Aligning with Grace

I go down to the river on a cold morning, drawn there, after over a week of snow and ice... I go down to the river to offer a Lovingkindness meditation, for myself, and my friend, who is still in transition from this life, miraculously holding on, in a state of suspended animation, but teeming with life, as the bottom of this river... I came down to this very river, a little over three years ago for the first time, and began a daily practice of offering a Lovingkindness meditation - a Buddhist "metta" practice for myself, as it is suggested, for many months, before I was ready to offer it for others. It was a long, and arduous but fruitful road to letting go of resentments towards others, and lightening the load in my heart... I come today, and repeat the words I prayed daily then - and I share here, my own "personal" version of this practice: May I be filled with lovingkindness. May I be well. May I be at peace and at ease. May I be happy. I practice for myself fir...

One of the attributes of the Divine, as recognized in Tantric texts and teachings is "svatantrya" or ultimate freedom. It is also an attribute that we strive to embody and attain as yoga practitioners and mundane mystics. I believe it is something that all humans yearn for, and as we observe the events that are taking Egypt and the Middle East by storm, this becomes even more evident and relevant. In my own classes this week, I explored ultimate freedom as resulting from the interplay between Muscular Energy and Organic Energy - two of the principles in Anusara Yoga's Universal Principles of Alignment . It is in the dance between the two that we experience and come to embody ultimate freedom. But it is also in this dance that we consider and ponder the many questions that arise in our lives and that calls us to honor our process as well. Today, as I reflected on three inter-related issues - the profound insights received during a craniosacral therapy session with a very ...