach in 1999 when the new normal for their cover art became photos of pretty people in striking asanas (February), and when the subhead of "For Health and Conscious Living" began to disappear (November). I'm not here to critique Yoga Journal or publishing. However I'm troubled by this shift, primarily because I think yoga's benefits are for all people, and this prettying up and cookie-cuttering acts as a barrier (unintentionally so, I'm sure) to someone who may not fit into this published ideal. But more than this, I fear this is one of the things leading to the birth of the yoga superstar, and the beginning of an industry that has fame and money as its driving forces.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

in and out: getting closer to kapotasana

I've had another aha! on my journey to kapotasana (see my summer poses and unexpected detour)! Vinyasa is loosely translated as flow. Though there is a fluidity inherent in the vinyasa practice, the term vinyasa comes from nyasa meaning to place, and vi meaning in a special way. Vinyasa is the conscious, progressive placement of asana that supports a healthy opening of the physical body. Simpler movements and shapes will naturally produce more advanced poses.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

challenge

Your feet can make a huge difference is your asanas, and a little expression in and awareness of your toes can change everything. This caught my eye. It seems simple until you try it. You might want to turn down the sound first...

Monday, April 18, 2011

Padey, Padey...

As spring creeps along I find myself still working on shapes from last year's summer sadhana. And I'm cool with that. This clip provided some helpful clues. Enjoy.

Monday, December 06, 2010

empty cup

In the Hatha Yoga Pradipika it says, Uddiyana bandha is called the rising or flying bandha because through its practice, the great bird (shakti) flies upward with ease (III.56), and Pulling the abdomen back in and making the navel rise is uddiyana bandha. It is the lion which conquers the elephant, death (III.57). Of the three major bandhas (the others being jalandhara bandha and moola bandha), it's the one that often feels the most accessible. The inward lift of the belly seems to focus the fiery strength of the agni, and unleashes a usually untapped storehouse of power. Because it can only be practiced on the exhale it also seems to create space – space to be still, space to feel uncertain, space to embrace emptiness.

This controlled emptiness is called bahya kumbhaka. As BKS Iyengar writes in Light on Pranayama, Bahya kumbhaka is the state in which the yogi surrenders his very self, in the form of his breath, to the Lord and merges with the Universal Breath. It is the noblest form of surrender, as the yogi's identity is totally merged with the Lord.

Sunday, December 05, 2010

laughter spoken here

Recently a student told me she appreciates that she can laugh in my classes. And another said that she liked that she gets to feel very "natural" with me. There are days when I struggle, still feeling like the new guy in town. In those moments I remind myself to show up, shut up, and SERVE so that I can hold the kind of space where yoga can become the vehicle for this laughter and naturalness. Some days it is so hard and I wish that was easier. Then I remember that evolution and change are never easy. On the other side of this struggle is the still point. The only way to get there is to go through the rough places – the trenches of doubt, ego, and attachment. I'd rather get there bloodied and beaten than not get there at all.

Saturday, December 04, 2010

the sweet satisfaction of surya namaskara

In the wee hours of the morning, I often pray for the day to delay its start. I light the candles and unroll my mat before the alter. After a little time on the floor, after my breath has begun to really breathe, after a few adho mukha svanasanas and an extended uttanasana, I stand and embark on Surya Namaskar. When I start, it often feels like these salutations to the still-sleeping-sun are the beginning of my practice. But as the repetitions increase, they become my practice. That's when I start to wish that there were more hours in the day.

Surya Namaskar is pretty perfect. It's a complete practice that fully incorporates pranayama, asana, mantra and devotion. With each bow and lunge my breath gets fuller and more expansive, and these asanas begin to free my body and mind from their dark slumber.

With this familiar set of movements as the beginning of my day, my entire practice becomes exactly what I need every time. What a terrific gift.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

unexpected detour

The greatest part of having a personal practice is the fact that sometimes I end up someplace I didn't plan to explore. In my efforts to embrace dwipadarajakapotasana I experienced some challenges contracting my hamstrings while moving into a deep back-bend. As a result I started practicing Hanumanasana more often, figuring it would change my relationship to my hamstrings and to my psoas. And that's exactly what happened.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

my summer poses


I used to create a sadhana every summer around a shape that was eluding me. I haven't done that in a while, mainly because my practice during the rest of the year has taken on that kind of focus. But as summer winds on this year, I'm feeling the need to get close to a few shapes that are almost there.

The first is this lovely Dhanurasana variation by David Gellineau. The second is Raja Kapotasana as shown here by Ron Reid. The third is Dwi Pada Sirsasana, also shown by Ron. I'll report on my progress and my discoveries in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

stand up, be the messenger you were meant to be


In the spirit of Joan of Arc, Bastille Day, revolution, involution, and the practice of becoming a soldier of love NO MATTER WHAT. Today's poem and playlist.

No Reservations (for Art Jones)

there are no reservations
for the revolution

no polite little clerk
to send notice
to your room
saying you are WANTED
on the battlefield

there are no banners
to wave you forward
no blaring trumpets
not even a blues note
moaning wailing lone blue note
to the yoruba drums saying
strike now shoot
strike now fire
strike now run

there will be no grand
parade
and a lot thrown round
your neck
people won't look up and say
"why he used to live next to me
isn't it nice
it's his turn now"

there will be no recruitment
station
where you can give
the most convenient hours
"monday wednesday i play ball
friday night i play cards
any other time i'm free"

there will be no reserve
of energy
no slacking off till next time
"let's see–i can come back
next week
better not wear myself out
this time"

there will be reservations
only
if we fail

~Nikki Giovanni

'freedom' playlist

1. The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Early Version)–Gil Scott-Heron
2. 2 Words: Miri's Free At Last Mix (feat. Kanye West & MLK,Jr.)–Miri Ben-Ari
3. I Feel Awake Even Though This Is a Dream–Suphala featuring Edie Brickell
4. Raining Revolution–Arrested Development
5. Elliptical–Me'Shell Ndegéocello
6. Gabrielle feat. Alice Russell - Alternate 12" Take–[re:jazz]
7. It's a New Day–will.i.am
8. Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now–McFadden & Whitehead
9. Answer Me–Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
10. Freedom Now–Tracy Chapman
11. To Be Young, Gifted and Black–Nina Simone
12. Oh, Freedom–Harry Belafonte
13. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Suite: Sunday in Savannah–Nina Simone
14. Minerva–Ani DiFranco
15. Freedom Time–Lauryn Hill
16. Evolution (And Flashback)–Gil Scott-Heron
17. Dream–Toshi Reagon