Category Archives: Yoga Philosophy

4 Ways to Create a Peaceful Life (And World!)

Perhaps you’ve noticed – there is suffering in the world we live in. As compassionate, loving people of the planet, we can easily empathize and sometimes even feel the pain and suffering of other beings. Sometimes, it may make us feel sadness, sometimes we grieve, sometimes we become angry, bitter or even hateful. But we cannot create a world of peace from a place of hatred. When we hate in the name of love, I’m afraid we’ve missed something very important.

Here are 4 ways to peacefully navigate through a world of suffering to create a life and world of peace. May peace and love be our compass, and may all beings be happy and free.

1. Start with yourself.

Perhaps, the greatest thing we can do for well-being, empowerment and peace among all beings is to do the inner work so that we may be at peace with ourselves and, actively participate in creating the peace we wish to see in the world. Be kind, be gentle, be compassionate with yourself first.

By filling our own cup with unwavering self-love and radical inner peace, we have more to give, we are better able to serve others, and we become a bright light in the world that emanates love and peace everywhere we go so that more people can be impacted by the peace we share, and one day, the whole world may live in peace.

2. Make peace your path.

Make peace, love, and compassion your path. Transform peace from being something you do into who you are. Doing acts of peace is powerful, but being peace will change the world.

To be peaceful, or a peace activist, you don’t have to stand outside of building chanting what is wrong with the world, you don’t have to aggressively comment on social media what you believe to be wrong or unethical, and you don’t have to donate heaps of money to humanitarian organizations.

Try practicing what I like to call micro activism in your daily life; small acts of compassion that create massive waves of peace in our world. As best as you can, try to eat, shop, exist compassionately with as little negative impact to other beings and this planet as possible. By you living a peaceful life, there is more peace in the world.

3. Choose love.

Please—stop hating in the name of love. It is easy to become angry and bitter when we see the injustice and suffering in the world, and from this place of anger, we may want to scream hatred and aggression in the name of love. Our intentions our good, but the method is not always compassionate, peaceful, or effective. To fight in the name of love is to forget what love really is. Don’t allow the suffering of the world to stain your heart of it’s true essence—unconditional love.

Ask yourself in every moment; in every interaction, in how you shop, in what you eat— how can I choose love? How may I serve in the most compassionate way? What is the most loving thing I can do here? How can I share peace? Choose the path of least harm— and when you can, always choose love

4. Do what you can to alleviate others suffering, but don’t make yourself suffer in the process.

When you cross paths with someone you can serve, do what you can. It is our highest duty to do what we can to alleviate the suffering of other beings— but that doesn’t mean we must carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. You don’t need to go searching for suffering.

We have infinite resources to offer each other; from time and money, to a loving hug or words of compassion. If you cross paths with a hungry cat or thirsty dog, do what you can to nourish them. If you can share money or food with someone less fortunate, do so. If you notice a shelter could use a volunteer, show up. If you feel called to offer words of compassion or a hug to someone in emotional pain, do it. If you see suffering, do what you can to help, to serve, for the greater good of humanity.

But that doesn’t mean you need to go looking for suffering. In a world where every catastrophe on the planet, large or small, shows up on our newsfeeds on several devices in an instant, we need to give ourselves a break from the suffering of the world. It’s important to know what is happening in our world, but our constant connection to world events can take a toll on our state of being, and move us into a state of fear and anger.

Take time away from the news, social media etc every so often to recharge your heart with inner peace and love— we can offer more to the world from that state of Being.

BONUS YOGA TECHNIQUES FOR PEACE

1. Chant the mantras:
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu

(Low-Kah Sum-A-Sta Sook-ee-no Buh-Vun-Too)
May all beings be happy and free of suffering and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute to that happiness freedom for all.
Om Shanti Om
(Aum, Shun-tee, Aum)
May there be universal peace.

2. Meditate
Silence and stillness allows us to settle into the experience of peace that exists within us all, and we can live and act from this place of peace.

3. Practice Ahimsa
Ahimsa in yoga is the first of the Yamas, the moral code written in the ancient texts of yoga. Ahimsa teaches us to live a life of non-violence, non-aggression, love and peace with one another. Do no harm.

May we up the ante on the shanti— start by creating peace in your own life, make peace your path, alleviate the suffering of other beings that cross your path as best you can, and always choose love. Ps. Shanti means peace in Sanskrit, which makes this a funny, cute peace rhyme because the world needs more smiles, too.

But for real, may all beings be happy, and free of suffering.

How do you live peace? How do you choose love? I’d love to hear in the comments below! x

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Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” – Buddha.

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The Pose is Not the Point

The pose is not the point. In the west, yoga is often confused, diluted, and hybridized into something which is often quite accessible to all people and profitable for businesses, but lost it’s authenticity from the tradition of yoga from it’s roots in India.

          In the west, we’ve placed great emphasis on the physical postures of yoga. Asana, the physical yoga poses, are only one small limb of the 8 limbs of yoga which is aimed solely towards opening the body so one can sit comfortably in meditation for an extended period of time. In modern times, there is great importance placed on mastering the physical postures of yoga, as though that is the objective of the practice. Yoga has been advertised as a method to weight loss, relaxation, building strength, improving focus, or rehabilitating the body—while these may be outcomes and valuable benefits of developing a yoga practice, traditionally, these outcomes are not the objective.

Traditionally, yoga is a method that aims towards Samadhi— yoga is a path to liberation.

The pose is not the point. While yoga poses are valuable tools for opening, strengthening and balancing the body and mind, and many of us enjoy how yoga poses allow us to feel, and it is said that a certain level of bliss may be experienced through holding a pose in alignment for an extended period of time, mastering a yoga pose will not set you free. The pose is just a method, it alone cannot liberate you.

The realizations on the journey into the pose are far more valuable than the mastery of the posture alone.

What do you realize about yourself on your way into a yoga pose? What does the journey into the posture reveal to you about your True Self? What do you learn along the way on the pathway into the pose? What is laying underneath the surface of the posture that is waiting to bloom? What does the posture awaken in you?

If you yearn for the achievement of a pose, once you arrive into that posture, you’re still the same person— you’ve just touched your toes or balanced on your hands. But the journey into the pose gifts us with the opportunity to realize a deeper essence of your being. The Truth within you may be revealed. And you may realize that the pose was never the point.

The pose is not the point– when we think it is, we cheat ourselves of some of the greatest gifts yoga has to offer us. The pose itself becomes the least interesting— it’s the realizations, lessons, moments of surrender and strength on the journey into the pose that are the greatest gifts of yoga.

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The Yogi Code | The 8 Limbs of Yoga

The 8 Limbs of Yoga are outlined in detail in the roughly two thousand year old texts, the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali. These ancient texts are much like a yogis’ handbook; an instruction manual on how to live a happy, fulfilling, spiritual and peaceful life.

There is so much more to yoga than the familiar physical practice of yoga poses. There is a whole system to it, a yogi’s code, full of observances, ethics, practices and restraints to inspire you to embrace yoga as a lifestyle and help you navigate through life with ease.

1. Yama: Ethical practices to interact with the outer world.

The Yamas and Niyamas are the foundation of the 8 limbs of yoga, and are valuable steps to living a conscious life. They are a sum of values and virtues available to us, so we may relate with and co-exist peacefully with all beings, ourselves and with the planet. They can be broken down into 5 specific areas each:

a. Ahimsa: non-violence, non-aggression, compassion, forgiveness, kindness— love.
b. Satya: truth, honesty, sincerity, living your truth; your sacred purpose or dharma.
c. Asteya: non-stealing, take only what is offered – use only what is needed.
d. Brahmacharya: preservation of vital life force energy.
e. Aparigraha: non-greed, non-hoarding, non-collection, non-gluttony.

2. Niyama: A moral code of observances to cultivate a positive relationship with ones self and inner world.

a. Saucha: purity, cleanliness
b. Santosha: contentment, the art of being happy for no particular reason
c. Tapas: austerity, self-discipline, passion
d. Svhadyaya: Self-study, awareness of the Self, study of texts.
e. Isvara Pranidhana: devotion to divinity, celebrating the divinity and oneness within all beings, surrender to faith, contemplation of a higher power.

3. Asana: Yoga Poses

This is what we tend to think of yoga as in the west; people twisting their body into unique shapes. The physical yoga postures are only one limb of the 8 limbs of yoga which is the entire system and practice of yoga. Yoga poses, asanas’, care for our physical bodies; the vessel that our spirit resides in throughout this lifetime. Yoga poses strengthen and open our bodies, so we can be comfortable and healthy in our bodies, and so we are able to sit for periods of time in meditation.

4. Pranayama: Breathing Practices

The breath is critical for sustaining life. In yoga, we perform breathing exercises and techniques to circulate and direct our prana, the life force energy within all living beings and to calm and balance the mind and body.

5. Pratyahara: Withdrawal from senses.

After practicing yoga for a period of time, we naturally begin to withdraw from our sensory experience, meaning from the experiences of our 5 outward senses, and our attention is drawn inward, focusing on our inner experience.

6. Dharana: Concentration

When we concentrate, we free the mind of senseless chatter. We experience mental clarity. In yoga, we practice focus, observation and concentration. Our focus can be directed either inwardly (like in yoga nidra on various parts of the body, or outwardly, by finding our drishti, a single point of focus to gaze upon, to help us balance in yoga poses.

7. Dhyana: Meditation

Meditation is a state of being; it is an experience of nothingness and infinity simultaneously, without effort or thought. It is zen. It is absorption into pure silence and stillness. Everyone experiences meditation in many different ways. For some of us, it’s gazing into the heart of a setting sun, for others it is through dance, or through art. It is the experience of being so deeply absorbed into what is happening. It is thoughtless, and timeless.

8. Samadhi: Bliss | Enlightenment

Bliss, or enlightenment, is the ultimate goal of yoga. Bliss occurs through the transcendence of the ego. Upon the divine realization of the ultimate oneness of all. It is the purest state of being.

Your Yogi Challenge:

I invite you to practice the 8 limbs of yoga. Begin with the Yamas. Study them. Learn them. Memorize them. And practice them every day for a week, both on and off the mat. Master them. And the following week, move on to the Niyamas. Then asana. And so on, until you yourself, experience Divine Bliss.

These 8 Limbs of Yoga, from the Yamas to Samadhi, are like a pyramid or stepping stones to living a happy, fulfilling, peaceful and spiritual life. Allow the 8 Limbs of Yoga, this Yogi Code, to be your compass as you navigate through life.

“Do No Harm, But Take No Shit”

“Do no harm, but take no shit.”

Messages of compassion and loving-kindness unite most world religions today; the notion of non-violence or non-harming.

In yoga, we call this concept Ahisma.
Ahisma means to take responsibility for our own thoughts, words, actions and behaviors, to cause no harm to other beings.
It is about living in harmony with one another.
But we live in a world where the art of being human isn’t all rainbows and lollipops,
(though sometimes it is!)

There is also pain, suffering, harassment, trauma and plenty of ego.
This is half the beauty of our entire human experience.
But this is a breeding ground for causing both conscious and unconscious harm or violence to others
(of course as a projection of their own pain, but that’s a whole other blog post.)

Dealing with shit as yogis, empaths, conscious beings and generally good people of the world, we are constantly challenged to find the balance between the ‘ignorance is bliss’ path of keeping your head down to disregard the violence and abuse present in our world and resenting every human being that crosses our path.

We have made it our life mission; our practice, to be
neutral, resilient, unaffected
by the shit that comes our way.
This shit presents itself in the form of
abuse, manipulation, injustice, harassment.
And such an illusion this supposed dharma of always being cool as a cucumber really is.

Hurt people hurt people.

But someone’s own pain is no excuse to harm, or abuse, or harass others.
It is the highest dharma, (life mission,) of hurt people to transform the poison of abuse into a medicine to heal themselves so as not to perpetuate the cycle of destruction.

It is important to understand that the concept of Ahisma also means to the best of your ability, to prevent or attempt to stop the potential harmful behaviors by others to both others, and yourself.

Mistreatment to any beings on this earth creates a karmic imbalance, (which surely will be taken care of eventually in their souls adventures through the cosmos,) but need not the rest of the world suffer for someone’s cruel behavior in the meantime.

Standing up for others is both brave and kind.
But standing up for your self is the greatest act of heroism.

There is an old story about a yogi and a cobra.

“There was a big, mean cobra that lived in a village and he would bite anyone that would come too close. A Yogi came to stay at the village and one day, decided to practice right beside a tree near the cobra. The cobra slithered over to the yogi and lifted up as if to bite him until he realized that the yogi didn’t want to harm the snake so he didn’t bite him. The cobra said to the yogi that he wanted to learn all about yoga and the yogi told the cobra he would come back in a year to teach him if he could practice ahimsa (non-violence) for the entire year. 
So the cobra practiced ahimsa but the village people started to get closer to the snake and they began to throw rocks and him, but still the cobra did not bite them. 
A year went by and the cobra was near death. The yogi asked the cobra what had happened and the cobra told the yogi about the village people, but that he never bit anyone for the entire year. 
The yogi replied –
“I told you to practice non-violence, but I didn’t say you couldn’t hiss.””

So what does this look like for us?

When you can be empathetic, be empathetic.
When you can’t be, just be human.

In times of mistreatment or injustice, look into them; see their pain that is now being projected towards you. Step into their shoes and see the raw roots of their harm.
And send them love, in mind, or word or action.

But in situations that are more sensitive to you, when our own ego fires up and our blood begins to boil. When an old wound is broken open; just be human.
Standing up for your self is the human form of hissing.
And hissing doesn’t have to mean biting.
But this hiss creates boundaries that protect us all.

Accepting abuse from people clearly causes us harm, but it also causes the abuser harm.
They’ve abused you, and now you resent them,
or have harmful thoughts or words to say about them;
without them even knowing it.
And this perpetuates this cycle of karmic imbalance and further separates humanity.

Like the snake, don’t be afraid to hiss.
Transform poison into medicine.
Do no harm, but take no shit.

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5 Points of Yoga

5 Points of Yoga
(As summarized by Swami Vishnu Devananda)

1) Proper Exercise: Asana (Yoga Poses)

+ The physical body is the house of the soul. Your body is your temple.
+ Asanas were invented to keep the physical body strong, open and well.
+ Open our subtle energy body, so our prana or chi can flow freely within us.
+ Yoga postures focus on the health of the spine, bringing the spine into flexion, extension, side flexion and rotation. A large part of our nervous system is contained in the spine. We are as young, as our spine is flexible.
+ Allows the body to sit for periods of time in meditation.

2) Proper Breathing: Pranayama

+ Control & regulation of prana, subtle energy
+ Practice our ability to use our breath more efficiently, to bring in more oxygen into the body, and remove more carbon dioxide.
+ Many of us don’t breath properly or efficiently, our tissues starve of oxygen and we wonder why we feel tired.

3) Proper Relaxation: Savasana

+ Physical & mental relaxation; resets nervous system, metabolism, flushes cellular waste, reduces stress hormones, balances blood pressure, reduces pain perception.
+ We all know the importance of relaxation.

4) Proper Diet: Typically vegetarian

+ We are what we eat!
+ Pure, simple, natural foods that are easily digested and nourish the body.
+ Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, herbs, herbal teas, and fresh water.
+ Processing, refining or chemically/genetically modifying our food lowers nutrient content
+ Listen to your bodies innate intuition.

 5) Positive Thinking & Meditation

+ Focus the mind, exceed the Ego, deepen our experience, reach the ultimate goal of yoga; Samadhi (enlightenment, bliss.)