Our community is honored to have Swami Atmavidyananda Giri and Yogacharya Richard Peterson grace our studio the weekend of May 8th to offer Kriya Initiation.

Kriya Yoga is a golden opportunity to reach higher states of consciousness and change your life, by developing the body, mind, intellect, and awareness of the soul. It is a quick and easy path. Kriya Yoga techniques are passed down from master to disciple, master to aspirant, teacher to student.
— Kriya International

This is your opportunity to take your practice to the next level. Paramahamsa Hariharinanda said, “Realization of cosmic consciousness is the goal of life.” Kriya Yoga will make this goal a reality for you. You can read more about our Kriya Initiation here.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the women in our community who have been blessed to share the rearing of souls as they gain roots and wings. You are awesome and we salute you!

Please be sure to join us for all of the wonderful events we are presenting this month for your benefit and continue to give us your feedback so that we may continue to expand in the most positive way. As you make your way into this extraordinary month of May, make your well-being your priority, because everything you do impacts all of us and we need you to be as awesome as possible.

Blessings to you and yours,

Greetings!

Easter always seems to show up at the most appropriate time to remind us that renewal is a constant in this world of ours. Life self-perpetuates through endless perfection. In The Luminous Gospel, Mary Magdalene noted that, when Jesus was asked if matter would survive or not, the Savior answered: “All of nature with its forms and creatures exist together and are interwoven with each other. They will be resolved back, however, to their own proper origin, for the compositions of matter return to the original roots of their nature.” It is through this eternal truth that we may find solace and courage to move forward in our lives, knowing that who we are and what we are contributing to the world counts on some very deep level, for there is no end to us.

We are the epitome of infinite possibilities inspired and buoyed by the essential essence of Love. Love is the fuel that perpetuates life. It is your heart. You are your heart. Open your heart. Lead your life from the heart. All else will take care of itself through the foundation of Love.

All Love,

For you must realize that earth unfolds its properties and powers in union with Heaven aloft above us, and there is one Heart, one Being, one Will, one God, all in all.  — Jacob Boehme

Wake up, folks! Actually, go to sleep, but before you do, make sure to watch Sleepless in America. The alarming facts in this documentary would keep us up at night if sleep wasn’t so important to us. It seems that sleep is regarded almost as a luxury in modern society, with some people taking pride in their sleep deprivation, but this attitude is literally killing us. No matter how much you exercise, eat well, hydrate, or meditate, if you’re not getting the proper amount of sleep, you’ll never be truly healthy. This film should be standard viewing for all Americans to show how sleep deprivation dramatically increases your chances of developing diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s, and how it puts you and others at risk of being in a potentially fatal car crash.

Robb Wolf, author of the New York Times Best Seller The Paleo Solution – The Original Human Diet, did a post on his blog about the importance of sleep, saying, “Sleep and photoperiod considerations are MORE important than food or exercise. […] That only sounds controversial if you are ignorant to the literature on sleep.” The post includes a TED talk in which his friend Kirk Parsley, a doctor and former Navy SEAL, discusses the consequences of sleep deprivation.

Nothing that you’re staying up to watch or do or read is as important as getting a full night’s sleep. Missing out on that extra hour or two of activity per night is nothing compared to the years of life you may lose by not giving your body the proper amount of rest it needs to cleanse and rejuvenate, not to mention the life that may be cut short by an accident due to sleep deprivation. A popular saying today is: “You can sleep when you’re dead.” If you don’t get enough sleep while you’re alive, that time may come sooner than you think.

Now stop reading this and go to sleep!

posted by Kirsten K.

Greetings and Salutations!

It is always refreshing to enter into February knowing that focus is drawn toward the subject of Love. Perhaps the time has come for us to become more adept at anchoring our hearts and minds on love perpetually, never needing a reminder from the outside world. It is my heartfelt belief that we—all of us—have been created through the essence of pure love, that we shall return to love and that love is, in so many words, all there is. Why not celebrate it every day, in every living thing, in every moment? If we all agreed to do this, everything on the planet would instantly change, for there cannot be negativity where love resides.

Being a child of the sixties, I grew up believing that “all you need is love, love, love is all you need.” (The Beatles) That ideal was not easy to personally realize until I finally came to understand that love is not something that comes to you from the outside. Rather, love is something that, when you discover its ever-Presence within your own heart, everything changes, permanently. You become free, empowered, clear, courageous, joyous and filled with deep peace and calm. You begin to open your heart and allow everything to flow through you with non-attachment, respect and wonder. You begin to live more and more honestly in the present moment without dragging the past along with you, nor do you spend precious energy on false pretense of the unknown future. You let go of false expectations of what others should or should not do to secure your happiness in the world and discover that your happiness depends only upon you, no one else. You truly become one with all that is and anchor your life in your center. Life is sweet and gets sweeter every day.

Just go into love. Not wishing it would come to you from someone else, but discovering the ever-Presence that is your birthright through the Divine essence that resides in the center of your exquisite, magnificent heart.

Happy February to you and yours,

To see the universal and all pervading Spirit of Truth face to face, one must be able to love the meanest of all creation as oneself. —Mahatma Gandhi

The theme of Marydale’s Thought for the Day, Volume II is love, so we choose it as our Read of the Month, because February is a month devoted to love. As anyone who has connected to the Source within can tell you, love is at the core of everyone and everything in the Universe. It is the essence of who we are. When Marydale sits, asks, and allows the Thought to flow through her, she feels this love and hopes that reading her inspired messages will assist others to tap into this love, as well.

There is a picture of a heart on the cover of Marydale’s Thought for the Day, Volume II, and photographs of hearts—taken by Marydale herself—can be found throughout the book. She wanted to remind readers that living your best life starts with living from the heart. During this month of love, make Marydale’s Thought for the Day, Volume II a Valentine to yourself. Hold the book against your heart, close your eyes, and when you are ready, ask Spirit to give you what you need on this day. Then open the book and read the first Thought you see. May love fill your life throughout the month of February and always.

You can purchase Marydale’s Thought for the Day, Volumes I and II in our online store or at Amazon.com.

Greetings and Salutations!

Let us welcome 2015 with open hearts as it presents itself to us with infinite possibilities anchored in Love, Service, Meditation and Realization. As a community, we have been inspired to focus this New Year on upeksha, meaning, in some translations, indifference, but for our practical understanding and ongoing practice we shall embrace the translation of upeksha as equanimity.

Equanimity, according to Wikipedia, is “a state of psychological stability and composure which is undisturbed by experience of, or exposure to, emotions, pain, or other phenomena that may cause one to lose the balance of their mind.” Patanjali wrote in the Yoga Sutras (1:33): By cultivating attitudes of friendliness (maitri) toward the happy, compassion (karuna) for the unhappy, delight (mudita) in the virtuous, and disregard (upekshanam) for the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness. This “undisturbed” calmness is equanimity, upeksha, the idea of being in pure awareness. It is a state of even-mindedness, an openness that allows us to respond to any given situation with balance, equipoise, thoughtfulness and detachment. Upeksha is not cold-hearted indifference. Rather, it is a spaciousness within our own hearts and minds toned with respect and honor for all.

Yoga teaches us that there are four basic types of individuals (locks) in the world: the happy (sukha), the unhappy (duhka), the virtuous (punya), and the wicked (apunya). As we move through our everyday lives, we are constantly coming in contact with a broad range of people who are expressing from one of these perspectives. If we are unprepared for their drama, it is likely that we will mindlessly be drawn into their perspective and lose our sense of calm. Note that, in this sutra, Patanjali offers us four practical tools (keys) to assist us immediately as we relate to each of these people. They are:

1. Friendliness – toward the happy
2. Compassion – for the unhappy
3. Delight – in the virtuous
4. Disregard – toward the wicked

As an important tenet of your yoga practice, upeksha–equanimity–can be one of the results attained through regular dhyana (meditation) practice combined with pranayama (breathing) and asana (postures). As practiced yogis, it is up to us to take heed of the wisdom we know to be true and use the keys we have been given to diffuse chaos while maintaining a state of perpetual inner peace and clam. Join me in this beautiful practice, won’t you? For I know through it you shall be blessed. May 2015 bring great blessings and joy to you and yours!

In Service,

Instead of seeking sustenance from food, turn your attention toward God and let your true appetite be satiated.

previous
 

May you take a pause from all of life’s challenges and recognize the good you have contributed to the world at large. Often, you forget what a pivotal role your life plays in the scheme of things. Fortify your strengths through your connection to God by diving deep into your heart each day for nourishment and clarity.

previous | next
 

When you open yourself to unconditional love, you are glimpsing eternity.

previous | next
 

It takes so little energy to be kind, considerate and generous, as these positive feelings flow naturally through our open hearts, which are tuned to the generosity of Spirit.

previous | next