Practicing on & off the mat

Inspired by our philosophy readings in the Living Yoga Teacher Training, this page will be dedicated to excerpts from magazine articles, books and readings that influence our yoga practice and encourages Living Yoga:  'practicing on and off the mat'. Please let us know if you have a reading you would like to share.

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Up To The Mountain (MLK Song) Patty Griffin I went up to the mountain Because you asked me to Up over the clouds To where the sky was blue I could see all around me Everywhere I could see all around me Everywhere Sometimes I feel like I've never been nothing but tired And I'll be walking Till the day I expire Sometimes I lay down No more can I do But then I go on again Because you ask me to

Some days I look down Afraid I will fall And though the sun shines I see nothing at all Then I hear your sweet voice, oh Oh, come and then go, come and then go Telling me softly You love me so The peaceful valley Just over the mountain The peaceful valley Few come to know I may never get there Ever in this lifetime But sooner or later It's there I will go Sooner or later It's there I will go

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We are so completely blessed to born into this human form, especially those of us who have the capacity to practice yoga and to make choices which bring us more in tune with our higher purpose.

Let us always strive to live our lives with more urgency and presence. Let us always strive to be aware of our blessings, to cherish this blessed life and those in it that we love. There is so much light and goodness to share with one another.

The (yoga) scriptures tell us that radiant, unbounded joy is the essence of who we are. Let us continually dive deep within ourselves to realize this truth.

OM Namah Shivaya...!!

Govinda Kai
http://blog.lunaticmonk.com/

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We don't know all the reasons that propel us on a spiritual journey, but somehow our life compels us to go.  Something in us knows that we are not just here to toil at our work.  There is a mysterious pull to remember.
~ Jack Kornfield

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WHEN DEATH COMES

When death comes like the hungry bear in autumn;
When death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse to buy me,
And snaps the purse shut;
When death comes like the measles-pox;
When death comes like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
What is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
And I look upon time as no more than an idea,
And I consider eternity as another possibility,
And I think of each life as a flower, as common as a field daisy, and as singular,
And each name a comfortable music in the mouth tending as all music does, toward silence,
And each body a lion of courage, and something precious to the earth.
When its over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it is over, I don’t want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened, or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.

~ Mary Oliver
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In yoga we sometimes move away from readings/quotes that mention God in respect to different cultures and beliefs.
One of the NiYamas is Isvara Pranidhana – faith/trust in a higher being. In some yoga sutra translations, it reads 'trust in God'.
So, as we do with the sutras or other readings, if your 'higher being' is not God, please substitute that with what it represents for you.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Marianne Williamson

Shine on!!
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The best thing to give your enemy, is forgiveness
To an opponent, tolerance
To a friend, your heart
To your child, a good example
To your father, deference
To your mother, conduct that will make her proud
To yourself, respect
To all people -- charity
~ Swami Sivananda

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\ Celebrate the Journey
Poem by Danna Faulds

Who knows why life unfolds the way it does; why we choose one path or another, share the way for awhile or a day, then say goodbye.  There is no predictability here, and less control than we might wish.
But there is the quiet urging of the heart, the knowing in the soul, the wisdom that's beneath the mind, accessible if we breathe and turn inside.
When the tide of change rolls in we can resist or be at peace, struggle or release.  The stuff of life may not be ours to understand.  It's enough to offer love, to receive the best and worst, to embrace and say farewell. 
What matters most is to celebrate each moment of the journey. 

 

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PICTURES FROM 9/22/07 - Yoga on the State House Lawn -- GLOBAL MALA