Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Begin to end to begin...

Beginning...

Darlings,

In Lady Yoga fashion, it is my goal to look back in history to see where we have come from, find the yoga in the moments past to keep us rooted in the present and passionate about where we are going in the future.

Today, let's celebrate the idea of new beginnings. When gathering info for this historical class, there, I uncovered many beginnings and endings. To quote Seneca, every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end.

There is a little thing called Samadhi or bliss in yoga. It's that beautiful feeling of peace while practice yoga. It sneaks up on you. Many people practice yoga because it's a great physical work out but after practicing a while, you realize you feel really good inside and out...Samadhi.

The satisfaction you have when you complete a yoga practice goes beyond the physical and you actually return to the original state you were born with, peace, calm, awareness of everything around you, openness to everything like it was the first time and wonderment. Each time we practice, we return, right back to where we started...but better.

Samadhi the 8th limb of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and the 8 in Hot 8 where I teach yoga faithfully!

Call it one-ness or heaven or nirvana, we can experience it any time we want whether we are on the mat or in our lives by tapping into our breath and being mindful in whatever we are thinking or doing. Wherever you are, when we are one pointed in focus, fully conscious with what we are doing, engaged but in a state of surrender, our mind becomes still and we are home, residing deeply within, peacefully and passionately.

Savor that space between engaging a muscle and letting go, focussing the mind and feelings into bliss.

On May 31st 1879 Madison Square Garden opened in NYC.

...in 1907, the first taxi cabs were introduced in the states, NYC being the first city for it's swift and reliable, albeit crazy transport.

...The famous tower clock known as Big Ben, located at the top of the 320-foot-high St. Stephen's Tower, rings out over the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London, for the first time on this day in 1859.

On June 1st, 1980 CNN launches for the first time. We no longer had to rely on the 6 and 11 o'clock news to be informed but could tune in at any hour of the day for up to the minute news around the globe. Where would we be without that information?

Ok, probably getting better sleep, but it is a source for information when and how we need it when we tune in and that is a great beginning, people!

On June 2nd Babe Ruth retires in 1935. One of the greatest baseball players of all time, he set the record of 714 home runs until that record was beat 40 years later by Hank Aaron. He was a pioneer from the Red Sox to the Yankees to the legend.

This month, Hot 8 Yoga celebrates it's one year anniversary, My HistorYoga has it it's one year mark as has the Lady Yoga Comic Strip in LA Yoga Magazine.

The Endeavor Space Shuttle makes it's final journey through space and back again after 25 years.

And one of our great role models, Oprah Winfrey, has turned off her ABC studio lights and hung up her lapel mic on the Oprah Winfrey Show of 25 years.

Things begin, they have their journey or they end, leaving room for more new beginnings.

What's your story today? What would you like to begin and what has run it's course in your life. Let the body tell you and let it unfold. Push through the sonic boom and celebrate.

Quotes

Those things of real worth in life are worth going to any length in love and respect to safeguard.

Julia Butterfly Hill

Everybody has a calling, and your real job in life is to figure out what that is and get about the business of doing it. It lights you up and it lets you know that you are exactly where you're supposed to be, doing exactly what you are supposed to be doing. But you also have to know what sparks the light in you so that you in your own way can illuminate the world. Oprah Winfrey

You are what you want to become. Why search anymore? You are a wonderful manifestation. The whole universe has come together to make your existence possible. There is nothing that is not you. The kingdom of God, the Pure Land, nirvana, happiness, and liberation are all you. Thich Nhat Hanh

Letting go is the lesson. Letting go is always the lesson. Have you ever noticed how much of our agony is all tied up with craving and loss? — Susan Gordon Lydon

The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places. Author Unknown

When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. Franklin D. Roosevelt

Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there. Josh Billings

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground. Author Unknown

He conquers who endures. Persius

Don't be discouraged. It's often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. Author Unknown

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. Buddhist Saying

Life is not about how fast you run or how high you climb but how well you bounce. Vivian Komori

Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines. Robert Schuller

Vitality shows in not only the ability to persist but the ability to start over. F. Scott Fitzgerald

The great majority of men are bundles of beginnings. Ralph Waldo Emerson

But the moment you turn a corner you see another straight stretch ahead and there comes some further challenge to your ambition. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Not being tense but ready. Not thinking but not dreaming. Not being set but flexible.

Liberation from the uneasy sense of confinement. It is being wholly and quietly alive, aware and alert, ready for whatever may come. Bruce Lee

It is easy to believe we are each waves and forget we are also the ocean. Jon J. Muth

Flow with whatever may happen, and let your mind be free: Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate. Zhuangzi (Chwang-tse)

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. Thich Nhat Hanh (Tik · N'yat · Hawn)

It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable. Lucius Annaeus

If you are unable to find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it? Eihei Dogen

When the mind is exhausted of images, it invents its own. Gary Snyder

Before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success. Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. Henry Ford

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time, more intelligently. Henry Ford

If you’re happy in what you’re doing, you’ll like yourself, you’ll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possible have imagined. Johnny Carson

There are two mistakes one can make a long the road to truth…not going all the way and not starting Buddha

There are no classes in life for beginners – right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult. Rainer Maria Rilke

There will be a time when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning. Louis L’Amour

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with one step. Lao Tzu

To have begun is to have done half the task. Dare to be wise. Horace

All glory comes from daring to begin. Eugene F. Ware

The beginning is the most important part. Plato

Beginning is easy, continuing is hard. Japanese Proverb

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from. T.S. Elliot

Beyond the mountains, there are mountains. –Haitian proverb.

The Secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings. –David Weinbaum

He who chooses the beginnings of the road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determines the end. Harry Emerson Fosdick

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford

In every way and every day you are showing people exactly who you are. You're letting your life speak for you and when you do that, you will receive in direct proportion to how you give. You can help somebody. You can listen. You can forgive. Look around and you'll see. You many not have to look any further than your own family or maybe even your own self. The power is the same. Carry whatever you're supposed to be doing - carry that forward and don't waste any more time. Start embracing the life that is calling you. Oprah Winfrey

Ending,

Lady,

Beginning,

Lady,

Bliss,

Lady

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Meditation nation...

Darlings,
So, I have this beautiful student at Hot 8 Yoga in Santa Monica, that's created a group on facebook about meditation. It's inviting us to engage in one hundred days of meditation. We are at day 39.
It's a difficult task to commit to, but once you do, you have many others that, even if you don't know them, you are secretly accountable to and for to hold you to your meditation practice. And, it's also amazing that, once you put it on your schedule of 'to do's', you WILL do.
Meditation, for me, was always difficult.
I know, I'm a yoga teacher AND superhero so it should be easy for me to sit in a cross legged position for hours with no sound, clear my mind and raise the frequency of my energy to a dog's hearing.
But alas, I always remember where I came from...
a NY girl (with Superhero strength she got from her dad) and a NY state of mind.
I love NY but have lived in LA longer in my lifetime than NY. NY always reminded me of a geographical me. The place is frenetic with tons of energy - every which way and rarely sleeps.
I'm still that way, but a little more balanced. If it wasn't for yoga, my prana, life force or energy, would be seeping out of every hole and pore in my body. With yoga, now I can harness that energy and use it when I want. It's like having an energy savings account.
But I'm still out of my mind...in the cutest way possible.
Remember that kid at your last family function that was running around the room like a lunatic knocking into your legs and flailing their arms all over the place only to pass out on the floor moments later after eating too much sugar? You find her an hour later...her little dress blanketed over her head, black paten leather shoes knocked together and half off, arms and legs are sprawled out in an exhausted wonder for adults to laugh at and ooh and ahh at the cuteness of the whole thing? FINALLY, she calmed down!!
That's me, at 36. I really have so much energy that sometimes, I don't know what to do with all of it. So, when I did my first yoga teacher training almost a decade ago, and was informed that meditation would be part of my daily, 'at home' practice, I almost threw up in my mouth.
To be still AND conscious, no freekin' way!! Could I get away with it if I didn't do it?
But, it happens and it happened.
In fact, meditation creates so much more energy in a controlled IV drip sort of way that it's impossible not to want to hit the meditation cushion or mat and feel the bliss of dumping out the excess mind, listening to the quiet and finding the solutions to all life's problems and questions in one fell swoop. For real.
I've done Yoga Nidra, guided meditation, silence and still point focus. I've done specific yogic traditions of meditation Buddhist and non linear, just sit and 'be' meditation.
And, nothing is more fascinating then making up a meditation right where you are, in the middle of everything busy and hectic in the day and finding the yoga and meditation in it.
Case in point,
the other day, I was walking to teach class. I always have my iPod mini playing just the right songs to keep my energy up to teach and stay focussed. Today, my iPod died in mid stride.
It's going to be quiet, I thought. I am going to feel lonely, I thought. There is nothing like the companion of distraction to get you through.
Instead of being annoyed at the circumstances, I decided to take in this universal decision to deprive me of music and get me out of my regular routine.
Use each step as a moment to take in the auditory stimulus and engage in its wholeness.
A child laughing. The crosswalk telling me to walk. A couple discussing plans for the weekend. A car driving by and playing Nicki Minaj, a runner stops in mid stride to answer his iPhone. He answers, 'Wei." I know this to mean, talk or talk to me in Chinese and I'm mentally propelled to when I lived in Shanghai. A nice and distant memory. I smile. I remember the foreign sounds of China and then I move on...
I hear a car coming up a drive way, the gate closing behind the car. I hear the bouganvilla rustle in a short breeze. The sound of a bike locks in it's position. A rustle of lazy beach feet on concrete.
Meditation.
Each moment was 'heard' till the next.
Each moment was 'felt' to the next.
Each moment was present, until the next.

This morning, one of my favorite clients was stressed out and told me she didn't want to move quite yet, but sit in meditation for a while so she could get into the space of 'doing' yoga.

She doesn't like to sit still and finds it difficult to close her eyes without 'falling asleep.'
It's hard to disengage the multi-task and engage in the uni-task of just
one
thing.....

I told her to just sit as comfortably as possible, keep her eyes open and watch her dog. We work in the peaceful courtyard of her house in Beverly Hills so I told her to watch Ellie as she sits in the sun, her eyes squinting then releasing, her front paws tucking under her chin and tongue pressing through her teeth then retracting.
Watch Ellie as she gets up and slowly saunters to my mat.
She sniffs my nose and wanders to my bag.
She climbs the handles and snoops inside.
She retreats and walks over to my client, sits, watching patiently as if waiting for instructions.
The postman comes and Ellie runs to the gate and barks.
The postman leaves and she hops several hops to a torn rope at the corner of the courtyard and gnaws at it. She comes back and licks my clients toes.
Then, Ellie calms down and sits beside her, lying down again, squinting in the sun, her front paws tucking under her chin and tongue pressing through her teeth then retracting.
She reaches for my client's sock and brings it under her chin.
She stays...adorable and peaceful in the sun with a little sock under her chin.
Each moment, slow and thoughtful. Each moment brought that sweet dog to the next. Each moment was a reminder to live in just that.

I'm reminded of my eating disorder.
It was difficult to be an overweight overachiever as a youth but even more difficult to be an adult in the fitness, health and mindfulness industry and know that it never goes away.
You always have to keep the disease in check and as I do, I think of my breath.
I fill up my belly, expand my side ribs and back body with breath and hold.
How does it feel to be full? Full of breath and life and stillness. To be grounded in the fullness of life - the nurturing of the spirit and the mind is a blessing.
I let go of the breath slowly and controlled. I hold.
To feel empty, with nothing but the beat of my heart and pulse of blood moving throughout is a blessing.
I savor the space between feeling full of life and letting go. The union of them both as it fuels and expends.
And it is a blessing everyday.
To treat the body with such care instills the mindfulness necessary to treat everything else with just as much care.
You don't have to sit still on a cushion to find your meditation.
I watch surfers at sunrise simply sit on their boards, riding the pulse of the ocean before a wave propels them to stand.
I watch my sister bake cakes and cookies and extravagant deserts and she is quiet and thoughtful, measuring each ingredient then blending in sweet repose.
I watch my mother with her cup of tea in the afternoon. The ritual of filling the kettle, opening the tin for her green tea bag, finding the cup amongst other cups for the one cup she uses every time and sit to enjoy, not walk around the house to busy herself, but to enjoy and sip and watch Oprah.
I watch trained athletes in the playoffs, with strong muscles engaged everywhere dancing from one side of the court to the other, with there mates, pause and toss the ball into the net, the crowd quiet for a moment until they roar in unison when the ball makes it through the net.
Meditation is mindfulness. You can find it anywhere you are present with the breath, what or who you are with and what you are doing.
You can find it sitting still and you can find it moving around.
You can find it if you BE it.
When you ARE it, everything shows up, the good and the bad. What you need comes up and what you don't falls away.
Try it, you'll like it. Money back guarantee.
Being,
Lady

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Home Run...

Darlings,

In Lady Yoga fashion, it is my goal to look back in history to see where we have come from, find the yoga in the moments past to keep us rooted in the present and passionate about where we are going in the future.

On May 25, 1935, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Babe Ruth hit his 714th home run, it was a record that wasn’t beat for 40 years (by Hank Aaron in ’74, the year Lady was born!!). He was a pitcher for the Red Sox and outfielder for the Yankees and one of the greatest baseball players and attractions of all time even past his retire year in ’35 and death in ’48. 22 seasons, 10 world series and the hall of fame.

This was one of Ruth’s last games, and the last home run of his career. Babe Ruth, born George Herman Ruth was called Babe because of his youthful attitude but maturity in skill.

He Dreamed. Reached. Succeeded and kept his youthful babeness. Let's use his record, youthfullness and strike our practice out of the ballpark. Reach past what you think you can do and go for it. Strike out, fall and pick your butt up again. Set your record, beat it and set a new one. It's all good. Hot dog!

Don't let the fear of striking out hold you back. - Babe Ruth

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. - Babe Ruth

Never let the fear of striking out get in your way. Babe Ruth

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime. Babe Ruth

You just can't beat the person who never gives up. Babe Ruth

And some other home runs...

To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act. Anatole France

We need men who can dream of things that never were. John F. Kennedy

The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but significance - and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning. Oprah Winfrey

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. Henry Ford

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. Les Brown

The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible. That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. Doug Larson

Goals are dreams with deadlines. Diana Scharf Hunt

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. T.S. Eliot

If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up. J.M. Power

Life's problems wouldn't be called "hurdles" if there wasn't a way to get over them. Unknown

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Unknown

God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them. Unknown

The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me. Ayn Rand

Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. ~Life's Little Instruction Book, compiled by H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

The best angle from which to approach any problem is the try-angle. Unknown

How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I'm committed to? Anthony Robbins

Sometimes the path you're on is not as important as the direction you're heading. Kevin Smith

The impossible is often the untried. Jim Goodwin

The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps - we must step up the stairs. Vance Havner

It is easier to go down a hill than up, but the view is best from the top. Arnold Bennett

I am looking for a lot of men who have an infinite capacity to not know what can't be done. Henry Ford

One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. Jack Penn

There are no shortcuts to any place worth going. Beverly Sills

Know your limits, but never stop trying to exceed them. Unknown

Part of the issue of achievement is to be able to set realistic goals, but that's one of the hardest things to do because you don't always know exactly where you're going, and you shouldn't.George Lucas

The greatest dreams are always unrealistic. Will Smith

Out of the strain of the doing, Into the peace of the done. Julia Woodruff

The only thing that has to be finished by next Tuesday is next Monday. Jennifer Yane

Map out your future, but do it in pencil. Jon Bon Jovi

Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.Charles C. Noble

Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another. John Dewey

I’m you’re guide buy you know what you want to see. Each hold, each moment and movement creates the space you need to grow, change, dream, reach, succeed or just enjoy being exactly where you are.

Running home,

Lady

In a galaxy far far away...

Darlings,

In Lady Yoga fashion, it is my goal to look back in history to see where we have come from, find the yoga in the moments past to keep us rooted in the present and passionate about where we are going in the future.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away,

On this day May 25th,1977, Memorial Day weekend opened with an intergalactic bang!

The first of George Lucas' blockbuster Star Wars movies hits American theaters. It was and is a cultural phenomenon that’s spanned generations. Consistency.

The incredible success of Star Wars, it’s groundbreaking special effects, 5 more films in the series, five tv series, comic books, toys, games, two sequels, seven Oscars, $461 million in U.S. ticket sales and a gross of close to $800 million worldwide. Going Beyond your limits.

Let's set the collective intention to be consistent in our commitment to practice, whatever your yoga is, whether it's on the mat or in your life. Go beyond what you think you are capable of emotionally and physically. It's usually the mind that will tell you first that you can't do something. Shut that off and change your perspective. Even if you do the same thing, the same sequence, the same routine every day, take another perspective, another view of it and see how it looks and feels to go beyond your limits.

Believe!

Be still and know it. - Oprah Winfrey

Star Wars Quotes

[Luke:] I can’t believe it. [Yoda:] That is why you fail.

Yes, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will... – Yoda

A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things. - Yoda

Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Yoda

Truly wonderful the mind of a child is. Yoda

Always in motion is the future. Yoda

Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is. Yoda

Named must your fear be before banish it you can. - Yoda

You will find only what you bring in. – Yoda

There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. HAN SOLO

The fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side. YODA

Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them. OBI-WAN KENOBI

Who's the more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him? OBI-WAN KENOBI

I think my eyes are getting better. Instead of a big dark blur, I see a big light blur. - Han Solo

There's always a bigger fish. Qui-Gon Jinn

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Yoda

Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing thru him" -Obi-Wan to Luke

Stretch out with your feelings. - Obi-Wan to Luke

You've got a lot of guts coming here… - Lando to Han

You have your moments, not many of 'em, but you do have 'em." - Leia to Han

Difficult to see, always in motion is the future. - Yoda to Luke

You cannot escape your destiny. - Ben to Luke

Try not. Do or do not. There is no try. ~Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back

Did you think Star Wars ever had so much Yoga in it!!??

Da...

Just change it to GA and you've got YOGA! May the force be with you,

Lady

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

In a galaxy far far away...

Come to class this week to find out. You missed it? See it next week HERE as a blog!!

Just a Babe in the big bad world....

Come to class this week to find out. You missed it? See it next week HERE as a blog!!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Brooklyn in the House!! Stability and Connection

Darlings,

In Lady Yoga fashion, it is my goal to look back in history to see where we have come from, find the yoga in the moments past to keep us rooted in the present and passionate about where we are going in the future.

On May 17, 1884, P. T. Barnum led 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge to prove that it was stable.

~Stability~

128 years ago, on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge over the East River opened, connecting the great cities of New York and Brooklyn for the first time in history.

~Connection~

Thousands of residents of Brooklyn and Manhattan Island turned out to witness the dedication ceremony, which was presided over by President Chester A. Arthur and New York Governor Grover Cleveland. Emily Roebling was given the first ride over the completed bridge, with a rooster, a symbol of victory, in her lap. Within 24 hours, an estimated 250,000 people walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, using a broad promenade above the roadway that John Roebling designed solely for the enjoyment of pedestrians.

The Brooklyn Bridge was dubbed the "eighth wonder of the world." For several years after its construction, it remained the tallest structure in the Western hemisphere. The connection it provided between the massive population centers of Brooklyn and Manhattan changed the course of New York City forever. In 1898, the city of Brooklyn formally merged with New York City, Staten Island and a few farm towns, forming Greater New York.

Let's use the idea of stability and connection with ourselves and those around us as we travel through our practice today or as you are reading this blog.

With so much technology these days making it easier and faster to connect, we often miss the actual meaning of that word which is really to be grounded and present with yourself and/or something else.

The real definition of yoga!

The intention is the grounding part. It keeps us rooted if we lose our way. It's the map for the soul even if we change direction.

The breath is the bridge. It keeps us linked to the present moment while infinitely connected to the past and the future. Without it - you would not have been past and without it, there would be no future!!

So deepen it up to broaden that bridge!

Enjoy....

"Inner silence promotes clarity of mind; It make us value the inner world; It trains us to go inside To the source of peace and inspiration When we are faced with problems and challenges." Deepak Chopra

Our life is composed greatly from dreams, from the unconscious, and they must be brought into connection with action. They must be woven together. Anais Nin

A successful person (man) is one who can lay a firm foundation with bricks others have thrown at him. - David Brinkly

People (men) must live and create. Live to the point of tears. Albert Camus

Build this day on a foundation of pleasant thoughts. Never fret at any imperfections that you fear may impede your progress. Remind yourself, as often as necessary, that you…have the power to achieve any dream by lifting up your thoughts. You can fly when you decide that you can. Never consider yourself defeated again. Let the vision in your heart be in your life's blueprint. Smile!” -Og Mandino

Character is like the foundation of a house, it is below the surface. – Unknown

Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation. Saint Augustine

To create something you must be something. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine and at last you create what you will. George Bernard Shaw

Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it. Rabindranath Tagore

Thinking is easy, acting is difficult. to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world. Goethe

People (men) in the game are blind to see what those looking on see clearly. - Chinese Proverb

I seldom end up where I wanted to go, but I almost always end up where I need to be. - Douglas Adams

He who controls the present, controls the past. he who controls the past, controls the future. -George Orwell

In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity. - Albert Einstein

Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable. - Coco Chanel

The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man's heart. - Albert Camus

Learning is finding out what you already know. - Richard Back

All growth is a leap in the dark. A spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience. -Henry Miller

There are no such limits to growth because there are no limits to the human capacity for intelligence, imagination and wonder. – Ronald Reagan

The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty. - Zig Ziglar

Character is the firm foundation stone upon which one must build to win respect. just as no worthy building can be erected on such a weak foundation, so no lasting reputation worthy of respect can be built on a weak character. - R.C. Samsel

Yoga prepares the body for meditation on which allows us to observe our thoughts so that we are not controlled by them. Harmonize the mind with the body. Keep the focus at the heart as opposed to everything going on in the mind. Dr. Tom Being Erica

We create our faith every day we live. - Henry Miller

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true. -Buddha

The human body has two ends on it: one to create with and one to sit on. Sometimes people get their ends reversed. When this happens they need a kick in the seat of the pants. Theodore Roosevelt

How am I going to live today in order to create the tomorrow I'm committed to? Tony Robbins

People create their own questions because they are afraid to look straight. All you have to do is look straight and see the road, and when you see it, don't sit looking at it - walk. Ayn Rand

The best way to predict the future is to create it. Peter Drucker

Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. watch your habits; they become your character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. Frank Outlaw (supermarket manager/created Bi-Lo in So. Carolina, played supermarket manager in Raising Arizona

Love ya,

Lady

Monday, May 16, 2011

Your path, full circle...

Darlings,

In Lady Yoga fashion, it is my goal to look back in history to see where we have come from, find the yoga in the moments past to keep us rooted in the present and passionate about where we are going in the future.

On May 15th, 1618, German mathematician and astronomer, Johannes Kepler discovered Harmonic’s Law. Most simply it’s the motion of planets around the sun. The sun is the focus. The lines connecting the planets to the sun sweeps out in an ellipse, always bringing it back to where it started, in harmony and unity in equal areas and in equal periods of time – seasons, birthdays, calendars...

I always find it interesting talking about historical things that are so deep in the past you just always thought it existed. I was talking to a girl the other day and telling her about how we didn’t have computers in college. I mean we did, but you had to go to a computer center and they were big and the cursor blinked. She couldn’t imagine that, being born in 1990!

But I can’t imagine not ever knowing that the planets revolved around the sun. But alas, someone had to discover it, right? So now we know!

In addition, On May 16, 2011, the Endeavour space shuttle launched into its 25th and final voyage Monday—also the anniversary of it’s first landing on May 16, 1992.

Yoga is a path. It takes us on a journey back to ourselves, our natural state of being, the way we came into the world – calm, clear and connected. It’s not a linear path, but one that circles around, like planets around the sun and brings us back to where we started, a little bit different, a little bit changed, a little bit older and fueled with more life.

For the purpose of practicing, focus on the journey, not the destination as we take to the mat and return to back to ourselves once again, the center of our being, our true and natural state, in balance, harmony and joy with yourself and those around you.

And these guys are with us too…

Enough is as good as a feast. English Proverb

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving. Albert Einstein

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony. Thomas Merton

Problems arise in that one has to find a balance between what people need from you and what you need for yourself. Jessye Norman

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Robert Fulghum

We need to maintain a proper balance in our life by allocating the time we have. There are occasions where saying no is the best time management practice there is. Catherine Pulsifer

What I dream of is an art of balance. Henri Matisse

As you become successful, you will need a great deal of self-discipline not to lose your sense of balance, humility, and commitment. H. Ross Perot

The word 'happiness' would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. Carl Gustav Jung

A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your step as you walk the tightrope of life. William Arthur Ward

Live your life with arms wide open. Today is where your book begins. The rest is still unwritten. Natasha Bedingfield

It may be when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. Wendell Berry

The road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair. Marion Zimmer Bradley

It is better to travel well than to arrive. Buddha

There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting. Buddha

Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use. Carlos Castaneda

You should live every day like it's your last day because one day you're gonna be right. Ray Charles

Man improves himself as he follows his path; if he stands still, waiting to improve before he makes a decision, he'll never move. Paulo Coelho

We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey. Stephen Covey

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin-real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life. Alfred D’Souza

A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it. Jean de la Fontaine

The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place. Barbara DeAngelis

How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. Annie Dillard

Be willing to be a beginner every single morning. Meister Eckhart

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let your mind start a journey thru a strange new world. Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before. Let your soul take you where you long to be…Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar, and you’ll live as you’ve never lived before. Erich Fromm

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Robert Frost

How often I found where I should be going only by setting out for somewhere else. Buckminster Fuller

We may run, walk, stumble, drive, or fly, but let us never lose sight of the reason for the journey or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way. Gloria Gaither

Say not, I have found the truth, but rather, I have found a truth. Say not, I have found the path of the soul, Say rather, I have met the soul walking upon my path. For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals. Kahlil Gibran

It‘s not where we stand but in what direction we are moving. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The way is not in the sky, the way is in the heart. For the traveler who knows his direction, there is always a favorable wind. Stuart Avery Gold

Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go. Natalie Goldberg

There is no enlightenment outside of daily life. Thich Nhat Hanh,

Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all. The true joy of life is the trip. Robert J. Hastings

You cannot have a happy ending to a miserable journey. Abraham-Hicks

We are what we reach for, the idealized image that drives our wandering. James Hillman

It's pretty hard to get what you want when you're busy doing and being what you don't want. Cheryl Janecky

We cannot escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us on all our exciting adventures. Susan Jeffers

Often the search proves more profitable than the goal. E. L. Konigsburg

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Lao Tzu

Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him. Henry Miller

One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things. Henry Miller

Life is what you make of it. Always has been, always will be. Grandma Moses

By losing your goal - you have lost your way, too! Friedrich Nietzsche

The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment. Earl Nightingale

Rowing harder doesn't help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction. Kenichi Ohmae

We don’t receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us. Marcel Proust

Some stories don’t have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what’s going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity. Gilda Radner

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours. Ayn Rand

Each one of us has a fire in our heart for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and keep it lit. Mary Lou Retton

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will find them gradually, without noticing it, and live along some distant day into the answer. Rainer Maria Rilke

The only journey is the journey within. Rainer Maria Rilke

The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination. Carl Rogers

Journey from the self to the Self and find the mine of gold. Leave behind what is sour and bitter and move toward the sweet. Rumi

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own, and you know what you know. And you are the only one who'll decide where you'll go. Dr. Seuss

There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is a drama, a comedy, and a tragedy. Mark Twain

Your journey never ends. Life has a way of changing things in incredible ways. Alexander Volkov

As I ramble through life, whatever be my goal, I will unfortunately always keep my eye upon the doughnut and not upon the whole. Wendy Wasserstein

The spiritual path – is simply the journey of living our lives. Everyone is on a spiritual path; most people just don’t know it. Marianne Williamson

The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work. Dwell in possibility. Oprah Winfrey

What I know for sure is that your life is a multipart series of all your experiences- and each experience is created by your thoughts, intentions, and actions to teach you what you need to know. Your life is a journey of learning to love yourself first and then extending that love to others in every encounter. Oprah Winfrey

Safe journeys and landings,

Lady