For me this realization was profound because it is the central aspect of what the Buddha taught. If you ask the average person whether he or she has anxiety, the response will be “no.” If you ask people to sit completely still for 15 minutes, almost everyone will begin realizing that underneath their conscious mind lies a faint, under the radar screen feeling of unease. I know I was not in touch with this realization until I started meditating. A mentor of mine, David Nichtern, refers to it as a background hum. This anxiety is like a puppeteer controlling our fear-rooted behaviors and tendencies that prevent us from discovering contentment and peace.

I have found this awareness to be so beneficial in learning to work with my own mind. Consistent meditation practice helps ease the anxiety and not feed it. It can be a life changing pursuit.

It has always disturbed me that Empowered Yoga was serving only those who can afford yoga. I mean, let’s keep it real! The average yoga student income in the United States is $75,000 a year. This is the 10% club. What about the other people who really need yoga but can’t afford it?  If I am a real yogi, I am focusing on everyone, not just those who can pay.

Initial Steps:
Create 501C3 non-profit status for Empowered Community. 
Create financial base for sustainability. 
Hire Executive Directer. 
Create office space at Empowered Yoga Wilmington for Executive Directer.
Provide additional training to Empowered Yoga teachers and assistants specific to serving these populations.
Begin programs at three specific locations and grow from there.
Create specific curriculum for each demographic. 
Please stay tuned and let me know if you would like to get involved. 

Without a deep conviction, solid plan, and people around you to support you, the chances are slim that anything is going to change. Over the past two decades, I have been involved in the business of change, and it is the most challenging work. What can you learn from reading this? Acknowledge that what you are trying to accomplish is going against the grain of what you have always done. To accomplish change will take every bone in your body. Let’s face it; you are trying to become somebody you are currently not. You are trying to give birth to a new you. Women have told me that giving birth is the most painful thing they have ever gone through. Are you willing to endure this kind of effort to give birth to a new you?

The OM Yoga training is based in Buddhist philosophy. There are many practices and much to learn. The word “meditation” means “to become familiar with.” As a teacher, I give the meditation instructions and then let the students meditate and experience the practice. Once they are familiar with the process, it is their responsibility to practice. As a teacher, I make myself available for students to check in with me, share their experience, and ask questions. I am not trying to fix anyone or be a therapist. This awareness is an important aspect of being a meditation teacher.

I embody the wisdom of the meditation practice through my ability to hold the space with students and listen deeply to their experience. Ultimately, this helps support the students and affords them the confidence and insight into their true nature and life. The saying, “life is a journey,” rings true to me. One filled with ups and downs and everything in the middle. The practice and process of meditation allow us to experience the fullness of the journey and navigate skillfully until the end.

Our universe is 14 billion years old. Over the past eight million years, there have been 23 identified species of hominoids,predominantly upright walking creatures. Previous to Homo Sapiens (us) were Neanderthals who died off around 30,000 years ago. For creationists (those believing literally in the bible and, thus, the story of Garden of Eden) Eden absolutely could have existed. Between each species of hominids there are gaps and periods where one species evolved into the next species or died off. Within these gaps and layovers, Eden very well may have happened. This is completely up to one’s belief. I personally hold the belief that says, “Your faith or, in this case, your belief, is as good as mine.” Recorded history does not go further back than 3,000 years. Everything is mere speculation.

Why is New Balance focused on alignment? To start off, 80% of all runners are sidelined each year with an injury, and to me this is an indication that something is VERY wrong. The problem is not running. The problem lies in the technique. Knee replacement surgery is estimated to increase 673% over the next 25 years when the last of the baby boomers turns 65. We are living longer and longer while some are becoming more sedentary while others are remaining active. The human body is designed to move in a very specific way. But most people have no idea what this very specific way is. This is why I was at New Balance. To educate them about our Movement Principles. It was fun sharing. I hope to see more to come from this new relationship.

An essential component of spiritual practice is realizing that if we don’t take full responsibility for ourselves and our past we will repeat the past. We may continue to harm ourselves and others through our continued unconscious living. It’s time to take our thumbs out of our mouths and assume responsibility for our words and actions.

That sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?

However, as we begin to meditate, we quickly realize that the mind takes over, often switching into high gear. At that point, we have to focus even more on our steady breathing. Through continued practice, people become aware that the mind clings to certain thoughts like an old-fashioned broken record stuck in a groove. These repetitive thoughts, accumulating over the years, are called “Karma.” Karma can be good or bad. Consider meditation as a process of weeding the garden of your mind and body. I say mind and body because our mind resides throughout the body, even extending beyond it.

Last weekend I was in New York City at OM Yoga for training in meditation. Without a doubt, the act of sitting with myself, remaining still, and residing with my own experience is the most challenging act of my life. I’ve learned that meditation is not for the faint of heart. I must face the fact that I would be a coward if I were to avoid the sticky parts of my mind. I would be a coward if I were to develop compensatory patterns around my fears so I don’t have to deal with them, empowering them to be the puppeteers of my dysfunction. Ultimately, I would pull people down around me. That is not an option for me. I don’t want to show up for life without authenticity, without a genuine or sincere presence.

At the heart of becoming an Empowered Yoga teacher is the cultivation of meditative awareness. Without it, the teaching and the practice can deteriorate into confusion, and the process can become too personalized and dramatic. Ultimately, an authentic practice leads to the feeling of a veil being lifted and the separate self dissipating. This experience with our true nature lies beyond words.

The lifting of the veil brings clarity and wisdom. Nadeen, one of our YTTs in Boston, said, “I live with a veil, and after this weekend I feel like I can see clearly and I feel very different.” Life is not an isolated personal experience. Rather, think of it as interconnected experiences, affecting us all in a vast, unfolding universe. As we teach and practice, we realize we are interdependent in this unfolding, and we have a choice in the direction it takes.

Within the space of meditative awareness comes the cultivation of “being.” By resting in the state of being, we experience a powerful feeling that we are continually directing our lives. This intentional direction gives birth, in the case of the YTT, to the authentic and sincere teacher.

My reaction to structure always begins with my saying, “I like this, I don’t like that, I want this, I don’t want that.” My body tightens up as I latch onto such thoughts, but I am learning to recognize and work with resistance and judgment as I sit in meditation. Perhaps many other practitioners react as I do and give voice to this rigidity when they experience structure. It helps me if I just recognize rigidity when it arises and breathe, softening my mind and body, rather than reacting to it.

I don’t want to make this sound easy. It’s very challenging but it works if you expand your awareness and allow your body to move beyond rigidity.

Does anyone feel as I do? Do you have any thoughts or experiences to share?

This weekend was the first of the program’s three and was attended by 50 plus people. The range of experience was vast; David skillfully began with the basics and much of the weekend included information that all four of us know well, study, and aim to live.

During lunch we all shared a laugh about how prior to studying Buddhism or in any other field of study, we most likely would have sat through the training with a judgmental or ‘pissed off’ mindset and an internal recording saying something like, “I know all of this already. This is a waste of my time and money”.

With the study of Buddhism and yoga, you learn intellectually and understand experientially that you can never hear the teachings enough. Each time you hear the basics, they go deeper and deeper, hitting you in a new way depending on where you are in your life. The freshness you feel is the willingness to hear the teachings and open to the way it hits you in that moment. For me, the basics just keep going deeper.

My life has never been more purposeful. I have the Buddhist philosophy and great teachers and fellow practitioners to bow to.

It was impossible for me not to acknowledge the tragedy and share my sadness with the group. The children and adults killed were no different from me or my children or anybody’s children. The deeper aspects of the practice of yoga involves realizing the interdependent nature of our universe. While teaching, Shawn loves to say, ”Yoga is awakening from the illusion of separateness.”

You could say that such an awakening is one of the fundamental points of spiritual practice. We come to a deep understanding that we are all connected; there truly is no separation. Spiritual practice then becomes a practice not only for yourself but also for the greater good of your family, your friends, your community, and the world at large.

Buddhism later spread to China and Japan where the teachings took on the term “Zen.” The practice of Zen focuses more on one’s direct experience and less on dogma. The first principle of Zen can never be spoken. You could say that this principle points to the concept of God. It is through the practice of meditation and stillness that one can transcend form. Words can never describe the formless. From a Christian perspective, this is one of the reasons why Jesus came into the world … so humans could see the Formless in Form.

In the early part of this decade, athletes began to incorporate more yoga into their routines and were getting press about that change. In my 2004 application to present for the NSCA, I mentioned this attention in the press. Why not let one of your own Strength Coaches teach your members what yoga is? The committee agreed and since 2005 I have enjoyed educating members.

I start off the mornings with a practice and speak to the coaches in their language. I help them understand that yoga is not stretching. In its very essence, yoga is strengthening and conditioning the mind and the body. It is conscious movement that creates cohesive movement throughout the entire structure of the human being. From these movements you can build speed and power.

The NSCA is evolving and to watch this change is both fun and exciting. I enjoy attending lectures and learning about the most recent research on exercise science. Some of it validates my views and some makes me question them. I, too, am always evolving. I think about Bobbie’s words: complacency is the enemy.

You know how you are old? When you reach down to touch your toes in the morning, you look around to see what else you can do while down there.

Life involves problems daily. People who can solve problems are successful. Problems are opportunities to grow.

Leaders are truthful and compassionate. If they are not truthful and don’t listen, they cannot lead and crumble quickly.

Critical to leadership are the courage to act from your convictions and the commitment to stand firm for what you believe in.

Proverbs. 4:23. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

The enemy is complacency!

Bobby Bowden is from West Virginia and coached at WVU. I went to WVU and shared that with him. As I had my picture taken with him, he hugged me. Gotta love a guy who hugs you! Great man and very inspiring. I will write another blog about why I am here.

When babies awaken, they are so present. They look around in amazement. They are excited about life and open to it.  When many adults awaken, however, their eyes are barely open, and they are in many ways sleep walking through life. Their days are filled with routines that involve the same people, the same activities, and the same daily drama. This occurs because they are unable to understand mental scaffolding and the degree to which it can limit life and its endless possibilities.

And then the question: What is holding your mind? What are the habitual thoughts that arise again and again? What is their texture and what do you do with them?

What I observed during Johnny’s 6am class was my mind holding on to pain, everything that wasn’t ‘right’, and the fear that it would never be ‘right’ again. And I noticed that my habitual reaction was to harden and try to force my way through. So with my next breath in, I chose to soften by relaxing my gaze and my body. And with my next breath out, I chose to expand my awareness and redirect my concentrated attention to what was beautiful and joyous in my practice – the rhythm of my breath blending with those around me, the dance of my body moving in unison with it, and the fact that I was able to step onto my mat at all to practice.

What happens on my mat is happening everywhere else. What holds my mind in practice is the same as what holds my mind the remaining 23 hours of my day. My practice is a safe, supportive place for choosing to witness, soften, and redirect my attention,  strengthening and stretching my mental muscles just as much as any others. The most empowering thing of all is to bring the wisdom gained from the exploration to all I say and all I do. I come to my mat again and again in order to know myself and in so doing, come to know my place in this world.

In many ways, our thoughts resemble the scaffolding you often see surrounding a cathedral in Europe. The thoughts paint the very landscape of what we observe. For many of us the mental scaffolding is something that we are unaware of. Just becoming aware of your own mental scaffolding can be enlightening. As you inspect the scaffolding, you then can discern whether it is limiting beauty, innocence, and possibility. To see something free of mental scaffolding is the essence of Beginner’s Mind.

Empowered Yoga is a 21st-century approach to the ancient healing art of yoga, incorporating modern exercise science principles. These principles teach the practitioner how to isometrically engage muscles in weight- bearing movements designed to open the joints while simultaneously engaging the muscles. This system of exercise provides greater flexibility, improved blood flow, and increased strength, therefore increasing bone stimulation.

I smiled.

For the rest of the hour, I held on to the warmth of his encouragement.

That intimate moment reminded me, strangely enough, of a science fiction story written by Isaac Asimov in 1951. In “The Fun They Had,” set in 2155, a girl marvels about how much fun school must have been in the far distant past when the kids from the same neighborhood went to a building where they sat in a room with a real live teacher who actually interacted with them and taught them the same lessons. Oh, that must have been so much better than sitting alone in a room with a “mechanical teacher” with its animated screen on which lessons were displayed.

Asimov’s story warns of a future in which humanity in education is just a dusty memory.  Although we enjoy the marvels that technology has brought into our classrooms and homes, we should celebrate the personal touch we bring to our students’ lives, something no computer or “mechanical teacher,” no matter how sophisticated, can hope to do.

Let us look to this year’s Academy Award- winning film to see how a dedicated teacher inspired his student. In “The King’s Speech,” speech therapist, Lionel Logue, was passionately committed to helping King George VI of England overcome a debilitating stammer. This marvelous teacher literally empowered the monarch to find his voice.  The two men remained friends for the rest of their lives.

In another film, “Dead Poets Society,” we see a teacher whose personal approach inspired students, changing their lives as he taught them to live life fully, to seize the day.

Every day in thousands of schools across the country there are teachers who inspire and comfort and open up new worlds to their students.  Let us celebrate those teachers and their personal touch. And let us feel secure in knowing that no machine, no matter how dazzling, can take the place of a teacher whose gentle encouragement inspires us to continue to try to do our best.

But it’s an experience that almost didn’t happen.

“A friend dragged me to it one day and said, ‘Just try it,’ ” said Carol, 70, of Wilmington. “So I did, and I liked it right away.”

Ben, however, needed more convincing. “I hated it,” he said. “I came home and said, ‘This is just awful. It’s not athletic, you’re not doing anything.’ But I stuck it out and finally at the last session I said, ‘When have I ever felt younger?’ ”

That was eight years ago. Since then, they’ve “graduated” to heated yoga, where the temperature of the yoga room approaches the body’s own temperature. “The heat increases your relaxation and allows your body to be much more flexible,” said Carol, who was a bit apprehensive at first. “After a while, you just melt into it and it becomes your ally.”

Practicing yoga has also made their exercise routines more productive. “Yoga lets you know where your body is and whether it’s aligned properly,” Ben said. “So if you’re lifting weights, you [may] notice that your knee is splaying out or that your back isn’t straight. If you don’t change, you’re going to get hurt.”

The couple, who retired from teaching English in the mid-1990s, tailor their routines to meet their individual needs and goals. For Carol, exercise is a way to prevent the heart disease that runs in her family. For Ben, 69, it is a way to maintain the strength he needs to remain competitive on the tennis court.

For both it is a way to maintain good health as they age. “Neither of us is hardly ever sick,” said Carol. “My getting that little stomach flu [a couple weeks ago] was a major event. I cannot remember the last time I had a cold.”

Carol and Ben Thomas take classes at Empowered Yoga in Wilmington. The two have incorporated yoga into their daily fitness routines for the past eight years.

In heated yoga, the temperature of the yoga room approaches the body’s own temperature.

Burning calories also has its rewards. “You can eat,” said Ben. “I can have lasagna and the good stuff I really enjoy without worrying about it.”

Their advice for anyone wanting to embark on a fitness program.

“Do what you like,” Carol said.

“It’s like anything else,” added Ben. “Start doing what you can. Keep records of it and don’t be too judgmental. But you have to do it.”

Written byGET FIT – CHRISTINE FACCIOLO

The yoga practice leads us to a redirection of energy. We stabilize our attention in the present moment by using the awareness of our breathing and body. We begin noticing when we drift into thinking. We train ourselves to touch this state and label it as “thinking.” We return to awareness without thought. We begin relaxing our fixation on thought. We begin seeing the limited nature of our stories and our patterns of relating to life.

Often this process can be painful. We look back at our lives and realize we have been enslaved in a prison of self-centered thinking. We have been living exclusively within our heads. If we investigate long enough, we connect most of our suffering and stress to this suffocated view. It is from this painful realization that we can begin to practice yoga authentically. We become motivated to practice for our friends, family, and the world around us. We practice as if our very lives depended on it because in many ways they do. As Sakyong Mipham, head of Shambhala Buddhist Linage, says, “We get off the ‘me’ plan.”

Once students of yoga realize this, they stop seeking entertainment from teachers. Instead, they seek those who will provide the space to guide them through the process of stabilizing their attention and cutting through the incessant stream of thought. As students mature, they stop referring to a class I teach as “my” class and come to view it as “their practice.” It’s a beautiful thing to observe. As my colleague, Cara Bradley, says, “Teachers need to realize that we are guides — not gods.”

This realization will elevate American yoga to a higher level.

Today my daughter Leia turned five. How can that be?  It seems like only yesterday that she was born. She has grown up so quickly. Just last night I was sitting on the couch with her as she played video games on my iPhone. While she navigated smoothly through “Cut the Rope,” I watched her over my shoulder and wondered about how quickly the next five years will fly by. What will she do at ten that will make me not only question the swift passing of time but also my own intelligence and skills as I did tonight as I observed her play this game with such ease? I must continue to remind myself that life is precious, to pause and take it all in. This is the only moment I truly have. I must savor it. This is a picture taken this weekend. Leia is holding her six month cousin, Greta

The staff at LB, with its heartfelt passion for the practice, is very receptive to learning. The owner, Dawn Hinshaw, simply lives her yoga. Everyone there is dedicated to helping people progress on the yoga path. This my third visit to LB, and each time I fall more in love with the staff and community. They are delightful to be around and so open to sharing their experience.

I extend my warmest thanks for your dedication, diligence, and willingness to open to each moment. Please stay in touch and let me know how things are going. Namaste

I met Amy at the Himalayan Institute where we both were participating in a 500- hour yoga teacher training experience. During the holidays she, Mark, and Pierce visited with my family, and we all hit it off so well.

In my last post, you could see that Amy was recently featured as a model in the Himalayan Institute magazine, “Yoga International.”

Mark is also a yoga teacher and massage therapist as well. I’m fortunate to have discovered personally that he has pretty amazing hands. He will be in Mexico with us for our retreat, April 9-16, and will be available for massages.

If any of the Yoga Scape community is reading this blog, please let me know if the alignment work helped out and how things are coming along.

Check out Amy Hayden in this month’s Yoga International. Amy is teaching with Sara and I in the Yucatan Peninsula this April. It is going to be a yoga adventure with lots of fun besides the yoga classes.

Most people view Hatha yoga as exercise which it most certainly is. In fact, I like to call it “perfect exercise.” You create a balance of strength and flexibility from toes to finger tips. You learn to move from your core. The postures create structural integration aligning all major joints, thus reducing compressional forces throughout the body. The practice reduces imbalances between 320 muscles on the right and 320 muscles on the left sides of the body. Balance and coordination improve. I could go on and on about the benefits. They are amazing!

The real stoke (as surfers say when referring to the feeling of riding a wave) is the mindfulness component. The practice of mindfulness while moving and holding the yoga postures is what allows you to be in the zone. The mind and body synchronize, and you are present within what you are experiencing. You really feel “at one.” All thoughts slow down as you get in touch with yourself with a much broader perspective.

The mindfulness component allows you to get in touch with the present moment. Your senses heighten and you reach deeper and deeper realizations about the precious nature of life. You realize the power of love. You realize everything is constantly changing. You realize your life is fleeting. I know from experience that you can practice yoga and remain in your “thinking” head the whole time. However, to realize the power of awareness without thought and how it connects us to what really matters is a blessing. Cultivating daily awareness is as essential as brushing your teeth, showering, and eating.

You come to this John Durkee realization that without a practice you are kidding yourself. Thank you, John and Mary Helen. I feel like I have new friends on this path. I loved meeting them and listening to their story.

Laura McNew, a six- time attendee of the retreat and dear friend, honored me toward the end of the week by sharing with the group that it was the space created during the practices and throughout the week that allowed her to deepen her healing and insight. The pockets of silence between the instructions allowed her to digest and assimilate. Her comment reminds me of something else Einstein would say: “My creations and inventions come out of space. I am not thinking. I am present and in it comes.”

I was humbled by Laura’s words. I love her a whole lot! I am so honored to teach her and to continue to learn from her as well.

This present state of mind, awareness without thought, is the space we are cultivating in yoga practice. We use the steadiness of our eyes, our attention of breathing, and our embodiment to move into stillness. It is within this place that we can experience insight and truth.

After 15 years of teaching, I am beginning to be able to provide that space for people to experience their own true nature. My role is to hold space and help create a safe and respectful environment. Progress on the yoga path or life (same thing to me) is not something I will give people. It is something they will come to on their own.

Namaste, Laura, for deepening my awareness.

A retreat is not a vacation. Many times vacations are quite stressful with almost constant activities. On a retreat, however, you immerse yourself in an environment in which we try remove all stress as we eat heathy organic food, practice yoga, rest, read, engage in thought provoking dialogue, and study yoga philosophy. All of this allows for healing and provides space to reflect on the direction of our lives.

At the end the week the participants had an opportunity to share their insights and thoughts about what they will take forward from the experience into their lives at home. I always feel inspired and touched as I listen to their thoughts and observations. I cannot help but feel truly blessed to do the work I do.Thank you to all who attended this year’s retreat. As I have said many times in the past, the only thing a teacher ever wants is students who show up fully and “bring it”. You answered the call. Namaste. More Costa Rica blogs to follow outlining your insights and practice together.

I am finishing up last minutes things and heading home. Tomorrow I fly to Costa Rica to lead a retreat. This is my 9th year leading this retreat down at Pura Vida Spas. We have a great group going down this year. I will report back on my return and include a picture! This picture is a waterfall down in Costa Rica.

This past Sunday was a sad day for our our Empowered Yoga community, the Collison family and the community at large. We lost a truly a great human being who had made such a contribution to so many lives. We had a celebration of life service at our Empowered Yoga Wilmington Center commemorating the life of Jennifer Collison. We had well over 300 people there and what a celebration of life it was. Jennifer was someone who truly touched many hearts and our eight year relationship will forever impact many aspects of my life.

In particular, Jennifer taught me how to be humble and to truly listen to people. She taught me this through her example. Jennifer always tried to understand me verses get me to understand her. She taught me the essence of the line in the Saint Francis prayer which goes, “Seek to understand not to be understood”. To approach people this way is truly saintly! It means you are not stuck to what you think yet instead interested in trying to understand where the other person is. A profound act of egolessness.

Jennifer was saintly to me and set the bar high for what it means to be truly human. She would never hold back her short comings or hesitate to admit she was confused with something. She would never put her view onto me or anyone else. She would own it herself. She would never take credit for her large classes or compliments on her teachings. She would always point to the other teachers and the Empowered Yoga community. She would say, I am just doing what everyone else is doing.

She was able to get out of her own way and let spirit shine forth. I feel like this is the defining characteristic of great beings. Jennifer will be surely missed and a piece of her is with me. I will never be the same due to my relationship with her.

There is a speed that we feel when we are very busy because we begin to pick up the pace to try to get more done. Ever since I heard Chogyam Trungpa’s quote, ” Normally where you find speed you will discover struggle,” I have begun to notice when my mind speeds up. Many times I will purposely stop when I feel speedy and just remain still. Time and time again, I have been amazed at the awareness of the sensation of speed in my body — not just in my mind. This observation has made me realize that there is not much separation between the mind and the body. They truly are one and the same. How many of you have noticed this same connection between your mind and body?

For the first few days I ran on adrenaline and prayers. Then reality slowly crept into my world. At times I was as strong as a prize fighter, and at times I felt like a baby wanting to be held in my mama’s arms. I shifted between power and panic. When you’re alone and scared, lying down in bed at night is no easy task.

On night three, after receiving some heavy news from the doctor, I settled into bed at 11:30, only to wake up two hours later — full of fear. I tossed and turned and finally got out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen. On the verge of a panic attack, I slumped against the wall, weeping and crumbling to the floor. I sat there, crying, lost, in utter despair. I remember looking out of the corner of my eye, catching sight of my yoga mat spread out in front of my fireplace. I knew at that moment that I had to get to it. It took every bit of strength I had left to crawl toward it. Yes, crawl; I mean on my hand and knees. When I reached that mat, I felt like I had come home.

My body called me into child’s pose, and I started to breathe. Gradually, peace and calm flowed through me. There in the middle of that terrible night, in the midst of a life-changing event, when there was no one around to help me, that beautiful yoga mat of mine gave me refuge, pulling me back up and into my life with grace. Within 20 minutes I was peacefully asleep.

Don’t ever underestimate the power of the mat. For those of us who make our yoga practice a regular part of our day and life, we could no more do without it than we could refuse air, food, and sunshine. This is one thing that I know for sure; I am now equipped to take on whatever comes my way. As long as I continue this beautiful practice of yoga, fueling light within, all will be well.

I truly believe that we all have things we would like to change in our lives. I never met anyone who was completely content. We all want to evolve and avoid stress. We want to be happier and live a fulfilling life.

For some of us the voice of discontent is loud, while for others it is just a faint whisper. Through the years of working with people, I have learned that the voice of doubt comes in rather quickly for many people when they contemplate change. The voice says,”You can’t do that.” The more often we believe that voice the more our confidence shrinks. It is important to be aware of that voice and question it.

It is also important to get in touch with the way your mind works. This is the only way we can change our behavior with a change that can last. We have to learn to doubt our doubts and in the presence of fear say, “YES!”

If we make resolutions at only this time of the year, perhaps it means that we shy away from embracing change and doing what it takes to accomplish it. Procrastination indicates an unwillingness to face a necessary change. But if we are aware of this reluctance and face it strongly, we need not despair. There is hope. To get past the initial discomfort when facing change, consider the following:

1) Share your resolution with many loved ones in your life. Ask them to help you and hold you accountable. Tell them how much you want to make this change and how much you value their help.

2) Involve as many people as you can in your resolution. The highest percentage of resolutions deals with improving health. This means that there is a good possibility that others in your life want to begin exercising and living more healthfully. If you involve others and look to them for strength, you won’t feel so alone. Try to find a buddy.

3) Write a list of things that you need to do within the first 24 hours. Doing them will boost your strength and confidence. Develop a plan for the next two months. Most experts say it takes at least this long to develop a new habit.

4) Write a sign or many signs and hang them in your closet, next to your sink, or on your fridge. Put them where you can’t escape these reminders. True resolve means maintaining the feeling you had when you made the decision long after your strength lessens. We all need reminders to focus on what is important in life.

5. Write yourself a letter as a reminder of what you want your life to be like in six months. Be sincere. Open the letter on July 1st. It will either reaffirm your resolution or frustrate you into making another one right away.

Change and accomplishing tasks can be very challenging for many of us. Go easy on yourself yet hold yourself accountable. Your life is precious. Making the most of it requires effort.

Last year I sat at the Thanksgiving table and looked around. I reminded myself that it could be my last Thanksgiving as well as the last one for any one of my family members.

Little did I know that my Uncle Jim would die one month later, my mother-in-law six months later, and my first dog Finny would have to be put down at the young age of six this past July.

We have no guarantees of how long any of us has. Death knows no age. This is a painful truth of life.

Anytime I bring this truth to my attention a profound presence comes over me, and I remind myself of the preciousness of life. A deep, heart-felt gratitude moves through me for the gift of this moment.

This Thanksgiving when everyone digs in, please take the time to pause and look around the table. Take it all in and feel your love and appreciation for everyone there. You may have fifty years left with some of them. Or perhaps this day may be your last with any of them.

Being aware of the preciousness of life is a deep and profound way to give thanks and feel gratitude flow through my being. For me, it is an essential practice in living an Empowered Life.

There was a point during the workshop where I looked around at the packed room of students and they were in perfect alignment in flat back positions.

I commended the teachers of Verge. Cara and her staff have done an excellent job with not only their curriculum yet the implementation of it and the development of a strong conscious community.

Thank you Cara and Verge community for opening your doors to me. An honor to practice with you all.

Namaste.

Men's Exercise

Empowered Yoga Instructor, Johnny Gillespie is featured in Men’s Exercise this month on how yoga is for men too! Click on the link below to read how you can get the most out of your yoga workout!

Men’s Exercise October 2010

Andrew Cohen

You wake with gentle zen chimes (this really makes a difference for me, available on itunes yet they also sell Zen alarm clocks) from a good night sleep where you were predominantly resting in theta and delta waves. You wake up with sufficient time to prepare for work. You get out of bed and are not rushing so you are calmly moving about your day and are now in alpha waves. If you drink caffeine you have a small dose of just one cup which will bring you into beta waves.

You move throughout your morning and enjoy a tempered drive to work listening to something that promotes relaxing. Throughout your work day you take momentary breaks to stand up and stretch your arms overhead (this severely disperses compressional forces on lower spine and increase blood flow promoting energy). It only takes 30 seconds to stand and stretch. This also helps reset your attention span.

You keep a glass of water next to your desk and drink water because you realize that dehydration is one of the easiest ways to misconstrue hungry and promote lower energy levels. You shift into beta waves as needed throughout the day yet maintain a constant foundation of alpha waves as you move through your tasks with great efficiency.

You practice mindful breathing throughout the day which helps you maintain a sense of calmness yet alertness. Your take a walk at lunch or engage in some light reading and enjoy a healthy lunch. You go back to work and by mid afternoon you eat another healthy snack which will help prevent energy crash. You leave work and exercise before coming home. Once home you spend time with your family and have a healthy dinner with possibly one glass of wine without the TV on. You finish the night sipping tea and reading which helps shift your gears down from alpha-theta-delta.

Not so ideal

You wake up to loud buzzer from alarm with not a lot of time to get to work. You just shifted from delta or theta right into beta and skipped alpha. You move quickly to get ready for work and drink 2-3 cups of coffee. You drive to work in a rush listening to music or something that aids in maintaining beta mind.

Get into work and start working feeling overwhelmed by the day tasks maintaining beta mind. You don’t drink any water pushing you into a dehydrated state. Due to the feeling of being overwhelmed you never get up at your desk till lunch. You have spent a large majority of your morning in beta mind. For lunch you eat something not so healthy loaded in high glycemic carbs and saturated fats. Your blood sugars drop an hour or so after lunch and you are tired and bouncing from alpha to theta with brief periods of beta.

To stay awake you go for more coffee or a candy bar. This helps you make it through the day yet your ability to focus is poor due to the brain waves. There is no exercise after work and instead grab a few beers. You get home and have the munchies so you eat something unhealthy. You eat too much because your blood sugars are off from too much alcohol and dehydration because you drank no water throughout the day. This puts you into a food coma on the couch where you pass out. You wake up around midnight and make your way up to bed where falling back to sleep can be difficult due to the fact that your brain waves are confused as to what part of the day it is. You eventually fall asleep yet you wake up periodically throughout the night depriving yourself from ever really spending time healing in theta and delta.

The Hatha Yoga practice serves as the physical exercise systems that strengthens and purifies the body while cultivating a mind that is steady and familiar with breathing and the body. The Hatha Yoga practice is means to bring us into deeper states of stillness and to prepare us to sit in meditation.

In meditation practices, you are not shutting your mind down or attaining a state of non-thinking, rather, you are learning to make friends with and understand how your mind works. And this becomes the very ground upon which you can make wise decisions on the direction your life is taking.

When you sit and get still and settled. It becomes a place where you can begin to see which voices are driving your life and which direction you are headed. Our lives carry with them a lot of momentum. The practice helps slow down and cultivate a heightened state of awareness–intimacy with ourselves. It also helps us begin to develop a relationship with the presence inside of us that can see and feel thought and emotion from a third party perspective.

My friend and mentor, David Nichtern, calls meditation a burn. He says that when we sit we can burn up our karmas. We can begin to rewire our brain and we can cultivate qualities that can help change our relationship to life.

This process is challenging. The momentum our lives possess is like a river that is carrying us. In the beginning it can be like swimming up a stream. Daily practice and a relentless commitment are required.

I spent this past weekend up in Boston teaching at Metrowest Yoga. Boston is a mature yoga community and they are pretty serious about their yoga. The weekend started with a three hour intensive with a discussion on what it meant to be empowered and concluded Sunday with a discussion on what it meant to live an Empowered Life. The group was energized and their thoughts were sound and provoking.

Sunday, I read a quote by Carl Jung. The quote was, “the greatest influence on our own life and the life of children is the unlived life of our parents”. Those that spoke up were parents and shared their ideas of raising children. Towards the end of the discussion, I presented a different view, “we are all children here….how has your life reflected this quote?” We had to get moving and begin a Hatha yoga practice so we never really got a chance to discuss. Maybe this blog will get some discussion going?

When I contemplate this quote I can immediately look at it two ways (although there are numerous ways of viewing it). The first, how am I perpetuating the unlived life of my parents? Second, what part of their unlived life has influenced me to be different and to go in a different direction? It reminds me of the Buddhist lessons on karma. Karma is energy. The teachings of karma are the teachings of cause and effect.

Because karma has become a fashionable word these days you will often hear people say, “That is your karma”. A more accurate understanding would be this is happening right now because of karma. Your karma is the sum total of everything you have thought and experienced up until this very moment of your life.

There is no better way to understand karma than to sit still, get quiet and notice where you are right here and right now in this very moment in your life. Our lives are truly the sum total of all past thoughts and deeds. For me the whole point of practicing Yoga is to get still and pay attention non-judgmentally to how we are framing this moment of our life.

Sit with it long enough, we can literally feel our whole life narrow down to this very moment. This is a very courageous thing do to. It can also become the very ground upon which we can awaken to a new direction or reconfirm the direction our life is headed.

If you do have children a worthy contemplation is how is your unlived life affecting your children–come on Boston yogis and yoginis what do you think? We never finished this discussion.

Sometimes people will refer to another person by saying, “they are so lost because they don’t know where they are going”. I would like to rephrase that by saying, “someone is lost when they don’t know where they are” Goal setting focuses on what you want the future to be whereas intention setting focuses on what you would like to cultivate within this moment. Both practices are important.

Many times when I pause to get in touch I realize that I am not in touch—many times leaning into the future. This realization gets me back in touch. It refocuses me on what I am doing. For me this practice has evolved off the mat. Sometimes I will ask myself before walking into a room or into a meeting, “what is my intention for this next moment of my life”? What would I like to cultivate?

This practice has afforded me the opportunity to get in touch with the direction my life is taking and how my present actions are leading to some future outcome. This practice has turned me into a more intentionally focused person.

I find the more I can pay attention to the present the more my future becomes what I wish for.

If you are using term “burnout” then you are indicating that at one time, the flame was lit. The question is, who blew out the flame? If you sit with the question, the answer is not too hard to find–you did. It is a painful realization yet it is true one. This brings us to the three characteristics of truth: it stings, it cleanses, and it sets you free.

Teachers have come to me over the years to tell me that they feel burned out. In almost every instance I was able to notice a common theme. That common theme was a lack of daily practice which can lead to a busy and untamed mind. Our days are so fast and so scheduled in the 21st century. If we don’t pause daily and practice, our minds get out of control.

The founder of the Shambhala and famous Tibetan Lama Chogyam Trungpa said where there is speed you will normally find struggle. Our practice helps us to slow down, relinquish the word struggle and wake up to this moment. When the mind is not trained, the present moment becomes nothing more then the past replayed and/or we see ourselves reaching for some kind of future fulfillment. The mind is uneasy and is in a state of dis-ease. We lose our sense of vibrancy and our ability to recognize the brilliance around us.

We start to look outside of ourselves, thinking that we need another teacher training, a new workshop, or maybe even a different life. We look in the wrong direction. The solution is not outside of us– it’s inside. This is what we as teachers are fundamentally teaching yet we to fall prey to not taking our own advice. We don’t need to travel to the Himalayas. What we need is to amp up our practice right where we are. Get into class 5 or 7 days in a row. Pick up an old book that previously inspired you and journal. Write down why you teach and get in touch with your intention. This can help you re-light your flame.

Keeping your flame lit is your job as a teacher. When life gets challenging, our teaching and practice can go deeper. If we don’t practice we feel burned out. I learned this early in my career. The answers are really that simple when dealing with burn out. Sit with this message and again remember the three characteristics of truth: it stings, it cleanses, and then it sets you free. Does this message sting?

Joe then asked me, “How do you let go? Sometimes my mind is just so crazy”. I told him that telling most people to let go is like throwing a child in the pool and telling them to swim– the child has never been taught to swim nor has the child practiced swimming. Cultivating a mind that can let go is a skilled practice and something that for many of us can only be cultivated through practice.

In my Hatha yoga practice and my running practice I use the principles taught in the Shamatha meditation practice. Shamatha means calm abiding. The practice is simple in explanation yet challenging in application. The idea is to cultivate a present state of mind by anchoring your attention on the steadiness of your eyes, respiration, and body. When thought arises and pulls you away from mental steadiness you simply notice that you have lost your attention. You return back to the eyes, respiration and body.

As you continually return to your present state of mind you begin unwinding the focus on analyzing and the habit you have ingrained within your brain. This is challenging work yet it does work, particularly when practiced on a daily basis.

The process of letting go of thought and coming back to the present moment cultivates a mind that can let go. I personally find with this practice that it has before easier and easier to let go. In my next blog I will write about what we are experiencing as we let go.

Unfortunately this is going to be the reality for most people who give this barefoot running thing a shot. The reason why is very simple. Your foot has been supported for years and anything supported becomes weak. Your feet have had a vacation for a VERY long time. They have been atrophying (weakening) ever since you put shoes on at a young age and started running. Since that day the cushioned shoes allowed you to change the evolutionary way your body was designed to run and the rest of the 206 bones and 640 muscles of the body have followed suit. If you are going to bring your dogs out of retirement and kick the coffins off your feet you need a plan. I began running 6 weeks ago in the Vibram and I would like to share with you some insights from my experience.

Step One--Get the shoes and start wearing them all the time–do some walks in them and start getting in touch with using the balls (fronts) of the feet.

Step Two- If you live in the greater Wilmington area contact Tracy Peal and get a lesson on the Pose Running technique. If you don’t live in the Wilmington area go to the Pose Technique website and find a certified coach in your area. http://www.posetech.com/services/TracyStevenPeal.html.

Step Three–Begin running preferably on grass. Start off SLOWLY and work the Pose Technique. If you feel any pain stop and walk and then begin again SLOWLY working the technique. Anytime pain arises stop and walk. The pain is an indicator something is wrong. I have stopped and walked often and each time I begin running again and work the technique the pain goes away.

Summary:

The first week I began Vibram running I ran one mile and then worked up to two miles by the end of the first week. I stayed at two miles at a 9-10 minute pace for the first five weeks. The fifth week I worked up to a three miler. By the end of this week I ran 5 miles and felt great! I have to stop during most runs and walk due to pain in the plantar fascia (bottom of the foot) yet once I walked fifty feet it disperses. I am a supinator in my ankles which means I tend to run on the our edges of my feet. Over the years this has tightened the the medial arch (inside) of my feet. The barefoot running is unlocking the inner arches of my feet and as they unlock the plantar fascia is being stretched and is unlocking. The pain when I am running is an indicator that I have done enough unlocking and need a break. The walking allows some rest and then once I start running again my plantar fascia is willing to endure some more letting go.

As the Inner arches unlock I can feel my shins, thighs and hips begin unlocking–it is truly an amazing process. I have to really pay attention when running which has quieted down the voice I hear when I run. The voice sounds like this, “this sucks, this sucks, this sucks” I am enjoying running more and more and realizing that I was truly born to run. I would love to hear some feedback from others going through this process.

September 22nd 6-8pm

Chris Mac Dougall author of Born to Run and Pose Coach Tracy Peal will be doing a book signing and clinic at www.Trailcreekoutfitters.com

]]> http://blog.empoweredyoga.com/2009/09/running-barefoot/feed/ 0 http://blog.empoweredyoga.com/2009/08/born-to-run/ http://blog.empoweredyoga.com/2009/08/born-to-run/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:22:00 +0000 admin http://blog.empoweredyoga.com/2009/08/born-to-run/ A few months ago, I read a book entitled “Born to Run” by Christopher Mac Dougall. Chris is a former war correspondent and contributing editor for Men’s Health. He set out to discover why 8 out of 10 runners are injured each year–he counts himself as one of those 8. His journey takes him from his doctor’s offices in Philadelphia to the biomechanics lab of the University of Delaware. He winds up at Harvard’s anthropology department and heads out to the West Coast to learn more at Stanford. His journey ends in the Copper Canyons of Mexico for the grand finale of the book and the greatest race the world will never see. I listened to the book and was literally in tears towards the end. Christopher beautifully weaves scientific research into a fun and entertaining story that is not just for runners. It is a story about the human spirit with a triumphant ending and a powerful message.

I picked up this New York Times Best Seller after three people told me about the book in one week. These people told me that Christopher was bringing some of the same information to his readers that I had taught within my movement principles workshop. This book gave me permission to act on what I knew to be true. A little over nine years ago I kicked off the shoes and started a yoga practice. I always thought about running barefoot yet listened to the popular myth that I need shoes to handle compressional forces. Chris’s book taught me that I truly did not need them. I started running barefoot (with Fibrum Five Finger Shoes) four weeks ago and it has truly been a paradigm shifting experience for me. In my next blog I will post a recommendation on where to buy the shoes and how to begin the journey of running with the earth instead of on it.

Two of the three arches in the foot connect to the little toe. These arches serve to handle compressional forces and absorb shock while standing, walking, running etc. Basically, if you are on your feet, the arches are meant to be working. When the little toe is not functioning, the arches of the feet are not functioning, and the joints above the foot- such as the ankles, knees, hips, spinal column, etc-are each working even harder and are subject to more compression within each joint.

Most people I speak with don’t seem to understand how the body is interdependent and how everything effects everything. every one’s mind, and not just mine, to possess a narrow focus. We have trouble seeing how everything is connected and related.

I would certainly be unaware of this truth if not for the hundreds and thousands of moments of focused attention on my yoga mat. My practice has truly taught me that the smallest adjustment in my foot can adjust my neck or shoulder–it is truly amazing to experience this connection.

Life is very much the same–our thoughts, actions and within each and every moment will affect the people near us and the world beyond us. We are all living in this cause and effect relationship and there is nothing that is not felt… that is truly something that is worth contemplating.

The third eye is where the Hindus respectfully wear the red dot. The third eye is referred to as the Eye of Intuition and is one of the Seven Chakras within the human body. I responded “No, I have not.” He looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face and asked, “Well then why do you practice?” I told him that I practice so that I can be a better husband, a better Dad and a nicer person within this world.

I have no aspirations for anything extraordinary–I aspire to live the ordinary life extraordinarily. He smiled, and said that he understood. During over conversation, he told me that he was off to India to study with a guru.

It prompted me to share something with him: “I searched for years only to come full circle and realize that what I was looking for was right here. Maybe you will find what you are looking for in India, but maybe it is right here and you are unable to see it.” After , he spoke. “Maybe you are right”, he said. I replied, “Maybe I am and maybe I am not– but either way you will find out.”

It reminds me of the last chapter in a modern day book that is bound to become a classic. The book is called “Light on Life”, by 91-year-old Yoga Master BKS Iyengar. He tells the reader that he spent the majority of his life as a seeker and it is only now that he sees clearly. He urges the reader not to make the same mistake that he has made. Iyengar is asking us to stop looking outside of ourselves and start looking within. Stop thinking that some moment around the corner will complete us. Stop thinking that if our lives were different, they would somehow be complete. This kind of thinking postpones our happiness until the future.

One day, we realize that we are old, and that we missed the whole point of life– this moment is enough, be appreciative to be alive. Enjoy your life now.

For instance—when we meet someone, we ask questions. As we hear information about them, our minds begin developing a view or picture of the person. We can then make a judgment as to whether or not we like the person, whether the person is someone we want to be around, and if the person is worth our time. If you have never noticed this about your mind then pay attention the next time you meet someone new and watch the way your mind works and builds a construct.

Yoga is no different. If people come in and they have never done yoga then Empowered Yoga becomes their mental construct of what yoga is and should be. Yoga should be heated, have mirrors, and involve intention setting and chanting. This becomes their mental construct of yoga. It builds a student’s body and helps deepen Hatha Yoga (physical) practice, yet, many times it leaves a student rigid in belief and thus closes them to possibilities.

The idea behind repeating a sequence or committing to a style is to begin to develop a deeper understanding of reality and their relationship to it. The very nature of reality is fluid and ever changing. In our observation we can begin to realize that we suffer in life because of our rigid mental constructs and beliefs that do not allow us to see the beauty in something or see something that we have seen many times before in a whole new light.

When someone says to me, “That’s not yoga” I understand that they are stuck in a mental construct. In essence, they are admitting that are not yoga and really don’t understand yoga. Yoga is everything. Yoga encompasses all. Yoga is Life!

Each of our brains is wired in a unique way. By becoming present and learning to observe our thinking from a non-judgmental standpoint we can begin to see the way we are wired. It is important to observe our reactions from witnessing perspective so that we can come to fully own who we are. If we get caught up in judging ourselves then we risk falling into a dual mindset.

Practice becomes a process of making friends with ourselves and owning all the aspects of who we are. It is by fully owning who we are that life becomes more workable. Our habitual thought patterns become more palpable and this develops the very ground to work with them. When we judge ourselves we never fully own our minds—by judging ourselves we hold ourselves at arms length further perpetuating and ingraining the thoughts.

In order to choose wisely we need to develop awareness. More specifically we need to develop more precision and intimacy with the present moment. It is within this precision that we can learn to identify thought patterns that no longer serve us and create unnecessary suffering within our lives. We can also become aware of thoughts that create and support happiness and joy and learn to invest more attention into these thoughts.

It is in changing the direction of our life that we ultimately begin changing the direction of the lives around us—this is the paradox of personal change. We all would like to see the world change and for things to be more peaceful and more loving. For this to happen we have to begin to work on ourselves. In the words of Gandhi, “Be the change you wish to see within the world”

Becoming empowered begins with a profound realization that you do have moment to moment choices within your life. You don’t have to be a slave to past conditioning. You don’t have to be a victim. You can chose wisely and compassionately to change your life’s direction. All of this can happen by simply making a commitment to pay attention and observe how you are relating to what is happening.

With this being said I am very glad to have been given the life I have. I am a home-body and I prefer being at home verses on the road. Occasional trips are fun yet after experiencing three weeks in a row I have had my fill.

I have a lot of compassion and respect for people that have to travel a lot. I was on planes, trains, automoblies and ships. Traveling can really test your patience and show you who you are. We got lost in Italy a few times, I missed a plane in Charlotte and sat next to a guy heading to Las Vegas who sniffled for four straight hours wiping his nose with his hand.

To me these are the greatest tests of yoga–when life is just not going your way. How do you react? Can you discover peace amongst discomfort? I fared pretty well yet I have a long way to go. At times I felt enlightened and at other times I felt like freaking out–isn’t that the way life goes?

I will post another blog tomorrow and get back to one a week now that I am home.

Why would someone want to do this much Yoga in such a short period of time? Simply put, because it transforms you and shifts your perspective quickly. If there is one thing yoga is aiming to do, it is shifting your perspective. As we age we tend to become more solid within our beliefs and more rigid within our thinking. It is not just our bodies that tighten and harden–it is our minds too. Our mental constructs towards people, places and things become more narrow and this limits the possibilities. This unfortunately gets us stuck in ruts. I hear adults all the time say, “I wish I could do that.” You are living a substitute life.

When you practice this much yoga, your body and mind start to loosen their grip–you soften and begin feeling the many possibilities that life presents. It is the silence and the process of continually coming back to the present moment that allows us to begin seeing that– in many ways– you hold the key to your future. As Rumi says, “Why do you stay imprisoned when the door is wide open?”. Your mind is what paints your moment to moment awareness. Yoga teaches us to become aware of the paint colors and the landscape. It also allows us to step back and change colors and the landscape.

At the end of our session on Sunday you could see the shift on people’s faces. Their skin was brighter and their eyes were wide open. There was a radiance about everyone. Thanks to everyone within the Laughing Buddha Community–Sara and I felt right at home.

Guru is a Sanskrit word that means “to bring light to darkness”. Our darkness is our delusion which creates confusion within our lives. Spiritual practice is meant to bring light onto our darkness and lift the veil of confusion. Seeking out a spiritual teacher is very popular in the east and it is becoming more popular in the west. When I asked David what the role of a teacher was, he said it was to hold up a mirror unto the student. His answer reminded me of an expression, “The ball is in your court”. The teacher simply aids the student in seeing themselves in a clearer light by continually helping the student understand their experience. The teacher simply keeps throwing the ball back into our court.

This weekend I had a pretty powerful experience early Saturday morning that fully brought home why the ball has to be in our court. I was reading Big Mind, Big Heart by Dennis Genpo Merzel and I experienced Big Mind. I have had several glimpses of Big Mind before, yet this weekend it was particularly powerful. I dropped into a whole new level of understanding. I cannot write too much about this experience because there are no words that can describe Big Mind. What I can say is that there was a knowing beyond anything I have ever experienced. This knowing was accompanied by a deep sense of peace. I just sat there for a while on Saturday and well, I just sat there.

The only thing that holds us back from experiencing our fullness is ourselves. When we bring our attention fully to this moment and stop striving, stop wanting it to be different, and simply be with our experience, we experience our light–darkness fades and we realize that the ball has always been in our court. If we can simply just see that we are the ones we are looking for. Within us is everything and outside of us is everything. There is only separation within our mind’s perception. This is the experience of Big Mind.

Throughout the cleanse, the water nourishes the cells and keeps the body hydrated while the vitamin-rich lemons help to loosen and break up mucus in the body. Grade B Maple Syrup is one of the most balanced of all sugars- it keeps sugar levels balanced to avoid unnecessary spikes in hunger or extreme lows in energy levels. Finally, cayenne pepper is a blood vessel dilator, thermal warmer, and valuable source of vitamin A.

Stanley believed that toxicity was the main reason for disease and the root of many of the problems that our bodies experience. Over the last thirty years, people all around the world have taken part in this fast and have cured themselves of everything from infertility, diabetes, back pain, ulcers, and more. While I am not claiming that this cleanse can heal everything, I firmly believe that the Cleanse can take you to a whole new level of living!

The idea of not eating anything for 10 days is scary. Immediately, you realize just how much time and energy you put into thinking about eating, getting the food, preparing the food, eating the food, cleaning up from eating and then eliminating the food. The body requires enormous amounts of energy to process food. How do you think you will feel when that energy is not being spent on food? At times, the energy can be overwhelming.

When people tell me “I could never do that” I say “That’s right, you can’t.” You will do whatever your mind tells you that you can or cannot do. Understanding the power of the mind is what begins to elevate human beings. Maybe it’s time to clean up and clean out your mind and body—it was for me.

Classically you have 6 major systems of yoga

1. Hatha Yoga—yoking physical postures (asana) and breathing techniques (pranayama)
2. Karma Yoga—yoking our actions with the benefit of others
3. Bhakti Yoga—yoking our life with God through devotion
4. Raja Yoga—Royal path or the Eight Fold Path. Path outlines guidelines for yoking our life with God
5. Jnana Yoga—the study of scriptures in the pursuit to attain more knowledge helping us come to a greater awareness of God
6. Kriya Yoga—is a complete system covering a wide range of techniques, including mantras and techniques of meditation for control of the life-force, bringing calmness and control of both body and mind.

From a contemporary standpoint, most serious yoga practitioners are practicing all six systems. In the west most of us come to the yoga practice via Hatha Yoga—as we stick with the practice we become curious and start reading yoga books. Now we are practicing Jnana yoga. Through the process of gaining knowledge we become more aware of where we are creating stress in our lives and the lives of those around us. In this stage we are practicing Raja Yoga. As we refine our lives we become more conscious of the seeds we are planting through our words and actions. Now we begin practicing Karma Yoga. We discover that the true purpose of Hatha Yoga is to sit in meditation and come into deeper levels of stillness. We are now practicing Kriya Yoga. Finally we begin to contemplate the face of God and what God means to us. The veil of egotism begins to lift and Bhakti Yoga becomes a moment to moment practice.

While it seems like I am suggesting that this is a linear progression, it is not at all. This is a 360 degree dynamic process that keeps unfolding and unwinding within us and around us. Yoga is something we do—it is also something that we are. As we begin to understand the profundity of this ancient science it becomes evident that yoga is our birthright all aspects of life can be yoga. When I am running if I maintain awareness of my mind and body then running takes on the traits of yoga. For me this is changing my relationship with running.

I am running more than I have run in years and my Hatha yoga practice has taken a back seat to my Yoga Running practice. On a good week I practice Hatha Yoga five days. Recently, I have had to take it down to three times a week due to time constraints—I will let you know how my body adjusts to this training change. I am following a structured running program: as the mileage increases, so does my capacity to run faster and longer.

When running I am being mindful of my foot strike and the alignment of my body. It is a real mediation to let go of thinking and let my attention rest within. I am very aware of my habitual running patterns and over the last few years I have been able to cultivate a much more ergonomic technique. It has been challenging to change the way I run, yet, with repetition my ability has grown. I feel Emerson’s wisdom each time I run.

Within our teaching training program students often make the same comments- “you make it look so easy” and “you are so good at what you do”. My response is always the same, “If you do this for as many years as I have, then you will also be good at it. If I’m not a half decent teacher by now then I am pathetic.” I find the better I get at any skill the less serious I take myself. Getting good at something is nothing more than practice and repetition. If you are committed to something and keep practicing you too will find wisdom in Emerson’s words.

It is important to take a step back and realize language was created to bring about a mental construct around something, in an effort to communicate with other beings. Your mental construct may not be the same as mine. It is also important to realize that yoga is older then any modern day religion. Yoga is not a religion, instead it is a tool that can be applied to any and every aspect of life.

Recorded history doesn’t go further back than 3,000 years. The rest has all been handed down orally. The original translation around yoga is said to mean yoking God and human. Where and when the Hatha Yoga part came along is also a bit of a mystery. Some scholars say it was spontaneous movements that came out of meditative states while others say it was learned by watching animals move and imitating their movement. The latter of the two would explain why many poses have animal names.

Classically speaking the yoking in Hatha Yoga is Asana and Pranayama. Asana literally translates as seat. Pranayama translates as extension of life force. There are thousands of interpretations of Hatha Yoga—Empowered Yoga is a contemporary approach. Hatha Yoga was the first form of exercise ever created and works powerfully on balancing out the strength and flexibility of the body. It helps train the mind to be stable which brings clarity and breeds cultivation of wisdom.

The past six months have been the beginning of what is proving to be an incredible journey. A few thoughts about how things have changed in my life:
* At a base level, I’ve learned that the opportunity to practice yoga exists in my life all around me. It’s up to me to choose to practice. I consciously make a choice to practice even more in my life.
* Recently my boss, with whom I’ve worked for almost three years and have known for five, shared with me that she thinks the past year has been my greatest year of personal growth: I’ve developed, matured, and become so much more of a resilient person. I have tremendous respect for her, and so this feedback is really very special

* My dear friend, the fashionista, has been one of my greatest yoga teachers off the mat and outside of EY. Simply by throwing away everything in my closet, and then helping me (1) recognize my filters, and then (2) work to break through them, I quickly realized that what I learned about clothes isn’t limited to clothes. It applies to the rest of my life. I am recognizing my filters – about all sorts of things in my life – and then breaking through them. It is scary, especially because I have countless ones to work through still.

* I am grateful for the friendships and love and perspectives that everyone in the YTT program has offered. While I will miss the time-intensive weekends, I trust that I will continue to grow as an individual because of what I’ve learned from others and the relationships that we’ll maintain.

* I am not as scattered as I once was. While I still do too many things and keep too busy, I have learned to prioritize. And taking care of me is a priority. And I am slowly starting to slow down. This is a good thing, and I am grateful for each small win.

* In the past two years, I’ve become better connected with my body and with my mind. It’s amazing that I’ve made it to 32, and just finally beginning to wake up. Thankfully though I am now. And some days, even though it’s scary, I’m excited to learn whatever it is next. And other days, I wish I could curl up in a ball and not face myself or the world. It does take courage every single day to open up. I am thankful for having the support and friendship of those at EY – it helps me find this internal courage.

* It turns out, I really enjoy teaching! It is a huge part of my practice. I feel so honored to be able to guide others through a practice, and while I’ll never know what each student is going through specifically, I know that each person is on a journey. I know the courage it takes for them to show up on their mat, and I feel humbled that they are comfortable to come to class because all I can offer is support, love and compassion, and it turns out, that really is enough. In turn, their presence and friendship offers me the same.

* I am lucky to have amazing people in my life. In the past several months, however, I feel like I’ve been taking more than I’ve been giving in many of my relationships. Recently though I’ve realized that maybe I’m giving in different ways than I previously have. And it might not be “less,” it might just be different. As an example, two of my dearest friends have signed up for (and completed) BNB. They signed up because they’ve told me they’ve seen a difference in me – for the better. They loved me then, and they love me now just the same. But they see something in themselves that they want to explore, and it’s awesome that they feel comfortable exploring it. Again, it really is about love and compassion. Wow.

This past summer I went up to Runners World headquarters and lead a workshop to several staff members on Movement Principles for Runners. Most of those in attendance had been practicing yoga yet not with the awareness of the movement principles. Just before Christmas I had an opportunity to record nine exercises for www.runnersworld.com which can be found on their website.

This experience over the past year reminds me of something I say often while teaching. It is not what you are doing as much as where you are when you are doing it. When we move our body we can be completely connected to our body and let go of the cognitive aspect of our brain. By focusing on what we are feeling verses what we are thinking we can come into a deeper connection with our mindbody—running can be a meditation.

Any movement whether in the gym, yoga room or running can be viewed as therapy and healing if it is being done with principle. If it is not done with principle it tears the body apart. Running can get a bad rap. There is nothing wrong with running although there is something wrong with running on an imbalanced structure. Learning the movement principles can be the difference between being sidelined with injuries and running into your nineties.

When Rolf walked in he was calm and collected. Before he began the class he asked some profound and simple questions, “Can we drop the performance mode? Can you empty your cup and allow me to guide you through a practice?” The intensity of the room dropped and everything grounded down into an non egotistically awareness—it was a profound shift. Rolf’s wisdom still rings in my ears. There are many people who come to the physical practice of yoga with a performance based and competitive mind. You can learn a lot about yourself if you can see this aspect of yourself. The part of your mind that wants to perform, wants to be better then those around you and wants to win.

At Empowered Yoga we emphasize challenge over competition. A challenge is born within your heart—it is a quest for inner excellence. When you compete it is about the ego, there are winners or losers and the motivation is many times not so pure. When your motivation shifts to challenge we broaden our view. Our practice becomes a simple question, “Am I doing my best?” If the answer is yes then you are always a winner and there are no losers. Paradoxically this shift from competition to challenge inspires others to let go of egocentric motivators. Paradoxically my body is stronger, more flexible and graceful when I am operating from challenge. Fear constricts us and a competitive mind is a mind that is based in fear.

In my last class Saturday morning I gave some helpful hints on reentry into society after a retreat.

1. As soon as you land into your respective airport notice your surroundings and the speed at which everything is moving.
2. As you are picked up by family and friends notice your heightened awareness and let this awareness see people with a greater sense of openness and appreciation.
3. No one else was on the retreat so don’t expect those in your life to be any different. You are the one who is different. (Non-judgemental of course)
4. Don’t speak too deeply about your experience. Just tell people it was life changing.
5. Realize that without a daily practice you too will fall back into the speed and potential unconsciousness of life

What makes a retreat powerful is incorporating the teachings into daily life. If you have never been on retreat make it a goal to someday attend one. They can be truly life changing.

In high school and college I continued living without this awareness. In reflecting back I was always living in my head, reliving the past or strategizing about the future—never fully appreciating where I was. Do not get me wrong—my childhood was incredible. I just never knew that there was a difference between thinking and experiencing the present moment without analyzing with thought what was happening.

When I first started practicing yoga I would wonder what the teacher thought of me and while in class anticipate what posture was coming next. I would look around the room for entertainment. If a class did not entertain me, I would seek out another teacher or class. I would be thinking constantly during practice. This all changed one day when I started to practice Ashtanga Yoga.

Ashtanga Yoga is a series of postures. There are three reference points to creating a mind and body connection. I learned to bring my attention to the stillness in my eyes, the breath, and the awareness of my body as it remained still and as it moved. I began understanding what it meant to be present—athletes call this the zone. It is the place where everything slows down, thought drops and the appreciation for life grows.

These three reference points have grown into daily tools that I use on and off the mat to return back to the present moment awareness. Life seems to get brighter and brighter and my appreciation grows from this practice—a worthy component to being empowered.

Each day starts off with a basis meditation. This year Chris Rogers has joined me to lead the group on Big Mind training. Big Mind is learning to think bigger then yourself. Our theme is Beginners Mind. This is a term which orginates in the Zen tradition. The general idea is that a beginners mind is a Big Mind and capable of numerous possiblities. A more advanced mind is a small mind and limited in possibilities.

After each morning session we enjoy amazing fruit and other healthy food. We ask people to stay light on the eating due to a 10am Hatha yoga practice. After practice we shower and enjoy a heathy and tastey lunch. Much of the afternoon is spent resting by the pool or sleeping.

We practice again in the later afternoon. This is a longer practice where more theraputic movements are practiced. Afterwards everyone showers and we have dinner together. The conversation is rich.

I really enjoy being down here yet it is challenging being away from Sara and our children. I hope to handle the Blog on Presence while I am down here.

I have not had time to edit this blog so excuse me for any grammer mistakes.

It is really important to spend time with this feeling of dissatisfaction and not just ignore it. The more intimate you get with the dissatisfaction the more meaningful the commitment will become. Spending time writing down what will happen if you maintain the commitment and what will happen if you don’t maintain the commitment can be very fruitful. Brainstorm and refine your thoughts and feelings to one page. Read this page daily and remind yourself why you made the commitment.

If you are unwilling to spend some time to become clear on what it is that you want your life to be about then chances are you will lose your commitment. I don’t think people lack willpower or discipline they just lack presence. I will address presence in my next blog.

In the last entry I wrote about the importance of not personalizing your experience. In this entry we will address personalizing our experience. Let’s look at two different situations. One that will create suffering and one that will create happiness. During situations where suffering arises, I find it important to stop and ask myself how I have contributed to this situation. By making this a practice I don’t fall into a victim mentality spending endless time blaming someone else for my present state of unhappiness. I know if I don’t practice this, I will become hard, defensive and guarded in life.

Now, when it comes to successful situations that produce happiness, I don’t personalize it. I ask myself how those around me have contributed to this situation. For me this keeps me humble and non-egotistical. This helps me foster an attitude of interdependence and appreciation for those around me. I can rest in the cohesive nature of life.

Striking a balance is the skillful act of knowing when to personalize and when not to personalize an experience. Your internal compass needs to point towards happiness at all times, so if personalizing an experience brings up suffering then you can let go of personalizing. If not personalizing the experience brings up suffering then you need to stop and ask yourself “how have I contributed to this situation?” This requires a keen sense of awareness and the ability to discern.

This is a very important practice while being on the path to happiness.

For instance the other day my wife Sara got upset with me and said something’s that she did not mean. I reacted to her, yet not nearly as much as I would have one year ago. After reacting a bit I engaged the present moment, watched my thoughts, and emotions, I calmed down pretty quickly. Within the calm was a deeper understanding of Sara’s reaction. Her Mom just started chemo again and is living with bone cancer. It is very painful for Sara to see her mom suffer and there were other things also going on that had Sara upset. Her reactions to me truly had nothing to do with me—I was just the receiver of her angry and sadness.

The next time you experience an emotional charge or reaction, pause, engage conscious breathing—stepping into the present moment. Watch the emotions and thoughts as a third party observer and watch them fade. After fading remain in the non-judgmental awareness and watch insight arise as to what you just experienced. I find most of the time it is not personal. A necessary practice in Being Empowered.

Some people have a tendency to ignore dissatisfaction. It is the old saying, “ignorance is bliss”. Maybe at first ignorance is bliss—over time whatever we resist will persist. I find the persistency becomes annoying because it is reality knocking on my door getting louder and louder. At some point the volume becomes painful and our dissatisfaction deserves attention.

Once you get in touch with your dissatisfaction pull it close like a doctor analyzing a sickness, turn the questions around. Why do I want to be here, what do I want my life to be about and when I am gone what do I want people to remember me for? These can be very empowering questions. Journaling can be some of the most transformative work. If your life is worth living—it is worth writing about.

The intention behind developing a calm abiding practice is to develop a non-reactive and non-judgmental orientation to the present moment. Most of our suffering and stress in life comes from us personalizing our experience and continually reacting to life in a way that is purely predicated by our past conditioning. When we are only identified with our thinking this is the only way we know how to answer to life on a daily basis—we know no better.

I always remind students that this practice is a moment to moment commitment. It is important that you see the big picture of developing a mindfulness practice. The big picture is that our ability to evolve and cultivate our inner wisdom is not just for personal reasons. As we elevate ourselves above the bondages of habitual ways of living that cause suffering and pain in our lives, we begin to affect those around us. People begin noticing that we are different and less reactive. It is our presence and example that begins to inspire others.

I truly believe that each human being is here in this life to show what is possible within a human life. Now you may think I am being cliché yet I ask you to cultivate these questions. Why are you here? What is your life all about? When you die what are people going to say about you? If you spend time contemplating these questions and come back to them often enough you will begin to notice one of two things—confirmation or unease. I will handle this in my next entry.

Your mind tends to identify with whatever it looks at. When our minds are busy we don’t have an opportunity to see clearly. If your eyes are wandering your mind is wandering. In ancient India the Rishis were visionaries who lived amongst the tribes. They were able to give wise advice about decisions that had to be made for the welfare of the tribe. Similar to the stories you hear about the Native American Indians seeking insight from their elders.

It is typical for the beginner yoga student to look around the room, move quicker than the teacher, anticipate the next posture and of course we can’t forget the good old fashion fidget. These are all simple signs of being identified with thinking verses being. The mind is leaning into the next moment and focused on thoughts instead of the body. Remember your body is always in the present moment—it is our minds that get caught up in the past and lean into the future.

I remember in the beginning of my practice I would spend a lot of time looking around trying to figure out how to do postures correctly. We encourage new students do to this in the beginning of their practice. It helps them gain an understanding. As you gain a deeper understanding of the alignment and the process of synchronizing the mind and body, a student gains confidence and begins discovering the power of a stable vision.

At some point you realize you are daydreaming and not present. You then label your experience by saying to yourself, “thinking” and then return back to an inhale. Once again you are back in the zone. Inevitably you will lose your focus and become preoccupied by thinking. You will catch yourself once again and label it thinking and return to the breath. This process of catching yourself lost in thought, labeling it and then returning back to the breath is the foundation for developing a yoga practice.

In the Pāli language this technique is called Samatha meditation often translated as calm abiding. Due to the speed at which our world is moving many of us are living in a perpetual state of anxiety and agitation. We are not sleeping enough, not using our bodies enough, thinking a lot, eating processed foods that create stress on our digestive systems, thus affecting the other eleven systems within the mind and body. The strange thing is that most of us are unaware of this. It is not until we sit still with no stimulus or entertainment that we can begin to feel what is driving our lives.

As we learn to make a commitment to a practice of calm abiding we can begin to have a shift in our lives perspective. Cultivating calmness creates clarity, and clarity leads to wisdom. Wisdom is becoming our experience of what we learn within the space that is created when we become calm and present. At first this might not mean sitting still in meditation. You can start off with driving without the radio on. You can walk or run without the iPod. The options are endless for creating calmness within your life.

Search for ways that you can create calmness throughout your day and notice how good you feel when you are calm. It is from this place that you can clearly start to navigate your life in the direction that promotes peace and happiness.

In the practice of Hatha Yoga you are cultivating the ability to be still and pay attention to your internal environment. When you cultivate concentration and the ability to be still for prolonged periods of time, something really special happens—you begin seeing the fluxing nature of reality. Thoughts come in and thoughts go out—the breath comes in and the breath goes out. You begin developing a relationship with the awareness that is able to see the flux. You no longer get dragged around by ups and downs of life yet instead see the impermanent nature to all of it.

Pause throughout the day and notice how much your moods, thoughts, and attitude shift. The more often you see this truth the more space you will bring between your awareness and your mental and emotional states. You will cultivate the ability to discern and redirect your attention. Over time the awareness will grow. Now keep in mind this is a life practice —an integral part of being empowered.

I asked him why this time was different—why will you stay clean? Dave said the first time he got sober he was so focused on himself and thought someday he would be able to drink and use again in a controlled fashion. He realized by focusing on his desires that he was suffocating within his own ego—it was only a matter of time before he went back using, which is what happened.

Finally, he hit rock bottom (first time didn’t count if it doesn’t stick—that is what I understand they say in AA) and this time he admitted he had no control over substance and surrendered to God—finally he felt the suffocating ego lift. He spoke with conviction when referring to his present commitment to his wife and family. He said that when he focuses on his family he feels invisible, not in an ego sense yet in an empowered sense.

He said he stopped maturing when he started abusing substances in college, so he still has so much to learn. He expressed interest in yoga. He said that he was on my website and referred to me as a scientist. I told Dave you are already doing yoga. The 12 Step Program, the Christian Church you go to on Sundays, the prayer you say throughout the day, the way you said you stop and pay attention to the little things in life developing gratitude. These are all yoga practices. Yoga means balance, union which comes through living the truth which is what you are doing right now. If you want to study Hatha Yoga (physical exercise system of yoga) I could most certainly help you with this form of yoga.

I told him about the Dharma and the path and ensured him that he was already on it. The destination is the process. Being present for the steps and learning to doubt your doubts and have faith in each step is the path. Because you hit rock bottom in this life you have been given a gift. You have turned your life 180 degrees in a different direction and now you are walking the other way. You are clean and present and living your truth. Dave is now walking the truth due to his rock bottom experience. Some people hit rock bottom in other ways like cancer, divorce, and other life changing events. I believe these people are lucky because they have to stop sleep walking like so many of us do. They have to stand up straight and begin paying attention to where they are causing suffering in their lives and the lives of those around them.

When I look back Dave and I always spoke the dharma with each other and this is why 13 years later we are still friends. Dave was always looking to live the truth yet had no direction or path to follow, so he went to the dark side. The Buddha used to say there are many paths that lead to the top of the mountain. Choose one and walk it—they all end up in the same place—the top of the mountain. We live in a world where too many people are on the fence—too much confusion and suffering. Having a path and a practice can bring so much meaning and fulfillment to one’s life. It can take the guess work out and help you develop unwavering presence. This is what sets us free.

Dave has made a choice and made a commitment to the 12 Step Program and his family—a commitment that is making a difference today and in many years from now will have made all the difference in the world. Just look at the analogy of Dave walking one way and then turning 180 degrees and walking the other. Two different directions, different landscapes traveled, different experiences along the way, different people, and ultimately different destinations. Big Bow to you Dave!

The human body is roughly 75% water depending on your age and the amount of water you drink. It is common for people to become more and more dehydrated as they age. Did you know our brains are 75% water? Most headaches can be attributed to dehydration. Lean muscle tissue contains about 75% water. Blood contains 83% water, body fat contains 25% water, and bone has 22% water. When the body is dehydrated it dries up and begins to concretize like concrete. Research has proven that severe dehydration creates havoc for our bodies in the long run.

Our minds work a lot like this: Just take a moment to sit back and watch your mind. A thought will come in and then it will turn into another thought and another, and so on, just like a story. You can think of the mind as flowing as water, moving from one thought to another. The mind can also latch onto a thought and concretize it. This means that this particular thought will come up again and again. It has hardened and becomes a repeat thought or part of your memory. This feature of the mind is what allows us to accomplish tasks and empower ourselves. Unfortunately, it can also keep us stuck in unhealthy and habitual patterns.

Here is a little exercise in awareness. The next time someone says to you “This is really hard,” look up and observe their facial expression. You will be surprised to see that their face is a face of anguish or stress. It is as if they are those negative thoughts and feelings and concretizing them. As they are pulled from their comfort zone, they freeze, like concrete. The mind tends to concretize around fear and the thought that produced that emotion. The more often we concretize around things we would categorize as difficult—the harder it is to deal with life’s ups and downs.

When you experience a task that requires you to sweat, think outside the box, or get your hands a little dirty, I refer to it as a challenge.  Accepting a challenge requires courage. The word courage comes from the Latin root “cor” which means heart. It is within the moments that we are challenged that we need to stop and recognize the thoughts and emotions for what they are. It is a shift from identification to observation; the concretizing can subside with observation within minutes. Using identification however, we can many times become paralyzed like concrete for hours, days or even a lifetime.

This is something I am continually working on. I’m trying to recognize where I am hardening when I need to soften— lifetime contemplation for all those on the path to empowerment!

Examples of chains in the human body are: Bicep/Triceps, Quadriceps/Hamstrings, Hip Flexors/ Gluteus (butt muscles). There are many more, but I’m sure you get the picture. So what happens to the functionality of a chain when one of the muscles is tight? According to Newton’s law, if one side tightens short—the other side tightens long. This is called “Locked Short and Locked Long”. When this happens the chain has fallen into a state of dysfunction.

The energetic relationship within a chain can be thought of as a wheel. A functional chain is energetically symmetrical while a dysfunctional chain is asymmetrical. The qualities of a symmetrical chain are like that of a symmetrical wheel: it spins fast, requires less energy to move and will have a longer life due to its balanced nature. Now let’s look at a chain that is locked short on one side and locked long on the other. The qualities of an asymmetrical wheel: it cannot spin as fast as the symmetrical wheel, requires more energy to get moving and stay moving, and due to its imbalanced nature, will experience a much shorter life.

The next Blog I will finally get back to the health of the pulley system

• Take a comfortable seat. You can be in a chair or sit on the floor. If you are sitting on the floor, ensure that your knees are not higher than your hips. Your spine should be aligned, with your shoulders dropped and relaxed. Your ears should be centered overtop of the shoulder. 
• Find a point that you can rest your eyes on. 

1. If you are sitting on the floor, let that point be four feet in front of you. Make sure not to drop your chin when looking down at the floor. 
2. If you are sitting in a chair, focus your eyes straight ahead. Again, make sure your spine is properly aligned and you are maintaining an S-curve with your vertebrae. Poor posture will cause mental laziness and affect your alertness. 

• There are many meditations that have you close your eyes, but for this one keep your eyes open. It will help you stay alert and reduce sleepiness. 
• Now bring your attention to your breathing. Keep your mouth closed and breathe through your nostrils. 
• Focus on the way the air comes through your nostrils and down your throat, filling the lungs. Follow the breath as it leaves your body in the reverse order. 
• When your attention wanders from observing the breath—you have fallen into focusing on a thought – maybe even a stream of thoughts. 
• No big deal. Just recognize that you have left the present moment—label the thinking as thought and come back to an inhale. 
• Repeating this process of losing your focus on the breath and coming back is what creates a stronger and more stable mind. 
• Judging yourself or being hard on yourself when you are lost in thought will only cause more thought. Learning to touch thought with your awareness and return to your breathing will cultivate the ability to let go. 

More insights to come from Costa Rica.

This morning has been a great lesson for me about excuses.