It is the concrete, specific awareness of one’s own act of moving which is so satisfying. Something more is needed than simply body mechanics, that the feelings hidden in the body, the source of all i
The ritual process creates the safety, the predictable, the known. It may be the movements, chants, or song that the group creates to start and end; it is a statment which acts as the container for ch
Know thou the self (atman) as riding in a chariot, the body as the chariot. Know thou the intellect (buddhi) as the chariot driver, and the mind as the reins. The sense, they say are the horses; the o
In the Lord of Yoga is the incomparable seed of omniscience. Being unconditioned by time, he is the teacher of even the ancient teachers. Its sound is the reverberating syllable AUM. Repetition of thi
Observe your mood before and after yoga practice. Most of us feel better after practice. Our bodies feel open, our minds clear. Our ability to concentrate, and experience love also increases through t
First you have to master yourself and then you will become teachers. Teacher is very open, a public park where anybody can walk in; so teacher has to be very clean. Your conduct has to be crystal cl
We can sit in a temple or a cave in India and get so holy, so clear and radiant, the light is pouring out of us. But when we come out of that cave, our old habit patterns tend to reappear, and we come
The Soul of mine within the heart is smaller than a grain a rice, or a barley-corn, or a mustard seed, or a grain of millet, or the kernel of a grain of millet; this Soul of mine within the heart is g
He who knows self as the enjoyer of the honey from the flowers of the senses, ever present within, ruler of time, goes beyond fear. For this self is supreme! --The Vedas
Sit bones connect to earth. Spine stretches towards East and West, towards the new day ahead. The exhale extends, releasing what binds me. I take refuge here, gazing at the front of my legs. Not much
In the secret cave of the heart, two are seated by life’s fountain. The separate ego drinks of the sweet and bitter stuff, Liking the sweet, disliking the bitter, While the supreme Self drinks swee
We do not inspire and expire fully and entirely enough, so that the wave, the comber, of each inspiration shall break upon our extremest shores, rolling till it meets the sand which bounds us, and the
The yoga we practice is not for ourselves alone, but for the Divine; its aim is to work out the will of the Divine in the world. Its object is not personal Mukti, but the liberation and transformation
Setting an intention for each yoga session increases mental focus, and results in a strong practice. Intentions can be general, specific, abstract, or concrete. You might think of them as little pray
Let the five senses and the mind they serve become still. Let awareness itself cease all activity and become watchful. Then you have begun your journey oon e highest path. --Katha Upanishad
We can take yoga to the level of socially engage, and environmentally relevant practice, as well as tune into the energies of various animal souls when we practice. The next time that you practice dog
Delicious breath blows through this body, soft like crushed rosepetal dust. Transparent bones land on mat. Familiar dog folding forward and back, snake the spine around this heart. No tomorrow no (to
In the mirror of the awakened teacher's clear seeing, I could better know my higher sense and my true inner nature. I had distorted picture of myself, and perhaps you have one of yourself. These inval
There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time. This expression is unique. And if you block it,
We can be spacious yet full of loving kindness; full of compassion yet serene. Live like the strings of a fine instrument-not too taught but not too loose. ~The Buddha
Perhaps the most direct route to yoga, bhakti, is the yoga of devotion and the yoga of love. Surrendering to the Divine and serving God consumes the bhakta (one who practices bhakti). On this path of
The hardest metal yields to sufficient heat. Even so must the hardest heart melt before the heat of non-violence. And there is no limit to the capacity of non-violence to generate heat. –Mahatma Gandh
Begin and complete each yoga asana practice with a sitting meditation. Notice the inner chatter, the thoughts that whirl. If you become restless, try not to run away, but ask, who is restless? Watch t
From the conversation and the books of some of my friends I have been almost led to conclude that happiness in the modern world has become an impossibility. I find, however, that this view tends to be
Shanti Yogis! This month, our Meditation Circle is focusing in on the first chakra. Don't miss this wonderfully grounding meditative experience on April 21st! You can RSVP by phone, in person, or onli
The singularity that creates the cosmos is, like the zygote or the seed of a tree, the cause of the dualistic being it creates, which is the effect. In the words of my teacher, Vimalananda, “cause is
In the first stage, when the heart chakra is pierced, we hear tinkling sounds like jewels in the space of the heart in the center of the body. As soon as these sounds become audible in the (interior)
I am the father of the universe And its mother, essence and goal Of all knowledge, the refiner, The sacred Om, and the threefold Vedas. --Bhagavad Gita
Join us to discover the happiness that meditation can bring to you & your life. 6:00pm Thursday, 2/17 at Green MountainYoga. No meditation experience needed. $20
I am the father of the universe and its mother, essence and goal of all knowledge, the refiner, the sacred Om, and the threefold Vedas. --Bhagavad Gita
The teacher is a friend. Someone you can trust, simply a friend, not the capital T teacher that spirituality would have us believe. This notion is fraught with the imbalance of power of someone knowin
One path leads outward and the other inward. You can walk the way outward that leads to pleasure or the way inward that leads to grace. –Katha Upanishad
Special Happy Hour Series Join us each Friday 4/22, 4/29, 5/6, for a mini-series during Happy HourYoga @ 5:30 pm. We will focus on 4-6 poses chosen by the class. In each posture, we will bre
Often we listen to a cat with more precision than we listen to our body. We cherish the cat. It purrs. Our body may have to release a scream, a symptom, to be heard by us at all. Too often our soul ca
Sitting after the physical practice of yoga asana allows the full absorption of all the benefits of the practice. Now the mind is fit for concentration. Withdrawing the senses happens with ease, and w
[The body is] a marvelous machine… A chemical laboratory, a power-house. Evert movement, voluntary or involuntary, full of secrets and marvels! --Theorod Herzl
Better indeed is knowledge than mechanical practice (of religious ritual). Better than knowledge is meditation. But better still is surrender of attachment to results (of one's actions), because there
Ganesha is sometimes mistakenly thought of as the “remover” of obstacles. It is more accurate to recognize him as Vighnesha, the “Lord of Obstacles.” He may remove them, or he may pose them. He may op
Though I cannot identify soul with anything else, I also can never grasp it apart from other things perhaps because it is like a reflection in a flowing mirror, or like the moon which mediates only bo
Om: You are all the pervading source of light. Sustainer, protector, and bestower of happiness, may this supreme consciousness illuminate my intellect that I may realize my inherent oneness with That.
Repose is the secret of all contemplation and meditation, the secret of getting in tune with that aspect of life which is the essence of all things. When one is not accustomed to take repose, one does
Yoga integration brings the breath, body and mind together in a seamless practice of one pointed concentration. It reweaves the yarn of the mind, and channels its many modifications into wholeness. T
There exists today a kind of Yoga Fundamentalism, which has two wings, that we well call Literalism and Relativism, There also exists a resolution to this Fundamentalism’s two wings. However, it is n
All of the yoga sadhanas (practices) have the intention to reduce the fluctuations of the mind by merging with our experience. Here then we will find freedom (kaivalya).
Someday, after masterng the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the hstory of the world, man will have discovered fir
Though I cannot identify soul with anything else, I also can never grasp it apart from other things, perhaps because it is like a reflection in a flowing mirror, or like the moon which mediates only b
Greetings friends! We have a real treat coming up at Green Mountain Yoga--don't miss Big Bliss, a restore workshop hosted by Mindy Arbuckle and Diane Thomas. Mark your calendars for April 17th! You ca
The most sublime truth of all has never been stated or written or sung, not because it is far away and can’t be reached but because it is so intimately close, closer than anything that can be spoken.
Meditating deeply... Reach the depth of the source. Branching streams cannot compare to the source! Though the heavens turn and the Earth is upset, you will not even wink. --Nyogen Senzaki