Dear Yogis,

We are coming to the end of the CHAKRA yoga lecture series, and as much as I love them, how about a change of direction.  So many of you (and you are not on your own) are doing it tough during covid. Would you like a series on “MINDFULNESS” on Mondays at 2.30pm instead of the Tuesday yoga lectures, (and a 2 hour Mindfulness Retreat 1st Sunday in every month at 2pm).  Your choice?  We could have MINDFULNESS (THE INNER PEACE GROUP) on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays.  There could be a class there at the right time for you…Yoga then Inner Peace?

WEDNESDAY MINDFULNESS CLASSES (including Yoga Nidra) 6.45pm starting this week..  I taught these for years at The Bentinck and before that at Innisfree.  I still get students who email and tell me how these classes helped turn a corner for them.  Be there with us – Wednesdays at 6.45pm  and it starts this week.  If you want to join us, let me know your interest yogafirst2@bigpond.com.  I am doing a booklet (of course) for those who want more.  This will be a special offering which includes 16 cards of MINDFULNESS ACTIVITIES you can download for use in your classes, and yourself..

Many of the activities I did spontaneously, I have written them down, drawn the diagrams, and you will be able to take them to your classes, use them for your family, and use them yourself.  When you can’t think what do do, when you get stressed, when your mind goes blank – choose a card.

Mindfulness Meditation is a tradition which stands alone.  The meditation you and I have studied is about bringing your mind back to  a single focus, whereas MINDFULNESS MEDITATION is all about expanding your awareness to notice all you can without judging it.  If you feel cool, the idea is you notice it and avoid thinking of it as being good or bad, it just IS.  My favourite meditation and one I have been using for years is taking a small piece of chocolate and eating it slowly with my full attention.  You could use cake, or anything really.  In our cards we use an orange.

We are human beings (no news there) and everyone does meditation in a slightly different way as their understanding expands. The only definition of a good meditation IS ONE THAT YOU HAVE ACTUALLY DONE.  The goal is not to experience peace during the meditation, but to train the mind so that you will feel peace, awareness and choice AT ALL TIMES.

Like all habits – good ones as well as bad ones – meditation of any kind takes commitment. I find that when my mind is racing, mindfulness meditation done just before bed (or in bed) calms my mind, and gets me ready to sleep.  I concentrate on breathing, familiar sounds and smells and the feeling of the blankets, the futon, and things that mean “sleep” to me. And I can easily doze off.  Not by losing consciousness in meditation (I meditate for reasons other than calmness), but by relaxing my mind in mindfulness.  A feeling of embracing the familiar.  But this works for me – something like it will work for you.  You get to choose. The chair at the right is waiting for someone- maybe you.

I am noticing that at the end of this covid time people are becoming depressed, even apathetic.  I imagine that more people will seek out counsellors, and need mental health assistance as they realise that Covid is not going away, that this is going to happen over and over until conditions slowly change. That eventually the money will run out.

They are not sleeping well, and getting through the day somehow, sometimes in a way that is less than helpful for themselves and their family.  I notice that my neighbours are using shopping to make their lives meaningful… couriers arriving every day! We keep treating the brain and we have forgotten the heart.  The result is that our technology and all the science we bring to play becomes destructive.  We have intelligence but we lack the intelligence of the heart.  As a yoga teacher I know how difficult it is for most to recover from this soup of anxiety we find ourselves in.

As you go about your day today, think about every person you meet as a human being (even if you can’t see their smile,  imagine one). They have a story.  They are trying to find peace and happiness just as you are.  Teaching mindfulness can help.

When your heart opens even just a little, a tiny  chink in your armour, even a small crack allows your peaceful core to shine out.  When this happens your body and your mind relax, and compassion helps you calm down and allows you to come home to your REAL SELF.

Remember, change doesn’t happen all at once. Small steps, baby steps, will get you where you want to be. I believe (I can almost guarantee) that you will go to places more extraordinary than you can ever imagine.  I believe there is a Divine Hand that works unseen – when you take one step towards positive change in any area of your life,  that Divine Energy will take a hundred steps towards you. Untold possibilities, extraordinary change will begin to appear, synchronicities will happen that will amaze you.

What can you do?  When my cards and book are ready, buy a set for yourself and your friends and use it as the foundation to start an INNER PEACE GROUP.  Right now one on zoom, later in the studio.  We have one called CAFE YOGA on Fridays at 11am – all welcome – email me for your zoom ID its free.  It is about peace and companionship in difficult times.  It is not all about navel gazing, we laugh we joke, we are together. 

As you move through your day – Read, breathe consciously, take time for a walk noticing something different each day, be a good listener, practice gratitude, learn to manage your mind, reach for simplicity in your life, and pay-it-forward with random acts of kindness.

YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

NAMASTE – JAHNE

Dear Yogis,

I have an idea, a way of thinking we can all apply to our lives, “reframing”….  There are always students and graduates who believe they have a problem.  I wonder what their lives would be like if they REFRAMED what they believe has held them up.  Seeing things from a different perspective is one of the greatest tools you can have in your mental grab bag.

If you meet with a situation which disturbs you, I cordially invite you TO CHANGE YOUR MIND.  It is not often that the situation can be changed, but you can ALWAYS change your mind about what is happening that may at first glance seem impossible or annoying..

Every day here on planet earth (especially at this time) choices are presented to us about the way we see things.  Is the delay you are experiencing presented to you so you can swear and pace up and down, or is it a chance for a minute of meditation – a time to relax, breathe and listen to a CD?  Is the constant fluff on the rug,  a reason to get angry or whine, or one of the “joys” of having a four footed companion with fluff,  which you love dearly. (The picture is one of my furry bundle of fluff).

Is the module you have been reluctant to finish a reason to quit, or is it an opportunity to do extra reading, get in deeper to the philosophy, read, and research so that in the end you get excited by the new learnings. Have you watched all the free YouTubes, read all the newsletters, have you come to the optional Sunday mornings and met the other trainees and graduates… or are you hunkered down in the “I can’t do this” frame.

A wonderful example is weight gain.  We all know that there is only one way to loose weight – Eat less, exercise more!  There you are.  No more books or expensive courses needed.  The diet cycle is endless until you begin to think of eating and food management in an entirely different way.

Reframing what was previously considered a problem can change both thinking and behaviour.  Thinking “I really don’t need another slice of toast, it will go right to my hips” frames the food as a problem.  Bread could be a pleasure, but you have thought about it as pain.  What if you changed your point of reference to all those good things that you can eat and stay thin.  Maybe you could make a game out of eating three servings of fruit and three servings of veg each day.  Once you have eaten those, you can have a small slice of pizza, or whatever is a good reward for you (an eclair with double chocolate and cream perhaps is not a good reward – however, after you have eaten the good things you may not even glance at the eclair).

This week, choose one problem that is causing you deep stress (not just irritation).  Think about reframing it.

A good friend of mine said to me when I was having a whinge…. “Life is joke and you are it”. She suggested I plan my tombstone to read something like this “Got everything done on time. Dead anyway” or “Finished everything on an impossible to-do list and died totally pissed off!”

I would much rather it read “She loved loving, was kind, knew how to have fun, and did a reasonably good job even if she didn’t answer all the emails on time and missed some classes”.  Much better than “Was a perfect yogi and died in down-dog”.  

 

WHAT WILL YOUR TOMBSTONE  SAY IF YOU DIED TODAY?  What would you like it to say?

NAMASTE.  JAHNE

 

Dear Yogis,

What can I say.  What a wonderful weekend.  We have had Fantastic Friday night and Saturday morning restorative yoga sessions.  Fantastic!!  We managed to pull together a unified and useful class which combined students who wanted stronger and students who wanted gentler, and everyone had a great class, especially me!  I am getting the hang of this yoga zoom experience, and really liking it.

I did have a teacher from a local school approach me who wanted me to do a class for 16.  I couldn’t.  I love teaching yoga too much.  How can you actually really teach a class of 16 newbies to yoga on a screen, especially pre-teens.  I can’t.  I love teaching yoga as if the students are in the room.  This requires attention.  Not casual attention, but real, in the classroom, in the moment attention.  That is why I just love my classes, because I can really teach… you all go with the flow.  If I change the pattern you understand there is a reason, and move along with me.  Thank you.

TODAY WE DID THE MAKE YOUR OWN TAROT DECK SESSION (We missed you! What was more important?).  This is a wonderful class.

We are up to thinking about numbering, adding other collage details, mantras and so on.  These are going to be tarot decks that last the distance.  There is a lot to think about.   You might think it is just a matter of cutting out the cards and cutting and pasting, not so.  These cards when we are finished can be marketed… they are not hobby cards, though I am sure family and friends will want a copy.  I have made a lot of cards and books and you will find them on ETSY.  www.myyogabooks.etsy.com (look at tarot).  Not all my card decks are there. as I am making them all the time.

At present I am working on a new neck of MINDFULNESS ACTIVITY cards.  So many people want to get involved with mindfulness, want to slow down, but need a “tool” to help them.  This will be the tool they need… A pack of 12 cards, with activities in sensory awareness to slow you down, and at the same time give you an activity to concentrate on whilst you are sitting. I am sure it will be popular.  Of course there will be a book to accompany the set.

If you would like to make a card deck – tarot, mantras, activities, poetry, affirmation... any kind of card, you might like to sign up for the next three classes.  It is only $50 for a set of three sessions – go to the home page and follow the directions.  If confused email me at yogafirst2@bigpond.com.  You could think about the cards as miniature paintings or drawings.  Don’t discount the mini course because of the low price – my students are getting wonderful results (as am I).  Please join us.  At the very least you will have a pack of cards that you can present to family and friends (Christmas isn’t all that far away).

Sunday morning we are delving more deeply into the Bhagavadgita.  This morning we are looking at the verses about the Nature of God, and also the verses about THE NATURE OF YOGA.   The ‘Gita which is perhaps the most read and most revered text in South Asia, teaches that the one Absolute God (Krsna) creates, maintains, contains rules and pervades ALL WORLDS.  Krisna Himself Says: “There is nothing beyond Me.  All this world rests on Me like peals strung on a thread”.  In the ‘Gita,  God speaks personally to Arjuna who represents us all, and in one of the only times in spiritual literature, shows Arjuna the extent of his power.  He says to Arjuna “Know me as the perennial seed (bija) of all beings”.

Then we move on to considering yoga in the ‘Gita.  Three times in the Gita, Krisna says of a person in a specific state of consciousness “that is yogi”..  Each of these verses describes a distinct qualification that enables a yogi to see self, God and other souls.  Buddhism, spiritual reason or discernment helps a yogi to properly see God, self and other souls.  A yogi is higher than one pursuing either knowledge or action.  We will consider the two famous yoga paths (karma-yoga and jana-yoga) , and what stands above them both.

The class is for two hours, and even if you are running behind, please join us… it will be repeated next Sunday morning as usual –  free, if you have paid for today’s class.

If you want to know what classes we are doing, please go to the web site and look on the home page www.yogabeautiful.com.au.  Don’t forget that our first class in MINDFULNESS will be this Wednesday at 6.45pm

 

I look forward to seeing you in class

NAMASTE – JAHNE