Dear Yogis.

STUDIO:
Saturday from 1pm.  I am going to be available if you would like to come along and see my tattoo designs, talks about a tiny design on your body, and have me design one just for you.  I charge $85 for a TINY TATTOO, they take about an hour, and would love to see you.  Come on Saturday and have a look – think about it – it is a forever thing.

Saturday 2 – 4pm.  Studio day.  We are doing knitting and crochet, but if you want help with a drawing or other craft, then we can do that.  The cost is $25 for 2 hours.

ZOOM:
SUNDAY 10am The Gita Group.  Everyone welcome

MONDAY: 6.30 MARY MAGDALEN. A fascinating study about a fascinating woman.  If the Church had not excised her Gospel, and portrayed her as the Minister and Teacher she was, imagine what the role of women in society would have been from then on.  Hugely different I think.  A pivotal woman.  You need to know about her.  I am waiting for someone to write a book about Jesus and Mary in the missing years.  They were both missing.  Were they together?

TUESDAY:  7.30 The Rumi Group.  This week “Love”.

 

TELSTRA

OK. What has yoga got to do with Telstra?  Lots.  If I don’t have a service I can’t send out the newsletter and I can’t zoom and i can’t email. Would that make a difference (?) sure would.  If you lose your cool with Telstra, you haven’t understood Karma.

THE STORY.  On Wednesday I came down into the office, turned everything on, then went to have breakfast as usual.  When I had finished breakfast and came in to start on the emails the modem wasn’t functioning.  No internet.  So I did all the usual things.  Still no internet.  I spent from 8.30 to 11.30 speaking to a lovely Telstra yogi in India about the problem.

She patiently helped me, and inbetween whilst we were “waiting” we talked about yoga, India, her town and the books I am waiting for from Gorakhpur.  Did I get service? Amazing service.  You can go for all the fancy broadbands, but only Telstra does the cables and only NBN does the NBN.  So, she said I would have to be booked in and the first available appointment for both Telstra and NBN was 8th June!!!  How to get around that.  I asked if I could pay for  a special service call. YES!  

Would it make a difference?  Telstra would be there at 12 noon. Wednesday.  The same day! OK at 12 noon the Telstra man was ringing the doorbell.  I was amazed.  He looked at the problem and determined that it was an NBN problem.  Whilst he was here he replaced sockets and did other clever things, but we were back to June 8th for NBN service.

The Telstra person in India made my phone into a hotspot, and organised for a dongle to be posted to me so I could link to my modem.  So,  thanks to the hotspot I was able to email.  I decided to go to Telstra in Gisborne and get a dongle,(as insurance).  I went this morning, and got a great discount, and a fabulous wi-fi modem that is rechargeable from my powerpoint and will be great for multiple computers.

Am I happy with Telstra? Absolutely.  If you live near the Gisborne Telstra Business Centre and you need help, ask for WILL.  He is smart.  Very smart.  Is exiled from the aeronautics industry because of Covid.  Do you want him to look after your problem – yes, because he sees outside the box. Is patient, pleasant, and totally what you would want when you are drowning in tech problems as I was.  He made it easy.

As I said.  No matter how wonderful you might think switching to a broadband rival might me.  Telstra has, and controls all the infrastructure.  

If you don’t lose your temper, if you make friends, you will get fabulous service.  If I have it everyone can get it.  Try it.  If you have started on the wrong foot, remember you are yogis..  I have had yogis tell me with pride how they screamed at the Telstra service people, how they lost their cool on line or the phone.  KARMA?

THE BACK STORY:  Before this whole saga.  I was saying to God, “….am I going in the right direction?” and then the internet went down… and I said “What is this? if you want me to keep going, then I am going to need a miracle – two weeks with no internet is like moving to the moon”….and I got a miracle.  So I guess I am going in the right direction.  A timely reminder.  “Nothing happens that is not the will of God – trust this”

If you can just breathe, understand that the people around you, even Telstra,  are doing their best.  If you  give them your best – you will be happy.  It is easy to get angry.  It is easy to “vent”.   Remember the way you manage you day will determine the rest of your life.  See these interactions as part of your yoga journey.

 

SEE YOU ON THE MAT (OR AT ZOOM)

NAMASTE – JAHNE

Hi there Yogis,

ZOOM: Monday 6.30pm Mary Magdalen.  I just think the knots and tangles the Catholic Church has got itself into trying to explain away a female Minister/Healer/Teacher that Mary clearly was, is so funny.  Come on the journey with us.
Tuesday 7.30 THE RUMI GROUP.  When we finish this and we are getting close, we have a couple of options.  We could do Mary Magdalene…?
Sunday 10am.  The ‘GITA.  We are almost finished this too, and i think we are all agreed that we will move to THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD/THE KING JAMES ED. OF THE BIBLE.  You may not thinks they have anything in common, but yes they do.

SATURDAY – STUDIO.  1pm to 2pm TATTOO AND (CBD) INFORMATION SESSION.  for those people who would like to come and chat about TATTOOS (TINY TATTOOS) and see our designs.  They are tiny, they are meaningful, and i can do a design (and a tattoo) just for you.  I like henna colour.  It is what I use for me.

CBD.  Under certain conditions CBD was made ‘SEMI-LEGAL” in February.  Lets talk about CBD, Cannabis and you.  1pm to 2pm

SATURDAY STUDIO:  2pm to 4pm the ART GROUP.  I think we are going to work on craft.  Get self sufficient with knitting and crochet.  If you want to join us.  Please do.  $25 for the class.  From  2pm to 4pm.

 

More and more interesting..

said the “Mad-Hatter”? “Alice”?  Maybe it’s the “Red Pill” makes all the difference.  But whatever it is, a lot of fabulous things have happened.  I have met with students I haven’t seen for years – and they are coming back to class.  Something is moving, and I am so pleased.  Welcome.

 

THE FIBRE BIBLE for Happy Guts.

One of our long time yogis (Pete Heine) has written this fabulous book, and before I had even had it an hour, I had put together one meal, and planned two more.  The photos are stunning, the directions are clear and well planned out, and easy to follow without a mountain of ingredients, and pages of method.  If I can make a meal look and taste fantastic – YOU CAN TOO.

You all know I don’t have a stove, but even with my very basic implements, I was able to put together a great meal.  Good food, close to the earth (not meat), but satisfying, easy and nutritious.  On Friday and then on Saturday I have people coming over, and I am cooking from this book.  It is all quick, simple and looks like Donna Hay is in the kitchen to help out.

My guts are very important to me, and yours should be too.  This is what I had from the book for lunch (pic to the right).  I had made this type of food in the past, but hadn’t put it together in this way,  or as beautifully.  But this lunch time I did.  No thermomix required!

To see more recipes, and to buy a copy – mine was a bargain I will use over and over again – and under $20 at our Trading Post which is always the first with the latest. You can buy the digital version for $10.  Go to WWW.THEFIBREBIBLE.COM

MARY MAGDALEN MONDAY 6.30pm

We started our Mary Magdalen group on Monday.  The Catholic Church has portrayed her as a harlot, penitent yes, but a sinner all the same. Nowhere, nowhere in the bible does it say so.  It does say there is a Mary who qualifies, but it is quite clear that “Mary the Sinner” and Mary Magdalen are two different Marys, but very convenient for the Church.

When I was researching for the MARY TAROT I am making, the hard part was finding images of Mary which made her look “useful” (hard to find the right word here).  Mostly she is looking sad, looking around for Jesus or looking to the heavens for help, hands in a prayer position.

There was only one picture that I could find of her teaching a multitude, and then, there is a very interesting, over-looked painting by Caravaggio (I think in The Louvre) of her in “ecstasy”.  However, if you look with human eyes you see why she is feeling pretty pleased with herself, and exhausted,  and it has nothing to do with Jesus – this is my opinion and the opinion of other art historians.  You can make up your own mind.  Pope Gregory who branded her a whore would have had a hard time with this painting..

I am very inspired by the Mary in the Gospel of Mary.  The actual Gospel which was dropped from the bible by Constantine.  Herod was trying to enlist Constantine’s help (on the basis of ganging followers and making money), and if it meant dropping gospel or two, it made no difference to him.  It has made a big difference to us!  Imagine having the gospels of  Matthew,Mark, Luke, John,  Thomas and Mary.  Then, women would have had to be let into the teaching and ministry, and in real life had the opportunities afforded to men.  Not all, but most.

This decision to exclude women, and have them presumed sinners, temptresses, of weak mind, and wanton has changed the way that women have been viewed.  We can’t change the past, but maybe we can influence the future.

First we have to rescue Mary from the tawdry Papal implications, and see her as she really was and is..  You can’t change Mary by standing outside her story – you have to get right into it.  You are teachers.  Study – Teach!!!!

 

I will see you on the mat.

Namaste – Jahne

 

Dear Yogis,

ZOOM (and Studio) Classes:
Monday 6.30pm –  Tuesday, 7.30pm RUMI STUDY GROUP – Saturday (22nd) The Art/Craft Studio Group, Sunday 10am ‘Gita

Please join us.  I will be opening the Studio from 1pm this coming Saturday so that you can catch up with me in person, see what we have been doing, and CHOOSE A TINY TATTOO DESIGN PERHAPS (and wander in the garden if the weather is good).  The  art/craft Group starts at 2pm to 4pm as usual.

If you come to the studio early,  and once you have chosen a design, we can make an appointment to complete in either black, red, or my favourite – henna colour.

 

MONDAY FREE TEACHER TRAINING.  6.30 (Mary Magdalen)
Starting this Monday at 6.30 we are going to be exploring the Gospel of Mary Magdalen.  This is just a taster as on Tuesdays  we are almost finished contemplating Rumi (which could become a lifetime study if one were so inclined?), and we will probably use the Tuesday 7.30 time slot for this MM Study (Monday is only an hour) but Tuesday is an hour and a half.

In studying this Gospel we will be considering the unknown part of ourselves, which at the same time is the most essential and valuable part of us.  We learned in Rumi that due to this mediating contact between the higher and lower parts of ourselves, the deeper intimate experience of conscious love could be experienced.

Where does Mary fit in this? She is the Minister, not the Whore.  Once Mary had been released of  “The Seven Demons” she could see the world and Jesus as they really are.  Like us, above the material, in the depth of silence that contains everything, she could know her real nature, made not just to love, but to serve.

Remember the bargain Shams had with God.  He was looking “…..for someone he could pour his knowledge into, who would use it, and change the world”.  For this, he would give his life.  It is interesting that both Jesus and Shams had a three year ministry.   In the Jesus story,  Mary  mirrors Rumi.  Someone who intimately knows the spirit, who intimately knows God and takes the teaching into the world.

You are training to be a yoga teacher, or have graduated, and like Mary you have a job – a reason to be.  Not just to use yoga, and be perfect (no-one can be this), but to also take your knowledge to the world to serve not only God but to serve your neighbour, and through this the world.  This is why we have been created.

You signed up for a very big job.  That you have changed your mind, or didn’t understand what you were signing up for is not the question, but there are Karmic consequences of your actions (of course). A very good song to remind us of our humanness is from Jesus Christ Superstar  “GESTHEMANE” where Jesus is asking God to “take the cup from me…”, reminding God that he had “exceeded expectations”, but in the end gives in to the will of God, the way,  “thy will not mine be done Lord”.

SMOKIN’ THE YOGA OF SMOKE (www.myyogabooks.etsy.com)

If you or your loved ones smoke, if you are aching, anxious,  depressed, then give up nicotine, and try herbs instead.  You can use the herbs in a pipe, in roll-your-own, as incense, and in little bags tucked into your pillow.  In this book I even show you how to make your own pipe.  The book is almost 50 pages jammed with information about herbs, herb magic and Ayurvedic smoking herbs to balance your doshas (What, how and when you smoke is important in Ayurveda).  I even talk about and have drawings of pipes so you can make your own, and make your own clay.

The pipe to the left is a favourite.  It is small (palm size) and feels like a living thing.  A small animal, a piece of jewellery.  It is a fully functioning pipe, but because of its size there is not a huge bowl, so it is a small smoke, but enough, and very gentle….  I made the air-dry clay myself, so there would be no chemicals in the smoke…  The three little mesh things beside it are the pipe mesh (herb holders) that I put in all my pipes so you won’t inhale bits and pieces of herb!  Not a good thing.  If you want me to make you one especially with a special colour or beads in mind, let me know and I can do one especially for you (or a gift for a loved one).  Just email me. yogafirst2@bigpond.com.

YOGA AND TAROT – Have you tried handing your TAROT cards out at the beginning of the class and at the end? One card per person per time?  You will be surprised how the energy changes from the beginning of the class to the end.  Try it.  It is a great way to get closer to the class, to discover deep issues, and see how your students have resolved them in the yoga session.

 

WHERE EVER YOU ARE, WHATEVER YOU DO, I WILL MEET YOU ON THE MAT.

NAMASTE – JAHNE