Had one of those days today, one of those days were you get connected to something much bigger than our own selves, something that takes us beyond what seems to be and beyond our mere existence of relatively short duration, yet an enduring and endearing presence that we are so blessed and grateful to have in life…

I woke up after a restful sleep that restored my body. But my mind was active upon awakening and there was a presence and overtones of a harsh, critical voice rattling around in my head. I am thankful for the awareness and recognition of its presence, even in muted tones and volume. If we see it we can silence it which is one of my ongoing goals in life—to live a spiritual life with an inspiration thought-life.

I went to where I do yoga. It was Yogi—ess’ day (my designation for a female Yogi). Yogi does the other days. I am inspired by both Yogi—ess’ & Yogi’s classes, for me they complement each other quite well. So well I wouldn’t want to do yoga exclusively with one or the other.

Yogi—ess, in her beautiful way, centers us bringing us to be fully present in our yoga. With hands to our heart in a prayerful position she asks us to state an intention for today’s practice, today’s life, which is really all we have.

“Let your breath be louder than your mind,” connects me to where I need to be—out of my mind and into my soul, into my spirit…

“Breath in and out with the steady rhythm of the waves of the ocean (coming ashore),” she continues as it seems I leave the room in which I had come. “Exhale that which does not serve you,” she confidently urges and the tethered line to our reality in life seems to slip through the turnbuckles holding us down. It’s a healthy disassociation from reality for me that comes along with the silencing of that harsh critical voice that tried to penetrate my mind upon awakening.

“I live my life of love” we all say calmly and with spirited determination as our right hand crosses over to rest upon our heart… “I live my life without fear” as we realize the possibilities of a spirited life and we cross our left hand over to cover our stomach which can be home to our fears in life.

Yes, I surrender to the Divine Light within me, I let go of any need, want or desire to be perfect, to control, to think in all-or-nothing terms and to be judgemental, especially of myself. There is no need for the harsh, critical voice in my head. It goes out with my breath and I choose to not let it return as I inhale the beauty, the energy and the inspiration of the Spirit Above.

I surrender to something larger than my own self. There is more to our earthly existence, much more, here and beyond what seems to be. If I am depressed and hopeless about the rest of today or “the rest of my life,” then I am not looking far enough ahead. There is light, there is hope always, absolutely, positively, without a doubt. If I can’t see it, feel it or connect to its power it is by my choice. It is always there if I am humble, honest and willing…

“Allow the mind chatter, the monkey mind, detach from it, breathe, let your breath be louder (and more powerful) than your mind, exhale that which does not serve you, exhale those useless thoughts and inhale the energy of your breath, give yourself this peace, the more you practice to go there, the easier it is to be there, journey to the center stillness, let it become automatic, our minds cause the suffering, pain is just a stimulus, our mind creates the (fearful) story (that causes us the pain), access the space, feel the inner peace, come here more often, not just at yoga practice…”

And there you have the magic of what seemed like a 5-minute Yogi—ess yoga session…

I can’t remember the pose but I did leave experiencing a fearless life of love and the freedom of my yoga practice today.

Today I will live this day fully, I will be and live a spiritual life with an inspirational thought-life…

Namaste…

Have a TROML Day today!

Your Personal Revivalist,

Anonymous Andy

 

Yogi grew up in his Father’s Morocco and lived in his Mother’s France as a young adult. From France he traveled five times to India in search of his purpose in life. He found that purpose and came to America to live in his late 20s.

His graceful purpose today was to play a French song,  Ca va pas changer le monde by Joe Dassin, during sun salutations in our yoga class this morning out of respect and honor for our friends in Paris and all of France.

Go ahead, click the link above and listen to the melody and see the lyrics in English below.

This Isn’t Going to Change the World…

The sun has no goal in life other than to shine and it does that whether or not we can see her through clouds or while she is on the other side of the world bringing warmth and light to them while we are in darkness.

Maybe that is why it important that we shine extra bright as human beings in times of darkness in our civilization?

As we come back to the movement of our breath and meditate peacefully maybe that is the only way to make this world a better place? As Yogi said today, peace in the world only happens when we find peace within.

We have to investigate our thoughts as the world is as we see it. What are we thinking?

The world suffers along with Parisians and the French people today.

Yogi led us through the use of Madra Abhaya to send a blessing to France and receive one back. In a seated position with legs crossed we raised our right hand with palm facing forward to send the blessing out to the world. Then we opened our left hand to receive back the grace returned from abroad.

We have problems as human beings because we do not investigate our thoughts in meditation. Our ego and our self-proclaimed righteousness can turn negative thoughts into a negative reality. Don’t let it.

Your mind can become your friend. That is a great step but not the only step. Let’s find peace within and then share it with everyone we connect with in this world.

As Yogi’s Yogess once said—there is enough love in every human being to fill up the entire world.

Feel the blessings of your heart. Feel the greatness of who you are.

Let us trust in that.

All wonderful insights from Yogi today.

This Isn’t Going to Change the World…

Only you and I, with love in our hearts  and an understanding of our purpose in life can do that…

We feel with you Pretty Paris & Fearless France.

God bless you!

Namaste

Have a TROML Day today!

Your Personal Revivalist

Anonymous Andy

This Isn’t Going to Change the World

It’s strange, you left
And yet you’re still here
Since everything speaks to me of you
Woman’s perfum, the echo of your voice
Your goodbye, I don’t believe in it at all
It’s a “see you agian,” almost like a date

This isn’t going to change the world
It turned too much without us
It will always rain in London
This isn’t going to change anything at all

What do I care
A door that’s been closed again
We loved each other, say no more
And life goes on

This isn’t going to change the world
That you moved to a new home
It will continue, the world
And rightfully so

The dust of a star
This is what makes the Milky Way shine
We loved each other, say no more
And life goes on

This isn’t going to change the world
This isn’t going to disturb it
It’s the same as before, the world
It’s only you that’s changed

Me, I stayed the same
The one who believed that you loved him
It wasn’t true, say no more
And life goes on

Click here for the source of the lyrics.

 

Yogi played a mantra in yoga class this morning and made the comment that “a mantra helps to get us through our thoughts and connect us to our heart.” I can tell you a mantra is a sacred verse or sound and symbolically represents a spiritual experience. The simplest is the humming vibration “OM”. “OM is different than my other basic instinctive “Mmmm” as my friend likes to note when I am eating something good. While I can’t tell you what mantra was playing as we practiced our yoga I can tell you it helped connect some dots in my life, some that have seemed to be spinning out of control lately.

First of all these mantras and their effects are no different than some other common experiences we share in life- singing, listening to music, exercising, saying our prayers together in church, or praying silently in a mosque. Even golfing can be like a mantra when we “get in the zone.” Why do negative thoughts based on our fears sometimes seem to occupy our minds? What if I lose my job? What if I lose my health? What if she doesn’t love me or want to be with me anymore? Once these types of thoughts take over it seems like we drop out of the world of the living or are somehow confined to a dark place of our own making.

Of course mindfulness and being aware of how we think is a big help to keep us on the right path in life. A thought becomes an idea we focus on and then sooner or later it seems to come out of our mouth and leads to a behavior. So we can be vigilant on what we allow into our minds. Are we taking a single event and drawing a big conclusion from it without any intermediate steps or evidence? Are we mistaking feelings for facts? If I feel like a failure am I really a failure? Are we making assumptions about other people’s thoughts, feelings and even behaviors without validating them first? Has our thinking become lazy or nonexistent and we are simply reacting to what seems to be happening to us. Sometimes as Yogi likes to say “things just happen” versus “things always happen to me.”

So our mind and the thoughts within can sometimes mask our real personal power and spiritual connections. How do we activate our hearts and lead with them in our lives? Is it as simple as having good posture with our heart up and shoulders back. How do we stop slouching our way through life?

Yogi and his mantra reminded me this morning- to be true to myself I need to be connected to and lead with my heart. Yes, there are worldly decisions to be made about income and expenses and being a responsible citizen. But we also have to make good heartfelt decisions in our life. After all it is not what happens to us, or the words or actions that impact us that really matter. What matters is what comes out of us- our words and behaviors. They impact the real me.

So today it seems like I have reconnected to myself through my heart. Once again I am not afraid of leading with my heart or “losing myself.” I am ready to live life as though I am not afraid of what happens to me. I will be a happy and fulfilled me if I live without fear. My existence in this world will be complete and meaningful.

So too I am sure will be yours.

Mmmm that is good…   

Have a TROML Day Today!

Anonymous Andy

Your Personal Revivalist

Fly through that gap into the New Year!

Our yoga classes are a bit more relaxed the week between Christmas and New Year.

It’s a perfect opportunity for more stretching, more extension and more time for reflection.

I always like to find a place for my mat in the front of the class a few steps from a wall of windows.

Looking out into the external greenery somehow makes my internal body warmer and more open to our yoga routines.

Today, the last class of the year the view beyond the window mesmerized me into a deep reflection of the year past and the year forward.

I noticed the changing of a few leaves on a couple young saplings in front of the forest.

One can see the seasons change though in a much more subdued manner than in Upstate New York.

The colorful leaves made me think of the gentle grey in my own head of brown hair.

I am not getting any younger and another year has passed by so quickly.

The comingled forest in front of me somehow summarizes my life.

Like a grand finale of fireworks that builds high into the sky, there were short palmettos in front that gave way to arching, stretching, growing maple and live oak trees which bowed to the mature long needled pine trees and mature oaks.

People, places, and opportunities have come into my life over the years to make me what I am today- not perfect but perfectly planted and growing in my life.

I see the exposed trunks of the long thin palm trees that reach to the sky and think of my parents and siblings, my education and healthy perspective on life that have carried me these many years.

The wider trunks are of oak trees. Some of them are not so straight, even crooked and leaning to one side. Like my journey in life, despite some detours somehow they continue to reach for the sky.

I see that the commonness of the trunks is not their shape but their strength.

Al strong yet some trunks waver a bit in the wind as I have done in the storms of my life.

While this forest is in front of me those years of my life are behind me now, including this past one.

I notice a gap in the trees towards the brightening sky.

A rainy morning has now passed and the day has somewhat lightened.

I wonder what it would be like to shoot through that gap and go higher and farther in the journey of my life.

Like an airplane taking off I would quickly see the clear blue skies and the vast openness of the clear blue ocean not far away.

Even if the final days of the year are overcast and cloudy one can rise above it all into the bright sunshine.

For we know the light is always shining either on this side of our world or the other.

Like Yogi’s central theme of the great Sufi poet who wrote Two Suns Rising:

 

“What a day today.

There are two suns rising!

What a day, not like any other day.

Look!

The Light is shining in your heart,

The wheel of life has stopped.

Oh, you who can see into your own heart,

What a day, this is your day.”

 

Let’s be that other sun in this world and become so bright that we light the way for others that can see only darkness.

Let’s shoot through that hole and soar to new heights in our lives that only living our dreams will take us to.

All the best to you, your family and friends in the New Year!

You deserve to be fulfilled in life, absolutely, positively without a doubt.

Have a TROML Day Today!

Anonymous Andy

Your Personal Revivalist