Monday, July 5, 2010

Living in the Paradox




For a whole month I have been enjoying being home in Colorado, getting caught up in my office, bonding heavily with my cat, Jaya, and hosting lavish raw foods dinner parties in my home. Not too shabby.

My practice and application of Yoga allows me to embrace the paradox of, on the one hand, living my life fully, enjoying nature, the garden, and keeping company with great beings, while at the same time feeling deeply the space of heart break. Millions of gallons of oil are still gushing from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, my friends along the Gulf are in sorrow at losing their ocean habitat and lifestyle, not to mention the effects of climate change tangibly being felt around the


planet. With all this AND the world economy continuing to be in shambles, it can be easy to want to give up, blame, or become a total grump. Lucky for us, yoga philosophy has answers if we are willing to listen.

Many of you know the theory of the Kleshas or "stains" which are aspects of our humanity that are unsightly, flawed, or vikrokti (broken). When I have been hurt, to help myself heal, I have sometimes made a decision (usually a limited decision) about the way life is, who I am, what I'm capable of, about men, or about women, yadda yadda, that has become part of the fabric of my belief system. We have all done this at one time. And so we use that fabric to build a tent to hide ourselves under. Meanwhile the life we really want to live is outside this tent! At our dinner party the other night we decided that to get "the gold" out of the hurt we have experienced, the process of a conscious yoga practice can help us turn that fabric into something new and fabulous - a garment that we wear which holds the wounds of the past, but now has taken the form of wisdom.


This is turning your kleshas into Lakshmis. The great Goddess Shri, or Lakshmi wears her blood in the form of her hot red sari.

So instead of limiting ourselves to those beliefs we made created when we were especially broken, we can choose to wear the fabric not as a tent to hide beneath, but morph into the fabric of a NEW and totally breathtaking outfit!

The oil gush in the Gulf right now is a Klesha on our ocean of catastrophic proportions. To be transmuted into a Lakshmi, every single person on the planet must pledge to take more personal responsibility for energy conservation and to take the time to speak up regularly to demand clean energy legislation in their country.

Together I believe we can turn this tremendous wound into wisdom, and help mother earth find a new gown to wear, worthy of the princess she is!

Join us this July and from here forward on Facebook for the July 30 Day Yoga Challenge. This month we are dedicating our challenge to the Gulf waters, people, and wildlife who are hurting right now with practical direct things you can do to make a difference. The challenge is to practice your yoga daily, with the A/C in the OFF position, (or if you are a hot yogi, practice with the heater in the OFF position), for 30 days!The corresponding green challenge is to simply get into the VITAL habit of unplugging any unused appliances, lights, cell phone chargers, or other electronics when not in use! I can't wait to hear about how bendy you all will get with out A/C this month.









Off to Telluride this weekend for the completely GREEN-run Telluride Yoga Festival.

Sending our big virtual fist bumps to all as you re-vamp your spiritual wardrobes,
Amy



1 comment:

Benita Wolfe said...

Way to take it off the mat and into the world!