Today’s Goal May 31, 2010

No matter what activity you find yourself doing, even if it’s just sitting and relaxing, engage yourself fully in that activity. Take in your surroundings. Marvel at what a magnificent perfect masterpiece of symmetry a leave is, how marvelously complex the biology behind the humble ant. Take time to take a breath, marvel at your own body, it’s chemistry, it’s structure, it’s symmetry. It is when you take time to look into the details of even the smallest, mundane things which we take for granted that you allow yourself to stand at the doorway of eternity. When you take time to be truly thankful and humbled by the miracles around you, you truly inhabit the present moment. It is when you can truly inhabit the present moment that you are able to experience eternity.

Salamba Sirsasana May 31, 2010

1. Use a folded blanket or sticky mat to pad your head and forearms. Kneel on the floor. Lace your fingers together and set the forearms on the floor, elbows at shoulder width. Roll the upper arms slightly outward, but press the inner wrists firmly into the floor. Set the crown of your head on the floor. If you are just beginning to practice this pose, press the bases of your palms together and snuggle the back of your head against the clasped hands. More experienced students can open their hands and place the back of the head into the open palms.

2. Inhale and lift your knees off the floor. Carefully walk your feet closer to your elbows, heels elevated. Actively lift through the top thighs, forming an inverted “V.” Firm the shoulder blades against your back and lift them toward the tailbone so the front torso stays as long as possible. This should help prevent the weight of the shoulders collapsing onto your neck and head.

3. Exhale and lift your feet away from the floor. Take both feet up at the same time, even if it means bending your knees and hopping lightly off the floor. As the legs (or thighs, if your knees are bent) rise to perpendicular to the floor, firm the tailbone against the back of the pelvis. Turn the upper thighs in slightly, and actively press the heels toward the ceiling (straightening the knees if you bent them to come up). The center of the arches should align over the center of the pelvis, which in turn should align over the crown of the head.

4. Firm the outer arms inward, and soften the fingers. Continue to press the shoulder blades against the back, widen them, and draw them toward the tailbone. Keep the weight evenly balanced on the two forearms. It’s also essential that your tailbone continues to lift upward toward the heels. Once the backs of the legs are fully lengthened through the heels, maintain that length and press up through the balls of the big toes so the inner legs are slightly longer than the outer.

5. As a beginning practitioner stay for 10 seconds. Gradually add 5 to 10 seconds onto your stay every day or so until you can comfortably hold the pose for 3 minutes. Then continue for 3 minutes each day for a week or two, until you feel relatively comfortable in the pose. Again gradually add 5 to 10 seconds onto your stay every day or so until you can comfortably hold the pose for 5 minutes. Come down with an exhalation, without losing the lift of the shoulder blades, with both feet touching the floor at the same time.

May 31, 2010

Song of the Soul May 29, 2010

I am neither ego nor reason, I am neither mind nor thought,
I cannot be heard nor cast into words, nor by smell nor sight ever caught:
In light and wind I am not found, nor yet in earth and sky -
Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I.

I have no name, I have no life, I breathe no vital air,
No elements have moulded me, no bodily sheath is my lair:
I have no speech, no hands and feet, nor means of evolution -
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss in dissolution.

I cast aside hatred and passion, I conquered delusion and greed;
No touch of pride caressed me, so envy never did breed:
Beyond all faiths, past reach of wealth, past freedom, past desire,
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is my attire.

Virtue and vice, or pleasure and pain are not my heritage,
Nor sacred texts, nor offerings, nor prayer, nor pilgrimage:
I am neither food, nor eating, nor yet the eater am I -
Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I.

I have no misgiving of death, no chasms of race divide me,
No parent ever called me child, no bond of birth ever tied me:
I am neither disciple nor master, I have no kin, no friend -
Consciousness and joy am I, and merging in Bliss is my end.

Neither knowable, knowledge, nor knower am I, formless is my form,
I dwell within the senses but they are not my home:
Ever serenely balanced, I am neither free nor bound -
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is where I’m found.

Atma Shatakam May 29, 2010

1) Mano Buddhi Ahankara Chitta Ninaham
Nacha Shrotra Jihve Na Cha Ghrana Netre
Nacha Vyoma Bhoomir Na Tejo Na Vayu
Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

2) Na Cha Prana Sangyo Na Vai Pancha Vayu
Na Vaa Sapta dhatur Na Vaa Pancha Koshah
Na Vak Pani Padam Na Chopastha Payu
Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

3)Na Me Dvesha Ragau Na Me Lobha Mohau
Mado Naiva Me Naiva Maatsarya Bhavah
Na Dharmo Na Chartho Na Kamo Na Mokshah
Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

4)Na Punyam Na Papam Na Saukhyam Na Dukham
Na Mantro Na Teertham Na Veda Na Yajnaha
Aham Bhojanam Naiva Bhojyam Na Bhokta
Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

5) Na Me Mrityu Shanka Na Me Jati Bhedah
Pita Naiva Me Naiva Mata Na Janma
Na Bandhur Na Mitram Gurur Naiva Shishyah
Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

6) Aham NirvikaLpo Nirakara Roopo
Vibhut Vaakhya Sarvatra Sarvendriyanam
Sada Me Samatvam Na Mukthir Na Bandhah
Chidananda Rupa Shivoham Shivoham

1) I am not mind, nor intellect, nor ego,

nor the reflections of inner self

I am not the five senses.
I am beyond that.
I am not the ether, nor the earth,

nor the fire, nor the wind

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

2) Neither can I be termed as energy (

nor five types of breath

nor the seven material essences,

nor the five coverings

Neither am I the five instruments of elimination,

procreation, motion, grasping, or speaking.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

3) I have no hatred or dislike,

nor affiliation or liking,

nor greed,

nor delusion,

nor pride or haughtiness,

nor feelings of envy or jealousy.

I have no duty (dharma),

nor any money,

nor any desire

nor even liberation

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

4) I have neither merit

nor demerit

I do not commit sins or good deeds,

nor have happiness or sorrow,

pain or pleasure.

I do not need mantras, holy places,

scriptures , rituals or sacrifices

I am none of the triad of

the observer or one who experiences,

the process of observing or experiencing,

or any object being observed or experienced.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

5) I do not have fear of death,

as I do not have death.

I have no separation from my true self,

no doubt about my existence,

nor have I discrimination on the basis of birth.

I have no father or mother,

nor did I have a birth.

I am not the relative,

nor the friend,

nor the guru,

nor the disciple.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

6) I am all pervasive.
I am without any attributes,

and without any form.

I have neither attachment to the world,

nor to liberation

I have no wishes for anything

because I am everything,

everywhere,

every time,

always in equilibrium.

I am indeed,

That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,

love and pure consciousness.

May 29, 2010

May 29, 2010

Happiness needs no planning May 29, 2010

To be happy, you have to be open. This is a big challenge, because the nature of personal psychology is to help your ego feel contained, secure, and in charge. An ego achieves its sense of identity by closing down options, by restricting choices, and by making up your mind about things. If you want to be even happier than your ego is right now, you have to be willing to be even more open than your ego is comfortable with. Happiness cannot be contained within your ego’s comfort zone. Happiness is a great big let go. Happiness is giving up your ego. In practical terms, this means being willing to let go of plans.

Making plans and sticking to plans can be very productive and rewarding. Planning is a great discipline that can help to create successful outcomes. That said, life does not always go according to plan. You may have a plan for your life, but life may also have a plan for you. This is not always such a bad thing. For example, I find that most people agree with the statements “I am glad that not all of my plans have worked out” and “Some of the best things in my life were not part of my plan.”

Everybody makes plans, but not every plan works. Just because your plan for happiness does not succeed, it does not mean that happiness is impossible.Your plan is simply not the plan. Perhaps your plan for happiness has not worked because there is a better plan waiting for you. Maybe there really is a better way. And anyway, who ever said that happiness needs a plan? When coaching people, I find that a common cause of unhappiness is holding on to an old plan for happiness that is too limited, too small, too future-focused, and not imaginative enough. To be happy, you have to be willing to let go of your plans for something better.

Today’s Goal May 29, 2010

Life cannot give to you if your hands are closed. Life cannot be generous to you if you’re grasping onto possessions. Like energy, generosity flows. It is only if you allow generosity to flow from you that generosity can flow into your life. Let’s open our hands and lives  and be generous and life will be generous to us.

May 28, 2010