Wonderful Workshop

Just a quick shout out to say Dharma Mittra was absolutely amazing. I came out feeling completely renewed in many wonderful ways which I'll write about later. No internet access for a while and no desire to spend time in Starbucks ( bless their hearts for having free wifi though!) so for now; be well, practice, practice, practice, and we'll talk soon!
Jai

Autumn

But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my possessiveness. The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head ... The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on.

Robert Finch

Calm in the Storm

September is a difficult month for many reasons. Each year at this time I reflect back to that terrible day now a decade ago. This year it seems the barrage of photos, sound recordings and TV images pouring in at a rate that I hadn't previously remembered is really stirring up a lot of emotion and it's very upsetting. There are so many things to take note of. I would personally like to remind people at this time of all the selfless military personal who have placed themselves in harms way to serve and protect us. Personal belief in military action is inconsequential when we reflect on the lives of these military personal. Every one of them is quite meaningful to someone else. Somebody is walking on eggshells today hoping and praying their loved one comes home soon, safe and sound and in one piece.

PTSD as well as other mental health issues are a direct result of being deployed, and a major problem for American veterans. According to the VA, as many as 20% of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have PTSD; 10% of Gulf War vets and 30% of Vietnam vets are diagnosed with the disorder. I believe those numbers are low. We in the yoga community can do a lot to help our fellow citizens. Yoga and meditations are proving valuable medicine in the treatment of PTSD. Please check out The Veterans Yoga Project to see how you can participate and offer a little healing and calm to some veterans in your area.

Diving In

September is here, time to dive into a new schedule and a fresh outlook. Back to work and a whole different list of things to do. I have to sit down today with a nice hot cup of joe and try to make a fall schedule. There are many changes, some I am looking forward to and others, which give me cause for reservation. I went into this Summer slowly, with no real energy and a sagging outlook. Both my body and mind needed a break. I was too rung out from last year, just burnt toast really. I spent much of the summer trying to collect my energy into one synchronized stream. There was no way this was going to all happen over one Summer, too much to emotionally sort out. I didn't fair as well as I had hoped, although I do feel more energized and less scattered. I'm going to take this season one day at a time and for the sake of survival I'm going to go slowly. I have found in the last few years that when things are piling up and there seems no end in sight, going slowly not only preserves energy, but helps considerably in getting things done on the first try and on time. I'm also pulled out a few tools from my yoga chest to help me along, Experience Yoga Nidra which has helped me calm down in the past, and something new I picked up at Kripalu which may be helpful as well, Chakra breathing mediation by Layne Redmond.

Wishing everyone a peaceful and calm transition into Autumn.
Jai Bhagwan