It's "A Place That is Peaceful" - Reasons People Come to the Ashram

Why do you come to Divine Art of Yoga Center ashram?

Danielle: It's a treat at the beginning of my week. I'm sure everyone has busy lives, as do I: a family with three kids, a job, a commute. It's refreshing to just come and practice (yoga) in a place that is peaceful and authentic and where the people are very friendly." 

"My Focus is Better" - Reasons People Come to the Ashram

Why do you come to Divine Art of Yoga Center ashram?

Xavier: "It's a way to offset the busy-ness during the week and pull myself together. There's the relaxation component, dealing with stress. I find that my focus is better, and I'm less distracted by the "noise" that we have in the big city. (Through yoga) my flexibility has improved, and I'm more focused on contributing to the things that make me happy."

An Egg Broken From the Inside is Better

Dr. Ashok Modh was in La Habra for Holi Festival and in his satsang, he discussed how we could do good things in our life. The festival of colors and colored Easter eggs provided a nice metaphor:

"When an egg is broken from the outside, you lose a life.

But the same egg, when it opens from within... a new life begins.

Goodness has to happen within you, not by somebody saying it.

How best to achieve that?

By yoga

Meditation

Bhajan

and satsang.

Bhajan and satsang in particular creates the environment within us to create something good.

Now here

Amen

Yin and Yang

Do yoga and be okay with all of it.

20 Minutes of Yoga Can Make You Smarter

I have to say, I feel smarter after doing yoga for 20 minutes this morning. Science even backs it up.

By smarter, I mean aware (not groggy), relaxed (not anxious on a Monday morning), and... happy (not the opposite of happy).

This article explains it: "The ability to maintain focus and retain and use new information improved immediately after practising Hatha yoga just for 20 minutes. Participants performed significantly better immediately after the yoga practice than after moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for the same amount of time," said researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

The other good news? Yogis healthy relationship with their ego won't let this information go to their head.

 

the ability to maintain focus and retain and use new information - improved immediately after practising Hatha yoga just for 20 minutes.

"Participants performed significantly better immediately after the yoga practice than after moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for the same amount of time," said researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47748063.cms?cfmid=7000000&utm_source=CTNNetwork&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ETPAN_02JULY15&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

the ability to maintain focus and retain and use new information - improved immediately after practising Hatha yoga just for 20 minutes.

"Participants performed significantly better immediately after the yoga practice than after moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for the same amount of time," said researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47748063.cms?cfmid=7000000&utm_source=CTNNetwork&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ETPAN_02JULY15&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

the ability to maintain focus and retain and use new information - improved immediately after practising Hatha yoga just for 20 minutes.

"Participants performed significantly better immediately after the yoga practice than after moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for the same amount of time," said researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47748063.cms?cfmid=7000000&utm_source=CTNNetwork&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ETPAN_02JULY15&utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Even Carl Jung Knew Yoga's Power

Excerpts from Narendra Modi's Speech on Yoga

When a prime minister of an important country like India speaks about yoga, the world listens.

Perhaps as many as 2 billion people around the world took part in the first "International Day of Yoga" on June 21st. It seems to signal that yoga is becoming mainstream, and if this is true, surely more peace will spread in the world as a result.

The sooner the better, right? Yet all is perfect.

Here are some important quotes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech:

• "A yogi is a person who is in harmony – with herself, her body, with her surroundings, with nature. Yoga is the means to achieve that harmony."
• "From the Upanishads, comes the idea of Yoga to transform human consciousness through control of body and senses through constant practice. The body is the vehicle for the realization of the Supreme Being."
• "Yoga is, therefore, a vision for a harmonious future for humanity. It is a state of mind … People often think that yoga is just a set of exercises. Yoga is a philosophy of discipline and meditation that transforms the spirit and makes the individual a better person in thought, action, knowledge and devotion."

• "The benefits of yoga are manifold. When practised correctly and with discipline, Yoga leads to: 

1. Perfection of our body’s potential in strength, skill, and general well-being, peaceful and stress-free living.
2. Control and mastery of our life-energies (Prana) leading to health, long and disease-free life, capacity for full enjoyment of life.
3. Opening and refining of the heart’s emotions leading to greater compassion, mutual understanding, and sensitivity to the needs of others.
4. Full development of our mental powers, leading to heightened concentration, intelligence, creativity, intuition. 
5. Liberation of our spirit from ignorance, suffering, incapacity, leading to freedom, equality, constant joyfulness and inner strength to overcome all challenges of life. It awakens the deeper sense of unity and oneness with the whole Universe and all living beings. 
6. Together, these lead to the realization of our highest divine Perfection.

Has Your Mud Settled?

I find myself using this phrase a lot here: "It's easier with yoga and meditation." 

Perhaps I should trademark it. (I jest, of course.)

Or maybe I should use the acronym IEWYAM. 

A bit awkward and unwieldy.

End of digression. 

"Do you have the patience to wait till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?"

After reading this, I'm sure we'll all do a lot better at it now.

What's in between Meditation and Yoga? Pranayama

For the best night's sleep, do pranayama (breathing exercises).

According to B.K.S. Iyengar, “Pranayama is a conscious prolongation of inhalation, retention and exhalation.”

Pranayama night at our ashram always draws the biggest crowd. We start by sitting in a circle and chanting OM three times. Then we go through a series of breathing exercises that have multiple and immediate effects on the body.

Liz McCollum Ford puts it like this: "To understand pranayama it’s helpful to understand prana. Yogi Bhajan said “Praana is the most powerful and most creative thing God ever created, because out of praana came life.” So what is prana? Classical yogic texts describe prana as the energy of the universe. This energy is the creator, sustainer, and destroyer, and because it permeates everything in the universe it is considered the breath of life."

For those who are new to this, I recommend trying it the next time you see it offered at your nearby yoga studio, ashram or community center. Out of the many health benefits, you'll definitely sleep better that very night.

That's Yoga?

The Light of Awareness

A Good Reminder - The Four Agreements

As readers of this blog have heard, yoga and meditation make many spiritual principles easier to live moment to moment. It just comes with the territory.

I enjoy being a part of an ashram that does not adhere to one belief - a good idea can come from anywhere - and ultimately we are all after the same things (I don't need to tell you, smart reader, what those things are).

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is one of those wonderful books that distills how to live a good life to a few practical principles.

They can help us detect where there's friction in our life that needs attention. They may prompt questions, like:

• Am I not doing my best, and if not, why?
• Have I lied about something, or am I lying on a consistent basis?
• Does someone consistently irritate me? Am I taking it personally because their behavior is something I don't like inside myself?
• Am I constantly assuming negative things? What do I get out of engaging in gossip or drama instead of just loving people without judgement?

And while you're working on these, treat yourself to some yoga and watch all four get a LOT easier.

Peace and love!

Yoga Isn't Just Stretching

Yoga Makes Change Much Easier

Every day, little by little, you're becoming someone different, aren't you?

Whether you call it "growing up," maturing, deepening, or becoming enlightened, there are many little changes you notice, some little changes you create, and they're all adding up to something new.

Hopefully you're moving closer to your truest self, so you can live the most fulfilling life possible in alignment with your soul's aim.

Which is awesome... but...

You also have to deal with the consequences of these incremental changes. Transformation means you're making changes in your life, and changes can prick.

You changed X, and didn't realize Y would have to change as well. Changing Y now is a bit inconvenient, so you either roll with it or expend energy shoring it up.

For now. Until you accept the consequences of Y for Z, followed by the fundamental ABC changes that cause your friends and family to scratch their heads and even challenge you.

Unless they're transforming too, and then they get it.

If not, you weather the storm. It's your life after all.

Now, if there is something that promises to make all this easier to take, that promises to help you handle it with infinitely more grace, take it! Do it, grab it, squeeze it, cherish it...

And tell others about it.

Yoga and/or Meditation Will Help #1

Fantastic Yoga Infographic

Better Late Than Never

160 Reasons to Meditate May Not Be Enough

A great article cites over 160 studies that demonstrates meditation's healing benefits.

Many find this hard to believe. If it was widely accepted, we'd be talking about meditation as much as we talk about sports teams, politics, T.V. shows, etc.

Is it because as Americans, we prefer the "magic bullet" approach? Just give me something to take away the pain - the faster the better - so I can get back to doing _______?

Education helps, but many of us don't seek it out. This makes us "low information" citizens, according to the media (although we're rarely at a loss for knowing many people's opinions on political issues*).

Illness tends to focus a person. I improved my health considerably when I got sick.

But that only lasted a while. I got better, time passed, and the desire to live a healthy life faded. For a while I opted for diets that were effective in losing weight but unhealthy overall.

Then I increased my health education. Now more of my Facebook feed is filled with healthy tips from reputable sources. Everything from the common sense stuff (hey, we all need to be reminded once in a while) to the more exotic.

But I still needed a nudge.

Then came the aging (aching?) body to the rescue. It told me loud and clear I couldn't do all the things I used to do and get the same effect. I had to stretch more before exercise, eat less to at least maintain my weight, eat better to avoid heartburn, gastrointestinal issues, artery-clogging, high blood pressure, and the list goes on.

There aren't enough magic bullets to instantly resolve all these challenges, and even when you try some, there are usually side effects.

But if we can set aside just a few minutes a day for meditation, or a little longer for meditation-in-motion (yoga) we can become one of these amazing people who live to be 103 with very little illness and more fulfillment than the average person?

Even if we didn't believe meditation could heal our body, isn't it worth trying for a few minutes a day to see? Why won't many of us give up just ten minutes of T.V.-watching to do this?

Unconsciously, I think it's because we're afraid of what we'll find once we still our mind. We're liable to meet are real self (Self), and we're not ready for that, perhaps because that would mean change. (Again, all of this is happening on a subconscious level.) 

More on this in another post. Please share your comments.

Late edit: It occurred to me that just doing yoga and meditation for any amount of time made me want to do it more, and it made me want to pursue even more relevant information for my health and well being. They're gifts that keep on giving.

* What would happen if we all replaced 3 opinions a day with 3 facts? Minds blown.