2012 Resolution

I've grown up a lot this year, but even better than that, I've grown into being comfortable with exactly who I am, as I am, right now in this moment. I'm not looking to change the past or desperately hoping for a better, or different future- I'm appreciating every moment exactly as it is. Which leads me to the only "resolution" I have for 2012- to stay present, mindful and conscious through everything this year brings... and to cherish every single moment (because the present is a gift after all... ;)

Crow Jump Back to Chaturanga

Today I was FINALLY able to jump back from Crow Pose to Chaturanga without falling on my face! It is one of the best feelings in the world when you have practiced trying to do something for so long and then after all the hard work- finally being able to do it! Man, I LOVE Yoga!!! :D

And if you have no idea what I'm talking about- here's the link to a video of one of my fave yoga teachers demonstrating it (because I have no idea how to embed a video onto my blog! :)

http://youtu.be/buvA36uNwqE

Life can only take place in the present moment. If we lose the present moment, we lose life. 


- Buddha

Dedication

I found out someone that I know died today. Someone I didn't know very well but someone I liked and shared a common bond with. I can't help but feel loss, sadness and empathy for his family. I don't know where he is but I hope it's a warm, happy and beautiful place. Today I dedicate my practice to him. Namaste my brother. 

via Google Images

The Four Forms of Yoga

Yoga is the union of body, mind and spirit- the union of individuality with the divine intelligence that orchestrates the universe.

1. Gyan yoga- The yoga of understanding, also known as the yoga of science, the laws of nature are God's thoughts. Science is not an enemy of spiritual awakening but rather a potentially helpful friend.
2. Bhakti yoga- the yoga of love and devotion. The love of God but also the blossoming and expression of love in all your relationships. Through relationships with others, we discover our higher selves.
3. Karma yoga- everything I am comes from God and belongs to God. Karma yogis have no anxiety because they have no worry. The Karma yogi knows that God is performing the action and takes care of the results
4. Raja yoga- the royal path to yoga and the most well known form of yoga. The essence of Raja yoga is integration of body, mind, and soul through procedures that enhance mind-body coordination. Raja yoga helps you practice the other yogas with greater ease, effortlessness and joy.

from "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga" by Deepak Chopra

via Google Images

The Yoga of Eating

"The yogic approach to eating and diet is to bring oneself into wholeness, to illuminate and repair the self-division, to stop fighting oneself. Yoga, after all means 'union'".

~excerpt from "The Yoga of Eating" by Charles Eisenstein

The Lotus Flower

(Photo courtesy of Google Images)

The bud of the lotus symbolizes potential, specifically of a spiritual nature.

Because the lotus rises from unclean water to blossom as a pure, uncontaminated flower, it is a symbol of purity and resurrection.

In the same way the lotus flower goes through much in its growth before emerging from dirty water to become a beautiful flower, the individual consciousness does the same on its path to enlightenment as the so-called impurities of unenlightened thinking gradually fade.

via www.harekrsna.de/lotus-flower