Inner Guru

"The invisible intelligence that flows through everything in a purposeful fashion is also flowing through you." (Wayne Dyer)

When I was a kid, I heard my hero, Kermit the Frog sing the following words from one of my all-time favorite songs, "The Rainbow Connection": "Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices? I've heard them calling my name. Is this the sweet sound that calls the young sailors? The voice might be one and the same. I've heard it too many times to ignore it. It's something that I'm supposed to be."

Back then, the world seemed a wide open place full of places to explore, things to do and people to meet. It still does, although now it doesn't seem quite as big as it once did. I can vividly recall hearing Kermit's words and wondering what exactly it was that I was supposed to be. And although I can't fully explain it, I think there was something in the 10 year old me, that somehow knew that all these years later, the 42 year old me would be exactly where I am today. That's not to say that the 10 year old me knew the specifics, but there was a part of me that could see where I wanted to be even though I didn't have the words to articulate it or the life experience to really know what it meant.

Some say that we all possess something like an "inner guru" (guru, intuition or a "gut" feeling, whatever you want to call it),  a wisdom, a truth deeper than our understanding that helps guide us along our path to awakening.  We hear the word "guru" often but what does it really mean?  In sanskrit, "gu" = dark and "ru" = light, so a guru is someone or something that leads us from the darkness of ignorance into the light of knowledge all while Illuminating our innate brilliance to show us what our gifts are to offer the world.

The problem is that we're often so busy "doing" that we can't hear our own inner guide.  The voice of the inner guru gets lost in the commotion of our lives - it's still there, just unable to be heard, felt or noticed.  So we practice yoga and meditation to shift from "doing" to "being", to heighten our intuition and to establish a daily connection with the source of our wisdom - something greater than ourselves.  

The greatest teachers are those who emphasize finding your own path and not that peace can only be found by following theirs. Kermit the Frog was such a teacher for me all those years ago, encouraging me with his song to listen to my inner guru. As the saying goes: "When the student is ready, the teacher appears".  

What are you ready for?  What do you need?  Which direction will you move in? 

When we connect with our inner teacher, we realize that we don't have to follow in the footsteps of anyone else and we don't have to walk someone else's path.  We can take the wisdom set forth by the teachers we encounter in life and find all of the ways that this wisdom works and doesn't work for us, and turn it into a path of our very own. 

Have the courage to trust and follow your inner guru.  Follow with passion, joy and curiosity!

Until next time...try this:

Inner Guide Meditation:

Get settled and begin breathing deeply. 

Quiet your mind and allow silence to seep into your being. 

Cast your awareness into your heart and picture a small doorway there. See the doorway open and feel a warm and welcoming presence calling you to enter. 

Step through the doorway and find yourself in a sacred place that you know to be your inner temple. In the middle of the room is a figure sitting silently in prayer. Wait patiently. 

When finished, the person turns and you look fully at this person. Opening arms to you, you recognize this being as your inner guru.  

Walk forward and stand in front of this wise person. 

Speaking to you, the wise one shares knowledge of your own inner wisdom and knowing. Open your heart and listen, feel, and know. 

When you are finished, you and the wise one bow together. 

Finally, the wise one bids you goodbye with a word and a bow. 

With one breath, you remember the word. 

With a second breath, you return to your space, and with a third breath, you open your eyes. 

Breathe in the word and remember it as a key to your own inner wisdom.

 "The Master is within; meditation is meant to remove the ignorant idea that he is only outside." ~ Ramana Maharshi

‎"Be your own guru: begin to watch how you think and speak...notice how often negativity rules your world and begin to bring your attention to those thoughts and speech patterns. When in doubt, sit quietly and quiet down on the inside. The answers are always revealed when we stop the whirlwind of the outside drama." -Stephanie Keach 

Yummy Yummy Yummy

 I LOVE cupcakes.  For my birthday each year my mom used to make her special black chocolate cupcakes with piles of rich, creamy, marshmallowy frosting.  The cake was so deliciously moist and fluffy.  And the frosting?  Words can't even come close to describing how amazing the frosting was. Sugary but not too sweet. Sticky like a big 'ol melted marshmallow. Vanilla-y.  Am I making your mouth water? 

There's a wonderfully pithy Zen saying: "The menu is not the meal".  As hard as I may try to describe the experience of eating one of my mom's cupcakes, as tasty as a meal might be described, or as mouthwatering as it might be illustrated, we can never fully understand or savor its flavor if we do not physically ingest it bite-by-bite ourselves.  

Similarly, we practice yoga not to get an idea of peace, but to experience peace itself.  The pose alone is not the practice. The breath by itself? Theory? Philosophy? Nope, not the full practice. A yoga teacher can offer wisdom, detailed intellectual theory, instructions, variations, encouragement, and describe beautifully what connecting with the breath, the energy, or the intention of a pose is like. However, you will not understand any of these things or be nourished by them until you fully live them. In short, teachers can offer the menu but not the meal itself.  

As practitioners our work is to mindfully experience, taste, and savor each pose, each breath, and each moment of silence. We are encouraged to relish in and connect with the the deeper currents of energy beneath the surface of our own downward facing dogs. We need to feel our own roots digging deep into the earth in our warrior poses, or experience the resistance (or joy) in bending backwards or following the breath into stillness.  We are encouraged to absorb and experience each bit of wisdom. We alone are responsible for chewing up and mindfully digesting each morsel and moment of our practice whether it be asana, pranayama, or mindful meditation. To really understand these things we must live, feel and move with them.

"A symphony is not explained by a mathematical analysis of its notes... and no one ever understood the wonder of a bird on the wing by stuffing it and putting it in a glass case.  To understand these things, you must live and move with them as they are alive. The same is true of the universe: no amount of intellectual analysis will explain it, for philosophy and science can only reveal its mechanism, never its meaning..." (Alan Watts) 

When we come to our yoga mats, we are in essence seated at the table awaiting a delectable meal.  Teachers can create a menu, lovingly prepare the recipes for physical and spiritual growth, light the candles and create a soothing atmosphere, but they can't actually nourish you, taste or digest the food unless YOU eat the feast yourself.

Like Jon Kabat-Zinn says in Letting Everything Become Your Teacher: "Cultivating mindfulness is not unlike the process of eating. It would be absurd to propose that someone else eat for you. And when you go to a restaurant, you don’t eat the menu, mistaking it for the meal, nor are you nourished by listening to the waiter describe the food. You have to actually eat the food for it to nourish you. In the same way, you have to actually practice mindfulness in order to reap its benefits and come to understand why it is so valuable."

We begin to delight in the physical, emotional and spiritual meal placed before us by linking our movement with the length of our deep, long breath.  When the breath, body and mind move together we taste, feel and absorb the flavor of life as it unfolds.

Until next time... try this:

Moving Meditation 

by Shiva Rea

Meditation invokes a shift in consciousness, whether it be in stillness or action. Movement meditation can be a very accessible way to restore the equilibrium of the mind. When you are in the midst of your day and your mind is restless or disturbed, doing this simple movement meditation can create an immediate shift in conciousness, enabling you to bring greater awareness and peace into the world around you.

The following meditation is based upon the opening movements of Surya Namaskar or Sun Salutation. The linking of the breath with the archetypal arm movements—expanding the arms upward on the inhalation and then contracting them down the center line of your spine on the exhalation—taps into the basic rhythm of life that defines our moment-to-moment reality. Our breath and our heartbeat both follow this expand-and-contract movement. The grounding force of gravity which is part of apana or "downward force" corresponds with the pulling of the arms toward the earth; a rebound effect is felt in the drawing upwards of the arms with the inhalation.

This meditation can be done while seated or standing. To begin, bring your hands together at your heart, in anjali mudra. Take a moment to become receptive by shifting from thinking mind to listening mind. Scan your body and mind and ask yourself how you are feeling. Take note of the answer (scattered, irritated, tired, excited) without investing or analyzing the content.

Now, on an inhalation, draw your arms overhead from the roots of your feet. Coordinate your breath with the movement so that at the top of your inhalation, your hands come together overhead. As you exhale, draw your arms down the center line of your spine so that your arms rest beside your hips when you complete your exhalation.

Repeat this rhythm, drawing upward on the inhalation and downward on the exhalation for as long as it feels appropriate, probably somewhere between three to five minutes. Concentrate on merging your breath and movement and being present every moment.

Notice as your movement and breath start to syncopate that your internal state begins to shift. As your breath slows down with the grace of your movement, feel your inner balance returning. When you feel a natural urge to end, take one last cycle with the arms and then draw your hands together at your heart. Take a few moments of to quietly reflect before returning to the movements of your life, more centered and enlivened by your movement meditation. 

How To Eat a Poem

by Eve Merriam

Don't be polite.

Bite in.

Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that

may run down your chin.

It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are. You do not need a knife or fork or spoon

or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core

or stem

or rind

or pit

or seed

or skin

to throw away.