The Teacher’s Journal

Entries categorized as ‘yoga’

Too Cool!

October 17, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Categories: Miscellaneous · consciousness · feng shui · meditation · video · yoga

Were you born between 1971 – 1973?

October 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Practice Patience.

(I’m using a very wide orb here)…..

if so, then Saturn is coming up to conjunct your natal Pluto.

Heavy.

Dense.

Solid,

and sometimes Immovable.

Patience is key.

A good time to establish a yoga practice to re-generate your stress and turn it into skillful action and right thinking.

Easily said.

Difficult to practice.

Find a spiritual  teacher.

Commit.

Breathe.

Categories: Miscellaneous · astrology · digital photography · my photos · yoga · yoga therapy

Let the mind, be the mind.

October 5, 2009 · Leave a Comment

mercury

Let the mind be the mind.

Behind its restless activity,

just one layer deeper

is stillness, and beneath

even that, is an ocean of mystery and truth.

Swim in this eternal sea

until you know yourself

to be infinity, and bring

that knowing back into

your day.  Why struggle

to be what you are already?

Let the mind be the mind

but don’t bind yourself

to its limited reality.

Trust your experience of

vastnes.  Trust the truth

that never loses potency

or disappears in fear.

Let the mind be the mind

and identify not with

thought, but silence.

…from Limitless by Danna Faulds.

Categories: book reports · meditation · poetry · yoga

Saturn Time….a slow, long view

April 29, 2009 · 2 Comments

If you’re coming around to 30, 60 or 90 years of age (rounding off the numbers for simplicity….consult a professional astrologer for your exact dates.) you’re probably approaching The Saturn Return. A return is when a transiting planet arrives at the same place it was in when you were born. Every year around your birthday you have a Solar Return.

Volumes have been written about the Saturn Return and I encourage you to ‘google’ the term and do your own research. I have a list compiled at librarything.com and as soon as I develop some more technical skills I’ll share it with you. However, be prepared. You may not like what you read. Saturn has a reputation of bringing us face to face with cold, hard reality.

If you move thru this transition time with consciousness there are some very definite rewards to be gained if you are willing to work hard. It is a time for discipline and patience.

The Saturn Return presents us with choice points: critical decisions are considered, and changes can be implemented ……consciously and/or unconsciously.

All that said, the focus of this post is on the ~3 year period of time that precedes the return, beginning somewhere around the ages 27, 57, or 87 approximate.

(more…)

Categories: astrology · feng shui · yoga · yoga therapy

Time to Dance……………….!

January 28, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Tribal Dance

Find Center…………………….Stay There……………………….Keep Moving…………………Breathe…

Categories: dance · music · yoga/dancing
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DESKTOP FENG SHUI

January 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Once you understand the concept of swirling, energetic motion (chi) and re-member that we live in a living (organic) body, you can apply the maps you are learning to any place, space, or surface.   By maps I mean: the bagua, luopan, or local space chart.ichingbagua.gif

A desk top is exactly that, the top of the desk.  Or,  it could also be the desktop of your computer monitor, or ipod screen.    (If you are familiar with the EMDR techniques available, and/or you practice yoga for the eyes, then you may have become aware of how our eye movements, and the patterns of those movements, affect our brain/neural pathways.  Once you understand this body map you can apply some yoga therapy to balance it…………..if necessary.

A compass of some kind is helpful. Working with directions is an important concept and maps & compasses prevent us from getting lost.  The bagua is a generic map anyone can follow.   The “local space astrology chart” is more complicated since it provides the same depth of information that is found on the luopan.  Go here for more information on local space charts which function as both a A compass and a time-keeping tool.

Begin, as usual, by creating intention and finding center. Sit at your desk and begin to see the space around you as a ‘whole’, noting what is in the various 8 segments of the desktop.  Begin to arrange things, mindfully, remembering your intention with each breath.  Look at the new arrangement.  Adjust, feel, see it as a metaphor, scan the body for sensations.  Welcome the changes that come.

Solar Eclipse Coming.

PS………..I’ve got a newsletter ready to come out.   want one?    sign up over there on the right sidebar.

May we all live well.

Categories: ancient wisdom · astrology · feng shui · music · poetry · yoga

Yoga Legislation in NJ

October 30, 2008 · 1 Comment

As you know, I don’t usually engage in online political discourse however I am going to make an exception here today.
In our Tuesday am class we discussed the link that I am sending you and as a group we sort of decided that this NJ Congressman needs to hear from us, us being those practicing yoga.
As you will read,  Assemblyman Joseph J. Roberts from District 5 (Camden & Gloucester) has submitted a bill to the legislature of NJ that would require yoga teachers and studios to be licensed by the State.  He lumps us in with “exercise facilities” & “fitness professionals”, disregarding completely the uniqueness of yoga.  His ignorance reflects that of the mainstream with regards to what yoga really is.
Now, I do not claim to KNOW what yoga actually is, or isn’t.
I’m still engaged in the practice of knowing who I am or aren’t and we all know how long that can take!  Nevertheless, I feel that it’s my civic responsibility to add my voice to any issue that touches my heart.  This one, ‘got me’……………………………….
I feel that I am doing a part by keeping you informed.  Integrating skillfull mental activity (buddhi) with willfull action (tapas) and a spirited purpose (karma) is tough stuff and needs lots of practice.
My intentions are to join with other yoga/wellness/holistic professionals in NJ in educating our legislature as to the reality of yoga.
Many voices speaking truth at the same time can be ‘transformational’.
Do what you will.
Trust that everything is good.
And, please, share your yoga experience(s) with those around you so that we can bring more people out of ignorance and into the light.
Om shanti.
Om.
All that said, here are some links to check out regarding this issue.

Categories: Dharma · Miscellaneous · the jersey shore · yoga
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A Maverick in the Sky…………………..

August 19, 2008 · 1 Comment

moons nodesAs I write this, Chiron is in active conjunction with the North Node at 18+ degrees of Aquarius.  As many of you know, I have been actively watching Chiron’s travels for a while.  For me, this conjunction with Rahu (the vedic term for: North Node of the Moon) is a good opportunity to sweep and de-clutter the path in preparation for the ‘new earth’.   Wherever Chiron goes, healing occurs………………………or not.

The north node is a place and not an object in the sky.  It is a symbolic moment in time/space that has no physical substance to it like the moon or mars.   Think of it as a line bi-secting the earth & moon ecliptics.

Many astrologers have decided that the nodal fields of activity are our relationships with other people, present day company and also past company as in both childhood and past lives.  Karmic experiences are highly likely for those with a belief system that supports this notion.  (In India where Vedic Astrology began, karma and past-lives are an integral part of their belief system.  Hindu’s Buddhists, and the followers of Guru’s all share a deep respect for the laws of karma and extend this respect to their honoring of all beings.)

Nodal contacts can bring new people into our lives for new relationships and/or create so much separation between us in existing relationships that we finally (?)break apart.  Because the north node always occurs with a south node it can be a little confusing to know which has more ‘juice’ at any moment. A gifted astrologer can really help here, seek one out.   The rule of thumb is that the NN will lead you towards future karma or dharma, whilst the SN reflects to you more of your past karma.  Since Now is the only moment that really counts the challenge is to balance the two energies and find common ground.  When a planet highlights a node, as is the case today, it makes it easier to find the particular relationships in your life which are operating on a karmic level, and which aren’t.  (ie.  the grocery clerk who winked today, or a phone call from an old friend)   Look around.

Aquarian energy will be the common denominator for awhile.  (The NN will remains in Aquarius for about 18 months and then it moves on to Capricorn.  It is about halfway into it’s cycle. )  Also note that the nodes revolve around planet earth in the opposite direction from the planets/asteroids.  Think of this conjunction like you would preview a ‘movie trailer’ with a release date of 2009 – 2010. (More on this to come.))

Some keywords for Aquarius are:  friendship, terrorists, eccentrics, genius, intuitive, future-oriented, difficulty with intimacy, objectivity, out-of-the-box, humanitarian.   One might wonder why the word terrorists is on that list and that’s a good question.  I will leave it for another day and I encourage you to meditate on it for the greater good of all beings.  Om shanti.

The 19th degree of the Sabian Symbols (always round up) says:

A forest fire is being subdued by the use of water, chemicals and sheer muscular energy.

The keynote reads:  the skill and courage necessary to bring under control the destructive potential fo carelessness of karmic “visitations”.

Oh!  I left a word off the keyword list above………Aquarius is also the sign of aliens and extra-terrestrials.  Hmmm.

Time for bed.

Links tomorrow if I have the time.

May all beings be peaceful.

Categories: ancient wisdom · astrology · consciousness · yoga · yoga therapy
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….this made me cry………….

July 18, 2008 · 2 Comments

….try to watch the whole thing if you can………..i’ll post it over there on the right with my others asap. …..”14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands”!!

For More Information on the creator of this wonderful clip: Go here.

Categories: Miscellaneous · dance · yoga/dancing

……..wanna dance?

July 16, 2008 · Leave a Comment

cancan

remember what Rumi wrote?  check out this older post in the archives …………..

We’ll be in The Big Apple on Friday, Full Moon in Capricorn.

Categories: Miscellaneous · journal entry · yoga/dancing
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