After I published my last post about how we should be mindful with our words, I received an email containing the following story: 

A bishop met a woman at the markets. It was known that this woman spread all kinds of gossip everywhere she went.  The bishop took the goose which the woman had just bought, plucked all the feathers and scattered them in all directions.

The woman was wondering about the bishop’s strange behaviour and asked in astonishment why he was doing this. The bishop replied to her: “Go and collect all these feathers, every single one of them!  You carelessly cast all your words to the wind. I scattered the feathers in all directions the same way you spread your words. Go and see whether you can get all the feathers back again. “  After the bishop said this to the woman, she suddenly understood that words, once spoken, are very difficult to capture again.

From this time onwards the woman was much more cautious with her words.

Thank you Irmgard for this lovely tale.

Till next time,

Connie,

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com
 

I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine just a couple of days ago. Her daughter, who is only 12 years old, wanted her own personal website. After a lot of family discussions it was decided that she was going to have her own site. There would be strict rules attached in regards to the management of the site.

One of the things her mother said to her was: “Remember, once you put something out there onto the web, once it is published, it is out of your control, you cannot take it back, no matter what you do.”

I had never really thought about the web this way. I suppose the word  “web”  says it all. Think of the spider web - whatever gets trapped in there doesn’t ever get out. If it is not eaten straight away it gets wrapped up and conserved by the resident spider to be consumed another day.

It suddenly dawned on me that removing something from my blog or site does not really remove it from the web or the world. Whatever I write will possibly stay out there forever. Quite a scary thought. What if I change my mind about something? Of course it also depends on how widely read my blog is, but nevertheless an article could circulate in weird and wonderful ways till the end of time. (or till the end of civilisation as we know it!)

The lesson is: only write and publish things that you can live with, that are in harmony with your being, your philosophy, your way of thinking and that do no harm to other beings in any way.

Of course the same goes for thoughts, words and deeds. Once a word is spoken, a thought is thought or you have done something it also cannot be taken back, cannot be undone. You might think that at least words or thoughts are not written and there is no trace left.

Yogic thinking is very different. Everything is energy, also thoughts and words. Very focused thoughts and strong intentions are particularly powerful. Once you send your words and thoughts out into the ether, they take on a life of their own. Beware especially of negative thoughts and words. Don’t put them out there. In a way they are going to be out there forever too, just not as tangible as something that I publish on the web. The energy of those thoughts and words may be changed into something else but in essence energy never gets lost, just transmuted.

Somewhere I once read that it was lucky that most people only had fairly muddled, shallow and scattered thoughts. Those thoughts were out there, floating around and muddying the waters so to speak, but they were not powerful and therefore didn’t do much damage. They never amounted to anything much. In contrast, laser-sharp focus and clear, directed thoughts were extremely powerful and always created tangible results. For this reason you have to be very careful what you wish for….

I heard all this a long time ago, long before it became “fashionable” to think that way. I firmly believe that the mind and the web are very powerful tools for creating all sorts of amazing results. Just use them wisely.

Till next time

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

Recently I bought a box of fortune cookies - you know the ones that are hollow inside and contain a little message each. I think originally they were meant for the Chinese New Year but now you can get them all year round.

When I opened the packet I posed a question to the universe: “What is the most important thing I need to know for building my internet business?”

The answer that came out of the cookie was: “Adversity doesn’t build character - it reveals it”. I thought about that for a moment and then seriously thought about what I do (or don’t do) when adversity strikes.

What do I do when things get difficult, when I get overloaded, overwhelmed, when others say “this can’t be done”, when technical challenges seem unsurmountable?

I realised that my reaction isn’t always the same - it is influenced by a lot of different things: what else is going on in my life, how much other pressures and stresses I have, whether I slept enough, whether I had done a yoga session or not, how my body feels in general and whether I was talking to uplifting people or someone who only sees gloom and doom on the horizon.

My reaction to adversity can stretch from giving up completely to putting things on the back-burner to asking an expert for help or trying to work things out for myself. I always try to take some time out, get away for while, and if it is only to the garden, out into the sunshine for a 10 minutes or so.

The first question I ask myself is: how important is it to achieve this? Will it get me closer to my goal? Is it vital to achieving this goal or is there another way?

Also, as life went on I learnt that time is the most valuable commodity we have. It cannot be replenished or replaced, once its gone, it is gone forever. I need to use it wisely, to the best of my ability. Giving up sometimes is a wise choice.

All in all I am not sure whether my reaction to adversity is revealing my character, I think it reveals my general state of being, where I am at at this particular point in time.

As always, the yogic practice of detachment comes in very handy - the only problem is that staying detached in the midst of adversity is very difficult. But - even short periods of detachment and neutrality give some relief and with practice those times will get expanded. I greatly admire people who can stay truly detached and balanced in the midst of chaos.

Do you know anybody like that? How have they managed to achieve this skill? Let me know via your comments.

Connie,

Your Yoga Partner

from

http://www.yogainahurry.com

Last week there were a few minutes to spare before I was teaching my class. One of my students asked: “What comes first, yoga or meditation?”

I had to think for a moment on how to answer that question. Historically, traditionally the opinion is that the end goal of any type of yoga practice is enlightenment. Enlightenment is the ability to live in a permanently blissful state regardless of what is going on around you. The blissful state arises from the knowledge that there is no separation from the divine (however you define this for you). This is the highest goal of yoga. The word “yoga” actually means “union”. Some argue it is the union of body and mind, or breath, body and mind, others are of the opinion that it is the union with the “source”.

According to the traditional teachings, to reach that enlightened, blissful state, regular meditation practice is required.  Meditation was done sitting cross legged and motionless for long periods of time. It is thought that all the yoga postures were designed to make the body supple and flexible, pain-free and disease free so that the practitioner was able to:

• sit cross legged
• sit upright with a straight spine without slumping
• sit for long periods of time without the body distracting him/her
• have a healthy and undisturbed energy flow along the meridians (energy channels) in his/her body
• stay healthy
• live longer and therefore have more time and more of a chance to reach enlightenment (remember life expectancy a few thousand years ago was not what it is today!)

So, answering the question from a traditional point of view, I would have to say that the physical yoga postures (or hatha yoga as it is commonly referred to) are only a means to facilitate meditation and eventually enlightenment. They are the vehicle to reach that blissful state. They are secondary to the desired goal of enlightenment. My first teacher, Acharya, fully supported that view and tried to live and teach accordingly.  

In our modern times, not many people in the western world are striving to reach enlightenment. Even if they did, it would be a long, hard road. Most people are unable to sit cross legged on the floor with a straight spine for long periods of time. Hip flexibility is at an all time low in the developed world. (more…)

A few days ago I listened to a talk by Nancy Marmolejo, a successful internet marketer. Her specialty is creating videos to be used on the internet.

Nancy’s heritage is partially Aztec and there is a very interesting philosophy in that tradition. The idea is that every person has “medicine”. This “medicine” is a special gift or gifts this person is endowed with. It is the sort of gift (knowledge, talent, special characteristics) that can be shared with others. Those getting in contact with you will then benefit from your special gift(s).

One could nearly say that it is our duty to share our gifts, to make them available to the world. Don’t hide them - somebody will benefit. Get your message out there! Be yourself, let the medicine and message take over. Don’t let self consciousness stand in your way. Find a way to overcome all obstacles.

I found it very interesting that Shaune Clarke another well known internet marketer and interviewer Yoga Moments at the World Internet Summit in Sydney (Part 4) spoke of very similar things, he called them “talents”.

Yoga takes a slightly different approach - but again the message is to be true to yourself, to find your authentic self, your centre and your Higher Self and be guided by them. Don’t do things that do not come from your authentic self.

Cultivate compassion for all beings. (Yourself first of all!!) I would go so far as to say that it is impossible to be truly compassionate towards others if you are not compassionate towards yourself. I want to leave you with this thought for today.

Here’s to our gifts, talents, medicine…….may they develop and prosper and let us share them with the world!

Connie

Your Yoga Partner

from

www.yogainahurry.com