“WARMTH”, LOVING KINDNESS, SELF-LOVE with BODY & MIND in healing practices

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“What is our relationship with holding a grudge, with not being able to let go of our anger at someone, or our jealousy and pride and lust and craving, wanting, grasping?
Songyal Rinpoche uses the word “handshake” to describe having appreciation rather than criticism for what we see in ourselves, as a way for things to be able to be ventilated and to move…move on. In other words, if something is frozen like ice, warmth is what allows it to melt.
The attitude of warmth or loving kindness, of tenderness, of unconditional acceptance, is not the same thing as saying “oh my anger is good, my grudge justifiable.”

Pema Chödrön and Songyal Rinpoche’s “Handshake” practice

Our SPRINKLING of AYURVEDA:  Abhyanga – Self Oil Massage

The traditional practice of Abhyanga:  Sneha is a sanskrit word meaning both oil and love…

Abhyanga (Full body massage with warm herbal oil) is one of Ayurveda’s most beloved self-care holistic practices. How can lubricating the tissues with warmth and touch, loving kindness and tenderness towards oneself, benefit our nervous system, our relationship with ourselves and others?

Brihat Trayi and Laghu Trayi texts of Ayurveda-Dinaycarya

Abhyanga, the Ayurvedic practice of self-massage with oil, is an excellent way to nurture your whole being every day, and can be done at home. Massage has been proven to have many benefits for the body, including releasing tension in the muscles, supporting healthy circulation, and leaving the skin feeling replenished and hydrated. In this video, we’ll show you how to give yourself a massage the Ayurvedic way, including self-massage techniques and best practices. In Sanskrit, the word sneha can be translated as both “oil” and “love.” So in Ayurveda, there is an inherent connection between enveloping the body in oil and enveloping it in love. Both experiences can give a deep feeling of stability, warmth, and comfort. Sneha—oil and love—is sukshma, or “subtle.” This allows it to pass through minute channels in the body and penetrate deep layers of tissue ( dhatus ). Abhyanga is a technique unique to Ayurveda. It involves mindfully massaging the body with specific oils for one’s physiology and present health condition. The skin, being the largest organ of the body, performs several important functions. Some include providing a protective barrier, regulating body temperature, synthesis of vitamin D, maintaining water electrolyte balance, providing a storehouse of fat, water, salt and glucose, and creating an acid base equilibrium by maintaining acid-alkaline levels. By allowing the oil to penetrate the skin before daily bathing, it protects, nourishes and supports one’s mind, body and spirit. Over time, with routine practice of abhyanga, one’s health and well-being are dramatically improved to the deepest and most subtle cellular levels.

How to Do Abhyanga

Abhyanga can be practiced daily or as time allows. You can apply oil to the whole body or to specific locations like the feet or head.

Benefits of Abhyanga-Self-Massage

Although receiving a massage from a professional massage therapist is sometimes advised, there is a lot to be gained by learning and practicing Ayurvedic self-massage techniques. With self-massage, the fantastic benefits of abhyanga become readily available to you in the comfort of your own home. In fact, in a recent clinical trial studying the effects of self-massage, abhyanga proved to be an effective way to decrease stress levels, improve quality of sleep, and enhance one’s overall quality of life. Over time, self-massage becomes a regular act of self-love you can look forward to every day.

Read more on Abhyanga here.

Our SPRINKLING of AYURVEDA: FEAR ANXIETY MIND – MANAS

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Nothing can truly affect our true nature and it is thoughts that create the illusion that
fear has such unpleasant powers.

Rupert Spira

Meditation on Fear and Anxiety

Fear and anxiety are common obstacles that can hinder a meditation practice. However, by acknowledging and addressing these emotions, individuals can cultivate greater awareness, clarity, and peace of mind. Here are key insights from the psychology of fear and anxiety meditation:

  • Fear as a natural response: Fear is a natural human response to perceived threats, whether real or imagined. In meditation, fear can arise as a result of confronting uncomfortable emotions, thoughts, or physical sensations.
  • Anxiety as a learned response: Anxiety disorders are often rooted in learned patterns of thinking and behaving. Meditation can help individuals recognize and challenge these patterns, promoting a more balanced and adaptive response to stress.
  • Mindfulness as a key component: Mindfulness meditation, in particular, has been shown to reduce anxiety by increasing awareness of the present moment and decreasing rumination on worrisome thoughts.
  • Body-focused techniques: Guided meditations that focus on the body, such as progressive muscle relaxation or breathwork, can help individuals short-circuit the fear response and cultivate a sense of calm and grounding.
  • Embracing fear: Rather than trying to suppress or avoid fear, some meditation approaches encourage individuals to embrace and explore their fear, fostering a greater sense of acceptance and compassion.
  • Faith and uncertainty: Meditation can involve an act of faith, trusting that the practice will lead to greater insight and peace, even in the face of uncertainty and fear.

Practical Meditation Techniques for Fear and Anxiety

  1. Body-focused meditation: Use progressive muscle relaxation, breathwork, or qigong to cultivate a sense of calm and grounding.
  2. Mindfulness meditation: Focus on the present moment, observing thoughts and emotions without judgment.
  3. Guided meditations: Listen to guided meditations specifically designed to address fear and anxiety, such as those that use visualization, imagery, or body-focused techniques.
  4. Embracing fear meditation: Explore and acknowledge fear, rather than trying to suppress or avoid it.
  5. Short-circuiting the fear response: Use techniques like deep breathing or physical relaxation to interrupt the fear response and promote a sense of calm.

Helpful to Remember

  • Meditation is a practice, not a cure-all. So patience and a gentle attitude of mind with oneself as we explore these techniques is a very helpful reminder.
  • Please consider seeking guidance from qualified meditation teachers or therapists if the  struggle with persistent fear or anxiety persists

Clearlight Yoga: A guided meditation by Michael Johnson

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Michael Johnson is a compelling mix of creative yoga instructor and curious student of the mind. The root of his interest in meditation lies in its ability to help with neurological disorders and for developing wellbeing. Michael’s worldview and meditation practiced changed when he read Buddha’s Brain by Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius. In this book, they explain how we can literally reshape our brain for greater happiness, love and wisdom through a combination of modern science and ancient teachings. Implementing these teachings into his own life, Michael eventually divested himself of the dogmatic & religious interpretations of meditation and instead focused on a more scientific approach.
He brings awareness to the foundations of meditation from various traditions including Zen (Dogen’s rules for meditation), Vipasana (Midnfulness, awareness of breath and body scanning), Vedic teachings (chakras), Ashtanga Yoga of Patanjali, Metta practices from Tibetan Buddhism bringing a systematic flow to his guided meditation.
– Ānapānasmṛti ≈ mindfulness of inhaling and exhaling
– Vipaśyanā ≈ insight
– Maitrī ≈ loving-kindness
– Vicāra ≈ inquiry

Learn more here.

Conceit, A Dharma talk by Rev. Meian Elbert, Abbess of Shasta Abbey

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CONCEIT: 

She speaks about conceit where there are several meanings to the word and one meaning is it is an idea , a conception. Nowadays we tend to think of conceit as a kind of Pride…. somebody praises you and if you’re conceited, thinking we’re better than other people. It can mean thinking we’re worse than other people because that’s a kind of conceit also. Most of us compare ourselves with other people a lot of the time – it’s a part of the critical mind to which we are all prone: seeing fault in other people or seeing thoughts in ourselves as well kind of conceit in a sense comparing making endless comparisons between ourselves and others. If we didn’t make comparisons there’d be no judgment no ground for criticism. All this comparison is not the reality, it’s just an idea we have so that’s related to conceit in the oldest sense, a conceit of something that really isn’t true. The Buddha said:  thinking I’m better than somebody else is deluded thinking,  I’m worse than somebody else is equally deluded and even thinking I’m equal to somebody else is deluded. And we all do this we all compare ourselves with others it’s a habit of mind that we might often not even be aware of. It’s just so endemic somehow if we tend to think generally that we’re better than other people we tend to look down on them and we don’t really respect them. You might be dismissive or rude, you might prejudge somebody based on our own biases or maybe we just don’t like that person so we tend to think they’re less good than we are in some way or we think they’re not as smart or as wise or competent or whatever as we are. We might not even be aware that we’re thinking we’re Superior to other people. It’s just a habit of mind we are caught into and we don’t even see it because we’re used to it or we think it’s true: “well yes I really am better than other people! What’s the problem? I’m seeing clearly.” Or you might think: oh no I’m not like that I think everybody’s equal I don’t think I’m better than other people I respect everybody but if we look more closely we might see those little seeds of conceit little waves that we think we’re better than somebody else because we all have them. We might have a little bit of conceit but praise is always in relation to unpraise! …it’s a proud vs inadequacy thing as Rev. Master Jiyu used to say: the two sides of one coin. We we try to prop ourselves up if we’re feeling badly about something. We look for thoughts on another person to make us feel better sometimes…thinking I’m anything if deluded. it’s separating ourselves off from other people: there’s me over here and then others over there. And this is the false conceit that the Buddha talks about: the false view of oneself that we think is real. …Our body is impermanent, painful and subject to changes. it will age it’ll change and eventually it’ll die and it’s just a body we’ve been given. There’s no cause for pride in it at all. The illusion of being a me, a self with its attributes a strong body or a weak mind-all those attributes that we might attribute to ourselves. In fact they all change they all come and go, Nothing lasts forever. Our minds change constantly – thoughts-they’re not our own. Whoever we think we are, we’re responsible for what we do with them. We can actually keep letting go over and over and over.

 

What is Santosha

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From an attitude of true contentment (Santosha), unexcelled happiness, mental comfort, joy and satisfaction, are obtained.

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

To Be In Awe

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Awe is all around us. With a little intentionality, we can reclaim our sense of wonder in the everyday, ordinary moments of life. Perhaps awe, while an ordinary response to the extraordinary, is also an extraordinary response to the ordinary.

Dot Fisher Smith:
 To Be In Awe – WISDOM from a 96 year old

What gives you a sense of awe? You might imagine standing on a wide-open plain with a storm approaching, or holding the tiny finger of a newborn baby. That word, awe – the feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends your understanding of the world – is often associated with the extraordinary. But you don’t need remarkable circumstances to encounter awe. You can find it every day, often in the humblest places. Staring up at a starry sky; looking at a sculpture that makes you shudder; listening to a medley of instruments joining into one complex, spine-tingling melody – those experiences remind us that we’re part of something that will exist long after us. Luckily, we don’t need to wait until we stumble upon it – we can seek it out. Awe is all around us. With a little intentionality, we can reclaim our sense of wonder in the everyday, ordinary moments of life. Perhaps awe, while an ordinary response to the extraordinary, is also an extraordinary response to the ordinary. Featuring Dot Fisher-Smith. Filmed in Ashland, Oregon, USA.

The First Step on the Path to Self-Realization

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THE YAMAS OF PATANJALI: The First Step on the Path to Self-Realization

“Yama” in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras represents the foundation of yogic ethics, providing a framework for cultivating a compassionate lifestyle that supports the pursuit of spiritual growth and self-realization.

Patanjali’s Ashtanga Yoga (Eight) Limbs of Yoga

We all want Samadhi. We all want Bliss. But the very first step that will guaranatee us those high states, we vehemently avoid, or at least try our best to ignore. Every change we want to see in the world, we must first perfect within ourselves. What Patanjali wanted of each Yogi, was not being “nice” and speak the truth and not hurt others, but he wanted us to develop and awaken Power through the Yamas. Are you ready for that?

In Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Yama (Sanskrit: यम) refers to the first of the eight limbs of classical yoga, also known as Ashtanga Yoga. Yama consists of five ethical restraints or abstinences, which serve as the foundation for a yogic lifestyle. These restraints are essential for cultivating inner awareness, self-discipline, and spiritual growth.

The five Yamas, as outlined in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, are:

  1. Ahiṃsā (Non-violence): Refraining from harming or causing suffering to oneself or others, physically, verbally, or mentally.
  2. Satya (Truthfulness): Speaking truthfully and honestly, without deceit or falsehood.
  3. Asteya (Non-stealing): Refraining from taking what is not given, including material possessions, ideas, or opportunities.
  4. Brahmacarya (Moderation un the use of the Senses): Practicing sexual restraint and moderation, and avoiding exploitation or harm to others.
  5. Aparigraha (Non-covetousness or Non-possessiveness): Letting go of attachment to material possessions, desires, and outcomes, and cultivating a sense of detachment and inner freedom.

These Yamas are not mere moral codes, but rather a means to purify the mind and prepare it for deeper states of consciousness. By observing these restraints, one can:

  • Cultivate self-awareness and introspection
  • Develop emotional intelligence and empathy
  • Purify the mind and emotions
  • Prepare for the practice of meditation and concentration
  • Attain a sense of inner peace and liberation

In summary, Yama in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras represents the foundation of yogic ethics, providing a framework for cultivating a virtuous and compassionate lifestyle that supports the pursuit of spiritual growth and self-realization.

How can journaling help us with Yamas?

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Thoughts disentangle themselves, passing over lips and
through pencil tips.

Michael Hyatt on Journalling

How can journalling help us with Yamas?

Unprocessed, undigested thoughts and emotions are the root cause underlying the physical manifestations of what we know as trauma, mental illness and also physical illness according to Eastern teachings. Enabling the release and expression of suppressed emotions is the start to healing. Journaling is a very powerful tool in enabling such expression and hence, initiating the healing process.

Madame Guyon on Rest Before God

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Madame Guyon_ Attentive Silence as a Counterpractice for a Digital Age

https://vimeo.com/413667921

Now do you understand what Silence is, it is being Still, ceasing your efforts to make things happen…no sooner do the bodily eyes close, than the soul is wrapped in prayer… it is amazing that so great a blessing enjoys an internal converse
which external matters cannot interrupt.

Madame Guyon, Christian Mystic

Christian mystic Jeanne Guyon’s devotional posture centered on what some call the inward way, or the “prayer of silence,” a means of communicating with God in humility, inward simplicity, and contemplation. Her situation was couched in a context that was quite different from ours, exacerbated by ruling authorities that were skeptical of any ideas that did not strictly conform to traditional thought. Guyon was able to break the bonds of her captivity through perseverance in the spiritual practice of attentive silence. Christians and others in the digital age can enjoy similar freedom from the temptations, injustices, and distractions that may hold them captive when use of mobile media is tempered by attentive silence and the goods discovered in a place of solitude. The attentive silence of Guyon helped her develop a holy listening that is much needed in our busy world of words.

By Michel Aubert/ Élisabeth Sophie Chéron – Bibliothèque nationale de France, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38404886

Roland Trujillo reads and discusses On Rest in the context of Spiritual Progress. Roland talks about stillness and detachment and how meditation helps the sincere seeker find this blessed state. The Universal language of silence wherein GOD is equated as “Being in Presence” Being in the present moment, being aware, being out of thought and being timeless. Mindfulness practices are also talked about from the context of the digital aga an dhow relevant Guyons work is todays stressed demographics.

Christan mystics “controversial” for their engagement with this kind of prayer of silence to silence in silence – quietutde

Minutes 0-5 Reverence of silence in daily life – respect, humility, listening, Guyon found her strength and resilience in silence – in jail and unto death

Minute 31:Powerful rendering of yoga, silence and strength.

A beautiful sharing after the video clips” Patrick sharing : silence dissipated a conflicted parking situation – no ego to take the blows when he simply decided to listen to the other, steeped in anger – allowing its full expression simply took it to rest and resolution. Emily shared the power of listening – not personlizxing – just listening
“I remembered the importance of remembering our interconnectedness – who is fighting with whom – no words needed – there is no one other than parts of “me”.

The Practical Aspects of Preparing for Formal Sitting Meditation

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Yama and Niyama from the Yoga sutras remind us of what not to do – Yama (stealing, being violent, being greedy, speakin untruth) and what conditions help – Niyama (like cleanliness – personal hygiene and a clean peaceful space to sit in, willingness for self study). The importance of a comfortable yet attentive physical sitting posture (asana) with head neck and spine aligned and a check in with our body parts including the placement of our tongue at the back of our top teeth, our geza or closed eye position, the position of our legs, crossed or not, etc; Pranayama – mindfulness of our breathing, Pratyahara: checking in and bringing to rest, out 5 senses, Dharana (one pointed concentration to pull in our fragmented mind under the lens of awareness, Dhyana and Samadhi. Amidst the latter stages would be the remembering of foundation of meditation as we entered the resting space of silence wherein the strong foundation is ever present…awareness of awareness.

Remembering the Foundations of Meditation:
 Ānapānasmṛti ≈ mindfulness of inhaling and exhaling
– Vipaśyanā ≈ insight
– Maitrī ≈ loving-kindness
– Vicāra ≈ inquiry—Michael Johnson, Meditation and Yoga—