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Namaste Yogis and Yoginis
Beware the dreaded phrase “I know”!! Especially beware if it is coming out of your own lips! It is bad enough when someone else says it, as you know they are closed to listening to what you are sharing (except on the rare occasions when it signals genuine empathy), but when you say it... there is no faster way to block your learning and evolution. Yes, I hear you say, but you do know! Well you might know, or even really know, but do you really, really, really know? Do you absolutely know? Is it a knowing embedded in your body and life, or just an intellectual understanding?? It's pretty tricky to catch ourselves doing the “I know” shuffle, but if you do, use all your might to let down the barriers to what the moment is presenting you. I had a great reminder last weekend. I was sitting quietly drinking chai looking at the trees when a chap asked to sit down on the bench near me. After a few moments I rose to go and a friendly hello was exchanged. Then he said “you know, I've been doing a bit of meditation lately.... it's based on the Indian gurus and you know how we think our thoughts are real but really they are just like clouds in the sky” and he kept chatting in this manner. At first I smilingly indulged him (how lovely someone on the path). Then I began to be impatient, my mind started to rev up (silently – he was still talking) “I KNOW!!” I thought “I know,doesn't he realise I've been studying this stuff for decades, ITEACH this stuff, I KNOW!” Luckily I caught myself. It took a bit of effort but using the breath, and reminding myself I had nowhere in particular to be, I decided to relax. After all, I might learn something, and it never hurts to have the truth repeated. Then something amazing happened. As I kept listening I realised how amazingly succinct he was, how he wasn't just speaking about consciousness and love,he was living it, he wasn't just speaking about loving all beings, he truly loved them, I began frantically trying to catch his words; the way he described all the “old stuff I already knew” was so beautiful. I began to cry. And all week since, I have felt so happy, being reminded of what lies behind the stories of our mind. Hardly anything has bothered me, I just remember it's only a cloud in the sky, it will pass, the sky is what is real and my annoyance melts away. I wish I could always feel like this, maybe one day I will, but for now I will have to try and keep on guard for the “I know” in case I miss an opportunity to hear another message of the truth; because you never know where it will come from, the bloke behind the counter at the servo, your Grandmother, or a man whose name you won't even know, who simply asks if he can share your bench....
Om Shanti
(peace)
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With Blessings,
Suzanne Gray | |
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UNLIMITED YOGA FOR ONLY $145* A MONTH! |
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CHARITY JAR AND FLOOD APPEAL |
That's right! It's not a misprint. Due to a change in circumstances, I have been able to reduce the prices of our unlimited passes. Monthlies are now only $165 per month OR only $145 if you sign up for Direct Debit (all fees included). Our yearly passes have been reduced to only $1490 which means you save even more, and you can come to AS MANY CLASSES AS YOU LIKE. This is absolutely the best way to develop your practice and have the freedom to attend regularly without breaking the bank. Even just one more time a week could really develop your practice, and if you have time off you can enjoy a boost and come every day!! With notice, Direct Debit can be suspended if you are away or cancelled at any time. There's no catch, just a chance to do more yoga. | |
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(check the noticeboard to donate goods)
$638 was donated to the Flood Appeal through your attendance and donations to our charity jar. I keep forgetting to let you know where it goes each month, but both of our sponsor childrenreceived extra donations before Xmas, and Rainforest Rescue had a special appeal which we donated to before that. Our regular charities include World Vision, Childfund, Rainforest Rescue, ACF, Wilderness Society, Rosies Street, Red Cross. Our charity jar usually goes to whichever of these has an appeal going at the time, or to a special need such as the flood appeal.We usually match or increase the donation from the charity jar. Thanks for putting your spare change to good use! | |
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NEW YOUTUBE
OUR LOVELY DAN is finally on Youtube. Go to our Youtube channel from the icon on our web front page and check out his video. It is absolutely beautiful. No wonder he is such a lovely teacher. While there check out the xmas demo if you haven't already. Especially parts 2&3. You may have to click “see all” and scroll down the list to find it, but it is well worth a look.
SING FROM THE HEART
We are thrilled to have Kirtan group “The Lucknow Project” starting at the yoga centre this month. Dan & I have loved our time heading the montly Kirtan nights, but let's face it, even though we have had some truly beautiful nights, it's not our specialty! But it is TLP's specialty! They have been chanting for 25 years and together as a group for 7. The nights they hold down at Byron are extremely popular and it is a true blessing to bring them to the Gold Coast. A $10 donation has been introduced (suggested donation only – come even if you don't have any money!!) to contribute to the costs of travel, equipment hire, and the groups project to eventually release a CD so this beautiful music can be shared even further. Bring your friends, family, anyone who loves music and loves yoga will love kirtan. Sunday 27th February, 6pm, Gold Coast Yoga Centre.
DID YOU KNOW....?
A University of Toronto study found we have two distinct brain networks for experiencing everyday life. The first involves the area of the brain called the “insula” and sees us experience life as bodily sensations in real time (in the moment). The second involves regions of the medial prefrontal cortex, as well as memory regions such as the hippocampus, and it creates narrative. This is our default network and when it's activated (most of the time) we don't experience the now. In the first instance a sunset would inspire awe/wonder, in the second it would trigger a narrative about how late it's getting and you have to get back to cook dinner. The study found when you activate one network, you dampen/disrupt the other (the more you worry about dinner, the less you experience the awe/wonder of the sunset). Thus if you focus on the breath as a simple bodily sensation (as in meditation) . You dampen the noisy, wandering-storyline mechanism and come back to the joy of the moment!! At last, science is catching up and affirming what we already know throught theancient practices of yoga and meditaion, yay!! Focus on the breath, calm the monkey mind, be happy!(Modified from an article in the Sunday Life magazine 9/1)
PRACTICE TIP
Most of us don't use this incredible tool, and wonder why we feel tense and as if the pose is full of effort. The tool I'm talking about is our imagination. If we get too stuck in our intellect and preoccupied with which muscle we should move where, we often end up feeling a bit disjointed (it's hard to consciously concentrate on every single muscle all at once, we can only focus on a few), out of whack and stuck. If we use our wonderful imagination, we can melt the tension, dissolve our thinking mind and relax into the whole body FEELING of the pose. We can imagine the energy flowing through our spine and limbs, and the body will respond in exactly the right way to let this actually happen, we can imagine feeling light and airy and we will feel the heaviness leave, we can imagine a lotus blossoming in our heart and our physical chest will expand and awaken WITHOUT pulling the shoulders too far back, or overextending the chest. We will move energetically instead of with effort and our muscles will be less likely to fatigue. Not everyone has a visual imagination, but everyone has a memory. We can use that memory to remind us what it felt like to be relaxed or spacious in a pose from a time where we felt it in the past. If you don't really have a relaxed pose experience to refer to, remember the feeling of being in Savasana, or any time you have felt happy and relaxed and bringing that feeling into your current practice will relax and awaken the posture.
**ASHTANGA 2nd series Practice re-commences this Friday Feb 4 (1st Friday of each month)**
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
Breath in and receive pure love & consciousness, breath out to totally share pure love & gratitude with all beings – Mystery sadhu on a bench in Bangalow | |
