Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,
This week in class we are considering using the light.
Use the light.
Come home to your true nature.
Don't cause yourself injury:
This is known as seizing the truth.
-Lao Tzu
As human beings, we have been born with the capacity to make choices. No other creature has this capacity, and no human being can avoid this responsibility. Every day, whether we see it or not, we have a choice of two alternatives in what we do, say, and think.
These alternatives are: what is pleasant and what is beneficial. The first pleases us now. The second may be unpleasant at the beginning, as anyone who has begun a physical fitness program knows; but it will improve our health and contribute to our peace of mind.
Both choices promise satisfaction. One we get immediately, but it comes and goes; the other requires effort, but its benefits stay with us and often benefit those around us as well.
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to reflect on the hard work, or effort, that you bring to you Yoga practices and how we often do not get to the "final" pose. Work to let the practice unfold by itself watching the progress. Be aware of how the little changes cumulatively make your practice more strong and bring more light to your life off of the mat.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Vertical Travel
Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,
This week in class we are considering vertical travel.
There are many going afar to marvel at the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the long courses of great rivers, the vastness of the ocean, the movements of the stars, yet they leave themselves unnoticed!
-Saint Augustine
Today many people who enjoy traveling are not content with visiting London or Paris; they want to travel by camel in the Sahara, or kayak in the Antarctic. But no matter how exotic, this is horizontal travel, where we stay on the surface of life. Much more fascinating is vertical travel - that is, meditation, which takes us to the Land of Love in the utmost depths of consciousness.
For a long time we may not get very far, but if we insist on traveling deep, meditation will become a daring adventure. We will pass through level after level of consciousness, just the way one travels from one country to another. There is this difference: when we pass from the United States into Mexico, we know when we have crossed the border. We must stop and speak to the guard. Then the language changes. We know we are in a new land. In meditation, it is rather different. The changes are likely to take place so gradually that we may not even be aware of it immediately. But slowly and surely we will begin to have a strong feeling of coming home to our native land.
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to learn to use your own life, your own experience to study the effects of your Yoga practices. Create the awareness to discover the subtle changes that might be taking place. Study, observe, experiment and use your own life as the research environment.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
This week in class we are considering vertical travel.
There are many going afar to marvel at the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the long courses of great rivers, the vastness of the ocean, the movements of the stars, yet they leave themselves unnoticed!
-Saint Augustine
Today many people who enjoy traveling are not content with visiting London or Paris; they want to travel by camel in the Sahara, or kayak in the Antarctic. But no matter how exotic, this is horizontal travel, where we stay on the surface of life. Much more fascinating is vertical travel - that is, meditation, which takes us to the Land of Love in the utmost depths of consciousness.
For a long time we may not get very far, but if we insist on traveling deep, meditation will become a daring adventure. We will pass through level after level of consciousness, just the way one travels from one country to another. There is this difference: when we pass from the United States into Mexico, we know when we have crossed the border. We must stop and speak to the guard. Then the language changes. We know we are in a new land. In meditation, it is rather different. The changes are likely to take place so gradually that we may not even be aware of it immediately. But slowly and surely we will begin to have a strong feeling of coming home to our native land.
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to learn to use your own life, your own experience to study the effects of your Yoga practices. Create the awareness to discover the subtle changes that might be taking place. Study, observe, experiment and use your own life as the research environment.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Respect
Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,
This week in class we are considering respect.
The test of a man or woman's breeding is how they behave in a quarrel.
-George Bernard Shaw
When tempers are frayed, and an argument is in progress, it is very difficult for anyone to listen with courtesy to an opposing point of view. If we could ask the mind on such occasions why it doesn't listen, it would answer candidly, "Why should I? I already know I'm right." We may not put it into words, but the other person gets the message: "You're not worth listening to." It is this lack of respect that offends people in an argument, much more than any difference of opinion.
But respect can be learned - in part by acting as if we had respect. We show respect by simply listening with complete attention. Try it and see: the action is very much like that of a classical drama. For a while there is "rising action." The other person's temper keeps going up; language becomes more and more vivid; everything is heading for a climax. But then comes the denouement. The other person begins to quiet down: his voice becomes gentler, his language kinder, all because you have not retaliated or lost your respect for him.
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to make the connection between developing awareness through your Yoga practices to being respectful. How do the practices of Yoga support you in learning and practicing respect?
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
This week in class we are considering respect.
The test of a man or woman's breeding is how they behave in a quarrel.
-George Bernard Shaw
When tempers are frayed, and an argument is in progress, it is very difficult for anyone to listen with courtesy to an opposing point of view. If we could ask the mind on such occasions why it doesn't listen, it would answer candidly, "Why should I? I already know I'm right." We may not put it into words, but the other person gets the message: "You're not worth listening to." It is this lack of respect that offends people in an argument, much more than any difference of opinion.
But respect can be learned - in part by acting as if we had respect. We show respect by simply listening with complete attention. Try it and see: the action is very much like that of a classical drama. For a while there is "rising action." The other person's temper keeps going up; language becomes more and more vivid; everything is heading for a climax. But then comes the denouement. The other person begins to quiet down: his voice becomes gentler, his language kinder, all because you have not retaliated or lost your respect for him.
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to make the connection between developing awareness through your Yoga practices to being respectful. How do the practices of Yoga support you in learning and practicing respect?
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Tapas
Greetings Yogis and Yoginis,
This week in class we are considering Tapas.
If someone takes your coat, give him your cloak as well; if he makes you go a mile with him, go with him two.
-The Gospel According to Saint Matthew
If you really want to land a blow at a compulsion, defy it. Do just the opposite of what it says. It is a daring approach which appeals to everyone with a sense of adventure. If somebody has been unkind to you, go out of your way to be kind to him. It can require a lot of endurance simply to be patient with such a person, but we're talking about more than endurance now; we're talking about daring.
Try it: there is an exhilaration in it, and a special delight in seeing the other person rub his eyes in disbelief, "I was just rude to him, and now he's being thoughtful. What's wrong with him?"
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to learn how the discipline we bring to our Yoga practice - part of our Tapas can help us move through life as described above. Tapas means to use burning effort under all circumstances to achieve ones goal in life. Tapas needs to be applied in three areas: body, speech and mind. Practicing non-violence towards your own body is one way to practice tapas of body. Speaking kindly and truthfully can be one way to practice tapas of speech. Developing an even mind that stays balanced in sorrow and joy and practicing self discipline is tapas of mind.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
This week in class we are considering Tapas.
If someone takes your coat, give him your cloak as well; if he makes you go a mile with him, go with him two.
-The Gospel According to Saint Matthew
If you really want to land a blow at a compulsion, defy it. Do just the opposite of what it says. It is a daring approach which appeals to everyone with a sense of adventure. If somebody has been unkind to you, go out of your way to be kind to him. It can require a lot of endurance simply to be patient with such a person, but we're talking about more than endurance now; we're talking about daring.
Try it: there is an exhilaration in it, and a special delight in seeing the other person rub his eyes in disbelief, "I was just rude to him, and now he's being thoughtful. What's wrong with him?"
Words to Live By: Inspiration for Every Day – Eknath Easwaran
The homework is to learn how the discipline we bring to our Yoga practice - part of our Tapas can help us move through life as described above. Tapas means to use burning effort under all circumstances to achieve ones goal in life. Tapas needs to be applied in three areas: body, speech and mind. Practicing non-violence towards your own body is one way to practice tapas of body. Speaking kindly and truthfully can be one way to practice tapas of speech. Developing an even mind that stays balanced in sorrow and joy and practicing self discipline is tapas of mind.
Blessings,
paul cheek
Rushing Water Yoga
417 NE Birch St., Camas, WA 98607
360.834.5994
www.rushingwateryoga.com
info@rushingwateryoga.com
Serving Yoga to Camas, Washougal, and Vancouver Washington since 2003
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