Summertime 2017 – Perfectly Well News!

By Anais on July 11, 2017 • ( 0 )

This is going to be somewhat of a ramble – they call it a newsletter, right! I call it a piece of my Journal.

I am not teaching yoga or meditation classes the month. Meditation in Polson is in abeyance until I get back from India in September. Yoga at Cross Collar Academy in St. Ignatius is taking the month of July off, and school at Salish Kootenai College is on summer break. So what am I doing this summer? There is no dearth of things to do in this life. Thankfully so, and sometimes, overwhelmingly so!

Speaking of being thankful, I subscribe to Daily Om. I received an interesting post from them this week titled Being Truly Thankful by Madisyn Taylor. It starts out like this: “Often when we practice being thankful, we go through the process of counting our blessings, acknowledging the wonderful people, things and places that make up our reality. While it is fine to be grateful for the good fortune we have accumulated, true thankfulness stems from a powerful comprehension of the gift of simply being alive, and when we feel it, we feel it regardless of our circumstances. In this deep state of gratitude, we recognize the purity of the experience of being, in and of itself, and our thankfulness is part and parcel of our awareness that we are one with this great mystery that is life.”

It goes on to talk about how we get caught up in the ups and downs of life – and reminds us to remember that the world ebbs and flows, expands and contracts. This is a bigger picture viewpoint. Ms. Taylor ends by saying that being PRESENT on a daily basis can do wonders for our ability to connect with true gratitude. She suggests tuning in to our breath as a tool to help us with this. You can view the whole article here.

A post came in from The Chopra Center titled 7 Mantras for Creating the Life You Want, by Yoga Instructor Lena Schmidt. The article is a good reminder of why I am so attracted to mantra, chanting, singing. Understanding the power of POSITIVE mantra and how it can be used for our ultimate benefit is a great summertime research project! I turn to many of the Mantras mentioned in the article as reminders of the vibrations the words represent. They uplift and help me put my inner smile on. Read the full article…

Of Mantra, Yogi Bhajan says: “Mantras are not small things, mantras have power. They are the mind vibration in relationship to the Cosmos. The science of mantra is based on the knowledge that sound is a form of energy having structure, power, and a definite predictable effect on the chakras and the human psyche.”

I am also reading (or re-reading!) these good books:

The Incredible Life of a Himalayan Yogi: The Times, Teachings and Life of Living Shiva, Baba Lokenath Bramachari / Baba Lokenath lived for 160 years, from 1730-1890. During his life he travelled the world, spending much time in the Himalayas. (Available through various online booksellers.)
The Best is Yet To Come ~ Yoga on a Chair? Try If You Dare! / Wonderful adaptation of many Kundalini Yoga sets, breathwork, and meditations. I am cogitating on teaching a class to those for whom getting up and down off the floor may be a challenge, or who due to physical or other limitations, are not doing yoga and meditation, but who would like to. (Available through Spirit Voyage)