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You are here: Home / Archives for Yoga and Meditation Quotes, Sayings, Poems

Friendship Blessing

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I’m still on Cloud 9 from our recent Yoga Women’s Retreat & Slumber party.  What a joy to be surrounded by friends – soul friends!  They are the people, whether known a long time or briefly, that have shaped and supported you into being who you are today, and who you’re growing into.

The Celtic tradition calls one’s soul-friend the Anam Cara. John O’Donohue explains “With the anam cara, you could share your innermost self, your mind, and your heart.  This friendship is an act of recognition and belonging that did not set limitations of space or time on the soul.  It cuts across all convention, morality and category.   In it, you are understood as you are without mask or pretension.”

A Friendship Blessing by John O’Donohue
May you be blessed with good friends.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where
there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.
May you be brought in to the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
may they bring you all the blessing, challenges, truth,
and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam ċara.

Please tell us about your anam cara by sharing under comments.  

Give Yourself Some Space

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Out for a walk the other night, I was stunned to see how groups of people were all looking at their phones instead of talking with each other, let alone noticing the brilliant sunset.  Even the bikers were glued to their devices while riding their bikes.  I was surprised that people weren’t crashing into one another. More folks were glued to their screens at the restaurant too.  We all know that too many people text while driving – another recipe for disaster.

Living in a fast-paced 24/7 world, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  We’re pushed to work harder, take care of our family, and keep up with current events along with a constant social media stream. clockExpectations are high all the way around.

Pico Iyer, a lifelong travel writer says ““In an age of acceleration, nothing can be more exhilarating than going slow. And in an age of distraction, nothing is so luxurious as paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is so urgent as sitting still.”

His Ted Talk video is well worth watching.  It will inspire you with ways to take back your time in ways that will replenish your body, mind and soul.

Why not take a few moments out right now?  Here’s how …

  1.  Turn your phone, TV, radio and other electronic devices off for a while.
  2.  Focus your attention on the moment by breathing fully and mindfully.  It is calming and refreshing for your nerves and it will light up your energy.  Try out yoga’s ocean-sounding breath (ujjaya breath).
  3. Blink your eyes a bunch of times till they water.  The moisture will help your vision.
  4. Yawn.  It cools the brain, gives you a burst of oxygen, and refreshes your eyesight and hearing.  If you’re lucky, you’ll catch some flies.
  5. Take a “2-hour nap in less than 1o minutes.“
  6. Give “The Inner Eye of Awareness Meditation” a shot.
  7. Add your own ___________________________.
  8. Bone up on mindfulness.  It’s easy with this “Stop ~~ Look ~~ Listen”  meditation.
  9. You guessed it, practice yoga nidra – yogic sleep. It’s totally replenishing. Experience yoga nidra at a virtual class with Julie Lusk, author of Yoga Nidra Meditations and 5 more books and dozens of recordings.

Honoring Mother’s Day with Story, Poems & Quotes

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The idea for Mother’s Day originated in 1870 by Julia Ward Howe, the author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”  She IMG_1258believed that peace and equality were two of the most important world causes and challenged women to rise up against war in all its forms.   She wanted women to unite by coming together across national lines to recognize what people have in common over what comes between us in a “Mothers Day for Peace.”  Although this didn’t happen, Julia inspired Anna Jarvisto to start her own crusade to celebrate a memorial day for mother’s in 1907.  The rest is “herstory.”

Here’s to peace and equality for all.  Julia’s declaration follows:

Arise then…women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
“We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs.”

[Read more…]

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Yoga poem

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‘Twas the time before Christmas, and in the yoga place,
not a muscle was moving, it was filled with grace.
The mats were lined up, on the floor with care,
in hopes that sweet relaxation would soon be there.

The students relaxed, all snug on their mats,
while life hurried by, like crazy cats.
Everybody began moving, this way and that.

“Now Tadasana! Now Chandrasana! Virabhadrasana & Bridge!
On Cobra! On Bow! On Locust and Fish!
To the top of your head! And the bottom of your heart!
Now breathe away! Breathe away!
And please don’t fart!”

When up in my brain there arose such a clatter,
I fell out of my posture, to worsen the matter,
When what to my wandering mind should appear,
but a big plate of chocolate, and a six-pack of cheer!

[Read more…]

Yoga quotes and sayings by BKS Iyengar

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BKS Iyengar, an amazing person and yogi left his body on Aug. 20, 2014 at the age of 95.  He will be missed worldwide for his teachings, wisdom, and the joy he shared.

According to information on the B.K.S. Iyengar page, he was born in India in 1918 and taught yoga since of the age of 17.  He has been one of the world’s leading teachers of yoga for over 70 years. His own style of teaching is called “Iyengar Yoga” and it places great emphasis on precision and alignment.  We can thank Mr. Iyengar for introducing yoga props.  Through his work, Iyengar has established the relevance of yoga to the treatment and cure of many illnesses, and has received a Doctorate from the United Nations Charter for Peace.

Lucky for us, his legacy will live on through the many teachers he trained and through his many books. Here are a few yoga quotes and sayings from some of his books including, Light on Yoga, Light on Life, and others.

 

“I always tell people to life happily and die majestically.”

“Yoga, an ancient but perfect science, deals with the evolution of humanity. This evolution includes all aspects of one’s being, from bodily health to self-realization. Yoga means union — the union of body with consciousness and consciousness with the soul. Yoga cultivates the ways of maintaining a balanced attitude in day-to-day life and endows skill in the performance of one’s actions.”

“Change is not something that we should fear. Rather, it is something that we should welcome. For without change, nothing in this world would ever grow or blossom, and no one in this world would ever move forward to become the person they’re meant to be.”

“Change leads to disappointment if it is not sustained. Transformation is sustained change, and it is achieved through practice.”

“Be inspired but not proud.”

“In order to find out how to reveal our innermost Being, the sages explored the various sheaths of existence, starting from body and progressing through mind and intelligence, and ultimately to the soul. The yogic journey guides us from our periphery, the body, to the center of our being, the soul. The aim is to integrate the various layers so that the inner divinity shines out as through clear glass.”

“Illuminated emancipation, freedom, unalloyed and untainted bliss await you, but you have to choose to embark on the Inward Journey to discover it.”

“It is through the alignment of the body that I discovered the alignment of my mind, self, and intelligence.”

“It is through your body that you realize you are a spark of divinity.”

“Do not stop trying just because perfection eludes you.”

“The material body has a practical reality that is accessible. It is here and now, and we can do something with it. However, we must not forget that the innermost part of our being is also trying to help us. It wants to come out to the surface and express itself.”

“Action is movement with intelligence. The world is filled with movement. What the world needs is more conscious movement, more action.”

“Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.”

“Spirituality is not some external goal that one must seek, but a part of the divine core of each of us, which we must reveal.”

“One’s spiritual realization lies in none other than how one walks among and interacts with one’s fellow beings.”

“It took me whole decades to appreciate the depth and true value of yoga. Sacred texts supported my discoveries, but it was not they that signposted the way. What I learned through yoga, I found out through yoga.”

“You do not need to seek freedom in a different land, for it exists with your own body, heart, mind, and soul.

Thank you Mr. Iyengar for all your years of inspiration and the giving of yourself!

 

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