Reality Check

Good morning friends.  Got your dream?  Or just still planning what you want to dream.  Some of us don’t mind to dream.  They just go with the flow.  Come what may as the others implied.  But in reality we have to check everything.  This will mean  lot to us. 

 

Look at the truth of your life now in terms of budget hours available and family needs and debt?  Do you have young children?  The tension between what is true today and what you want to happen tomorrow will propel you forward because you know where you are now and where you want to be.

 

The journey has to be almost as fun as the destination.  It needs to be an outgrowth of what you love and want to do now.  Otherwise you’re living for tomorrow.

 

That’s why it’s important to talk to women who are already doing what you want to do.  if your dream is owning a store, talk to store owners and get the inside track.  We often have the dream version of what it is to do something,  but you want to get the real version and check your grit to see if you have it in you.

 

For example, you may want to be an actor, but are you willing to live with financial uncertainty or to change your looks to please others?  Can you deal with rejection?  If the answer is no, maybe acting isn’t right for you.  Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean it’s a path you’re supposed to take.  –Laura Berman Fortgang, author of Living Your Best Life.

Ethical Dilemma – 2

Exploitation of any kind in yoga couldn’t be farther from the intended goals of the practice.  Yet unsavory headlines calling attention to teachers’ moral lapses have prompted yogis and students alike to question where things went wrong.  Whatever the causes, one thing is certain:  The thought of yoga heading down anything less than a spiritual path has stirred the winds of change in the community.  Yoga associations are revisiting the topic of ethics in earnest, clearly defining their beliefs and emphasizing ethical training of instructors.  National organizations, schools, and studio owners have begun drafting behavioral codes, compiling structured grievance procedures, and soliciting the help of legal advisers to factor in the applicable laws.

 

Amid all of this activity, a larger question has surfaced:  If ethical violations are really to be reduced,  has the time come for all yoga teachers in the United States to abide by a single code of ethics?  And if it has, can everyone agree on one (or even the idea of one), or would creating such a code cause more problems than it would solve?  How the community ultimately works through these issues will have a profound impact on the future of yoga in America.

 

Ref:  Stuart Bradford

Vision Quest – 6

Good morning friends.  I just left my part 6 of my Vision Quest last 2008, so let me continue the last part here now.

 

 

The Quest

 

For some people, a quest may be encased in a religious experience—for others, it might be a crisis or a dramatic change in person al circumstances, such as a birth or death.  And while religion is the spark that lights the fire within some individuals, it can also imposed a limiting structure with rules and belief systems that interfere with true personal growth—especially  when the distinctions between religion and spirituality become blurred.

 

We believe that our purpose in being here is to grow spiritually.  We do this in a variety of ways—none of which are better or lesser than others; but, rather, are chosen by us because we are at various stages of spiritual unfoldment.  The goals of peace, integrity, clarity, compassion and in particular, the balance between mind and body through personal and spiritual development are essential to spiritual development, regardless of the particular path one chooses to follow.  Spirit [God] is equally present in the job as in the remote mountainside.”

 

In the end, setting out on a spiritual quest—may be less a choice than it is a necessity.  What often makes people begin a quest, is a feeling restlessness, and that something beyond is coming through to us, says Andrews.  Begin by seeing your intentions.  Set your intention to live a happier or fulfilling life.  Speaking strictly to that intention will lead us to being aware of guides or teachers around us,  someone who can help on the path.  Again, it’s essential to set your intention to reclaim your own happiness and connection with life.  I feel that the spiritual path to greater consciousness has been –part of the human experience forever, and always will be.

 

 

Ref: fityoga

The Body-Mind Connection – 1

In yogic terms, however, there is no separation between mind, body and spirit.  The three exist as a union (one definition of the word yoga); what happens to the mind also happens to the body and spirit, and so on.  In other words, if something is bothering you spiritually, emotionally, or mentally, it is likely to show up in your body.  And as you work deeply with your body in yoga, emotional issues will likely come to the fore.

 

In the yogic view, we all hold within our bodies emotions and misguided thoughts that keep us from reaching Samadhi, defined by some as “conscious enlightenment.”  Any sense of unease or dis-ease in the body keeps us from reaching and experiencing this state.  Asanas are one path to blissful contentment, working to bring us closer by focusing our minds and releasing any emotional or inner tension in our bodies.

 

Though the ancient yogis understood that emotional turmoil is carried in the mind, the body, and the spirit.  Western medicine has been slow to accept this.  But new research has verified that mental and emotional condition can affect the state of the physical body, and that the mind-body connections is real.

 

Many doctors, psychotherapists, and chiropractors are embracing these findings, and are now recommending yoga to help patients deal with problems that only a few years ago would have been viewed and treated solely in biomechanical terms.

ref: yogajournal