Compassion in action

Can't believe a week has passed so fast!

I went to San Francisco to help my sister settling in. She just arrived to study her PhD wit a little 6 years old. To say the least it is and overwhelming time for her. I hope that with a little more time things will improve for her and her daughter.
Whether my husband and I were trying to choose some furniture for her minuscule and very expensive (for Texas) studio, or lifting the mattress through an endless staircase, a thought kept coming to mind that Sri Goswami Kriyananda always remarks, "clarity of purpose is key to a happy life."

Before coming back to Austin I told her -if you really want this, you will have to wake up every morning and remember why you are here and that every day the goal will get closer to you.

But it is not easy as life usually isn't, dealing with so many details for her and her daughter has been a daunting task. On the brighter side she has found a wonderful group of people that has helped them unselfishly. They don't have much, most of them students as well that understand the challenge of studying having to provide and take care of a kid. They represent the true compassion in action, you give not what you have to spare, you give from your own time and resources because it is the right thing to do.

No doubt there are heroes everywhere, be grateful if you have found one of them and feel good about yourself if you are one of those special kind souls that lift our hearts and give us hope that regardless of the challenges, things settle down.

If you have a story about someone helping you at a hard time, share it with us.

Shanti,
Rocio

The things we value

There is no doubt that male and female brain in general value and appreciate different things.

For instance, I would never spend $500.00 or more for a Dallas Football game (though I know some women may) or thousands of dollars in an expensive car as a result of a midlife crisis.

Ah! but give me a romantic movie or spending a weekend doing Yoga and listening to an inspired soul and I am there.

If you haven't read Joel Stein's column on how he describes her wife's process of eating placenta, you haven't see how different and funny this experience can be for a couple Afterbirth: It\'s What\'s For Dinner
Reading this article made me confirm in a hilarious way how foreign some of the yoga practices can be for a new student.

Picture this, my husband had a stuffy nose and I suggested using the Neti Pot. He wanted to know what that was and as I am explaining the technique, his faced changed from surprised to horror and rejection before running away and saying "you yogis are crazy, I can't do that to my body!"

I have heard many students going to a class because they can practice without that "chanting and weird stuff some teachers do at the beginning of class", and some others might be looking for something beyond the poses. All that might be the reason why there are so many yoga styles. The goal of Yoga Sanga, is to offer points of view on different traditions so prospect students will find their match.

The website will be ready by the end of the week, I can't wait to share it with all of you!

Shanti,
Rocio

Patience is a virtue

I remember being a kid and waiting for what it seemed an eternity to ride my new bike on Christmas break.
I had a very different upbringing for a child born in Mexico, in my case it was clear who bought all the presents. There was no mystery and we weren't allowed to tell other kids.
The great thing about this system is that we could go to the store and buy whatever wanted (assuming there was enough for seven kids). The down side was the time we had to wait to use them!!

My best present ever was my first bike, it had a shock in the frame and I thought it was an advance piece of engineering and special design. When time came I was elated to taste freedom. I remember waking up early many Saturdays and bike for a couple of hours around neighborhoods, feeling the cool breeze and enjoying my little independence.

In a way that is how I feel today, I cannot wait to share Yoga Sanga with you but ah! the pain; it is not ready yet. Programmer has promised it will be done by the end of the week (at this point I am not sure to trust that).

Bear with me and I will let you know as soon as it is out.
I cannot wait to share wonderful articles to the Texas Yoga Community!
Enjoy the long weekend!
Rocio

Ignorance and greed

I hope I am not alone on this but I have noticed that my brain has a delay when I am in an inverted pose and my lovely teacher Peggy comes and says, "lift the shoulders, tailbone in, internal rotation of the legs..." I usually go blank and feel less than bright for not having that yogic control over my body.

Well I just felt like that after talking with my sister. Today two women stole not only jewelry, money and credit cards from my mother, they stole her dignity and confidence for people.

We still cannot understand how two women were able to fool my mother with a bizarre story; to the point that she drove them around!
Everyday you hear about people abusing the elderly and how much they are target of scams. It is hard to believe how people can abuse a benevolent heart.

My Guru's teacher, Sri Goswami Kriyananda tells a conversation he had with his Guru Shelliji in terms of ignorance and greed. I am paraphrasing it.

Kriyananda recalls talking to his Guru and asking him -why do people do actions that will bring them negative karma.?
Shelliji answered -they do it because they have forgotten the laws of life. If you pollute the lake sooner or later all the fishes will be dead and you will starve. Most of us don't think too far ahead, therefore we are usually moved by greed and laziness.
Then the solution is easy, people need to understand the laws of life thus they can release themselves from ignorance -Kriyananda replied.
-That is an important part of the solution but not all as each person needs to have the desire to learn. Shelliji commented

As for my mother and the rest of the family today, we had a harsh awakening.

Where is the crisis?

I had the chance to sit down with a group of lovely ladies to talk about the economical recession and asked them how they are coping with the challenges that it has brought into their lives.
Most of them where very optimistic saying that not having a credit card debt have helped them realize how important is to use the money wisely. Others were grateful because even though their employers cut their hours back, they feel better compare to others that lost their job completely.

In the group there was a young lady that just moved to Texas from Michigan. She is trying to adapt to her new surroundings but misses Michigan quite a bit. She told us how after living there for 6 years she witnessed how the economy plummeted. She saw how residential areas were desolated and strip business areas completely closed converting small towns in ghost ones.

To contrast that idea during the weekend I dare to go to the Apple store to ask how much a Mac computer would cost me, I arrived at noon and it was packed.! People waited for 30 minutes to be helped and I saw white big boxes with Macs flying as if they were the cheapest computers in the world.

There is no doubt that compare with other states Texas has been fortunate and hopefully those who lost their jobs here will find one soon.

One of the columns that you will find at Yoga Sanga (hopefully by the end of the week, so the programmer keeps saying) is questions and answers. The question I chose for this issue is related to crisis in our lives and how to face them in a more balance way. Maybe it is not as much as to avoiding them as to learn how to face them differently.

Rocio

How come you missed it?

That is what my students asked me in disbelief on Friday morning when they asked if I heard the storm that came into Austin Thursday night.
I looked at them and said did it rain? Most of them couldn't sleep because of the wind blowing around the houses.
My only excuse was I guess I have been a little sleep deprived and my body took the opportunity to catch up. No doubt my awareness was into my sleep state.

By the way talking about awareness, one of the articles that we will be featuring is written by Ramanand Patel (wonderful yoga teacher and a genius in the use of props and small movements that give you a fast reality check). In his article he explores consciousness and its relation with contentment.
Shantosha or contentment is an interesting and often misunderstood concept in the Yoga lingo, I am sure this article will bring some light to it.

Tell me if you have a story of complete unawareness about something going on around you.

Enjoy the weekend!
Rocio

Yoga practice

A tired and little frustrated student asked me today, how much time should I practice yoga every day?
It really depends, if you talk only about the asana (poses) then everyday will be great; if you talk about the other 7 pillars, then is every day, every moment...- I answered

Her concern was that after 3 months of not doing any Yoga, her body struggled all through the class. Sounds familiar?

It is better to practice the poses everyday for a short period of time if that is all you have, than going to a class once a week. Muscles have memory and the more we stretch them gently the easier is to open and strengthen them.

I have an older student; she might be in her 50s and had two surgeries on her knee। When she started coming to class she was hesitant to move much. Little by little using support, her body started to open up and now she has reduced the use of props and gained not only strength but control over her body.

Don't be fool by the models in the magazines, everybody is different and though there is a model to follow in every pose, we have to adapt to what the body is able to do in every practice.

My teacher would say "constant practice and complete detachment bring the goal closer"
Have you made time for Yoga today?

Rocio