If we consider the unbelievable fact that all that we are and all that we will become originated in one tiny cell, we cannot help but be in awe of life. The greatest science fiction stories have nothing on the development of the human body. We are what we come from and if each one of us originates from a miracle, then why would we ever think that our lives deserve to be anything less than extraordinary? Harness that miracle of you and spread it far and wide out in the world. It’s what you were born to do.
“What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle. Your boundaries are your quest.” ~ Rumi
Yoga asks us to find the balance between effort and ease, to seek our edge without going over it. This is the challenge on the mat and the challenge of our lives. We have to dream big to find that edge. We have to play, experiment, and envision a life without boundaries to open ourselves to our true potential.
We don’t know how far we can go until we set out on the greatest adventure we can imagine. Find those boundaries and then seek to transcend them – this is the only rule for extraordinary living. Everything else is up to us.
Yesterday Mom and I saw the Shuttle Enterprise move into her new home by way of the air space outside my apartment. She was a beautiful sight!
After snapping some photos, I wanted to learn more about the plans for her new home on the Intrepid. Over on the Intrepid website for the Shuttle, they’ve cataloged information about the Shuttle’s past, present, and future, complete with futuristic renderings of what they expect the new exhibit to look like later this summer.
If the final frontier gets your heart pumping, head on over and have a look at the site. Though the federal shuttle program has come to an unfortunate end, I’m hopeful that creative exhibits like this will inspire private funders to take up the cause to continue to go where none of us have gone before, to inspire us to seek out new boundaries.
“Why set the stage without having the show?” ~ Alan Finger, Founder of ISHTA Yoga, on the importance of meditation
This week ISHTA Yoga and my teacher, Alan Finger, were featured in the New York Times. The article shed some light on a recent trend at yoga studios – an increase in the demand for and attendance in meditation classes. Considering that yoga is a very physical practice here in the U.S., this recent increase of interest in meditation is causing some many people to rethink the reason we head to the mat.
In India, the birthplace of yoga, the physical and breath practices were a means to an end, and the end was samadhi, or the bliss state, achieved through meditation. The physical and breath practices were used as important components to get the body and mind quiet. In Alan’s words, they set the stage for the main show – the meditation.
This recent uptick in meditation interest has caused me to consider re-formatting my own classes and my personal practice. Maybe more quiet time is needed by all of us, now more than ever. The eye alone use 80% of the body’s sensory energy, so by closing the eyes in meditation we take all of that energy back inside and direct it toward strengthening the mind. It’s a reallocation of our most precious resource. Imagine the possibilities.
I’m excited for the revolution of consciousness that awaits us on the meditation cushion.
Universe, I hear you. The theme of change continues to show up in my life on a very regular basis. And my regular I mean hourly.
My Monday post, We Have to Let Go to Be Free, was about the acceptance and release of emotions to generate transformation. At its essence, this idea gets at what it means to change. We fully believe in change; we crave it; we just have a hard time changing ourselves.
Just after my post went live, I got 3 emails that fell in line with this sentiment of change:
One on the state of French politics:“The situation is so catastrophic that whoever wins it won’t make much difference. The French want change but only on the condition that it doesn’t change anything for them.” ~ Marie-Claude Noel, 72, who said she voted for France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, in the first round of presidential election
One from Mary McManus, a lovely yogi and reader of this blog who wrote the following comment on my Monday post: “This was the theme in my yoga classes this weekend. Love the synchronicity. Love how you so eloquently and succinctly wrote about your experience. Detachment and freedom — it’s so amazing when we let go and feel that freedom creating the space for our Spirit to dance and sing our life song. Here is my blog post about the very same theme — enjoy!”
One from DailyGood: “People don’t resist change. They resist being changed!” ~ Peter Senge
The collective message is clear:What we wish to see manifested on a large-scale must first be manifested on a personal scale.
This idea caused me to really think long and hard about the mechanics of change. It comes down to personal responsibility and the willingness to make an internal shift. My friend, Michael, is an incredible example of someone who wants to see a massive shift in the way we live on and care for our planet. He’s passionate about the sustainability movement and has constructed his life to create as small a carbon footprint as possible. His life is about people and experience, not about the accumulation of tangible stuff. His personal dedication to changing himself and his lifestyle inspires me and challenges me to constantly think about my own dedication to change.
What are you willing to change about your own life to bring about a larger societal change? Can you walk the walk?
“Make it a habit to rest on the roses and not the thorns.” ~ Rumi via Mona Anand, Senior Teacher at ISHTA Yoga
Over the weekend, our yoga teacher training class was facing a long weekend. It was filled with wonderful learning and we were all very happy to be there, though the challenge of it was palpable. We are now getting deep inside the philosophical and physical layers of advanced postures, breathing techniques, and meditation practices. Like all things worth doing, they take effort.
Mona, one of our wonderful teachers, sensed the weariness in us. In the middle of the practice she brought us to a relaxing posture so that our minds could settle and we could check in with how we were feeling. She asked us to follow Rumi’s advice, seeking to rest on the roses and not the thorns. Too often we focus on the challenge of our circumstances; Mona wanted us to take the time to focus on our ease as well.
Our situation may be difficult but somewhere in the midst of it is a place to recharge and gather our strength. It is our center; it is within us always. In times of trouble, we always have a place to turn. Turn in.
“Why do we work so hard on the (yoga) mat? We concentrate and focus so that we can then let go. It’s why we practice the limbs of yoga. It’s the reason for everything we’re doing here.” ~ Mel Brasier, ISHTA Yoga Senior Teacher
On Sunday, we studied bhastrika, a pranyama (breathing) technique in our yoga teacher training. It requires that we fully let go on the exhale, catch the breath, and then fully engage on the inhale. We need both pieces to feel the full benefits of the technique. It’s challenging because if we don’t catch the breath on the bottom of the exhale, then the inhale happens automatically rather than intentionally.
Mel explained to us that this intention of full concentration and full release mirrors the limbs of yoga that we study. First we focus, through our actions on and off the mat, and then we let it all go. We don’t get cold; we release heat. We can’t try to relax; we release our tension. We can’t draw breath in; we create a vacuum within our bodies that makes room for breath. We can’t try to reach samadhi, or the bliss state; we just allow our concentration to fade and then disappear to create a blank screen.
The difference is subtle but powerful. It’s like riding a bike – we concentrate so hard as we’re learning to balance, then we get it, and then we can let it go to fully enjoy the experience of the ride. We begin by gaining control over our own bodies and minds, and then we understand that control so well that we’re able to let it all fall away so that we’re left completely free. Freedom and bliss are found in that pause between the inhale and exhale when we stand on the very edge of our pure potential. All we need to do is show up and let ourselves be.
“If you come to the yoga mat expecting freedom from your emotions, you’ll never be free, just disappointed. Freedom comes when you can fully be with your emotions, watch them, and then let them go.” ~ Mona Anand, Senior ISHTA Yoga Teacher
Mona taught our asana practice on Sunday. It was a heavy back bending day, and by their nature, back bends induce strong emotions concentrated in the area around the heart. Ideally, we hope to feel those emotions and then release them. That latter bit is the tricky part that eludes us all too often. We come to our yoga mat as if it is a refuge, an escape, when truthfully our mat is a mirror. And perhaps a mirror that amplifies the good, the bad, and the ugly. What we live, we bring to the mat.
Mona encouraged us to be with our emotions, all of them, and then find the courage and strength to let them go without judgement. She asked us to soften so that we can release. We sometimes take our feelings and wrap them around us, holding tight to their skirt strings even though we long to be free from them. As it turns out freedom if often scarier than retracing our familiar patterns. Our familiar patterns give us something to work on. Once we’re free, then what will we do?
There’s an executive recruiter who’s been calling me for a few months. Every time we talk and we like each other less and less. She asks a lot of questions, never listens to my very honest answers, and then is annoyed that I’m not interested in the jobs she’s trying to staff (which are in direct contradiction to all of the answers I’ve given to her never-ending list of questions.)
I don’t understand why she keeps calling me, on my office phone number no less. And then on Thursday afternoon, I finally realized that I needed to explain to her exactly why she’s having trouble getting people like me (and everyone I know) to take these postings seriously: they don’t pass the BS test.
She was totally annoyed by my advice. I found a more professional way to explain the BS test but the general sentiment is the same – don’t give me some high-brow job description filled with jargon. Tell me what’s amazing about the company and the team and why I want to be part of it. Don’t try to dazzle me with buzz words like “high-level strategy”, “high-visibility”, “senior-level exposure”. Tell me what a day in my life could be like there and what I’m going to learn. And please don’t tell me what my skills can do for a company. I already know that. Instead, relate to what I care so deeply and passionately about – developing products and services that make people’s lives better.
Corporate HR and executive recruiters need to really push their clients, meaning the hiring leaders. Really push them to accurately represent the jobs they’re looking to fill and exactly what those job descriptions are in plain English. Then they need to tap into their other customer base, the people they’re trying to recruit, and listen, really listen, to exactly what it is those candidates want to do and why. Any other path is just an extraordinary waste of time – for recruiters, for companies, and would-be team members.
I need to post this up in my apartment, particularly as I begin this new chapter of my life that involves great risk in an effort to achieve a life of my own design. Words to live by.
The Dalai Lama’s 18 Rules For Living
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: -Respect for self -Respect for others -Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you have never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
Christa Avampato 