Snap Shot: A Love Story

While there is perhaps a province in which the photograph can tell us nothing more than what we see with our own eyes, there is another in which it proves to us how little our eyes permit us to see.  

~Dorothea Lange

I've fallen in madly love with photography again.  Photography and I have had a sweet and tender history together that started during my junior year of high school.  It was the summer before junior year that I discovered the thick, dusty albums filled with neatly arranged photographs that my parents had taken in the early 60's during their courtship and travels.  Little square snapshots, anchored onto the album page by small black corner pockets, each one looking like a tiny piece of art.  Warm, saturated colors, thick photography paper… I was hooked!  Once I graduated from high school, however, and entered into the world of college and work, photography and I sadly lost touch.

We rekindled our connection on the campus of USC 11 or so years ago, during a photography course, and were inseparable for a long time, but alas, photography is NOT a cheap date.  Due to the amount of expensive equipment photography required, and how much it cost to buy and process film, we quietly went our separate ways again and haven't seen each other for a long time.  Over the years I've thought about photography and wondered how it was doing.  I guess you could say I was wistful about the lack of photography in my life.

We unexpectedly bumped into each other again recently and discovered that we are now both in very different places than we were when we last saw each other. It seems that photography has matured and has changed a lot (it's now wonderfully digital!).  It has become SO accessible, straightforward and much less complicated.  I too have changed a lot.  I've also become more accessible, straightforward and much less complicated.  The time certainly seems right for us to reconnect and stay together.  It appears that photography has a lot to teach me and I am ready to learn.

The first lesson photography teaches us is how to focus.  Our practice, like taking pictures helps us to see 

ourselves and the world rather than just look at them.  Our focus defines our life.  Our perception is determined by what we choose to focus on.  We can use our ability to focus our attention in a way that causes an empowering shift in our perception… or not. It doesn’t matter whether we are looking at a person, situation, or an experience. We can control what our picture looks like by controlling what we choose to focus on.  On the mat and in life, if you focus intently on the positive aspects of any person, place, or thing, the negative aspects will fade into the background. They will still exist, but they will be outside of your field of concentration, and will have little or no influence on the picture you see.

Photography also teaches us that the light we shine on our subject determines how we see it.  In photographic terms this is called "value", in terms of our practice this is called "self-observation".  If we deem a subject to be very important, we shine a spotlight on it so we can see its every detail.  If something has less importance, we don't shine as much light on it so that it doesn't distract us from what we're gravitating towards.  On our yoga mats we do this breath by breath, taking snapshots of how we are in each posture, each breath, in each moment.

When we practice assigning more value and positive energy to the things in our lives that we have gratitude for, we bring those things into sharp focus.  They become higher on our list of priorities and attract more of our attention.  As a result, the negative details of life will slowly hold less weight.

In photography, as in life or our practice, we need to make choices about what we are willing to expose ourselves to and for how long. Our time is so precious.  Being aware of how we use the time we have available to us is an important practice.  Perhaps THE most important!

If we spend too much time focusing on unimportant activities (overexposing yourself), we end up underexposing ourselves to the really important ones. And sometimes, let's face it, we also need to acknowledge that some things are not worth exposing ourselves to at all.

When we learn to look through the lens of our soul we begin to see with greater focus, clarity and compassion.  We start to distill life and its moments down to the essence of what is important to nourish our spiritual growth and how we can see the world from this new expanded field of awareness.

As you move through the world today, what will your focus be? 

Until next time...

"A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed."  -Ansel Adams

Wells

"Fill what's empty, empty what is full..."

What speaks to your soul?  What speaks to the places in you that cannot be articulated in words, but are there nonetheless, perhaps feeling empty or overflowing like a well? Is it a sunrise over the ocean?  Or maybe working in your garden, smelling the earth and feeling the sun on your skin?  Chances are many, many different things touch your soul depending on what it is trying to tell you.  

Late last night as I was finishing up some work I was listening to one of my favorite singers, Ray LaMontagne. His voice is soulful and full of some unnamable longing or sadness.  The message in his songs is genuine, from his soul, and full of fervency. So as I listened, his voice and music reached out and touched a part of my soul that needed tending to on a deep, visceral level and it released something that I hadn't even realized was there.  Although the song was melancholy, it released a feeling of love and connection. I somehow felt lighter.

We all have deep wells inside of us; sometimes empty and in need of filling, and sometimes overflowing and in need of emptying.  In our practice, we use the breath and the energy of the breath to fill and empty the physical body and the mind in order connect more completely with the soul.  As we do this, we become more sensitive to the needs of the soul. We're aware when it's in need of filling (with more love, compassion, time, space), or when it needs to release something (judgment, anger, fear, worry).  With each inhale, we simply fill what's empty.  With each exhale, we empty what is full.

Take the time to listen to the song that tugs at your heartstrings, or let your soul be touched by the bright blue sky, or heavy rain.

What speaks to your soul?  What speaks to the places in you that cannot be articulated in words, but are there nonetheless?

Until next time...listen :) 

“There are different wells within your heart. 
Some fill with each good rain, 
Others are far too deep for that. 

In one well 
You have just a few precious cups of water, 
That "love" is literally something of yourself, 
It can grow as slow as a diamond 
If it is lost. 

Your love 
Should never be offered to the mouth of a 
Stranger, 
Only to someone 
Who has the valor and daring 
To cut pieces of their soul off with a knife 
Then weave them into a blanket 
To protect you. 

There are different wells within us. 
Some fill with each good rain, 
Others are far, far too deep 
For that.” 
― Hafiz 





Friday's Playlist:


"Empty"-Ray Lamontagne
"My Sweet Lord"-Yim Yames
"Jolene"-Ray Lamontagne
"Champagne Supernova"-Scala & Kolacny Brothers
"I and Love And You"-The Avett Brothers
"Let It Be"-Joan Baez
"Helplessly Hoping"-Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
"Let It Be Me"-Ray Lamontagne
"Nothing Else Matters"-Scala & Kolacny Brothers
"The Sound of Silence (Live)-Simon and Garfunkle
"Sleep Dog Lullaby"-The Be Good Tanyas
"Use Somebody"-Scala & Kolacny Brothers
"All The Wild Horses"-Ray Lamontagne
"New Morning"-My Morning Jacket
"Die"-Iron and Wine
"The Wind"-Cat Stevens
"Find The Cost Of Freedom"-Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

Shift Happens

"What can we take on trust

in this uncertain life? Happiness, greatness,

pride - nothing is secure, nothing keeps."

~Euripides, Hecuba

There's a saying: "If you're in a bad situation, don't worry it'll change.  If you're in a good situation, don't worry it'll change". For anyone who uses Facebook, Wednesday was a day of change. As they have in the past, Facebook changed the layout of many of its main features.  This did not surprise me.  Being part of a generation of people for whom using computers daily is the norm, I've become accustomed to the way things change and adapt accordingly. Soon enough, we'll all be used to the change and won't even remember what it was like before.

What did take me by surprise was how upset the change was to so many.  The reactions ran the gamut from annoyance to outrage and everything in between.  One Facebook user posted no less than 15 posts back-to-back decrying the change while attempting to rally the troops to revolt. A fairly extreme reaction to the whims of a free social networking site, no?

Now, don't get me wrong, there was a time when I felt the same way about change. I dreaded it, resisted it, complained about it (still do sometimes!), but the funny thing is, it keeps coming.  Over the years and with a lot of practice, I started to realize that change is something that I can't control - none of us can - but what we can control is the way we choose to react to it.  If you've ever engaged in the practice of really paying attention to your body, mind, or thoughts, you most likely noticed that your body, your mind, and your thoughts are constantly in flux and never the same.  They are always shifting and morphing, like the weather, from moment to moment.  Shift happens.  It is an undeniable fact of life from which nothing that belongs to this earth can escape.  

Buddhist philosophy looks at change in this way:

"According to the teachings of the Buddha, life is comparable to a river. It is a progressive moment, a successive series of different moments, joining together to give the impression of one continuous flow. It moves from cause to cause, effect to effect, one point to another, one state of existence to another, giving an outward impression that it is one continuous and unified movement, where as in reality it is not. The river of yesterday is not the same as the river of today. The river of this moment is not going to be the same as the river of the next moment. So does life. It changes continuously, becomes something or the other from moment to moment." (Urbandharma.com)

So why is it so hard to accept change?  Why do we resist it?  Why does something so trivial as a changed format on a free social networking website throw so many of us into a frothing frenzy?  We suffer with change because we cannot accept the truth of impermanence.  We know on a primal level that we are impermanent, but we stubbornly refuse to believe it.  In actuality, it's not so much what happens to us, but it's how we navigate and respond to those happenings.

So, when inevitably Facebook makes another big and confusing change, or we suddenly find ourselves with an unexpected illness or in the middle of a career shift, instead of getting upset or irritated, we can practice reminding ourselves that everything is in flux.

Our practice is not to want the river to stop flowing, but to be at peace as we flow from one moment to the next.

Until next time...

"Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure.  But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it.  Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer."  ~Shunryu Suzuki



Thursday night's playlist:
"Of A Broken Heart"-Zwan
"Skinny Love"-Bon Iver
"Awake My Soul"-Mumford and Sons
"I'm In Love With A Girl"-Big Star
"Baby I Love You"-Aretha Franklin
"Killed Myself When I Was Young"-A.A. Bondy
"Hard Sun"-Eddie Vedder 
"Blackout"-Muse
"Tennessee Me"-The Secret Sisters
"Love Is All"-The Tallest Man On Earth
"I And Love And You"-The Avett Brothers
"Love Is My Religion"-Ziggy Marley
"Heart of Gold"-Neil Young
"Helplessly Hoping"-Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
"My Sweet Lord"-Yim Yames
"Love (2000)"-John Lennon
"Love and Communication"-Cat Power
"Don't Let Us Get Sick"-Warren Zevon

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 

Thorns

"One branch from an old plum tree extends splendidly;

thorns become attached to it in time." -Keizan Jokin

Sometimes when I think of my yoga and meditation practices I see them as beautiful, fragrant roses.  Delicate, sweet smelling, sometimes full and blossoming with layer after layer of petals opening, opening, opening.  Sometimes once those petals have blossomed, they drop away one-by-one as parts that were once useful but are now no longer needed. Or, sometimes those petals are wrapped up tightly like tiny buds full of possibilities, but they're not quite ready to emerge into the world of being.  But these roses are never without thorns.  When the rose of our practice blossoms so sweet and beautiful, our practice is easy, buoyant and peaceful, but there are inevitably times when we encounter the dark and prickly stickiness of thorns. Lately, my practice has been rife with prickly thorns.  When this occurs, my instinct - like so many of us - is to avoid the thorns or to wait until the rose becomes beautiful and fragrant again... to ride it out until things are prettier. But the practice isn't just about the beautiful, peaceful parts of life, sometimes it's purpose is to make things prickly in order to wake us up more fully.

Keizan Jokin, a revered zen teacher who lived in the 14th century who's two-line poem sits at the top of this page, illustrated with his simple words that we all encounter times where our practice resembles a branch from a wizened old plum tree; extending splendidly from the trunk of the tree, but not without spiny thorn-like twigs pushing out of its bark. Sometimes we feel that our practice is splendid. It flows and extends out of every part of us.  But like the old plum tree, in time we discover thorns growing on our practice (resistance, lethargy, doubt, judgement-you name it!).  One of my favorite teachers, Michael Stone, says that "sometimes we get a little too comfortable. So in the process of practicing asana and stilling the mind, we start to find that the thorns become the practice and how we meet the thorns is basically right when they start popping up."

Part of our spiritual maturation involves deeply feeling and working with the thorns that grow.  A really big part of our practice is leaving nothing out.  Flowing along with the easeful parts of ourselves and our experience, but also witnessing the thorns that grow upon the graceful limbs of our existence. Our task as human beings is simply to stay the course, to be the branch, the blossom and the thorn.  To not deny the stickiness or the presence of those thorns, but to watch and work with our reaction to them with equanimity. When we do this we begin to see that the beautiful blossoms of our practice are a result of navigating through and allowing the thorns to be part of us. 

"One branch from an old plum tree extends splendidly;

 thorns become attached to it in time."

And so I continue to get on my yoga mat and practice even though the thorns I encounter make it uncomfortable to do so.  I sit in silence and witness what's there with compassion. I arrive to what is, knowing that eventually I will be able to feel the soft petals of peace and drink in the beautiful fragrance of clarity.

When we come together as a group in class, the basic practice that we're doing first is to arrive, to calm down, to connect with the part of ourselves that is still and peaceful: our blossom.  We sit and we follow our breathing to the source of peace. We remind ourselves that the larger purpose of yoga and meditation is to connect with this calm, real, unsoiled part of ourselves.  Take a moment right now to close your eyes, connect with the slow, organic flowing of your breath.  Follow the breath into silence. Arrive.

Today, practice becoming settled and take care of the thorny parts that present themselves by offering them the space to be seen and felt.  When we follow the breath and begin to find mental and spiritual stillness, we begin to clearly see our own mind and allow it to rest in its natural state which is free from the thorniness and chatter that grows on us as a result of living in the world.  We allow our experience to blossom freely and we take care of the thorns with the same attentiveness that we regard the blossom.

Until next time...

Thorn and Rose
by Henry Van Dyke

Far richer than a thornless rose
Whose branch with beauty never glows,
Is that which every June adorns
With perfect bloom among its thorns.

Merely to live without a pain
Is little gladness, little gain,
Ah, welcome joy tho' mixt with grief,--
The thorn-set flower that crowns the leaf.

Release

“It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we're alive - to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.” 

-Elisabeth Kubler-Ross 

Tuesday the earth shook... literally. I was sitting on the couch, taking a moment to close my eyes, rest and meditate when suddenly I felt the couch shaking.  Thinking that our big ol' tabby cat Cornelius was perched on top of the sofa scratching his chin, I cracked my eyes open only to discover that he was nowhere to be seen.  I closed my eyes again but the shaking continued.  "Must be Fort Jackson", I thought (there are always mysterious earth rattling things going on over there) and then I went back to my silent reverie.  It wasn't until later that I discovered that an earthquake had occurred in Virginia.  I was in awe that something happening hundreds of miles away could be felt so clearly right here, on my couch in SC!  Joseph Martin, a geotechnical engineering professor at Drexel University explained that Tuesday's quake was the result of an ancient fault line along the Piedmont from millions of years ago that basically "shrugged" and let loose some energy.  

What does all of this have to do with yoga? I think that one of the many reasons people gravitate to yoga and then stick with it is because they've experienced - on a very deep level - the shifts that take place when we consciously stretch and breathe energy into the deeper layers of the body, mind and spirit.  This shifting and releasing of tension, energy and emotions can sometimes feel as epic as an earthquake or as quiet as a gentle breeze. In yoga, we quite literally release blocked energy and create new patterns for that energy to flow more freely. We often experience this as a feeling of sweet relief after a yummy practice, or perhaps an eruption of long trapped tears that takes us by surprise as we sink into savasana, or even a feeling of released anger or joy that bubbles up to the surface as we drive home after our practice. There's no doubt that the practice of shifting energy transforms us, not into something better or worse, but just different and more spacious.

Our work as practitioners is to allow these shifts and releases of physical, emotional and spiritual energy, to redirect us towards new patterns of growth and freedom. The held back tears that find their way to the surface, a shift in ideas or limiting attitudes that may lead to a new opportunity, or maybe the release of an old hurt or pain that leads to more love and compassion.  Every release and shift we experience brings us closer to who and what we really are: kind, compassionate and whole. What will shake you today?  What big or small releases await you?  In what ways can you crack the facade and allow your true self to shine through? 

Until next time...

"Go further than your mind can reach, further than your words can speak.  Go further than you know, outside of your control.  Break your conditioning by letting go and letting go and letting go.  Like a twig plucked from a tree, carried a great distance, and woven into a crow's nest, you have no idea of your own destiny.


Keep going until there is nothing left, and you are empty and bereft.  Hold that open space.  Inhabit the place of not knowing until grace tugs on your awareness and says "follow me into the center of chaos and serenity.  Follow me to what you've always been and always will be.


The truth of you is far beyond what you imagine, simultaneously deathless and hear to be lived, then surrendered back into the infinite." -Danna Faulds

Untangle

untangle |ˌənˈta ng gəl|verb [ trans. ]free from a tangled or twisted state : fishermen untangle their nets.• make (something complicated or confusing) easier to understand or deal with.

Have you ever felt a "knot" in your belly when something was upsetting or just not quite right?  Or maybe a "lump" in your throat when a challenging truth caused the words to get stuck in the back of your mouth? Ever felt like your heart was tangled with emotions or the tension in your neck feels as if a mass of steel cords were being strummed? 

Well, the wise yogis of old observed that there are places in our spiritual neurology that get "knotted" up and can hinder us on our path towards peace and enlightenment.  They theorized that as spiritual beings, we all have three places in our energy body that can become knotted or tangled up called "granthis". Granthi means "knot," and it is a good word to describe the energy blockages we have all experienced in our nervous system at one time or other (the knot in the belly, the lump in the throat, the tension in the head).

The three are:

Brahma Granthi – in the pelvic region (first and second chakras)
Vishnu Granthi – in the center region, extending from navel to heart and throat (including the third and fourth chakras).

and
Siva Granthi – in the head, including the throat, third eye and crown (5th, 6th and 7th chakras).

A granthi can block energy from flowing freely through our spiritual body, kind of like a kink in a garden hose.  When the hose is kinked, the flow of water slows down or stops altogether, creating tension and preventing the water from nourishing your garden.  Granthis prevent our spiritual garden from growing (yikes!).

And so as yogis and people on the path to peace, we practice using our bodies, breath and awareness to purify and open the body, mind and spirit in order to untie these knots, so to speak.  Yogi Matthew Sweeney says that the postures that we practice begin to purify the lower granthi (body), and that ujjayi breathing begins to purify the middle granthi (nervous system or emotion) and we use the dristi (or inner and outer gaze) to purify the upper granthi (mind).  His take on it is that the inhalation brings life to the hidden areas of the body, blind spots and tensions stemming from the granthi, and the exhalation releases tension, calming the mind. Our drishti (inner/outer gaze) keeps us anchored in the moment. The idea is that as the postures provide a healthy vehicle for the spirit to reside in, the breath purifies, and the drishti anchors us.  When this happens, tensions release, the mind calms and the granthi begins to dissolve. Untangling slowly but surely.

But Matthews says that this is not enough: "We may speak of 'purifying the body/nervous system', or 'untying knots'. Such a way of speaking implies that certain things (purification of the mind/body, untying of knots) happen as a direct result of our efforts. But this is not true. The practice, strictly speaking, doesn't do anything... it just puts us in a place where we can see ourselves for what we truly are. When we see ourselves for what we truly are, the knots will untie themselves, and true lasting change becomes possible.

When was the last time you felt that knot in your belly?  What caused it?  Think of a time when you had unsaid words stuck in your throat. What did it feel like?  A tightness? A sorrow?  When was last time that your intuition felt clouded or your heart closed off?

Some believe that we come into this world with knots - small or large - as a result of our past lives.  Some believe that we create these blockages with our continued attachment and aversion.  Whatever their origin, we have the ability to practice untying them bit by bit, thread by thread with our continued practice and awareness. As Matthew Sweeney says: "True change is made possible when you are in contact with what is, when you realise what you are. It does not occur when you try to become something you are not. No amount of asana or pranayama or meditation practice will make you a better person or hasten your development. Nothing will. For there is nothing better than being what you are, right now. This is the only way the knots come undone...the practice can only bring you into yourself if it is done with awareness. Awareness is the only key ingredient, all other processes are secondary...the practice helps to maintain this contact with reality. It is important not to slide into the path of least resistance or to avoid what is difficult...."

So, you heard it here... don't be shy!  Un-tie those knots, unkink the hose by taking the time to roll out your yoga mat, move your body, breath and focus.  Your spirit will thank you :)

Until next time... 

Mountains

"Mountain pose teaches us, literally, how to stand on our own two feet.... teaching us to root ourselves into the earth.... Our bodies become a connection between heaven and earth."  ~Carol Krucoff

There was a deep, soaking rain storm last Monday night, the kind where it seems like you're standing beneath a great rushing waterfall.  Once you've lived through a hot, South Carolina summer, you grow to appreciate any amount of rain that comes in August-  the hottest and often driest month of all.

I awoke the next morning to sunshine and cooler temperatures and upon opening the windows, got a whiff of damp earth, sodden pine straw, and fresh, clean air.  I was instantly transported to the mountains of my heart, Asheville, NC, and the mountains of my soul, The Rockies in Colorado... earthy goodness and a feeling of steady, solid peace.

Mountains as symbols have a lot to teach us about life.  They are often seen as rock solid, stable, standing tall and immovable.  They have an abiding presence and stillness - all qualities that we humans seek.

In our asana practice, one of the first postures we are asked to master on a deep level is Tadasana or "mountain" pose. In our quest for more "advanced" postures, we often look upon Tadasana as too "basic" and consider it to be unimportant. However, the reality is that it forms the base of all standing postures, which makes it kind of a big deal (Iyengar is roughly quoted as saying "how can you learn to stand on your head if you can't even stand on your feet?").  Tadasana teaches us how and where to plug in to the earth.  It shows us how to find the balance between effort and ease and allows us to be firmly rooted in our physical form which we need to stand firmly, walk surefooted, and be stable in our movements.  Being grounded physically also brings a sense of metal mooring to keep us grounded when life is joyful, abundant and happy and also deeply rooted when the strong storms of life descend upon us.

Today, practice paying close attention to how you walk through the world. Are you connected, steady and have an abiding presence, or do you often feel "airy" and untethered?  How do you stand while on line at the grocery store?  Do you walk through the world looking down at your feet or do you trust your roots and walk tall?  

"The body extends upwards, with the base as firm as a rock; the mind is steady and attentive. Tadasana teaches balance, centering and evenness and direction of extensions. These principles apply to all the postures." -BKS Iyengar

In your minds eye, envision your perfect mountain, maybe one with gently sloping sides, or one with lofty, snow capped peaks. Maybe it has one peak or perhaps many. As you move through the day, try to embody the qualities of this mountain.  Endeavor to embody its deep abiding presence and solidity no matter what comes your way.

Until next time...

Settling into the posture brings repose. It follows precise placement of the limbs, correct extension and balance. There is peace and unity within. The mind fills every particle of the body, bringing harmony. This is Yoga.

B.K.S Iyengar