Intrinsic Freedoms
24 May 2012 Leave a Comment
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Relationships, the place in the middle and the Freedom to choose
There will never be a time in your life where you are not in relationship…. For every thing you observe and perceive is because of your relationship with something or someone else. Relationships provide us with a comparative experience through which we are able to better understand ourselves. To elaborate, this environment of relationships provides a platform for balance of contrast from which we can make increasingly improved choices.
Making better choices for ourselves serves ourselves as well as our team or community environment, whether it be at work, or when interacting with the person who serves us coffee at the local coffee shop in the morning.
From the contrast we observe in our relationships with others, for instance, noticing how we don’t want to be treated, compared to how we would like to be treated, we are able to re-calibrate. The contrast allows us to bring in more of what serves us and less of what is doesn’t serve us.
So to take it a step further, without the comparative experience provided in these relationships and interactions, we would be unable to realize any kind of understanding of ourselves. Therefore, it might be accurate to say that our existence would seize if it were not for relationships.
Everyone we interact with on some level serves as a “Guru”. Be it a difficult relationship or a harmonious one.
The “difficult” relationship can become an opportunity for us too ‘see’ ourselves. To ‘see’ ourselves is not always the easy part especially when we think the other person is to blame or that we are somehow victimized by them. When we feel victimized in some way, we remove from ourselves the power to change the situation or current status of the relationship. So how do we move from the place where we feel that we are the victim to a place where we believe we have to power to change?
Our Freedom Lies in our perceptions
In yoga we use the word “satchitananda”. This word when broken down into 3 parts translates as such. Sat: means “isness” and sense of being or truth. Chit: means consciousness and Ananda literally joy, bliss or happiness.
Between what happens to us (the stimulus/Sat) and the response (chit) to the stimulus is a space, and in that space lies a freedom and our power to choose our response. And in those choices lie our growth and our happiness (ananda).
The more we exercise our freedom to choose, the more we can influence the liberty (the options/alternatives available to us) we have in our lives. Eventually your mind will influence and create your world. Your response to the stimulus will eventually affect the stimulus itself.
As a teenager, I developed a very serious illness and for a few years I lost a few liberties. I lost all of my friends, I could no longer walk, I could no longer do for myself all of the simple things many do on a daily basis. The relationship I had with my health, for a while, was not a good one. I was definitely feeling “Victim” to my circumstances. At one point along the way I knew I had a choice; I could continue to see my circumstance as a loss of my own freedom, I could continue to be “victimized” or I could switch my perception of the relationship I was having with the stimulus. I realized that I could respond to it in which ever way I chose. I decided I had a choice. I chose my happiness. Slowly I began to see this illness as something like a gift. A gift that for some reason was inviting me to become more. To expand beyond my current mind set to a place where my response to the stimulus was one of trust in life and ultimately freedom from the hold that my illness I felt had placed on me. I asked myself “What is this situation asking of me?” instead of “ what am I asking of it?”.
Viktor Frankl calls this “the last of the human freedoms” – This means that we have the power to choose ones response to any condition, anything that happens. cultivate a sense of meaning and awareness.
This is why I teach Yoga. I feel that it is my purpose to help people expand beyond the boundaries they have placed on themselves. That in the times of major contrast we can choose our response in any given ‘relationship’, be it a circumstance or an interaction with another. That the highest value of all is to choose your attitude within situation over which you have no control. That in any given situation we have a choice as to our perception of what we see happening. That in that ’place in the middle’ is an opportunity for insight and learning and ultimately a connection to our intrinsic Freedom.
Check out a few of these awesome books that help contribute to this blog:
Vicktor Frankl’s book: “A man’s search for meaning”
“The Vortex” - by Ester and Jerry Hicks
“7 Habits of Highly Effective People” - by Stephen R. Covey
Facing our Fears – A new blog by one of Yoga 108′s founders ‘Jenny Kay’
02 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
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“Ever wanted to do something, but your were too scared? Check out this story by Jenny Kay who took small steps towards her dream and eventually made the leap to doing something she loves, everyday.
Where two worlds meet
04 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment
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This past week I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to assist my amazing teacher Todd Norian at the Kripalu center for yoga and health for a week long holiday retreat. I return home completely charged with the awesome vibe that Todd and my amazing Kula (community of the heart) create. Once again after a long and inspiring retreat I feel totally fired up and ready to go. I leave, taking with me a great sense of fullness. This is a feeling of complete wholeness, support and a trust that the Universal always conspires in my favour. A feeling that I am so utterly happy simply just Being…
So here I am, I arrive home after a 6 hour drive and its 30 min to midnight on New Years Eve; I set my bags down and well….my first thought “back to reality”. Dishes to wash, bags to unpack, cat to tend to and let me not mention the rest of the long list of things going through my head in that one split second. So here is the big question; how do you integrate your spiritual or yoga lifestyle within ‘everyday’ happenings and to do’s?
How do you get passionate about your life even within the moments of the mundane?
I have a fridge magnet that I bought years ago and it reads “Be in Awe of what you have seen before but never thought about.” In my mind it is not only about the ‘Awe’ but it is about a discipline or rather as my teacher Todd says “a discipleship”. It is about being a disciple to yourself (to the divine within), a discipleship to the life you lead or to the life you want to have. Ask yourself “How do I want to feel today?” and with every breath and every thought dedicate yourself to serving only the highest within your life…within yourself. Place your heart in even the simplest of moments of your life. In Tantric philosophy we say that this life is a gift, it to be honoured. Not principally that, but in addition my teacher Bill Mahoney says “Your birth is a miracle, your being here is a miracle. So why are you wasting your valuable energy on things that do not matter.” You get one life and it is precious, so don’t waste it…even the small parts of it.
So when you make your morning coffee or tea, prepare supper, get the kids dressed and head off to work, or whatever it is you do in the seemingly mundane moments of your life, take a small sec to ask yourself “Am I living this moment fully? Will I get this moment back? And then depending on what your answer is (if you’re catching the essence of this blog then hopefully the answer is “Yes, I want to live this moment fully!”) then step into the present; be conscious in every moment of your life, as many moments as possible. “Get into” the small things within your life and make them spiritual, make them fun, make them valuable. In my mind this is living life to its fullest. This is truly living through your heart. Don’t live in the next step. Live in the moment.
Riding the Waves
16 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
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A few years ago I was in the surfing capital of Central/South America, in the unique country of Costa Rica. The ocean there is spectacular and so so beautiful; you can sit and watch the ocean forever. The changing of the waves from small to large as the wind rises, the rising and the falling of the tides. I had become stuck on the idea of surfing so finally my boyfriend at the time and I decided to take a group surfing lesson… and I could not wait! (come on we’re in Costa Rica, how can we not?) Our surf instructor guides us through the basics of how to get from the start position of lying to standing in one jumping movement. So off we go in to this beautiful clear water. To get up to standing is not as easy as it looks. Not just that, if you do get up (probably after quite a few tries I might add) how the hell do you stay on the board? (I think this is a part of the lesson the teacher might have failed to cover) At this point I really start to understand where the expression “sink or swim” comes from… After about an hour in the water we had gotten the hang of it. As time went on I learned is that we need to learn to gauge the waves. As you see the waves coming you think to yourself “is this one I can ride or is this too big for me to handle and instead I can ride the wave in a more peaceful way by diving underneath it”? Upon reflection (of this most incredible experience) I think about how this reflects the nature and pulsation of our lives. From the moment of our birth we are taught how to “get up to standing” but when it comes to actually gauging those waves of life who is there to teach us or tell us what is what? Does anyone tell you “Ok, so there are going to be some really good times, and some really bad times and they will not be easy but here is how you get through it…”. To me this is why we practice yoga. We practice to get to know how we can push our limits, to push to the edge of our boundaries and we also learn when it is time to back off and dive under the wave to a softer place. Through the practice of yoga we try and make the waves of our life not so dramatic. Instead of riding these huge waves and trying not to drown we learn that there is a way to make the wave seem smaller and less harsh. We lean that within the pulsation of our practice there is a pulsation within the poses. To much muscle energy and the muscles of the body become hard and tight and too much organic energy the muscle and joints and loose thus leaving room for injury. As we learn to gauge the waves within our Asanas we learn that a balance of just the right amount of hugging in and of extension so that the pose has more balanced action. The practice of yoga is off the mat. We try and learn from our reflections on the mat so that we can ride the waves of life more gracefully. We ride the waves so that ultimately we remember that our inner most nature is one of Joy and the utmost bliss.
Grace Anatomy
09 Feb 2010 Leave a Comment
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You know when there are those times when you have a decision to make and we sometimes feel like we do not know the right answer. Often our first reaction is to say “I don’t know?” however we always do know. If we go deep within and that is where all answers lie. In the style of yoga that I practice the first principle is what we call “Open to Grace”. In Opening to Grace we open ourselves to the possibility that we can be more and expand into the divine fullness into which we are born. We open to trust the flow of our lives with the understanding that we are constantly supported by an unseen universal force called “Grace”. Recently I was on the phone with a girlfriend of mine who is an Anusara teacher in New York and we were having a little girl talk about a few things that were happening in our lives. She was telling me that she had a decision to make and that she wanted to let go of a business partnership and that she was not sure what to do. Out of know where I say to her “ but of course you know what to do, listen to your emotions and they will tell you all you need to know. Listening to your emotions is like opening to Grace. When you think of one possible solution and it gives you a bad feeling, and you think of the alternative and it makes you feel good then which one do you think is the right one? When we open to the wisdom within, the truth of our emotions we open to the abundance of divine wisdom that is incubating within all of us all the time.If we open to grace, grace will manifest itself in the form of the truth that lies in our emotions.
Season of Darkness and Introspection
02 Feb 2010 1 Comment
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Now in this season of darkness, reminds us that we really are a part of nature. We feel like staying in, sleeping more and eating a little extra. Our bodies’ natural tendency is to gain an extra layer of fat (insulation of course 
) to keep us warm in these cozy winter months. Ahhhh, a great season for a little hibernation time…
For years, I have fought this feeling of slowing down (especially with my natural tendency towards non-stop action, ha ha), however for the first time this year I realize that the fighting of this natural flow of nature and thus of our own inner rhythms is how we involuntarily release our precious energy.
During these cold winter months it is the time to ‘turn inwards’ and take reflection of ourselves and of our lives. These times of darkness allow for a time of discovery of the treasures that lie within us, just waiting to be discovered. It is a season abundant with introspection and insight. What do we want? What do we need? Does what we want serve our highest good and the highest good of others? Do these things bring us happiness, bliss and Joy?
Looking to the future
24 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in 1 Tags: future, Montreal Yoga
Driving in my car I find I have neck discomfort, all the way into my trapezius. It has become my habit as of late, especially taking this yoga teacher training, to figure out how to bring myself back to a place of comfort and alignment.
I take my throat back and settle my head more towards the back body as though I am resting my head back into an imaginary head rest. I immediately feel my head lighter and my neck softens and relaxes.
Further on in the day I am sitting at my computer and again I notice a similar discomfort in my neck. I begin to notice my posture and see that my head is extended forward almost like a turtle sticking its head out of the shell.
I always love to reflect on how my posture is reflective of what is happening in my life. The action of my head sticking forward (which we all do because we all drive and use the computer) indicated to me that because I was “looking forward” that I was hurting myself physically by looking to deeply(or to forward) into the future. How often do I make myself crazy by worrying about what “might happen”. As a society we think about our future constantly. What I realized from this is that the beginning processes of manifesting out future starts in the present. Our thoughts and feelings in the present moment are what we should be focusing on. Those thoughts and feelings are what we should keep positive and in line with what we desire. Ultimately what we want in the present is to feel good, to have hope and expectation for what is to come and to do that through living the present moment to its full, abundant potential. Leave the future alone and we will start to see that pure potential resides within every moment.
Creating Space: Reflections on Yoga – “Off the Mat”
19 Nov 2009 Leave a Comment
in Montreal Yoga: Off the Matt Tags: Awakening, Lachine Canal, Montreal Yoga, Running, Spiritual
Running before yoga along the Montreal Lachine Canal
Before a yoga class, I was running along the Montreal Lachine Canal yesterday, back towards the city. I looked at the amazing view of the city; however I noticed that I was seeing through different eyes. For some reason I was seeing and appreciating the city as though I was a tourist.
I then asked myself “What brought about this change in perception”?
What does bring about changes in our perception or our change of awareness? I have always has the belief that one needs to have a major event occur in ones life to bring a spiritual awareness. However what about the small changes of perception that occur on an everyday basis? What brings about those “paradigm shifts”?
For example…It was as though I had “opened my eyes”… And I thought of this saying, “open your eyes”. What actually happens in the physical body when we open and widen our eyes? If you think about it, space is created around the pupil and more light is allowed to enter.
As I say so often, what happens in the physical is mirrored in the mind (meaning the mind expands and opens) and manifested the outer world (thus seeing that your life has changed).
Thus by creating space in the body, we create space in the mind. Then we allow room for grace and new awakenings to enter into our consciousness.
