Planting a garden

Gardens are a way of working together with nature to add beauty and nourishment to our lives. The more we understand nature and collaborate with her, the more plentiful, healthy, and beautiful our garden can be.

First we start with an intention to create, nurture and be open to what our gardens will teach us. Preparing the soil is the foundation of a healthy garden. Timing when to plant the seeds is important. Waiting for the right time of the year and even the right cycle of the moon can influence the health of our garden.

The life of a plant starts with a tiny seed. The seed naturally sends roots downward and the body of the plant upward. Seeds need a balance of water and sun to thrive and grow. We can cycle different plants that do well in different parts of the growing season. Some plants need more shade and some need more sun, so we can arrange our garden with the taller plants needing sun to shade the plants needing more shade.

Feeling the earth under your fingers, and getting a close look at the growing plants connects us more intimately to a world that we can easily take for granted. There have been books, studies, and documentaries showing that plants can sense the emotions of living things around them. Taking the time to slow down from our busy lives and find a connection to nature through our gardens is very calming and healing.

Practicing yoga has many similarities to planting a garden. Setting an intention for our practice is like planning our garden. Grounding downward through our pelvis and lifting upward from our core gives us the same rooted and expansive qualities found in our garden. As our practice unfolds, it is like a garden coming into bloom. Just as a plant reaches towards the sun, our goal is to create an expansion that gives fullness and life to a pose.

Planting a garden can be a metaphor for anything we do in life. Plant your seed with awareness, water your garden with love and dedication and fully savor the fruits of your labor.

Transformation

Transformation can happen in an instant or gradually over time. It can be something we create or something that happens to us without our control. It can be subtle or dramatic,

When Mount St Helens erupted, the landscape was dramatically transformed in an instant. The forces of nature had been invisibly at work before the eruption but the actual physical change happened without warning and the landscape was changed permanently. Powerful acts of nature like earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis and hurricanes can cause this instant transformation.

People can be transformed instantly in an accident becoming paralyzed, losing a limb, losing their sight or losing part of their memory from a stroke. These transformations are beyond our control. Afterwards we have a choice with how we deal with the changes but life gives us unexpected challenges.

Over time as we age, transformation happens gradually. No one can stop the aging process but we can control how dramatically it happens by our lifestyle. People who stay active with their body and mind typically age more gracefully than someone who is inactive and doesn't challenge themselves physically and mentally. Habits like smoking and excessive drinking can negatively impact how we age.

People can transform their physical appearance through diet and exercise. When someone loses 20 - 150 lbs the transformation can be very dramatic. This transformation takes place gradually over time with our concentrated efforts. When our bodies undergo a change like this it often changes our mind and attitude about ourselves because we feel better.

A chance encounter can be transformational in gradual subtle ways. We could meet someone who we end up marrying or starting a business with. A person might introduce us to a sport or art process that becomes our passion in life and transforms how we identify ourselves.

Yoga brings about a gradual transformation in our bodies and how we view life. The practice of being gentle with ourselves combined with discipline and concentrated awareness on the mat can help us to be more forgiving with ourselves and others off the mat. Yoga invites to explore parts of our body that are forgotten and in that process we can open up both physically and emotionally. We play a part in that transformation but other aspects of our transformation may occur as a side benefit to our efforts.

Real transformation requires a significant energy exchange. It happens when a huge amount of energy changes something quickly like a volcano erupting or when consistent energy over time creates a substantial lasting change like changing your eating habits for optimal health. Something quick and easy like cutting your hair to change your looks would not be a transformation. Energy transformation is happening all the time within us and around us. Instead of letting life overwhelm us with unwanted transformations, we can mindfully focus our energy to create the positive transformations that bring joy and contentment.

Wake up call

Wake up calls demand our attention. We can be so absorbed in our emotions and habits that in a way we are in a kind of sleep. Wake up calls abruptly make us stop what we are doing and at least temporarily take a look at something that we have been ignoring.

For example someone who has smoked for many years may get pneumonia and the doctor tells them if they do not quit they could die. This kind of wake up call gives many people the incentive to quit smoking. The impact of the consequences is so devastating that they take action.

Runners may run for years without stretching or without good technique. Over time they get stiffer and stiffer, developing chronic pain. The pain is not bad enough to make them quit running or really question if there is something they need to change. Then one day they tear a hamstring that forces them to stop running. This is the body's way of getting their attention.

There is no guarantee that a wake up call will bring permanent change. Old habits and patterns have a strong hold on us. Sometimes we can make an instant change because we know intrinsically that this wake up call is in our best interest and helps us to make a change we have wanted to make but just did not want it enough to do the work required to make the change.

Death is the biggest wake up call we can experience. If we lose someone suddenly who we deeply love, we realize we cannot take life for granted or the beings in our life for granted. Some people have been pronounced clinically dead but come back to life. This near death experience has a profound effect on how they view life and death.

Sometimes people start practicing yoga because of a wake up call. They might be so stiff or stressed that they decide to give yoga a try. Yoga begins the gradual process of opening up tight muscles and relaxing the body and mind. The more consistent we can be with our yoga practice, the more benefits we will see. Yoga can give us gentle wake up calls. We may discover how tight we really are in our shoulders or hips. We may realize how difficult it is to focus or how impatient we may be with ourselves when we find a pose difficult to do.

Wake up calls are immediate but the changes we need to make often take time. It may take a series of wake up calls to help us stick with our new habits and not revert back to the old ones. A big part of making the changes can be to consistently renew our intention. Wake up calls may not always be pleasant, but there is always something to learn from them. If we can slow down or stop long enough to view our situation with a fresh perspective, we can shift our lives in positive ways.

Listen to your inner voice

“Your mind knows only some things. Your inner voice, your instinct, knows everything. If you listen to what you know instinctively, it will always lead you down the right path.”
Henry Winkler

Our inner voice speaks gently with a deep wisdom. This voice does not nag or repeat itself incessantly. It is more like a gentle nudge to a greater awareness.

We have many voices in our heads. Our minds are constantly chatting up a storm. Too often that chatter is negative, derogatory and repetitive. These voices are the ones we need to change. They do not help us but rather hold us back.

The inner voice that comes quietly often urges you to do something beneficial. For example it might remind you to put on gloves when you are pulling weeds in an overgrown area. If you ignore that spontaneous thought you could end up with a bad case of poison ivy.

It is easy to ignore our inner voice because we become so preoccupied with other thoughts of the future or the past. Sometimes we are just caught up in our emotions and refuse to stop and do what our inner voice is telling us. For example sometimes when you are upset with someone and are about to say what is on your mind, a thought might pop up that says this is not the right thing to say. So you either listen to that guidance and probably have a better conversation, or you ignore it and typically end up hurting the other person and not really accomplishing what you wanted anyway.

In times of real danger or fear this inner voice can come as a stroke of insight. It could let us know the course of action that is safe. The voice comes in a flash and then is gone. It does not hang around and repeat over and over again. But somehow we have a sense that the voice is telling us the right thing to do.

Yoga can help us be more receptive to our inner voice. Just being with the breath and being aware of our bodies with a deep focus helps to filter out the mindless clamor of our random thoughts. It is not always easy to come to the mat when times are difficult or when we are busy. But if you can just start with a simple pose that may be enough. Or you may find you just keep going once you have started. You may even receive little internal messages while practicing that will guide you to enhancing your pose.

Our inner voice sounds tiny but it is huge. It is connected to the supreme consciousness. It has our best interests at heart. So next time you hear that tiny voice telling you to do something that you know instantly is the right thing to do, don't ignore it. Time after time you will learn that paying attention will give the most reward.

Dormant energy

How can something so tiny and insignificant be so powerful? In the spring, when poison ivy is barely visible, it is still very potent. Its oil, called urushiol, is concentrated in the vine, stem and roots of the plant. So when it appears to be dead or dormant, it has powerful potential. It is said to still be active for five years even after the plant is dead.

Kundalini is a dormant energy that lies coiled at the base of our spine and is envisioned as a coiled serpent. This is the natural energy of the Self that is present in every being as the universal consciousness. Our individual minds can cloak this natural energy from pure expression.

Too much exposure too quickly to dormant energy can cause harm. In the case of poison ivy handling the stem or root even before the leaves come out can cause an incredibly painful rash. Without the leaves it is often difficult to identify the poison ivy. If you lightly brush against the poison ivy leaves, many people will not have a reaction at all or the reaction will likely be less severe.

If Kundalini energy is awakened too quickly before an individual is fully prepared, it can also cause devastating effects. People who are not prepared through regular spiritual practice often experience strong body pain and mental instability. It can be very scary experiencing entities that are not physical and not understood.

For the individual who has a strong meditation practice and has a grounded spirituality, kundalini can rise more slowly and be a powerfully positive experience. That person can feel more of the oneness of Universal energy and love. They can feel their consciousness expanding infinitely. Their full potential is manifested in a balanced way with grounding energy as well as expanding energy.

Yoga has this potential to waken parts of our bodies in new and powerful ways. However if we practice yoga coming from our egos and push our bodies beyond their current capacity, we can become injured. If we use yoga poses just for physical skills, we leave some of the dormant energy untapped. But if we practice yoga mindfully and with a pure intention and balanced energy, we begin a magical journey that leads to a deeper understanding of our bodies and who we are at our deepest core.

There is dormant energy and dormant potential all around us and within us. We need to appreciate and respect the power of this energy. When we are respectful and aware of nature, we can avoid some of the negative potential power such as the virulent oils of the poison ivy plant. When we practice a sport building our skills gradually, we will know our limits and respect them leading to more enjoyment and less injury. Anything we engage in or practice from a balanced place, can allow us to experience a gradual unfolding of our full potential with equanimity and peace.

Spring Awakening

Spring is a kind of wake up call in nature bringing new growth, new life, and warmer weather. It is a transitional period between the coldest months and the warmest months. The sun crossing the equator signals the beginning of spring.

Weather is often erratic in spring as the seasons shift from cold to warm. Severe weather results from the warm air masses from the lower latitudes colliding with the cold air still pushing from the polar regions. Rivers often flood from ice melt and intense thunderstorms, tornadoes are formed and winds can be exceptionally high.

Humans react to this change of seasons with spring fever characterized by excitement, energy spurts, romantic desires and an air of restlessness. We have an internal body clock that responds to the longer days - having more natural light in our lives. Melatonin, inducing sleep, is decreased while serotonin, causing a sense of elation, increases.

The majority of people tend to spend more time outdoors as the weather becomes warmer so people connect more socially. In big cities like New York City, street performers are out in full force bringing a creative energy that is infectious. Just as the flowers begin to open, bears come out of hibernation and birds return from migration, we tend to feel more alive and full of energy with the advent of spring.

Everyone knows the feeling of the perfect spring day. The sun feels warm but the air has a cool refreshing feeling. It is a balance between hot and cold - the transition between winter and summer.

Align your yoga practice with the energy of spring. Open your chest more fully and allow your poses to expand with the expanding daylight. Feel the growth of new discovery in your poses. Find the balance between the effort of muscular energy and the relaxation of expansive energy. Really feel and be aware of the transitions between poses. Just as the light of spring has a soft quality, be gentle with yourself as you experience this renewed awakening.

The equal length of day and night gives birth to spring. For a moment light and dark are balanced. Then the days become increasingly longer until they peak at the summer solstice. As we come out of the winter darkness from a place of restfulness, we come into the season of light with the spirit of awakening. Nature is infinite in her creativity. We are part of nature and share that gift. Let spring be a wake up call for you to blossom into your full potential.

Go Slowly

People in countries driven by technology tend to move at mach nine speed. Cars, airplanes, cell phones, computers and internet access allow us to move fast from place to place, process large amounts of information with amazing speed and communicate long distances no matter what we are doing.

But what is the true cost of the ease and speed at which we move? Do we become desensitized to the less obvious details that only become noticeable when we take time to slow down? Do we lose touch with our inner feelings and emotions? Are we missing some of the most important things in life without even realizing it?

In rural Nepal where there are no cars, computers or cell phones, people bid farewell by saying, "Go slowly". They do not have the resources that can make things happen fast. People often carry heavy loads on their backs making it difficult to go quickly. Footing can be difficult on the rocky trails and many Nepalis walk barefoot or in minimal footwear. But this cultivates a sense of patience and awareness of each step that is very different from our lifestyles. Their physical lifestyle is more difficult than ours, but their level of stress is much lower.

Although many Nepalis do not have the resources to move with speed, we do have the choice to slow down and "smell the roses". It may not feel like it because there are often so many pressures, so many responsibilities, so many opportunities. But so often we kid ourselves with how important our "to do" list is. The fact is stress causes many physical, emotional and mental problems.

If we practice yoga with a sense of impatience going from pose to pose just to keep moving quickly, we miss out on many of the benefits that are available through yoga. Moving too quickly can make us insensitive. We may never learn how to bring our bodies into optimal alignment. It is possible to injure ourselves by going too far in a pose when our bodies are not ready for it. On the other hand we may never experience how deep we can go in a pose when we are ready.

Instead of trying to do everything as quickly as possible and piling up a list of accomplishments, take time to savor the smile of a stranger, the song of a bird, the smell of the fresh rain. Slow down enough to think about what is really important amid all of the chaos. Set your priorities on spending time on the things that bring you the most joy instead of the most money or fame. It is the small things, easily overlooked, that often bring us our deepest peace and serenity.