Part 1

Sound carries vibration. The body resonates on a frequency. Think about when you’re watching a mystery movie and the music played makes you nervous or afraid, the music’s vibration or frequency is unsettling to the ear and is moved through the body in turn creating the emotion of fear in the body. Switch the idea, spiritual or moving music, songs of praise; when you’ve sat in a church on a Sunday morning and been moved to tears. Why? The same idea applies. The frequency or vibration of the music moves through the body and creates an energy and emotion of connection to source.

In the India each day of the week has a particular song or mantra associated with that day. Each of these mantras create a vibration to help with the issues that many of face during the week. Let’s look at these mantras and the meaning behind them.

Monday, the day ruled by the moon. Myth has it that Mondays were a day important to Shiva. Shiva represents a positive destroyer, responsible for destroying our attachments, relationships, and desires that create a distraction in order for us to move forward in our spiritual path. Even though this can be painful, it serves for the highest good of ourselves and the universe as a whole.

The mantra for Monday can be one of many about Shiva also known as a Shiva Strotam. Many devotees also will wear white on Mondays as colors serve in the same way as sound resonating on a particular frequency.

Tuesday, the day ruled by Mars. Mars has been associated with being the ‘trouble maker’ of the planetary system. The mantra for Mondays are those dedicated to Hanuman. Myth says that the beloved Hanuman was a monkey who was a strong warrior against darkness, devoted to his teachers and the divine , persevering, humble, and that even though the way he went about things might have been difficult he was always well meaning. He learned the scriptures in 60 hours, an amazing feat. And when he had to save Lakshmana by fetching a life-saving herb from the mountain, he couldn’t discern the right one, so he just brought the whole mountain! So, many pictures you’ll see him holding the mountain in one hand.

The song is called the Hanuman Chalisa. Chalisa means 40 because the song has 40 verses that sing tells of Hanumans’ great feats and sings praises to him for protecting his believers from evil, despair, disease, all troubles and darkness. Believers were red on Tuesdays in honor of Hanuman.

Wednesday, the day ruled by Mercury. Symbolizing family, Wednesdays are said to be beneficial to husbands and wives. Hmm….Weddings? It’s also a auspicious day for education and success in business. The songs are dedicated to Krishna, who is worshipped by millions as God incarnated and to some seen only as a man; a great  hero, protector, teacher, and friend. The influence of Krishna in Indian culture spreads across all aspects of life and art. He is usually pictured as blue, handsome, and playing the flute. The mystery of Krishna stems from not having  any clear historical records. Whoever he was, it seems that one thing is for sure, he was a divine energy here on Earth. Krishna literally means “Black”, for the mysterious one.

George Harrison of the Beatles devoted much of his life spreading the importance of this mantra  as one of the most divine mantras.

Hare means to take away or end, the mantra is asking God to take away our sorrows.

Look for Part 2 coming soon!

Namaste.

Rise and Shine

The sun rose brilliantly over the nearby field and though the clouds were thick it peered through and illuminated in the haze yesterdays’ storms left behind.  A white horse galloped across the horizon causing my mind to resonate deeply with a sense of wonderment and appreciation for the beauty of this morning and the awareness of my environment.  I smiled as two doves playfully chased each other over head.

On my way to the studio each morning I take this back country road.  The area it passes through is a place that my grandmother Helen lived at one time and often when she is with me she shares nostalgic stories of what used to be and who used to live where.  For that reason I guess I usually have a sense of familiarity when I travel those windy roads.  I love to drive slowly and soak in the surroundings, there is so much to see; deer dance along the forest lines, cows graze in the fields, and ever so often there is a ginger colored dog that waits mischievously on the edge of his yard to pounce towards and chase any car that dares cross into his territory.

“How did I get here?”

When I was a teenager, I practically lived in my car.  I loved to be free on the open road.  I liked to drive fast and was always rushing towards my destination.  At that time my awareness was such that I may have not noticed the sunrise, the horse, the deer, and unfortunately probably not the dog either.  Through my path with yoga I’ve learned to slow down, enjoy the journey, and enjoy even the drives.  Not to say it’s always easy, we all have a destination we want to get to; maybe it’s a goal, an aspiration, or an object to acquire.  Maybe it’s a career goal, a romantic conquest, and maybe its crow pose! We set our sights so keenly that we often miss out on the journey.  When we finally arrive or achieve it often seems that time has flown by and we think of all the things we miss or missed out on!

Sometimes when I was ripping and running the roads, as my family would say, I would have a moment of panic and realize that I was thirty or sometimes fifty miles down the road from my last coherent or conscious thought!  Dangerous yes, but sad, what did I miss out on or never saw that I intended to see? The true learning process is in the journey.

Nothing is Easy

Just imagine climbing a mountain and what one would endure; cold winds, freezing dark nights, treacherous peaks and walls, dangerous animals, and the brutality of the mind alone.  You would climb all day and all night for weeks and then finally you reaching the summit.  You’re there, the exhilaration of success flows through your blood.  How long does it last?  It’s often fleeting.  How long can you stay there until you climb back down? Imagine what you would notice on the way down and how it would be different. You would be more relaxed and soak in every moment, mentally burning each scene into your memory bank, wanting to remember it all forever.  Once home, safe and sound in your bed, how would be different?  Was it the conquest that changed you or the climb itself? And what would you do next?  Probably start the process all over again and decide what to climb next, there is still Everest after all! And so the next journey begins.  This is life.

Use your Senses

So, how can we learn to enjoy the process?  We’ve all heard the cliché “Stop and smell the roses”, this is a valuable lesson.  Stop, stop rushing, take your time, and stop missing all the beauty right in front of your eyes in every small moment of each and every day. Smell, use your senses, touch things, see things, feel things, enjoy your surroundings. Use your emotions; let them overtake you at times, its fine, it’s all a part of life and feeling alive!  And the rose…the rose represents beauty, it is also the divine.  Seeing GOD in everything and everyone, that is real beauty.  Every step in your journey is an opportunity to connect to spirit and the deeper part of yourself.  So no matter where you are today, stop, connect, and realize.  Live your life with full awareness in each moment.  Don’t let thirty or even fifty years go by where you wake up one morning and realize you’ve made it, but you’re unsure of how you ended up there and what you missed out on along the way.

Free Your Mind

On July 4, we celebrate our independence and our freedom in this great country. But, what does it mean to be free in the mind? Many of us are conflicted in the mind, allowing it to run wild with thoughts, desires, and memories that seem to haunt. It’s often those painful memories of the past that begin to shape our beliefs and the way we live our lives in the present. It’s as though the mind is a cage and we are a caught bird that longs for freedom. Why is it some birds won’t leave even when the door is open? Fear of the unknown? Fear that what happened the last time they flew may happen again? In many ways we are like the bird.

Go Deeper

We come to the mat because we are physically weak, overweight, underweight, unhappy, angry, lost, confused, or searching. As the practice begins with meditation we begin to think of all we have to do that day, of the heated exchange between ourselves and another. We come back to the senses and the breath and begin to travel inward. We move through practice and end in savasana, rest and allow our minds to drift. Time seems short; we awaken and wonder, “Where did I go?”

The Deep Lake Samskara

I like millions of others lived through trauma on more than one occasion. Through my life practice of introspection I move the memories up and out. In yoga we refer to the trauma and resulting impressions as samskaras. These samskaras are stuffed down into a dark abyss in the mind and in the body. Imagine a murky deep lake within; this is the home of samskaras.
Once our yoga practice is created and consistant, we create a vibration within the body and the mind, this vibration shakes the murkiness and allows the samskaras to release. Sounds simple, but it is anything but. This process at best provides an ‘aha’ moment and sense of relief and at worst, for me personally, crying on my knees in the tub during the cover of night. The latter is when I am truly thankful for the guidance that yoga offers on becoming the witness, so I know I’m not that person anymore, I am not in that situation, and I give myself permission to feel the pain with a sense of awareness enabling a release and the hold that each memory, thought, impression, and belief has on my life.

Living Meditation

To begin this process today, move through your daily routine and watch your thoughts. What do you think of as your wash the dishes, cook dinner, clean the bathroom, and do laundry. Go into each of your senses; what do you smell, taste, hear, feel, see? What feelings arise? And what are your intentions behind each action? Are you content? Disturbed? Open? Closed off? This is where we begin to deepen the understanding and acceptance of ourselves. Give yourself permission to feel the full spectrum of emotions. Know that now is the time for you to be free. It’s time to fly out of the cage and flow with what life has in store for you. Realize each experience good or bad is a learning and growing experience. Give yourself permission to love and move into the real you.

Dream

How do we manifest great things in our life? Sometimes we don’t understand how to begin such a process. I begin with a vision, this vision begins in Chitakasha. Chitakasha is the dark space behind the eyelids or the forehead where we often see visualizations right before we fall asleep, this is the place we visualize unconscious thoughts.

It is often in this place that we find our inspiration.  Many successful people will tell you they thought of their world changing ideas in meditation.  Why? Because we are tapped into our true potential in this state, we are open to the creative flow of energy and allow our deepest desires to lift into conscious awareness.

From Thought to Form

We can decide what we want to see for our future. Every image in our mind has an energy or vibration attached to it. This energy can actually permeate the physical body and extend into a higher state where the image manifests into a tangible form.

Have you ever thought of someone and then the phone rang and they were on the other end? This is a great example of how we visualize something and the vibration or energy in us is released, connecting to the upper layers of ourselves which connects to something greater or a higher consciousness. That something greater or higher consciousness is connected to the person we are thinking of. The energy is sent out along the connective lines, reaching the other person and they begin to think of you.

My first experience with this connection was when I was a young child playing outside my grandmother’s house. Someone had given me a heart shaped tigers’ eye pendant. For some reason I thought it was for making wishes. There was a little boy in the neighborhood who I thought was cute and admittedly I had a crush on. This particular day I was rubbing the pendant wishing whole heartedly for the boy to come outside to play. Sure enough he came out and I got my wish! I remember thinking there was something to this idea of wishing.

We’ve all heard the expression, “be careful what you wish for”. Can you manifest negative? Yes. It can work in the opposite way. We can manifest our fears and what we don’t want just as easily. There are times that negative thoughts or visions consume our mind. When we don’t control our thoughts we risk the possibility of creating a negative outcome or reaction in our lives. The Secret teaches not to think of what you don’t want because you’ll get it, the universe doesn’t compute no or not. So it’s best to be careful what we think about, what we wish for and what ideas or thoughts we put our energy into. Swami Satchidananda says it clearly in his book The Golden Present, “Pain has no interest in coming to you unless you have invited it.” We often fail to realize that we have brought the negative upon ourselves.

Visualize
So we get a glimpse of the positive future idea or vision then often find it hard to hold onto. We easily get sucked back into the negative thought patterns.  This where the practice of yoga and meditation comes in, to strengthen and learn how to control the mind instead of being controlled by it. There are other tools such as vision boards, sometimes having a picture to relate to can help us realize our greatest goal, idea, or potential. Sankalpa is another great tool, using the same sankalpa or intention during our yoga practice and holding it with our hearts deepest yearning and desire creates that positive vibration but also releases it. Eventually the sankalpa will manifest, (it is promised not to fail you).

Dream, Visualize, Manifest

Sometimes we have to do the work. Get up and do something! Take one small action in the direction of your desire or goal. When I visualized opening a studio there was a point where I had to not only heed the signs that I believed were pushing me in the right direction but I had to commit to the dream by taking action. Investing in the outcome that I longed for and initiating hours of hard work to bring the dream to fruition. How many of us or someone we know have brilliant ideas but never realize any of them. Release the fear, realize the dream! Once the first step is completed we find confidence and begin to see what we are capable of.  This can be the turning point in our lives to creating the upmost positive reality.

Bring On the Good Vibes

In Yoga we learn that each moment in our lives has a certain vibration to it.  It is similar to when you go to church and are filled with the Holy Spirit, when you finish a spiritual yoga class or when you are chanting mantra, and feel that hum or as my husband puts it, the “wa,wa, wa”.  This is a vibration.  Each vibration resonates on a certain frequency.  The goal is to stay in the upper levels.  These levels are lowered by negative thoughts, words, beliefs; by taking anything into your body that is a suppressant such as drugs or alcohol; by eating foods that are not pure such as processed foods, foods high in sugar, meats, and anything sprayed down with chemicals; and by hanging out in areas or with other people who live in these lower vibrations, (you know where and who they are).  These levels are raised by positive thoughts, words, beliefs; taking into your body sattvic foods, foods that are pure, that are cooked with good intentions; by keeping the body as pure in every way that you can; and by spending time with positive people and in places of higher vibrations ( this could be in nature).

My Realization

So when it comes to movies, which I love; I have realized that I can be living the day in the upper vibrations of love and light and when we turn on the TV to a murder mystery or crime show, I actually begin to get grumpy or agitated. So just recently I have decided that I wouldn’t watch anything with a low vibration, only movies and shows that are positive.  No murder, no crime shows, no dark plots, dark themes, scary characters.  I will only watch positive, inspiring, uplifting movies.  (With the exception of Breaking Dawn, hey I’m human!)

I thought I would share for those of you that are interested. I have purchased Titans of Yoga, and Living Yoga and will plan a couple movie nights at the studio in near future.

My List of Enlightening Movies

• The Peaceful Warrior
• 10 Questions for the Dali Lama
• Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood
• Eat, Pray, Love
• The Secret
• The Human Experience
• Life As A House
• Indigo
• Siddhartha
• Tibet Cry of the Snow Lion
• The Buddha
• Shades of Gray
• Travelers and Magicians
• Ram Dass: Fierce Grace
• Why Has Bodhi Darma Left for the East?
• Contact
• Garden State
• Life As We Know It
• The Mists of Avalon
• What Dreams May Come
• Illusion
• Defending Your Life
• Little Buddha
• Ghandi
• Kundun
• Dream Keeper
• Mother Theresa: In the Name of GODS Poor
• Zen Noir
• Short Cut to Nirvana
• Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
• Children of Heaven
• Darshan the Embrace
• Go Further
• The Eleventh Hour
• Yoga Inc.
• The White Diamond
• Conscious Acts of Creation
• One: The Movie
• Titans of Yoga
• Living Yoga, the Life and Teachings of Swami Satchidananda
• Enlighten Up
• Yoga Unveiled
• Y Yoga
• Ayurveda, the Art of Being
• Astanga NY
• Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring
• Born Into Brothels
• The Blind Side
• The Celestine Prophecy
• Yes Man
• Bruce Almighty
• The Family Man
• Forrest Gump
• The Bucket List
• Pay It Forward

Ok, there it is!  If you know of anything that I missed please let me know.