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Inspiration in the Holiday Season

Saturday Morning Ramblings:

The sunrise was amazing – I no longer sleep in like a teenager, instead I get up, meditate and watch the sunrise.  Pinks and purples on snow-capped mountains.  I know I should have taken a picture to share with you, but I was too caught up in the moment.

Speaking of being caught in the moment, here is a video that should blow your mind.  Balance, Strength Endurance – is this yoga, ballet, dance, or meditation?  Whatever, you want to call it, it took my breath away.  I love Cirque du Soleil.

It has been a busy week for this blogger.  I have found blogging to be like yoga and meditation and practicing piano.  I have to set aside time to do it every day.  Otherwise, I won’t get to it.  It is not that I don’t like doing any of these things, I love doing them all, but they each take careful attention, quiet space, effort and energy.  And I am a perfectionist, so sometimes it is easier to put something off, than take the chance of just not getting it right. Oh there is a whole blog in that last statement. I won’t go into it now, but I’ll give you a hint – how do I let go of that inner judge and just flow in the present moment?  How can I do this in all aspects of my life and not just on the mat?

My son turned 18 this week.  Hard to believe that he can be that old.  And here is something I especially appreciate about him.  He loves being a child.  Not in a childish, whiny, self-indulgent, needy 2-year-old way, but in the love of the moment way.  He likes to play, read, and hang out with us.  He really enjoys each moment, and is not afraid to be silly or sad, quiet or loud, intellectual or goofy.  He is not afraid to be himself.  I wish I was that clear when I was his age.

Gyrokenesis: Here is something new to try.  Developed by a former ballet dancer, gyrokinesis, is a gentle flowing of the body, and lubricating of the spine and joints. After the hour-long session I felt warm, energized, and calm.   “Gyrotonic incorporates three-dimensional circular motion to promote coordinated and efficient movement throughout the body while simultaneously strengthening the muscular attachments and ligamentous tissue.”
The Gryotonic Movement Center in Wallingford is a good place to go check it out – from a yoga perspective, it felt very much like getting in touch with the Kundalini, and if you haven’t done that yet, you should.

Holiday Cheer:  I do love this season.  Well, actually, I don’t like being cold, but I do love the lights, the spirit, the parties and the food.  Speaking of food, you must check out this website.  I plan on making everything in their most recent post.  Another thing I love about this season is the Nutcracker.  Probably because I have two children who are ballet dancers, but also because I really like the music.  Try plugging this in while you do your holiday baking and see if it doesn’t put a bounce in your step.

Holiday Giving:  Another thing I like about this season is the giving of gifts.  There really is something special about finding just the right gift for your brother/sister/husband/wife/best friend, etc.  But sometimes it can be a challenge to find just the right thing.  In this time of extreme abundance and poverty, we don’t want to be cluttering our friends and families’ home with just more stuff.  So, I share with you my go-to, living-in-balance and doing-a-mitzvah gift of the season: Nothing But Nets.  These guys have figured out a way to save lives, fight malaria, and work together with local NGOs and communities in the Horn of Africa to stop the spread of malaria.  A $10.00 donation could save five young lives and that is a big deal.

Okay, I am off to go gather cedar boughs for the home, string up some twinkling lights and watch my children create magic on stage in the Nutcracker.

Have a great week.  Shalom & Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi

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Words of Wisdom

To be a person of truth, be swayed neither by approval nor disapproval.
Work at not needing approval from anyone and you will be free to be who you really are.
– Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

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Yoga in Schools

Yes, yoga does make a difference. Here is a school in California, that has not only tried teaching yoga in the school, but has decided to make it part of their mandatory curriculum.  And guess what?  The kids like it, and are doing better not just in their classrooms but also find the benefits extending to the rest of their lives.

I commend this school for embracing yoga as part of their daily curriculum.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7390063n

Oh, and if you are wondering, that is snow falling on the screen.  Happy December.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

 

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Seattle Yoga Rave

Want to stay up all night and do yoga? Well now you can. Live music provided by DJ Karsh Kale and DJ Miguel Alvarado.
December 17th, 9:00pm – 2:00pm
Check it out:

http://seattleyogarave.org/

Sounds like fun to me. If I can stay up that late…

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Miracle of Life

Just in case you didn’t get a chance to go outside today and see the beauty of the snow-capped mountains, and the glow of the last remaining leaves, I offer you this short film from TED Talks.  There is inspiration all around us.  And sometimes it takes the mathematicians to show us the way.

 

Also, a poem by Omar Khayyam (11th century sufi mystic) for your enjoyment:

For in and out, above, about, below,
‘Tis nothing but a Magic Shadow-show,
          Play’d in a Box whose Candle is the Sun,
Round which we Phantom Figures come and go.

Enjoy & Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi

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December News and Local Events

Haystack Rock seen from Cannon Beach

Image via Wikipedia

Hey Everyone.

I hope you are all feeling well and nurtured after this past Thanksgiving weekend. We traveled down to Portland for 2 nights with the family and then on to Cannon Beach for a weekend of friends and more family.  I so enjoyed having time to spend with people who are all so important to me. I also spent plenty of time cooking special dishes for the holidays.  For me, cooking is always a pleasure, so that too was a boon.  We even got to spend some time walking on the beach under blue skies. Ahhh.

Speaking of Cannon Beach – be sure to mark your calendar and reserve space at the Cannon Beach Yoga Festival, March 2-4, 2012.  This is going to be an amazing weekend of yoga, with a line-up of Master teachers.  I spoke with the director this weekend and she said that the teacher list will probably include both Sarajoy Marsh and Aadil Palkhivala.  If you are in need of lodging, I know of a few places, and have a condo that sleeps at least 8 that will be available for rent.  Grab a friend and make a weekend of it.

On much shorter notice, Girish will be here this weekend, playing with his band and singing kirtan in an intimate event in Seattle with his beautiful voice.  I know you love his music, ’cause I’ve seen you opening your hearts and moving to it in class.
Check it out at Source Yoga, University Place, Seattle.

Also this weekend, Forest Yoga master teacher Kelly Rush will be leading a workshop on hips, necks and shoulders at Two Rivers Yoga.  If you want to find freedom of movement in any of these areas, do drive down the beautiful road to Two Rivers Yoga in Carnation Saturday morning at 8:30am.

Swedish Hospital Yoga located in Sammamish Highlands is up and running.  Classes are available throughout the week all day long and most are open to all level students and drop-ins are welcomed  The majority of classes focus on therapeutics, and the teachers come from a variety of teaching backgrounds. Follow this link to see the schedule and sign up for a class or two.  I teach there at 7:45am on Mondays and noon on Tuesdays & Thursdays.

Finally, I want to encourage everyone to make sure to take time out for yourselves this month.  I know there will be plenty to do, what with holiday shopping, baking and parties, but you don’t want to find yourself tired and burned out.  Not now you don’t.  So take a break now and then, breath deeply into your pranayama practice, focus your mind on your breath and let go into the infinite peace of all being.  Oh, and come to class and stretch your asana.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Thanksgiving – Begining a Practice of Gratitude

Thanksgiving is right around the corner.  Our to-do lists are full, as are our shopping lists.  We will spend a significant amount of time this week cleaning and cooking, and preparing to welcome friends and family into our homes.  We may even travel to join our friends and families in near or distant locations.  This is the time of year when we as a culture sanction taking a few precious moments out of our busy schedules to open our hearts to gratitude.  And we do it in community.  Perhaps we all become yogis on Thanksgiving.

I believe that gratitude is the foundation of yoga.  We start our practice with intention setting and we finish it with gratitude for the practice and our teachers.  We strive to cultivate the niyama of santosa (contentment) on the mat by letting go into each of our asanas; accepting and rejoicing in each asana for the strength and energy it brings to us.  We seek to be present and content for each moment and for each breath during our practice. And finally, we bring our hands together in Namaste in recognition and gratitude for the divine spirit which lives and breaths in all of us.

But once we leave the studio, and move beyond the mat, shouldn’t we also seek to build a mindfulness practice of gratitude?  Medical studies from such esteemed institutions as the Harvard Medical Center note the health benefits of engaging in a practice of mindulness meditation.   Indeed, such practices have been shown to reduce the effects of stress related to chronic health concerns, and loss of loved ones.

The question then, is where and how to begin.  Why not this week with Thanksgiving?

As you prepare for the holiday, take time to note the beauty around you. Notice the red and yellow leaves as they fall to the ground.  Take a moment to be consciously grateful for friends and family. Remember those moments of joy shared with different family members.  Appreciate the bounty in the stores, the truckers who delivered it there and the farmers who brought it forth from the earth. Open your heart with gratitude for the artists who bring beauty to our eyes and ears; for the activists and foundations who provide shelter and services to those in need; and the for physicians who bring healing.  The list can go on and on.  Be thankful for each moment of life, the beauty that surrounds you and the kindnesses you experience.

Lest someone should accuse me of polyannaism, let me state that there is no denying that these are difficult times we’re living.  Challenges of hunger, poverty, racism, sexism, exploitation and yes death are a part of our daily existence.  The goal though, is not to descend into to pain of these experiences.  The understanding gained from practicing mindful gratitude keeps us from getting lost in the loss of freedoms and life.  So even when you are stuck in traffic, late for a meeting, low on blood sugar, or suffering from illness or the loss of a loved one, you can still allow gratitude to soften the moment.

Breath in, look around and remember many wonderful moments in your life and community.  Practice santosa and gratitude, both on the mat and beyond.
Happy Thanksgiving
Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Truth is Too Simple for Words

I found this poem today, and loved it.  Please read it, listen to it  and share it.

truth is too simple for words
before thought gets tangled up in nouns and
verbs
there is a wordless sound
a deep breathless sigh
of overwhelming relief
to find the end of fiction
in this ordinary
yet extraordinary moment
when words are recognized
as words
and truth is recognized
as everything else

By Nirmala

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Living Your Dharma

Living your Dharma

Insights from the Bhagavad Gita

Action is a duty, but let not your ego crave the fruits of action, be not attached to either action or inaction.
Bhagavad Gita, Chapt 2, vs. 47

Okay, you are in your yoga class.  You are feeling great.  The asanas are humming in your body.  The prana is flowing.  You feel alive, strong, flexible, vibrant with life.  And the next thing you know your teachers throws you a new asana, one you have seen in books, but have never before tried.  And you think, “that’s it.  I am going to master that.”

“Bend the knees, place your right elbow in your right armpit, lift up and reach your left leg out behind you in the air.”

Splatt.  Before you know it, you are in a heap on the ground.  This is when you hear the loud voice of the Ego coming through.  The string of thoughts that go rampaging through your brain – anything from “get up before anyone sees you”, to “I told you that you are not strong enough, flexible enough, whatever enough to do this yoga stuff.”

Ah, now you can really practice your yoga.  For it is not about mastering any particular pose.  Yoga is about being present in the action, in the moment, for the sake of the action itself, and NOT for any specific rewards that will be achieved as the result of an action.

The other day I was trying to learn how to float up into a handstand, and then down into crow.  Try as I might, I could not seem to raise up through that lovely pike position into a handstand and then settle down so that my knees rested lightly on my biceps.  Soon I found myself obsessed with self-doubt.  “I will never be able to do this.  I am too old for this.  I will never have a strong enough core…”  And then thankfully, I was reminded that the only thing that really mattered was the effort in that moment.  I needed to let go of the fruits of my actions.  I won’t tell you that after this awakening I suddenly did find myself floating effortlessly through the air. No, but my practice did get lighter.

The next day I came across the above cited verse, and breathed in relief.  Even Arjuna, that mighty warrior, had to be reminded not to hold too fast to the results of his actions.  We are here to live our dharma.  There are many things we try and do, and the blessing lies in the doing.  So, whether it is handstands, cartwheels, mountain climbing or other tasks like dishes and laundry and floors, remember to breathe into the moment and let the fruits of those actions be – without prejudice or celebration.  This is yoga, living and breathing in this moment and the next.  This is living your dharma.

Shalom & Namaste,
Diana Bonyhadi