Connecting to Joy

At the end of yesterday's entry I spoke of inviting my students to experience a greater awakening and joy in their practice.

At the end of his recent newsletter, Todd Norian, a Senior Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher makes these suggestions for connecting with joy if you are having a bad day or simply can't experience joy in the present moment:

1. Take a time-out from the activity of your day.
2. Do some yoga in a quiet, uncluttered space.
3. Ride the waves of your breath as you move and stretch.
4. Give your mind a time-out from having to figure everything out...
5. Go into your right brain and merge with the flow of breath and body sensation.. Be in the Present Moment for at least 20 - 30 minutes a day.
6. Consciously choose to open to Grace and turn it over to the Divine.
7. At the end of your practice, sit in total silence for a couple of minutes and receive the blessing of the Divine. Then repeat these affirmations to yourself several times:

I am worthy.
I am great.
I have the seeds of greatness inside my heart.
I am one of a kind.
I am an original.
I am a masterpiece of the Divine in living form.
I have the DNA of the Divine.
My worth comes from the inside.
Everything I touch prospers.
I have everything I need already inside of me.
The Universe is always pointing the way for me.
Everything that happens in my life is for my awakening.

As I reflected on these suggestions for connecting with joy, I recalled that ancient Egyptians, at their passing, were asked two questions before they could be admitted to the afterlife:

Did you find joy?
Did you bring joy?

If they could not answer "yes" to either one of these - these ancient Egyptians were not deemed worthy of the afterlife.

Yogananda taught that happiness is a conscious choice we make. Only we can hurt ourselves, and if we do not choose to be happy - no one will be able to make us happy.

All of this is so similar to what Eckhart Tolle has been saying in A New Earth.

Go out and experience joy in some form or another - at least once during this magnificent day!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rumi - "The Lord is in Me" and "Love Said to Me"

I was sent a couple of poems by Rumi recently, and I wish to share them here. May you find inspiration in them for a glorious weekend! The Lord is in Me The Lord is in me, and the Lord is in you, As life is hidden in every seed. So rubble your pride, my friend, And look for Him within you. When I sit in the heart of His world A million suns blaze with light, A burning blue sea spreads across the sky, Life's turmoil falls quiet, All the stains of suffering wash away. Listen to the unstruck bells and drums! Love is here; plunge into its rapture! Rains pour down without water; Rivers are streams of light. How could I ever express How blessed I feel To revel in such vast ecstasy In my own body? This is the music Of soul and soul meeting. Of the forgetting of all grief. This is the music That transcends all coming and going. Love Said to Me I worship the moon. Tell me of the soft glow of a candle light and the sweetness of my moon. Don't talk about sorrow, tell me of that treasure
Read more

Upside Down Siva and Ultimate Freedom

Image
While I was in Denver last month, on Thursday May 7th, the day of the week in which the Guru and teachers are traditionally honored, I was drawn to buy a "murti" (sacred statue) of Siva doing a one-handed handstand. I bought this statue the very morning I was to demo this pose, unbeknowst to me... The murti of Siva is now on my desk in front of me, where it is constantly in my peripheral vision, every time I sit at my computer. It is also to the left of the meditation alcove I built into a closet. I was drawn to this piece from the first moment I laid eyes on it, and so after receiving it in the mail, I wrote to Dr. Manoj Challam, from whom I purchased it, asking him to give me more insight into the meaning of this representation of Siva. A primary focus of the week that Anusara Yoga teachers gathered in Denver was the study of the Siva Sutras with Dr. Paul Muller Ortega, a pre-eminent Siva scholar. I have always been very drawn to Siva , and this particular murti was so
Read more

A Christmas Poem

Last year, I wrote this poem. These were my wishes then, and they are my wishes once again this year, and every year - for you - for me - for all of us! And so, here it is, one more time... This Christmas… Love. Love totally and completely. Love without restraint. Love with total abandon. Forgive. Forgive everything. Forgive every ancient grudge. Forgive the Unforgiveable. Hope. Hope for a better world. Hope for Peace, and an end to strife. Give Hope to all in despair. Dream. Dream the Impossible Dream. Feed your Dream and Give it Life. Make it real. Believe. Believe in the Seen. Believe in the Unseen. Believe in the Power of Miracles. Live. Live fully and Live deeply. Live with Great Passion. Live Each moment, as if your last. Touch. Embrace a loved one. And a lost one. Embrace them again. Hold a hurting hand and heart. Feel. Feel everything. Fee
Read more