What is Life, and what is Yoga and how does it enhance one’s life?

I guess that is what I was thinking when I picked up a copy of B.K.S. Iyengar’s ‘Light on Life’ book when I was in his studio on West 22^nd Street in New York City. All I can say is that I was led there and given the book as a gift. Looking back I can say now that it is reminiscent of when I picked up that People’s Magazine in 1988. On the cover was Suzanne Somers and the words “Children of Alcoholics.” Today, I can say openly and honestly, with respect and admiration, that my father had alcoholism. A disease, not a lack of willpower or character, but a disease that many people do not realize they have or the impact it is having on their lives or the lives of those they love. My Dad beat the disease and beat the odds, living a sober life, for the last twenty-five years of his life. Like that People’s Magazine, this book is surely one that will change my life immensely for the better.

I started doing yoga twenty years ago as a form of relaxation and to improve and maintain my flexibility for golf. Yoga is so much more, YOGA IS…

Here is my ‘TROML Extract’ and the spiritual and yogic insight into B.K.S. Iyengar and his shedding ‘Light on Life’ book! TROML Baby!

On the eve of a New Year, four months later, I have read and digested, to some extent, the Iyengar perspectives of life. Having done so and wanting to share its essence with others, the childhood game of ‘hide-and-seek’ comes to my mind. Remember ‘Olly, Olly, In Come Free’ or whatever it was? A catchphrase stuck in my mind like the McDonald’s Big Mac tune. ‘Olly, Olly, In Come Free’ was chanted to let friends who were hiding that it was time to come out into the open without losing the game. That the position of the sides in a game has changed—as in who is hiding and who is seeking—or that the game is entirely over.

Is it time for you to come out of your self?

Olly olly oxen free. olly olly umphrey, olly olly ee, outtie outtie let’s be free, olly olly oxen tree, all-y all-y all set free, All-Ye All-Ye In Come Free, olly olly in come free, all ye, all ye outs in free, all the outs in free, or the German phrase alle, alle, auch sind frei (all, all, are also free)—“ollyoxalls.”

Confusing yet we all understood as children. Yet are we isolated and separate as adults?

However we say it or do it, now is the time to come out and get back into the game of life!

Whatever we yelled out as a child, let’s yell out now as an adult. Life is too short. The past is the past. This is a New Year!

All spiritual beings let go of the past and focus on the future. That is my New Year’s Wish for you! To call you out and wish you well as you focus on ‘The Rest of Your Life!’

TROML Baby!

Here are my Splendid Spiritual Self from B.K.S. Iyengar’s ‘Light on Life’ book (2005) when reference was made, either explicitly or implicitly, as to what ‘YOGA IS…’

I hope you that will join me on this Inward Journey…

With gratitude and all credit given to B.K.S. Iyengar and the Iyengar Institute NYC.

‘Light on Life;’ Preface & Introduction

 “If this book is to lay any claim to authenticity, it must make one point clear above all others. It is this: By persistent and sustained practice, anyone and everyone can make the yoga journey and reach the goal of illumination (of the soul, here and beyond) and freedom. Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus lie in the hearts of all. They are not film stars, mere idols of adulation. They are great inspirational figures whose example is there to be followed. They act as our role models today. Just as they reached Self-Realization, so may we.”   (Preface; Page ix)

“YOGA IS… to attain the integrity of Oneness—Oneness with ourselves and as a consequence Oneness with all that lies beyond ourselves. We become the harmonious microcosm in the universal macrocosm. Oneness, what I often call integration, is the foundation for wholeness, inner peace, and ultimate freedom.”   (Introduction; Page xiv)

“YOGA IS… an inner peace… an inner serene core of one’s being that is never out of touch with the unchanging, eternal infinite.”   (Introduction; Page xiv)

“YOGA IS… the rule book for playing the game of Life, but in this game no one needs to lose.”   (Introduction; Page xvi)

“YOGA IS… the release of the creative potential of Life. It does this by establishing a structure for self-realization, by showing how we can progress along the journey, and by opening a sacred vision of the Ultimate, of our Divine Origin, and final Destiny. The Light that yoga sheds on Life is something special. It is transformative. It does not just change the way we see things; it transforms the person who sees. It brings knowledge and elevates it to wisdom.”   (Introduction; Page xxi)

‘Light on Life;’ Chapter 1: The Inward Journey

“YOGA IS… an Inward Journey to allow the inner core (soul) to reveal itself.”   (Page 3)

“YOGA IS… a discovery of our immortal Self.”   (Page 5)

“YOGA IS… Stability: The Physical Body (amnamaya kosa); Vitality: The Energy Body (pranamaya kosa); Clarity: The Mental Body (manomaya kosa); Wisdom: The Intellectual Body (vijnanamaya kosa); and Bliss: The Divine Body (amandamaya).”   (Page 6)

“YOGA IS… exploring the relationship between Prakrti and Purusa, between Nature and (Universal) Soul.”   (Page 9)

“YOGA IS… eight petals that reveal themselves progressively to the practitioner. These are external, ethical disciplines (yama), internal ethical observances (niyama), poses (asana), breath control (pranayama), sensory control and withdrawal (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dhyana), and blissful adsorption (samadhi). We call these the petals of yoga as they join together like the petals of a lotus flower to form one beautiful whole.   (Page 10)

“YOGA IS… the highest experience of freedom—Oneness—the supreme reality of unity.”   (Page 16)

“YOGA IS… ‘Living in Freedom,’ seeing how the free or self-realized man or woman lives in the world, and seeing what we can learn for how each of us lives not at some ultimate destination but each step along the journey inward and the journey of life onward.”   (Page 18)

“YOGA IS… an inner quest for growth and evolution, or ‘involution.’”   (Page 19)

‘Light on Life;’ Chapter 2: STABILITY—The Physical Body (Asana)

“YOGA IS… to understand and then integrate our body with our breath, with our mind, with our intelligence, with our consciousness, and with our core. In this way, one can experience true integration and reach the ultimate freedom.”   (Page 23)

“YOGA IS… the qualities of purity and sensitivity…”   (Page 25)

“YOGA IS… a beginning to harmony and integration with the world we live in…   (Page 26)

“YOGA IS… a state of self-reliant contentment…”   (Page 26)

“YOGA IS… beautiful as well as Divine…”   (Page 27)

“YOGA IS… the search for the inner light as well as inner Beauty, infinity, and liberation…”   (Page 27)

“YOGA (Asana; Stability—The Physical Body) IS… perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence, and benevolence of spirit…”   (Page 27)

“YOGA IS… the teaching that awareness and intelligence must permeate the body… we must create a marriage between the awareness of the body and that of the mind… action is movement with intelligence…”   (Page 28)

Photo Credit: Iyengar Yoga Centre Sofia

“YOGA IS… (when} the sensitive awareness of the body and the intelligence of the brain and heart are in harmony… the brain must be willing to listen to the body… the intelligence of the body is a fact. It is real. The intelligence of the brain is only imagination… inner cooperation… you are one; you are complete. You exist without the feeling of existence… the body must tell one what to do, not the brain… you must learn to move the brain a bit more slowly so that is follows the body… let the body be the doer, the brain the observer…”   (Pages 29-31)

“YOGA IS… (when) action and analysis synchronize (the real meaning of knowledge)… the acuity of observation… be self-aware, not self-conscious… self-awareness is the opposite of self-consciousness… you are aware of what you are doing without ego or pride… if you do not know the silence of the body, you cannot understand the silence of the mind… an interior conscious state… you watch yourself from the inside… do things rhythmically with a calm mind…”   (Pages 31-32)

“YOGA IS… extension and expansion… dynamic extension… extending out dynamically through to the periphery of your body… expansion is from the intelligence (intellectual and emotional) of the heart… extension is attention… and expansion is awareness… they originate in the core of one’s being… one’s center… the divine core…”   (Pages 33-34)

“YOGA IS… extension and expansion bring space, and space brings freedom. Freedom is precision, and precision is divine. From freedom of the body comes freedom of the mind and then the Ultimate Freedom…”   (Page 34)

“YOGA IS… spiritual yoga… while stretching, you must always create space and extend from your center. Compression is bondage, and expansion is freedom… and freedom allows for relaxation… perfection is achieved when the effort to perform it becomes effortless and the infinite being within is reached (Patanjali, Second Sutra)…”   (Pages 35-36)

Photo Credit: Bab Zouina

“YOGA IS… exertion and relaxation… the ego is an unrelenting task master… when one extends and relaxes, there is no oscillation of mind or body. Balance of activity and passivity transforms the active brain into a witness… begin your asana by releasing the breath till you feel a quiet state of silence in the cells and self. Inhalation is tension, exhalation is freedom… silence in action, relaxation in action… look at the Soul, not the Ego…   (Pages 36-38)

“YOGA IS… (when) the light and life of our vision shines everywhere…”   (Page 39)

“YOGA IS… lightness in the body and freedom in the mind… it is because your mind shrinks that your soul shrinks…”   (Page 40)

“YOGA IS… seeking the balance of polarity, not the antagonism of duality… in all asanas, ascend to descend and descend to ascend…”   (Page 41)

“YOGA IS… achieving balance at every level of our body and our being… right tension is healthy tension. You have to bring everything to life in your body… never be rigid in motion, only be rigid after you have acquired the position…”   (Pages 41-42)

“YOGA IS… perfect balance… one must find balance… balance is the state of the present—the here and now. If you balance in the present you are living in Eternity. When the intellect is stable, there is no past, no future, only present… (Pages 42-43)

“YOGA IS… balance and integration in the three dimensions of space, but we also find balance and integration in the fourth dimension of time… balance is in every layer of our being… three qualities of nature—body, mind, and soul—must be balanced in your asana practice; translated as solidity, dynamism, and luminosity…”   (Pages 43-44)

“YOGA IS… your inward journey to the Universal Soul…”   (Page 44)

“YOGA IS… tenacity and perseverance, which is a spiritual attitude toward yoga. This is also the spiritual attitude towards life… in the struggle alone, there is knowledge… the inevitable pains and afflictions of life… only when there is pain will you see the light. Pain is your guru… try to not run from the pain but to move through and beyond it… To get freedom, you have to bear the pain… this is the cultivation of tenacity and perseverance…”   (Page 47)

“YOGA IS… meant for the purification of body and its exploration as well as for the refinement of the mind… The challenge of yoga is to go beyond our limits—within reason. We continually expand the frame of the mind by using the canvas of the body… If the practice of (yoga) today damages the practice of (yoga) tomorrow, it is not correct practice…”   (Page 50)

“YOGA IS… the yogic path… is really a desire for God, the instinct that draws us toward the dream of perfection… Perfection is ultimately only with God… Let the goal be to reach Perfection, but be content with a little progress toward perfection every day… Perfecting: Always Be Happy with the Smallest Improvement…”   (Page 54)

“YOGA IS… to create within yourself the feeling of beauty, liberation, and infinity. These can be experienced only in the present… inner integration… Integrity means one. One is the number that can go into all other numbers. The fully sensitive and sensible being becomes not a “somebody” but the common denominator of humanity…”   (Page 58)

“YOGA IS… for cultivating the head and heart… Patanjali talked about friendliness, compassion, gladness, and joy… Friendliness and grace are two qualities that are essential for the yoga student… you have to create love and affection for your body, for what it can do for you… this love must radiate from you to others… You must purge yourself before finding faults in others. When you see a mistake in somebody else, try to find if you are making the same mistake. That is the way to take judgment and to turn it into improvement…”   (Page 59-60)

“YOGA IS… Divine Yoga: Do the Asana with Your Soul… we are working from the outer to get closer to the inner reality of our existence… we work from the periphery to the core… we must not forget that the innermost part of our being is also trying to help us. It wants to come out to the surface and express itself…

Much more to come… Happy New Year!!!

Happy Holidays & Hoping We All Become a Little More Selfish???

More selfish???

Isn’t the holidays and life itself all about giving?

Agreed, but isn’t life all situational and about priorities too?

Top priority, in my opinion and emerging experience, is developing a personal spiritual relationship with a ‘Higher Spirit Power,’ in order to determine one’s life purpose and to be energized to complete one’s life purpose.

Second priority, in my opinion and emerging experience, is to take better care of one’s self. Sort of like the lifeguard example of not being able to rescue anyone if you cannot insure your own safety when doing so. You have to ‘be,’ in order to ‘be!’ On the flip side, who is it usually that we forget to make amends to when things go astray? Usually it is our selves for not valuing and respecting our selves, our alternatives in life and our ensuing choices in life too.

Second priority in relationship to the first priority… try to think and act, in any situation, as you would envision your ‘Higher Spiritual Power’ thinking and acting. For me that came down to the ‘TROML Realization’ that I was not as loving, accepting, and compassionate to myself as God was or as I was to other people, especially family and friends. I let go and no longer identified with any sort of randomly generated negative or critical inner voice. That being eventually silenced meant freedom from past fully-amended feelings of shame, guilt, or remorse. That meant freedom to live in this present moment, this present day in a healthy manner!

Is that being selfish?

I think not.

I wish more people in the world would be as selfish and stop trying to make perfect, control, think in an all-or-nothing manner, and judge other people in their lives! Isn’t most of the evil in the world today the result of insane people who are trying to impose their will on others instead of living contently with themselves and their personal faith and beliefs? In reality they are giving away only that which they are unable to live with or deal with themselves.

Third priority, in my opinion and emerging experience, is to help others by giving them what they need when they need it!

Easier said then done and the reality of  love and being selfless. Awareness of self and situation is the first step. Love someone as they want to be loved and when they need to be loved despite the situation. Whether you know them or don’t know them. Whether it’s a good bye or a hello to someone destined to be in your life but maybe not when and how you thought they should be. Let it be… and give yourself a hug and give gratitude to your ‘Higher Spiritual Power’ that you now understand and can act and can be accordingly. Yeah it still hurts, pain is a reality in life, but if you are clear and present, it doesn’t last forever. Even painful memories don’t have to last forever.

Happy Holidays and please join me in the above pledge to become a little bit more selfish and live in peace, joy, unity, and freedom for the rest of our lives!

TROML Baby!

ps- Here is a good article that exemplifies for the most part the ‘TROML Way of Life!’ With all credit to its author Kirsten Corley (with her bold emphasis; link to original article is provided); here are a few additional thoughts relative to her article:

Taking full responsibility… of self, without expectations, control, manipulation or judgment of others!

Because they shouldn’t have left in the first place… learn from it, let it go and move into your destiny energized by your ‘Higher Spiritual Power.’

You simply change the environment… opposite of the corporate mantra of “Grow where you are planted,” which sometimes translates to the limiting “Grow how and where we want you to grow,” which may or may not be the real growth you need at the time.

Here is Kirsten Corley’s article:

Making Yourself A Priority Isn’t Selfish; By Kirsten Corley, December 15th 2017

At first it’s going to be uncomfortable especially when you’ve never made yourself a priority before. When you are the type of person who puts everyone else’s needs before your own. When happiness is defined by what you do for others and you’ve done it so long you forget to do things for yourself.

It’s realizing maybe the reason you aren’t where you want to be or feel the way you do is because you haven’t taken the steps to get there yourself when you’re constantly focusing on other things and people.

It’s looking yourself in the mirror and accepting the fact you made these choices and you can’t blame anyone if you aren’t happy or fulfilled.

It’s looking at your life and instead of pointing blame it’s finally taking responsibility.

It’s feeling a little confused because once you realize making other people happy hasn’t made you happy, you have to figure out what does and you might not even know that answer.

It’s sitting down and trying to figure out what you want while trying to evaluate and eliminate the things you don’t want.

It’s removing certain people from your life because you have to for your own wellbeing even if you love them and care about them and can’t imagine your life without them, sometimes distance and space is better.

It’s stopping instead of running from your problems because you know you can’t escape the things you are denying to be the truth and you can distract yourself from what the problem is. But you are at a point where you want to find a solution.

It’s doing something you don’t want to because that choice is going to put you on a track you’re proud of not one you’re settling for.

It’s asking yourself am I doing this because I want to? Or am I doing this because I feel I have to and I don’t want to let other people down?

It’s not feeling guilty to admit you need a break or you’re tired and just need to relax for once.

It’s staying in on a Friday because you look at your bank account and you don’t even know what you spent stuff on but you know, you should have been more responsible.

It’s waking up early and not pushing snooze on your alarm 100 times because going to the gym, getting that run in, doing yoga is good for your mental health and well being. And even though you don’t want to do it, in that moment you know you have to.

It’s finally wanting to take full responsibility for how you feel about yourself and not allowing others to define your self worth.

It’s ending those relationships that linger and have loose ends because you can’t keep giving chances to people who don’t deserve it.

It’s not answering when someone from the past comes back because don’t care about what they say because they shouldn’t have left in the first place.

It’s not always being the one to make plans with everyone and go all the way to them every time. It’s realizing people should be putting as much effort into you as you have them instead of taking the relationship for granted.

It’s checking in the people who check in on you because those are the people who matter.

It’s putting your phone down when you want to text someone because you are realizing the phone works both ways and the only person you should be interested in isn’t one who makes you question your self worth or question a simple text.

It’s holding back on dating because if you don’t know who you are and what you want you won’t know what to ask other people for.

It’s figuring out what you want and not being ashamed of it or feeling guilty for wanting something more than just a hookup.

It’s letting that really attractive person go even though you’re interested because you know you can’t turn them into the person you want them to be and you aren’t going to waste your effort.

It’s allowing yourself to breakdown and cry and fall completely apart because it’s okay to not have the answers. It’s okay to be unsure. It’s okay to be hurting and not know how to fix it.

Feeling through these emotions you might have repressed and it finally coming out isn’t a bad thing and it doesn’t make you weak.

Sometimes it takes strength to get to that place emotionally and feel through all the ugliness so it’s out of your system.

It’s realizing the life you are leading at this moment isn’t the one that’s making you happy so something has to change.

It’s taking a step towards a completely different lifestyle that you or others are used to. Even though there are going to be questions of why you are doing this and people who will doubt you and disapprove, you know you’re doing it for you. It’s not longer feeling guilty for disappointing people for living the life you want as oppose to the one they expect.

It’s realizing when you make certain changes in your life you’re going to lose people who are going to want you to go back to what you were doing and the person you were because it didn’t fit the mold of what they needed and wanted. But the real relationships in your life will support you.

It’s not selfish to want to be happy and want to have a life you’re really excited about. It’s essential.

It’s learning how to let something or someone go because you’ve outgrown it and even though good memories resided there you can’t keep looking back.

It’s evaluating your life and your choices and calling it exactly what it is. Your mistakes. Your failures. The things you did your ashamed of and instead of throwing a pity party, you learn. You grow. You forgive yourself because as much as other people deserve forgiveness you do too.

It isn’t selfish to forgive yourself for your mistakes.

It’s realizing you can’t force things. Whether that’s relationships or a lifestyle.

It’s giving everything your best effort but accepting that some things aren’t meant to be even if you want them to be.

Then once you realize this isn’t where I’m supposed to be, you find the courage to change it because people aren’t meant to stay in the same place doing the same thing. Especially if it’s not making them happy.

When a plant doesn’t thrive and grow the way it’s supposed to, you don’t blame the plant you simply change the environment to one it will do well in. That’s how you should approach everything in your life.

It’s taking a step back and looking at the life you are projecting out to the world across social media and asking yourself is any of this real? It’s pulling back if that answer is no and trying to create a life you don’t need to fake.

It’s not selfish to make yourself a priority and when you start to you’ll wish you did it sooner.

And it isn’t wrong to want to be happy.

It’s saying no for the first time in your life and not explaining why. 

The next hour is the absolute BEST time of my life, absolutely, positively, without a doubt!!!

Actually, “the next XX hours is the absolute BEST time of my life, absolutely, positively without a doubt. The ‘XX’ is the remaining waking hours of the day. So if it is Noon and I plan to stay up until 11 pm then “the next 11 hours is the absolute BEST time of my life, absolutely, positively, without a doubt!!!”

This mantra, which came early in my TROML Process (which dates back to September 2000, seventeen years ago), brings me back to living in the moment free of fears, resentments, untruths, and my self/pride/’Silly Ego.’

It is a plan to live THIS day fully and only this day, not yesterday, or tomorrow.

‘One Day at a Time.’ TROML Baby! One day, one hour, one minute, one second if needed to be ‘a spiritual being living a human life,’ not a human being living a spiritual life.’ There is a big difference!

I have forgotten to live in the present moment recently and doing so has impacted my quality of life.

The Splendid Spiritual Self is not as splendid when one is living in yesterday’s memories or tomorrow’s fears.

My Splendid Spiritual Self is the center of my being and directs my mind, emotions, speech, and body. ‘Directs’ is a unique mixture of control, isolating, and being the master of versus being a slave to one’s mind, emotions, speech, and body. We can choose, in a non-reactive manner, what we say and what we do with our body. The mind and emotions are a little trickier as they are spontaneous, independent and a source all to themselves. But they do not rule my Splendid Spiritual Self. There are ‘one-way personal/prayerful/protective inner boundaries’ amongst the mind, emotions, speech, and body and the one and only way is from the Splendid Spiritual Self outward to each of these natural entities of the body self. They don’t interact with each other directly but only through the Splendid Spiritual Self.

Complicated diagram—YES! Difficult implementation and way of life—NO!

TROML is an inward journey to one’s unique Splendid Spiritual Self which quickly connects with one’s Soul or Spirit thereby releasing the True Self to live a life of peace, joy, unity, and freedom.

TROML and living in the moment, clear and present has manifested itself in what the world would both good and ‘bad’ days!

The ‘bad’ first.

The day of my mother’s funeral shortly after embarking down the TROML Path. Arguably the worse day of anyone’s life. Surely the saddest but does not have to be the worst. I remember being present, clear and open-minded. Feeling the feeling of being sad yet somehow moving with it through the day. There we were, me and my siblings, surrounding Mom’s casket as the priest was praying over her. I became aware of the coolness of the polished wood and felt this energy come to me through both hands and arms and fill my body, mind, and soul while hearing the sensation that my Mom would never leave me. That we would always be dear and close and this special power, special energy of hers would always be with me. How could that not be one of the BEST days of my life?

The second ‘bad’ day experience which was actually a week long serious illness confirmed that my Splendid Spiritual Self model, which is revolutionary in scope and application, was indeed right for me. The individual one-way ‘SSS to Body to Pain & Pleasure’ assumes pain is the same as pleasure to my Splendid Spiritual Self. That spiritual awakening had come in the months before my illness. I never felt pain like that before in my entire life yet I retreated into my Splendid Spiritual Self and indeed the pain was the same as pleasure, only a physical feeling of my body, separate from the Splendid Spiritual Self, where I was during the ordeal. No doubt pain is real and has to be dealt with in a medical sense when needed. But the fear of pain and how it impacts me, my Soul and my Spirit is my choice. Being physically sick is unfortunate but only a small percentage of our overall combined physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. How could that week not be one of the BEST of my life?

And for one of the BEST days of my life competing in a local version of ‘Dancing With The Stars.’ I am not a dancer and I am not a star so I was definitely out of my element. But I worked hard, had a great professional partner and dance instructor and somehow persevered through twenty-five or so lessons to performance night. I was present, clear, open-minded, and open-hearted to the opportunity and the experience. And the dance came off well with no major missteps. Being as close as possible in my Splendid Spiritual Self, any negative thoughts, fearful emotions, and bodily indecision were negligible. How could that day not be one of the BEST days of my life?

TROML Baby!

The next ten waking hours is the absolute BEST time of my life, absolutely, positively, without a doubt!