wisdom

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One – The Event

The tenth anniversary of the bombing of the World Trade Center in New York is this weekend.  September 11th changed the course of American history.  This was the first time we felt any physical effects of war upon our own soil.  We were struck by surprise; at the hatred and animosity that engendered the attack, and by our own fear and hatred in response.  Thousands of lives were lost in an instant and many thousands more have been lost over the years as we sought to assuage

our pain through war.

But war is not and never has been the answer.

And I am happy to announce that in Seattle this weekend, there will be an historic event of remembrance for September 11th.

This September 11, Choose Love and Unity.

Tens of thousands of people will be joining musicians, speakers, and celebrities, both live and on the web to intentionally send love, compassion and unity to all of humanity. Come to he Memorial Stadium at 3:46 PM Pacific Time on September 11th, and be a part of this monumental transformational event will be happening in Seattle at exactly 10 years and 10 hours after the 9/11 tragedy.

Click on the link in blue and learn more.

ONE: THE EVENT

WE ARE ONE
ONE with ourselves
ONE with each other
ONE with our planet
MAKE THE SHIFT

This is Karma Yoga, yoga of action.  This is living your yoga.  Make this September 11th truly a day of remembrance – remembering our interconnected with all beings.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Happy Mother’s Day

I am starting early.

Help me collect a list of all the things that mothering means to you.  I think we will all be surprised by how much we do for how many, and in the reading and remembering we will be nourished.

And in your practice this week, embrace yourself in mother love – that strong, fearless, limitless well of compassion.  Open your heart to love.

Shalom & Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi

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Aparigraha – Living in Balance With My Computer

One who perseveres on the path of noncovetousness gains deep understanding of the meaning of life. (Patanjali Sutra, 2:39, trans. B. Bouanchaud)

 

Aparigraha, one of the yamas of the eight-fold yogi path is frequently defined as the path of non-covetousness, or a letting go of the desire for possessions. The yamas are the personal restraints, and in this abundant consumer-driven society, aparigraha may be one of the hardest yamas to practice.  I mean it is easier to practice saucha (cleanliness) by taking a shower everyday than to practice aparigraha when it comes to wishing for nice soap and fluffy white towels to go with that shower.

Anyway, the things is, my computer is causing me so much frustration, that I am experiencing just the opposite of aparigraha.  I  WANT a new computer.  I NEED a new computer.

I am so used to being able to sit down at my computer and write whenever I want, and then be able to upload it whenever I want.  I like being able to check my email several times a day, and to read the news online. I have gotten so used to having my computer as a regular part of my leisure and work day, that as it fails, I am driven to a state of frustration and distraction that is unnerving.

I am even I am having difficulties feeling compassion for my computer.  At first I would quietly do a restore when I saw a blue screen.  Then I would do a defrag.  Then I would do a virus fix, and then all would be well for a while.  Good computer, thank you computer.  But now after several months of this and a recent check to the computer geek squad, the dang thing is still failing and running hot.

So, the question is, how do we find balance between our wants and our needs.  Clearly I need a functional computer.  And, I am lucky to have this computer.  But…it could be better, faster, more reliable… And this is when we (or least I am) forced to re-evaluate the equation of time, money and peace of mind, and the practice of aparigraha.  I don’t want to be driven by my desire for a cool new computer.  But at the same time I don’t want to waste time and money and personal energy on technology which causes hours of frustration and loss of money, not to mention a lack of personal clarity.

Aparigraha is about learning to let go of our need for possessions.  And in my mind it is about bringing a personal  awareness to our sense of entitlement and neediness.  Maybe I will go out and get a new computer.  Maybe I won’t, but the very fact that I have spent time and energy considering the question of need vs. want brings me, I hope, one step closer to practicing aparigraha.

Perhaps, if we all stopped to pause before engaging in that next purchase decision, we would all be further along the road to living our yoga beyond the mat.

 

Shalom & Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi

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Skiing, Sunday Salutatuions and Interfaith

Now there is a title.  Really, I just wanted to let you know that this entry is all about everything, and that everything is connected.

So, I went skiing on Saturday.  Haven’t been in 3 years, and I admit that I was a bit concerned about my ability to stay upright on those skis.  I was afraid of getting hurt (no time for that), and at not being as good as I used to be.  And the good news is, the skiing was wonderful.  It took a couple of runs, but I found my rhythm and I let go into the  joy and beauty of the moment.  I realized that I had let my attachments to the past and my fear of the future keep me from doing something I truly enjoy.  I had also let the business of my life get in the way of my living of life.

On Sunday morning I was back at Village Green Yoga for my Sunday Salutations Class.  This class combines yoga asana with philosophy and spirit.  My day of skiing had left me neither sore nor tired.  In fact, I was stronger and more revitalized than I had expected.  Taking time off from my routine had restored my energy.  I was reminded once again of the importance of staying present and living in the moment.  And I was reminded that our connections to the divine are invigorated by our joyful participation in life.  Class was amazing, and all of us were renewed and inspired by our practice together.

In the afternoon, I attended an Interfaith Gathering called Tending Adam’s Garden.  Jews, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists came together to discuss what we can do together to help repair the world. This is a monthly meeting that brings members of different faith communities together to address the critical issues that are confronting our world today.  At the heart of it, is the understanding that while our faith traditions may be different, our hopes and dreams for a life of full-fill-ment, wholeness and connectedness are shared.  Here are just some of the responses that were given to the question  “What are the essential qualities that are needed to repair the world?”:

  • Open-heartedness, commitment, courage, education, self-awareness, recognition of our interconnectedness, respect for one another and ourselves, compassion, the willingness to listen, patience, belief in our capacity to do good, and a connection to the divine.

As I listened to the group discussion, I was brought back to yoga.  Not only are all of these qualities identified in the 8-fold path, but many of them are also specifically identified in the yamas and the niyamas.  And as I think about our practice of yoga, I am reminded that on the mat we are encouraged to practice with compassion, to study ourselves and the teachings, to listen with an open heart, to practice with ashimsa, and at times we need both courage and patience to find the next pose.  And certainly we must practice with compassion.  If all goes right, and we stay very present, we can’t help but feel our deep and abiding connection to the eternal divine wisdom that lives within all of us.

So, skiing, yoga and interfaith.  It is all connected.  Have a great week.  Do something you love.  Share it with someone who nurtures your spirit.  Practice your yoga with an open hear, both on the mat and beyond.  Look  at the world and pitch in to make a bit better.  And rejoice in our interconnectedness – with each other and the Divine.

 

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Jean Houston on Public Radio Network

“Tending the gardens of our lives involves a kind of cosmic yoga; we yoke ourselves back to remembering that we are made of the same stuff as the Universe from which we continuously arise second by second”

Jean Houston

Have you ever had a chance to hear or see Jean Houston?j

She is one of those magical women who reminds us of who we really are and all that we can be.  She leads us on a journey of self-discovery and helps us to see our part in the global cosmos. She is also really cool, insightful and very vibrant and funny.

And guess what?  This time you don’t have to cough up any money to hear her.  Which is unusual, as she is the real thing and people all over the world turn to her for leadership on personal, interpersonal and international issues. And usually you do have to pay.

But tomorrow it is free.

So, check it out Friday at 2:00pm PST on PRN (Progressive Radio Network)

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Voices of Wisdom

Check this out.

A radio show dedicated to the voices of wisdom.  It’s sorta like NPR, but its PRN – Progressive Radio Network.  And it is on everyday, all day long.  Cool, now I have a new preset for my radio.  A place that fills the need for something between news, which is mostly depressing and music which allows me to check out.  Without having to buy or download anything, I can hear lectures and dialogues of people who are really looking to see and be with the world at its deepest level.

Imagine spending your morning with; Dr. Helen Caldicott, an afternoon with Bill Thompson, or an evenings commute with Jim Hightower.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the present – moment that is.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Inspired by Andrew Harvey

Andrew Harvey & Karuna Erikson

Heart Yoga in Seattle

It’s been over twenty years since I had the pleasure to participate in a workshop with Andrew Harvey.  It is no understatement to say that he is a wise man of great proportions.  I remember clearly the sense of wonder at his gentle ways and his immense wisdom.  He is perhaps most famous for his translations of Rumi, and his gentle rendering of other great sufi teachings.  He is in short a modern mystic; a man capable of leading all of us towards the deeper turnings of our souls.

Monday night, as I participated in the live teleconference, a precursor to the Heart Yoga workshop to be held here in Seattle at the end of March, I was again struck by Andrew’s intense intellect and deep commitment to helping us find our path to the sacred through Heart Yoga.  To hear the full content of the teleconference, click on the following link: download the recording here .

If you are interested in deepening your yoga practice, and strengthening your commitment to your life’s work here on earth, I encourage you to consider this fabulous opportunity to spend 5 days with two amazing teachers of yoga and mystical traditions.

Heart Yoga and Sacred Activism                                              Registration:  click here

Syllabus:  click here March 28 – April 1, 2011

Logistics (transport, rooms, meals, map, etc.):      click here

Eight 1-hour prep videos by Andrew & Karuna:      click here (from Daily Om)

From the Syllabus:  “This initiation will open your heart to love, strengthen and infuse your body with light, and deepen and inspire your yoga practice (whatever your level of experience) as well as your commitment to sacred service. You will experience the profound union of the radiant body with the awakened heart, and the love, peace, and sacred passion that is birthed from this marriage.”

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Insight from a weekend with Sara Powers

Greetings,

I spent this past weekend with Sara Powers who is the founder of Insight Yoga.  Sara and her husband Ty have been leading yoga classes and workshop for many, many years, and although I had not yet had the opportunity to study with her in person, I had been familiar with her through her video “Insight Yoga.”  As the only yoga video with which I like to practice, it felt like re-meeting an old friend when I walked into to take her workshop.

Sara Powers has set her heart and mind to the integration of yoga, meditation and transpersonal psychology.  So to spend a weekend with her, was an experience focused within, on the prospect of “being in yoga”, rather than of “doing yoga.”  And what a pleasant prospect it was.

As everyone knows who reads this sporadic blog, my focus has always been on “living yoga,” whether it occurs on the mat or hopefully even beyond the mat.  Thus to spend a weekend focused inward, breathing our way into the deepest parts of ourselves, was a great blessing.  I will admit however, that I am not so adept at being still for such long periods of time.  Not only did my body shout out its discomfort, but my brain was also busy, sending me all sorts of messages.

And yet that was what we were there to do.  Become aware of the ramblings of the brain.  We sat meditation before and after asana practice.  We practiced meditation in the asana practice.  In fact, yoga with Sara is meditation in stillness and in motion.  Our work in meditation was not to shunt away the messages of the brain but rather to become “mindful” of them.  Instead of noting a thought and saying “I see you now go away,” we were to acknowledge the thought and follow it. By allowing ourselves to follow a thought, we engage in a process of self-acknowledgement, and self-affirmation.  It becomes liberating to enter this process, and a bit entertaining.  For example, here is just one of the thought trains that I followed…

“Breathe in to the hara. Awareness of breathing into the hara. Am I thinking my breath?  Am I focusing on my breath? Am I focusing too much on my breath? Am I distracting myself from my breath? Am I really meditating?  Mindfulness… What happens if I spend the whole time analyzing the focus of my breath?  Will I no longer be practicing mindfulness? Follow a thought … There are no thoughts … How did I do that?  Oops, there is a thought.  My thighs are beginning to hurt … Should pay more attention to hip openers, or maybe I should pay more attention to closed hip positions … how to teach this balance …  Are my students getting it?  How can I serve them better”

Okay, you get the idea.  Not only did my mind search around for things to latch onto, but under it all, was a common thread of “am I good enough?”  And I doubt I am the only one out there who is constantly filled with self-doubt.  But that is the power of a mindfulness practice.  We can see how often we go to these places, and by doing so disempower those voices of self-doubt.  Recognizing our communal need for love and affirmation, and the collective tendency towards self-doubt, we in turn become more accepting and nurturing as individuals and as community.

Now that is pretty darn cool.

So, take some time (ten minutes) to sit in contemplation of your thoughts.  Acknowledge them  for what they are.  Enjoy the process.  Enjoy letting go.  Live your yoga.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Winter Solstice and the Balance of Yoga

Winter Solstice and a Lunar Eclipse – powerful forces of light and dark – all in one evening.  Wow, I am still trying to wrap my brain around the possibilities.  Last time these two events occurred simultaneously was 456 years ago.  I will have to ask my friend and ayurvedic astrologer, Melanie Farmer, to comment on the synchronicity of these events and their possible effects on our doshic equilibrium.

On the one hand, now that the solstice has passed, I know the days are going to get longer.  With each day we will have a bit more light.  But the contradiction here is that even though the days will be longer, we will actually be entering more fully into the cold of winter.  At least there is a balance, a bit more light for a bit more cold.

And a lunar eclipse.  Here in the Northwest, we frequently are unable to see this magical event.  But night before last, the skies cleared and the moon was large and full, only to be slowly covered up, not by clouds, but by a shadow.  The moon that is so consistent in its cycle, moved through its cycle yet again, but its light was momentarily oblated by a larger force, the force of a shadow.

So here we are, moving from darkness to light, yet entering into this moment of turning, with a full awareness of the power of our shadow. Because it was indeed our own shadow that covered the moon – the shadow of the earth covering the light of the moon.

In yoga, we are always seeking to achieve balance.  We balance on one leg and one hand (ardha chandrasana), on one leg (vriksasana), on both hands (adho mukha vriksasana), on our heads (salamba sirsasana).  We work to balance our inhalations and exhalations (sama vritti pranayama).  We strive to balance our breath with our asana movements (vinyassa).  And most importantly we seek to balance our  effort/engagement with our ability to let go.

And many times we do find ourselves in balance.  It happens pretty regularly, just like the solstice.  When things are all in place and we exert correct effort, the asana, be it headstand or tree will simply just happen.  Ah, but then we begin to wobble.  Nobody is pushing us, the floor is not moving.  What is happening?  Could it be our shadow?  That little voice inside that continuously questions our ability to be.  “Uh, are your really in that headstand? You sure you have it right.? Can’t believe you are still there, what a lot of work that must be.”  And by the time those shadow thoughts have registered, we are probably all about to fall.

But let us take comfort in the fullness of the eclipse.  Let us allow this amazing event to be a touchstone for our yoga.  While a shadow does indeed pass in front of the moon, the moon does not lose it’s course, and neither should we.  Let us abide in the fullness of the moment.  Let us watch the shadow pass by. Let us not worry or be shaken by the doubts that arise in a moment of darkness.  And then let us pass into the fullness of the asana, the fullness of our breath and balance of our yoga.

Happy Winter.  May you experience the beauty of the season with the fullness of your heart.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

 

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Why I Went To College

Why I went to College

If you ask someone who is about 17 why they are going to apply to college, in most cases, the honest answer would be…because my parents and my college counselor told me to.  In some instances you will hear that the person wanted to learn as much as they could from the best institution possible.  Or they might say they are going to college to play for the best college team in the country.  I highly doubt they will tell you that they are going to college to accrue debt, learn how to party, make friends that last a life time, oh, and maybe learn some accounting, biology, or how to write an essay.

I went to college because it was expected of me, not because I knew what I wanted to do with my life.  I ended up studying international affairs and psychology, becoming captain of my sailing team.  The dual degree led to a fascinating career in mediation and international collaborative problem solving, the sailing led to a great opportunities to crew on some excellent boats.  But, most importantly, because I went to college, I made friends that have supported and nurtured me for ever so many years.

Okay, how is this related to yoga???  Well, today I am flying to Palm Springs to help three of these friends celebrate their birthdays.  My plane was to leave at 1:00.  I got to the airport at noon, I boarded the plane at 12:30.  I sat on the plane till 2:30, I got off the plane – still in Seattle at 3:00.  I got back on a plane at 3:30, and now I am finally heading to Palm Springs. But…  never did I let this get to me.  In fact, it didn’t even occur to me to stress out.  I am thankful they figured out the plane shouldn’t fly while it was still on the ground.  I am thankful there was a fresh plane to take us to our destination.  I am thankful I have friends from 20 years ago I can go hang out with.  And…

I am thankful to my morning practice and my students for giving me the opportunity to deepen our practice together.  I am pretty certain that without the yoga, at this point my body would be complaining, my mind would be complaining and my energy would be all whacked-out.  But as it is, I am calm, happy and centered.

It’s all about staying present.

Letting go of expectations for the future.

Letting go of expectations for the past.

And rejoicing in the moment.

So, when someone asks you why you went to college,  or why you should go to college,  remember, the correct answer is… the parties, the friends, and the ability to write a good essay.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi