Body mind connection - the miracle of the body.

"Inspired by movement today, I would like to remind you of the miracle of the body - mind connection. 

So much of our journey can be felt and understood through moving our bodies to mindful movement (examples of mindful movement forms are Pilates/Nia/Yoga/Tai chi...). These movement forms offer us a chance to get to know our boundaries, calm our crazy thought patterns and of course the most amazing part is, that movement releases a natural 'drug' within us called Serotonin and a whole lot more that ignites that zest for life within us.

Today I experienced an amazing heated Yoga class and as I practiced in persperation and heat that had me feel dizzy at times I found myself in a state of raw/open/accessible and its a place of true being. 

Seeing

Have you ever heard of the Story or perhaps its a parable...

...about the man who stood on the roof of his house whilst escaping the flood waters that surrounded him and his town.

He prayed intensely to God for a miracle. 

As he stood on the roof of his house the rescue helicopter flew over and offered to help...

...yet he declined. His answer to them was "God will save me". 

Waiting for a miracle he let the helicopter go and continued praying.

We are often so busy waiting for a miracle that we dont see the miracle of life happening right in front of us. Often times our miracles are within actions we can take, opportunities that present themselves, lessons that we face and people that we meet. 

Opening our awareness/eyes to this...is SEEING. 

A beautiful analogy that my brother shared with me yesterday. YES to the beauty and miracles we find in those around us. Yesterday he was my miracle.

Being present = being completely in our truth

"Life's journey...as I get older it sometimes seems that life presents itself more complicated...or perhaps I am simply more aware of the different aspects of life now than I was in my younger years."

As I am sure I am not alone in this I would like to share my questions with you. 

The journey of life as I have lived and observed has its cycles. Sometimes we are in a learning stage and sometimes we find ourselves in a coasting stage. 

The past 18 months I have definately experienced a 'learning' stage in my cycles of Life and yes it has been quite a Rollercoaster ride at times. Taking the turns as gracefully as I could, my focus and aim have remained on staying present...today I caught myself hiding from the present. So here are my thoughts on this, which may hopefully inspire you:

When we hide from the present (which we may not always notice right away) are we in actual fact denying ourselves OUR 'truth' or simply the 'BEING PRESENT'!

This may manifest in how we respond to a situation, what we say or what we don't say, what we chose and even why we chose something. 

I think life and the temptation I often encounter within myself and which I observe around me, is that of 'escaping' or handing the responsibility of life to someone else/or others opinion by following blindly rather than being Present in our decision making/actions - or it can be as simple as us stepping out of the Present moment by allowing the Past and the Future to consume us.

The TRUTH is that being present and sometimes not is part of our journey. We cannot be in a perfect zone all the time, otherwise there would be no space for learning. In my view being completely truthful to ourselves and others also needs to be mindfully dealt with, as unfortunately sometimes we can be irrational or our actions/thoughts can come from a selfish space rather than a pure one OR more importantly our TRUTH also sometimes has a timing which cannot be put across without the readiness of others or a situation to be able to receive it. 

YET when we pause...view things objectively...allowing ourselves to let go or step out of our own way...we CAN feel/see more clearly when we are in our TRUTH, FLOW or we can call it simply BEING PRESENT - it is here that we start to feel the beautiful interplay of TRUTH, trust and letting go.

And lastly we need to understand (which is something I often have to remind myself of) that when we are mindful and in our complete truth there is no wrong and the more we live in it the more easily it is accessible.

Yes that was a mouthful, I agree...so please don't hesitate to post your thoughts or questions...or share your wisdom or experience. I would love to learn from you.

Being real - beautiful

The Beauty of someone who knows the real you.

[on the perfect proposal] Look, I guarantee there'll be tough times. I guarantee that at some point, one or both of us is gonna want to get out of this thing. But I also guarantee that if I don't ask you to be mine, I'll regret it for the rest of my life, because I know, in my heart, you're the only one for me.
When I was walking down the aisle, I was walking toward somebody who didn't have any idea who I really was. And it was only half the other person's fault, because I had done everything to convince him that I was exactly what he wanted. So it was good that I didn't go through with it because it would have been a lie. But you - you knew the real me.
I've come here with no expectations, only to profess, now that I am at liberty to do so, that my heart is, and always will be, yours.

Ms. Lonely

Today is one of those days where being single, has a lonely feeling about it.

Its a day where I missed having someone to come home to, someone to hold and hug me...that person in my life that has and continues to chose to walk life's path beside me...that person that will listen or simply be there to let your mind be spoken out aloud.

And of course...That person that loves me, because I am me.

The love we experience in an intimate/love partnership is a beautiful thing, and a true blessing. Even if we have it only for a while, its better to have had it than not at all. 

My feeling like Ms. Lonely today seems and is very connected to a yearning of the beauty that I/we can find in intimate relationships. The reflection of ourselves, the challenges that teach us so much, the beauty of sharing on a level beyond all friendship, and simply having an amazingly deep friendship that allows us to experience life not only through our own eyes but share another's life with them.

YET or a big BUT...time alone is definately not in vane. It offers us a different space to learn, reflect, to re-evaluate, to become the authentic you that makes for a better future or next relationship. 

So to all the singles out there, sharing these moments with me. I know (yes I am speaking from my experience of it)...it can sometimes be a true challenge I agree. The challenges simply mean we have to toughen up and be aware that we may at times need to work harder at creating an objective view for ourselves on situations that we encounter. Dodge the pitfall of becoming too absorbed by our life/selves...which I believe is what can/will ultimately make us more lonely or make it more difficult to have space for that beautiful partnership. Finding myself seeking refuge in the challenges of work has been my biggest lesson to learn - during my lonely moments - as it spirals us into a space of NO TIME...and 'no time' means lessening the opportunity to meet that partner in or for life.

May our journeys be fruitful and join me in believing - that there is that person that is 'right' for 'us' (the right person for me/you to grow, be authentic, and truely love and be loved by).

I hope that those of you in relationship will also be inspired by this article to look at the positives in your relationship...as we are easily swept up in the negatives...ENJOY what you have...of course if what you have is true...one thing I do know and have learnt from the past is that we do feel it ultimately...so just stay plugged in to the moment, aware of the small things that manifest as a gut feeling...we always know more than we think we do. ULTIMATELY no matter what TRUST yourself and be TRUE to yourself.

When we engage we learn

Exchanging opinions, ideas and views of a situation can really help us broaden our awareness, our understanding of a situation...and OFTEN another view can offer us a fresh way of looking at a situation.

So I believe that is why we thrive in community.

I look forward to your comments, experiences and opinions.

Its simple

What life has taught me over the years and this was re-emphasized this weekend.

Life is about engaging in the moment. The moment is all we have AND the moment is where we have so much to find. The moment is the I AM. Its where we can find purpose, understanding and truth. Its where we can shed what we may be carrying from the past and step away from that which we may anticipate in the future. The moment is where we can manifest our purpose our calling. 

Holding onto the past dims our light, drains our energy and limits our experience in the moment. 

The future...well for that we need trust and faith...which we can only find or achieve/activate in the moment...the present moment.

Life can present us with many questions...we need to have faith that these questions will be answered when the time is right and we are prepared and ready/open to see/hear or understand the answers. 

Allowing life to guide us is so important. Be a seeker and an adventurer. Sometimes our scary experiences are those that shape us the most. With this I am not referring to thrill seeking experiences...I am speaking about facing ourselves...allowing ourselves time and the opportunity to truly see ourselves and learning to appreciate and learn from what we see.

The words above are echoing within me right now and I feel they may serve you. 

So enjoy and cherish the moment. Remember to breath and take time to be still...surrender to life in order to understand it.

Sending each and everyone of you love and a reminder to ancor light.

Trust & Love

beautiful:

"I TRUST YOU"

IS MUCH BETTER THAN

"I LOVE YOU"

BECAUSE YOU MAY NOT ALWAYS

TRUST THE PERSON YOU LOVE

BUT YOU CAN ALWAYS 

LOVE THE PERSON YOU TRUST.

on the journey of life...love - in its romantic form  - can have a great impact on us our emotions and how we carry ourselves in future relationships. Loving can render us vulnerable and when hurt sometimes synical. 

this saying carries great truth for me, when I look back at the form my romantic relationships took on. 

To all the young woman out there: If you are waiting to be swept off your feet...

...remember Trust and the value thereof. It will save you heartache and it will form a beautiful foundation for love.

Love can often be blind - in the beginning stages - therefore find the pause...and remind yourself.

3 Principles in Nature

This article from Dr. John Doulliard really inspired me.

Today I realized that when we stand in our passion, especially when we serve and are passionate about people, it is so very important to maintain our own balance.

Stress takes its toll on us no matter how good the cause is that we are following and today I realized that I have slowly but surely depleted myself...so my re-evaluation has motivated me to venture towards creating balance within.

My physical body is showing it in the form of weight gain, fatigue and bouts of burnout/depression that sneak up on me...may the journey begin towards a more Sattwic way of living...

Three Principles in Nature

According to Ayurveda, there are three principles in nature that govern the mind and its emotions: sattwa, rajas, and tamas. These three principles are known as the gunas, which means to bind.” When the gunas are out of balance, they can bind – or inhibit – spiritual growth, contentment, and joy.

Let me explain the nature of the gunas, and how they affect you when they get out of balance.

1. Sattwa: At Peace
Sattwa is the first of these gunas, or principles. It refers to the inherent nature of the mind to be intelligent, virtuous, loving, joyful, kind and giving for no reason. This is the state children are born in. They do not have a care in the world. They live totally in the moment and function with awe-inspiring enthusiasm, which is why adults are so drawn to them. It is the aspiration of human life to experience more sattwa, as sattwa denotes the fullness of the heart and the freedom of the mind.

2. Rajas: Stimulated
Rajas refers to the qualities of action and drive, movement, stimulation of the senses and emotions.

As children grow up, they are quick to realize that the outside world is not as safe as the one at home. Hurt feelings at the playground or in pre-school can result in our receiving the message that the delicate and fragile experience of being sattwa is unsafe. The mind’s reaction is often to shield itself by engaging in rajasic activities. The child realizes that if they become a good athlete, a straight-A student, or the class clown, they can feel safe again. Unlike the sattwic experience, this rajasic experience of safety is dependent on an outside influence, namely the attention of others.

In this way, the initial sattwic experience of a full heart and a free mind is replaced by the drive for accomplishment and acknowledgement. As children grow into adults, the dependence on stimulation often leads to a mind that cannot be still and is unsatisfied unless it is buying something new, making more money, falling in love, being praised, or otherwise engaged in sensory stimulation.

Most of us live here, in the world of rajas, continually seeking satisfaction through our senses.

3. Tamas: Withdrawn
Tamas, the third mental principle, refers to the qualities of dullness, laziness, and protection.

In an attempt to become satisfied through rajasic activities and drive, the mind burns out. Without the energy to forge on as before, gleaning temporary satisfactions through the senses, we retreat into a safe protective cocoon.

The tamas principle is dull, fatalistic, judgmental, jealous, dark and depressed. It is a retreat into an extreme mindset of safety in which we blame others and the world for our own problems. The mind becomes rigid in its beliefs, creating isolation and dissociation from others. On this trajectory, we can become lonely, bitter, angry, and often seek drugs, alcohol or other addictions to maintain the illusion of the safe cocoon.

Once here, it is difficult to climb out and requires the addition of sattwa to offer a glimpse of the long lost experience of truth, joy and happiness, and also of rajas, to provide the energy needed for action and change.

* All three gunas have a place in nature, but in our Western culture, we have become so separated from the sattwic principle, that the goal for most of us is to move away from rajas and tamas, towards sattwa.

Sattwa, Rajas, and Tamas in Everyday Life

We all have sattwic, rajasic and tamasic moments – this is natural. This questionnaire below will offer some feedback to see if you are drifting away from sattwa and becoming more rajasic or tamasic, as is so common in our culture. If you notice that drift, use your findings, and this moment of honest self-reflection, to inspire a shift back to the joy and love within.

Please take the questionnaire and tally up your scores. Remember, the gunas are always changing and, as such, this questionnaire is not intended to provide a static diagnosis. The idea is simply to bring awareness to the places where we tend to go out of balance. I will then try to offer some strategies to navigate our way back to a more sattwic experience of life.

Your Emotional Body Type Quiz

Circle the answer that best applies to your current experience. Tally the answers to determine your Emotional Body Type.

	Sattwa	Rajas	Tamas
Diet	Vegetarian – Fresh	Some meat,processed foods, or comfort foods	Excess meat, processed foods, or comfort foods
Drinking or Drugs	Never	Some	Frequent
Sleep	Little	Moderate	Lots
SexDrive	Low	Medium	High
Control of Senses	Good	Moderate	Weak
Speech	Calm “ soft	Agitated	Dull
Cleanliness	High	Moderate	Low
Work	Selfless	Personal	Lazy
Anger	Rare	Some	Frequent
Desire	Little	Some	Much
Pride	Modest	Ego	Vain
Depression	Never	Some	Frequent
Love	Gives	Takes	Needs
Violent	Never	Sometimes	Frequently
Attached to $$$	No	Somewhat	Very
Contentment	Yes	Sometimes	Never
Forgiveness	Easily	With Effort	Holds Grudge
Concentration	Good	Moderate	Poor
Memory	Good	Moderate	Poor
Willpower	Strong	Variable	Weak
Service	Frequent	Some	Rare
Honesty	Always	Mostly	Rare
Peace of Mind	Yes	Occasional	Rare
Spiritual Study	Daily	Occasional	Rare
Meditation	Daily	Occasional	Rare
Expresses Joy	Always	Sometimes	Rarely
TOTALS

*This questionnaire has been excerpted from David Frawely’s book, Ayurveda and the Mind

Interpretation

Sattwa is when there is no need for the mind to provide protection; you are free to be yourself fully. Rajas is that first attempt of the mind to protect and offer sensory or emotional stimulation, creating a temporary experience of satisfaction. Tamas is a more aggressive, emotional attempt to be safe and secure.

Sattwa: If your Emotional Body Type is predominately sattwa, then life is good. Remember, one can always chip away at changing some of the rajasic and tamasic qualities that exist. If you scored 100% sattwa, this is the score of a saint, and not necessarily the goal.

Rajas: Excess rajas indicates the risk of burning out, or chasing love and satisfaction with activities that may never deliver what you truly seek.

Tamas: Excess tamas usually means you have drifted into a protective cocoon that your mind has convinced you is the safest place to be.

Once you have determined your Emotional Body Type, you can use this information to start moving away from some of those tamasic and rajasic qualities, towards sattwa.

Attachment to Money: Sattwic, Rajasic, and Tamasic Presentation

Money and wealth is a subject all of us have to relate to in our culture, so it poses a good lens for understanding the qualities of sattwa, rajas, and tamas.

Sattwa has no attachment to money because there is no fear. A feeling of total safety and security exists. A lot of money would not make a sattwic person happy, and the lack of it wouldn’t have the power to make them unhappy.

The rajasic mind is somewhat attached to money because the first layers of fear have settled in and the mind latches on to the need for money to ensure a feeling of safety and security, even though it is an illusion.

The tamasic mind is very attached to money “ in fact, it is holding onto it for dear life! Feeling very unsafe, the mind holds on even tighter, drifting even farther away from sattwa where true safety, contentment and freedom reside.

In this case, we can ask a few self-inquiry questions to create some awareness around our patterns regarding money. It is interesting to see that, from the point of view of a rajasic or tamasic mindset, you can never have enough money. Sattwa has the clear vision to see that money is an illusion and will never make you happy, content or safe.

Self-Inquiry Practice – Ask Yourself:

1. If I let go of my attachment to money, what would I lose?
2. What if I started giving money to charity, even if it is just a little – would I feel better or worse?
3. What if I stopped driving myself to be successful and allowed myself to just enjoy my life – how would I feel?
4. On my death bed, what would I regret more: not making more money, or not playing more?
5. Sometimes, imagining the worst case scenario can help us realize that the reality of a feared situation is usually not as bad as the fear makes it seem. Imagine, for instance, that you are homeless. As uncomfortable as that would be, you would find resources to help you survive, and ultimately to find your way out of that situation. Along the way, you have no bills or taxes to pay. No debt, no need to get up and work your butt off. You are off the grid. It’s possible to think about that as an opportunity to restart a life that is simple again, without all the stress and strain that come with our civilized culture.
   While this is not something we would ever wish upon anybody, knowing that even the worst case scenario is still workable can help us to loosen our grip on the fear.

Moving Forward

This process of self-inquiry can be adapted to any or all of the rajasic or tamasic qualities you may be experiencing. This questionnaire provides the first step for change, which is the

Even issues like not being able to concentrate, poor memory, or that you cannot forgive someone, may be protective mental traits that can be changed. The mind uses these qualities to cover up mental clarity, a great memory, or a forgiving nature, because it has determined through a veil of illusion that you are safer without those qualities of clarity or forgiveness. awareness that your mind has created this rajasic or tamasic illusion in the first place, in the name of safety and security.

Your job – if you decide to do it – is to realize how your mind has hidden the experience of your true, joyful, happy, and most powerful self in the name of safety. It is time to take that risk of experiencing life fully by chipping away at the qualities that are serving you no longer – one step at a time.