Creating Beauty

Why do people spend so much time planting beautiful gardens, creating beautiful works of art, decorating their homes, deciding what to wear, or practicing a skill? We are drawn to beauty. It makes us feel good and is soothing to the soul.

Creating beauty is a process that takes time and love. It is a form of self-expression. When the inspiration comes from the heart, others find their own personal meaning in the creation. We can think about how to create beauty, but ultimately if we are not working from our heart, the creation will feel lifeless.

Our motivation to create beauty is not always from joy. Recently my dog Jasmine died. I buried her in a spot that was overrun with weeds but is also in a private setting. The process of turning this ugly, weed-ridden space into a beautiful sanctuary has been very healing for me. I spend time just sitting in the space and feeling where to place plants, how to arrange stones and tuning into how the space feels as I work on it. I want to honor Jasmine's beautiful spirit. This has motivated me to put in the long hours of digging up the weeds, lugging stones and searching for the right plants. I feel a sense of peace and I am drawn to this space now. The sadness of losing her is mixed with a feeling of beauty and tranquility.

When you are working on creating beauty with a heart-felt intention, time is irrelevant. You get in a zone where you are completely absorbed in the feeling of what you are creating. The mind and heart feel in balance.

In yoga tantric philosophy, chit/ananda is the view that our true nature sees the oneness of the individual self with the Divine. Chit is our self-knowledge of this connection and ananda is the creative expression to celebrate the Divine which resides in all of us. As you practice yoga turn to your breath. This is the ultimate expression of chit/ananda - the pulsation between awareness and expression. Our poses begin with the breath and we move from the core. This creates beauty, strength and freedom in our practice.

Life would not be worth living without the experience and appreciation of beauty. It is intrinsic to who we are and life around us. Sometimes we can't feel the beauty because it may be obscured by pain and suffering. That is part of the pulse of life but coming back to the recognition of beauty makes it that much sweeter.

Poetry in Motion

Poetry in motion is all around us in subtle and dramatic forms. We can see it in the dance of leaves in a soft breeze and we can feel it in the performance of top athletes. The dance of butterflies, the synchronised movements of a teeming school of fish, the acrobatic play of otters, the explosive sprint of a cheetah, the flight of the hummingbird, and the spinning of a spider web are examples of poetry in motion.

Years ago when I was sailing in the Atlantic, a handful of dolphins began to play in the bow wake of our boat. The dolphins were jumping, curving back and forth, turning on their sides and grinning from the sheer joy of movement. Their feelings were contagious. We all felt their playfulness and rapture of living in the moment. Their poetry in motion left an indelible memory in my heart.

As we transition from pose to pose in our yoga practice, keep the movement smooth and engaged. There is a tendency to end one pose and let go of the feeling, intention and form before we come into the next pose. But if we move with integrity, intention and awareness our transitions can be poetry in motion. Our whole practice becomes a poem with rhythm and meaning. It transcends just being a workout or stretching exercise. The poetry in motion comes from keeping the feeling of gracefulness active and full from the first inhalation to the last exhalation of our practice.

If we open our hearts and awareness, we can find poetry in motion in the ordinary things in life: in the wag of a dog's tail, the stretch of a cat, the crawling of a baby, and the dance of light through the trees. It is easy to become distracted with the complexities and demands of our daily lives and forget to notice this gift that is so freely given. When we connect with the divine energy that lives within each of us, we will see more of this beauty of motion around us, and it will naturally flow through us as an expression of grace and ease.

Into the Woods

When I go into the woods time seems to slow down. Stress falls away, my breathing becomes more relaxed and I feel open to the energy around me. I do not have to seek this feeling, it just happens. Time and time again I find comfort, inspiration and creativity in the woods.

When we are in the woods it is easy to feel connected to nature. One can feel her magnificence and power. We can often feel small and enormous at the same time: small in relation to the vastness of nature but enormous because we are part of this energy.

In the woods we feel enveloped in a world of green, the color signifing freshness, abundance and harmony. Green is in the middle of the color spectrum and is the most restful color to the human eye. It combines yellow which signifies the soul and blue which signifies the spirit.

There are seven major chakras or energy vortices of the human body. The heart chakra, which is the balance point for the chakra system, is represented by the color green. This is the center of universal love and compassion. It represents emotional empowerment and controls the essential life forces. The heart chakra rules the lungs, heart, blood flow, and circulation.

People often go into the woods for solace. Communing with nature brings us in touch with a deep part of ourselves that can remain ignored for long periods of time. Henry David Thoreau went into the woods of Walden Pond for two years living off the land, meditating, writing poetry and developing a philosophy of pacifism and a reverence for all living things. He said, "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

When practicing yoga we want to have this same sense of getting in touch with our inner being. Moving from our heart center brings our practice to life. It is what makes yoga special. It is what leads us to self-discovery. brings us calmness and relief from the stress of everyday life. When we physically integrate our shoulders onto our backs, we metaphorically open our hearts. We have greater capacity to breathe fully. We become more open to whatever life has to offer. We become more alive.

The woods remind us of our connection to nature in a deep and profound way. The mystery of nature is within us and all around us. Nature is a huge part of life that is often underappreciated and ignored. Open your heart to fully appreciate the grandeur and complexities of nature and all she has to offer.

Not what, but why

Why do you do what you do? What is your cause? What is your purpose? What inspires you? What empowers you? What do you feel in your gut and your heart?

The Wright brothers loved learning new things. Although neither of them finished high school, they started their first business together by building a printing press out of broken and recycled parts. Later they became interested in bicycles and opened a bicycle sales and repair shop. In 1896, Wilbur set his sights on flying.

Around the same time Samuel Langley was being funded by the US War Department to figure out a flying machine. He had all the financial backing he needed and hired the brightest minds to help him be the first to fly.

Conversely the Wright brothers had no financial backing but had a dream of flying. They pursued the idea of flying from their hearts. It was a mystery they had a passion to solve. They could not hire people to help them, but they inspired people to help them. They were not focused on fame but rather on what it would feel like to fly.

Of course the rest is history. Everyone knows about the Wright brothers who invented the first successful plane. But few have heard of Langley who gave up after the Wright brothers made their first successful flight.

Simon Sinek was an advertising executive who lost his passion for advertising and had to struggle to rediscover his excitement about life and work. He came up with the concept he called the Golden Circle. The innermost layer of the circle is "why", the middle layer is "how" and the outer layer is "what". Everyone knows what they do. This is the clearest part. They know how they do it. But what about why they do it?

Most people work from the outside in. They think about what they do before they think about why they do it. Often they lead lives of frustration staying stuck with what they are doing. Eventually they may change what they do out of boredom or because of outside circumstances.

People who work from the inside out, knowing why they do what they do, lead inspired and fulfilling lives. The "why" is not as easily defined as the "what". They are operating from a deeper gut level. They do not do what they do just to make a living, to live up to expectations, or to find fame and fortune. If they change what they do, they change because their "why" has led them in a new direction.

The brain has three evolutionary layers. The oldest layer is the reptilian layer that controls breathing, heart rate and digestion. The next layer is the limbic system that is responsible for our emotions, human behavior, decision making and our gut feelings. It controls our "why". It does not know language. The neocortex is the newest layer and corresponds with our rational, analytical thought and language. It controls our "what" and "how".

If we have a clear idea of why we are practicing yoga, our yoga can soar. Our intention is part of our "why". We need to feel our yoga to truly experience it. When yoga is done half-heartedly or as a mechanical exercise, we will miss out on the inspirational side of yoga. We miss the inner feeling of contentment and bliss. We can still experience the physical benefits but we cheat ourselves from the full package. Yoga means union. When the mind, body and spirit are involved, we are practicing the truest form of yoga.

To feel inspired and to inspire others, we have to know our why. Our basic emotions are connected with our "whys". Our deepest desires come from our "wants" not our "shoulds". If you listen to your gut and move from your core, you will have the foundation and confidence to live life to its fullest where the sky is the limit.

Order or chaos, which do you prefer?

We adore chaos because we love to produce order.
M.C. Escher

Is there more random chance or more predictability in life? Is there security in order and danger in chaos? Or is there boredom in order and excitement in chaos?

Do people tend to prefer order over chaos? Some people like to have schedules, they like their lives to be organized and they like to have a plan. They function best this way. Other people like to live spontaneously, schedules seem restrictive and they prefer to do things on impulse. But the orderly people still seek some kind of spontaneity and the spontaneous people still seek some kind of order.

Scientists have often found systems that seemed extremely disordered but were actually following strange and intricate patterns. Water crystals forming on glass show high level of organizational structure from the random motion of water molecules.

They have also been baffled to find chaos in systems they thought they were more orderly. Ary Goldberger of Harvard Medical School found that when comparing the variations in the heartbeats of a healthy person to those of one suffering from heart disease, the healthy heartbeat was actually the more chaotic.

It is difficult to know if order precedes chaos or if chaos precedes order. But what we do know is that both are contained within the other.

Yoga has a blend of order and chaos. First we open to grace, we open to the world of endless possibilities and mystery that is bigger than all of us. Then we use a sense of order to create stability in our poses using principles of alignment. Ultimately each pose will be an expression of our own unique individuality that has an expansive unbounded quality. We continually pulse between order and the uniqueness of our own individuality. Without order we would have nothing to guide our practice and without chaos, the chance of learning something new, we would lose our incentive to come to the mat.

We all need some kind of order in our lives or we would go crazy. If we could not count on anything, life would be tragically difficult. Yet chaos is like a breath of fresh air. The unexpected is needed to keep us feeling alive, curious and to grow as an individual. Chaos and order are like two perfectly matched partners that move together in the dance of life.

Being in the zone

We have all felt it at least for a moment. Time becomes irrelevant and there is a sense of being connected with a magical flow. You become so immersed in your activity that there is no separation and it feels effortless. Thinking and feeling come together in a sublime dance. Instead of questions there is a deep sense of knowing. Being in the zone is when the mind, body, and spirit are in perfect balance.

Once we have experienced the zone we want to return. What does it take to be in the zone? It takes discipline. loving what you do and the ability to let go. Being is the zone is a gift but it also has to be earned. When you see someone doing something that looks effortless, it is the result of hard work, focus and dedication. Being in the zone is the reward for all these efforts.

The observer can feel and easily see when someone else is in the zone. There is a sense of peace, a touch of euphoria, a feeling of being relaxed and the appearance of being connected with something beyond that individual. It is inspiring and exciting to witness.

Many athletes experience being in the zone from time to time. Surfers must have a keen sensitivity to the power of the ocean. They need to connect with that power to ride the wave. The smoothest rides happen after years of practice building the proper muscles, learning how to catch the swell and having a calm mind. As Laird Hamilton, one of the surfing legends describes it, "It's almost like the twilight zone where time stops for a moment and you're in a place where there is no beginning and no end. It's probably one of the truest forms of living in the moment that we have on this earthly plane -- before we go."

Yoga is about union and balance. Many yoga poses are difficult and take practice and skill to accomplish. But even a basic pose can be challenging when you focus on it completely and use your breath to go deeply into the pose. We can experience being in the zone in yoga when your body and mind work together to find balance and equanimity. No ego is involved. No matter what pose you are doing, it feels open and free. Meditation can bring us the feeling of being in the zone. Sitting with a quiet mind is one of life's biggest challenges.

We can't predict or control when we will arrive "in the zone". Once we become aware of it, it's gone. When we are in the zone we can lose our egos without feeling lost. But we find ourselves in a place where our inner and outer worlds come together in seamless harmony.

The inner and outer worlds of water

Water flows in us, through us and around us. Between 55 to 75 percent of human body weight is water. Our brains are about 70% water.

Water seeks movement by gravity, diffusion, wind and pressure. Water is heavy but it moves with grace, power and ease. Seventy percent of the earth's surface is covered by water. Life as we know it could not exist without water. It is constantly changing through movement. We usually think of water in its liquid state but it can also change to a solid (ice) or a gas (water vapor).

A Japanese entrepreneur named Masaru Emoto began to photograph water crystals through a microscope as they started to melt after being frozen. These crystals emerge for only 20 - 30 seconds. He found that the water crystals had beautiful shapes when they were from clean water sources but were almost formless, ugly shapes when they were from polluted sources.

He also experimented with distilled water, the most neutral form of water. He exposed the water to words, either spoken or written, and the vibration of these words would cause the crystalline structure of the water to change.

Negative words caused crystals to form that were like water from a polluted source, very ugly and dull. Words that have a positive meaning formed brilliant crystals. Love and gratitude together form one of the most beautiful crystals (seen in the photo above) that Dr. Emoto has photographed. Just as water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, love and gratitude work together to complete a key vibration.

Dr. Emoto's experiments have not been validated by other scientists. But what a beautiful metaphor he offers us for the connections between our inner and outer worlds. We know our bodies are more than half water and we can feel how emotions affect our bodies. Could it be possible that the crystalline shape of water is transformed through energy vibrations?

When we practice yoga we want to feel love and gratitude in our hearts and minds. If we practice from a place of self-criticism our practice will not flow with grace and ease. Holding our breath or not breathing fully restricts our practice. If we focus on our hamstrings being tight, our body will tighten in response to that thought. But if we direct our attention to feeling gratitude that our hamstrings have something to teach us and they can change, it will help the hamstrings to open more naturally. When our thoughts are stagnant, they have a direct impact on the condition of our bodies.

Try sitting and thinking of the words "hate and despair". How does that feel? Now sit and think of the words "love and gratitude". Do you feel different? Love creates an opening and expansion and gratitude creates a grounding and wholeness. What we feel on the inside is reflected on the outside. Make a practice of focusing on love and gratitude and observe how your life will unfold.