Greetings, yogis and yoginis. Autumn blessings to all in this season of harvest and bounty. We’re reminded by nature’s golden paintbrush, early morning frost, and shorter days that change is truly a part of our collective identity as Albertans, Canadians and sentient beings. The summer days were glorious while they lasted. How hard it is to let go of that which brings us greater ease, comfort or contentment, whether it’s beach-going weather, free time, a special relationship, a possession or coveted rank or status in life. As the smells of fresh-cut lawn and suntan lotion fade to memory may we recall that practicing non-attachment or “letting go” can help us embrace the notions of abundance and plenitude in the changing seasons of life.
We’re reminded of this view in an inspirational poem by William Blake:
Change is inevitable; it’s the one constant we can rely upon. By daring to discover satiety in the present moment, rather than scarcity and craving, we can free ourselves to enjoy an unimaginable wealth of inner resources and greater peace in life.
When what we have—and who we are—is enough, it’s easier to share freely of ourselves and our means with others, making the world a richer place to be!
These ideas are captured in a beautiful poem called The Dance by Oriah Mountain Dreamer.
The Dance
I have sent you my invitation,
the note inscribed on the palm of my hand by the fire of living.
Don’t jump up and shout, “Yes, this is what I want! Let’s do it!”
Just stand up quietly and dance with me.
Show me how you follow your deepest desires,
spiralling down into the ache within the ache,
and I will show you how I reach inward and open outward
to feel the kiss of the Mystery, sweet lips on my own, every day.
Don’t tell me you want to hold the whole world in your heart.
Show me how you turn away from making another wrong without
abandoning yourself when you are hurt and afraid of being unloved.
Tell me a story of who you are,
and see who I am in the stories I am living.
And together we will remember that each of us always has a choice.
Don’t tell me how wonderful things will be ... someday.
Show me you can risk being completely at peace,
truly okay with the way things are right now in this moment,
and again in the next and the next and the next...
I have heard enough warrior stories of heroic daring.
Tell me how you crumble when you hit the wall,
the place you cannot go beyond by the strength of your own will.
What carries you to the other side of that wall,
to the fragile beauty of your own humanness?
And after we have shown each other how we have set and kept the clear, healthy boundaries that help us live side by side with each other, let us risk remembering that we never stop silently loving those we once loved out loud.
Take me to the places on the earth that teach you how to dance,
the places where you can risk letting the world break your heart,
and I will take you to the places where the earth beneath my feet
and the stars overhead make my heart whole again and again.
Show me how you take care of business
without letting business determine who you are.
When the children are fed but still the voices within and around us shout that soul’s desires have too high a price,
let us remind each other that it is never about the money.
Show me how you offer to your people and the world
the stories and the songs you want our children’s children to remember,
and I will show you how I struggle,
not to change the world, but to love it.
Sit beside me in long moments of shared solitude,
knowing both our absolute aloneness and our undeniable belonging.
Dance with me in the silence and in the sound of small daily words,
holding neither against me at the end of the day.
And when the sound of all the declarations of our sincerest intentions has died away on the wind,
dance with me in the infinite pause before the next great inhale of the breath that is breathing us all into being,
not filling the emptiness from the outside or from within.
Don’t say, “Yes!”
Just take my hand and dance with me.
– Oriah Mountain Dreamer, Author of The Invitation. See www.oriahmountaindreamer.com
Dare to bring balance and tranquility into your life today and everyday by cultivating the attitudes of flexibility, non-attachment, abundance and thankfulness in your thoughts, words and actions.
As author and renowned motivational speaker Dr. Wayne Dyer said, “Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into.”
When we choose gratitude, and stop to reflect on the gift of our humanity more often, we begin to see the hidden blessings in life’s daily dilemmas: each obstacle on our path presents a unique opportunity to propagate loving-kindness and support life-serving intentions instead of life-sucking ones.
The sooner we recognize that beauty and abundance exist in ourselves and others by nature’s own design, the sooner we see that the karmic investment in growing gratitude is priceless!
Here are some ideas to help you tap into greater abundance in your life this fall:
- Notice how much abundance is flowing in your life already. Much like turning a tap on or off, we are in control of the flow of prosperity in our lives. Is your cup half-full or half-empty? Are your finances based on a poverty consciousness rather than limitlessness and plenty? What supports you in feeling abundant? Reflect on your thoughts, attitude, behaviours, books you read, t.v. shows you watch and people you choose to spend time with. Eliminate influences that do not feed your soul or life purpose for a brief period and observe the differences. Make new choices that will keep your abundance flowing and growing.
- Make an appointment with yourself to spend some time in nature. The natural world is infinitely abundant, from the diversity of plants and animals that surround you to the vastness of the sky, breathtaking sunsets and majestic scenery. If you don’t have time to get away to the mountains or a lake, take a walk, visit a local park or garden centre, or drop in to a pet shop or SPCA.
- Invite a friend(s) over to cook a meal together. Shop together beforehand at your neighbourhood organic grocer, filling your basket with fresh local produce. Leisurely prepare your food and enjoy eating it together. The joy of friends, laughter, shared silence or the bond of quality togetherness can replenish the soul. Sharing food and fostering community will not only enrich a mealtime, but a lifetime!
- Donate blood. It’s relatively easy and pain-free and can make a world of difference to someone. According to Canadian Blood Services, just one blood donation can save up to three lives. It only takes about an hour. If you’re not sure if they want your blood or where to go to donate, call 1-888-2-DONATE (1-888-236-6283) or visit www.blood.ca
- Chant this healing mantra regularly: “Om Shrim Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha” which means “Om and salutations. I invoke the great feminine principle of great abundance.” It helps to clarify what abundance means to you. Is it better health? Close companionship? A career change? Write it down and try to meditate once daily on your intention. When you become aware of the abundance in your life in all its forms–friendship, health, family, love, beauty, talent, humour, etcetera–you can call in more from a conscious place.
Cultivating abundance in your life will mean you have a surplus to give away! Here are some ways you can help Mother Earth:
- It takes 17 beautiful trees to make a ton of paper. Using recycled paper in your printer leaves those trees standing.
- Don’t underestimate your purchasing power. Go for the environmental-best, from non-toxic laundry detergent to energy-efficient light bulbs. Buy products with the least packaging to reduce the amount of waste in our landfills. Every time you take your wallet out, use it to buy better health for the planet.
- Walk, bike or take public transit. Every litre of gasoline you burn releases over 5 pounds of CO2 pollution into the air. Start with a modest goal–cut 8 to 10 kilometres a day–that’s almost 3,000 km a year, which adds up to over 3,000 pounds of CO2 you won’t be responsible for releasing into the atmosphere.
- Take the Ecological Footprint Quiz at http://www.myfootprint.org to find out what footprint you are leaving on this planet. Do you need to tread more carefully?
Every small choice you make which considers the principal of ahimsa (non-harm) can make a difference globally. But why not start locally–with yourself? Treating yourself with loving-kindness by including a regular yoga practice in your schedule will help to center your mind and body and renew your spirit–even on the coldest, darkest days of winter.
When peace, joy and strength are abundant in our own lives we can begin to turn our gaze outward into the world and become healthier, happier and more productive world citizens. Time on your mat WILL make a difference off the mat. You may find yourself carefully moving snails out of the way of oncoming cars, picking up trash in the street or no longer participating in family arguments–all of which are expressions of practicing harmlessness in the world.
- Consider taking one of Lions Breath’s upcoming Dana classes, which are by donation, and will be running at all three locations throughout the year. All proceeds will go to either the Stollery Children’s Hospital in support of the James Fund, a research initiative for Neuroblastoma, a rare kind of childhood cancer (Read more at www.greentrainbooks.com/jamesfund.html) or to Lions Breath’s foster girl in Africa.
- If you want to deepen your practice and discover how to embrace a peaceful state of mind in the present moment, consider The Art of Living Course with Swami Sukhchaitanya at Lions Breath downtown Oct. 23 to 28, weekdays 6:30-9:30 p.m. and weekend 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is $375 or $200 for students. For more information call Lions Breath at (780) 604-3981 or register online at www.artoflivingalberta.org. See the website for other upcoming workshops and intensives.
- November 18th | 2:00–3:30 pm | 'Toby' the son of Lion's Breath instructor Jes Unger has been diagnosed with a Wilms tumor in his right kidney. He will be undergoing chemotherapy to eliminate this tumor from his body over the next 5 months. This will be a flow class lead by Corinne. All donations will go directly to Toby.
Roasted Garlic and Sweet Potato Soup
- 1 head of garlic, cut top off before baking
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 2–4 cups of vegetable broth
- handful of chopped fresh dill
- fresh ground pepper to taste
- handful of spinach or kale (optional)
Bake a whole head of garlic in tin foil in the oven for an hour at 275F.
Bake 4 sweet potatoes with the skins on, wrapped in foil, at 250F for 3 hours (They are WAY sweeter this way!)
Take the insides of the potatoes and put them in a medium pot. Squeeze out the cloves of garlic into the pot also. Add 2–4 cups of vegetable broth (less if you want thick soup, more if you want thinner soup). Heat through. Add a generous handful of chopped fresh dill, cilantro or parsley. Add fresh ground pepper to taste. Add a handful of spinach or kale if desired. Stir until wilted. Blend in a blender, or with a hand mixer, until smooth.
Enjoy!
Yoga feeds the soul but you still need to fuel your bodily temple. Today’s accelerated living and popular fast food options can be bad religion on the body. Choose clean, whole, nutrient-rich snacks for lasting energy, even when you’re on-the-go. Lion’s Breath will soon be selling delicious and nutritional energy bars from Anahata Foods. Look for Ohm-Mega Bars and Goddess Bars, which are dairy, peanut and gluten-free and made with ingredients like raw sunflower, sesame and hemp seeds, almonds, tahini, almond butter, greens concentrate, goji berry powder and chlorella. Pick up a bar at any of the three locations before or after you hit the mat to nourish body and mind.
Blessings and gratitude to all.
November 15–18, 2007 | For more information contact Sandra Parr at (780) 453-6037 or click here to download PDF
Each of our bi-monthly newsletters will feature an interview with a different Lions Breath instructor so you can get to know each teacher’s style, yoga philosophy, personality and practice better, including a video which breaks down their least-favourite pose.
Interview with Kat Boehm
When did your yoga journey begin?
I was in India for the second time on a Buddhist retreat in 1997 and we started our 10-hour day of meditation with a daily 6:30 a.m. yoga practice with a woman who came from the Shivananda ashram. It was the most holistic I’ve felt in my life. There was this openness in my body I’d never experienced before. I remember feeling the Earth underneath me, the sun was coming up over the Himalayas on my face, and everything was intensified, lighter, more spacious. I’ve had a daily yoga practice since 1999 which has ebbed and flowed with many different circumstances in my life, be it travel, injury, energy, work or time. Yoga has allowed me a gentleness in my body. I like to say, “There is no will-asana.”
When and why did you start teaching? What is your style?
I started dabbling in teaching in 2003 after becoming YAA certified. A lot of my roots and foundation are in Iyengar, as I pay attention to the biomechanics of a joint. However, I’m a much more gentle hatha teacher. I started teaching aerobics and step classes in 1994, but when I found buddhism and yoga my whole look at the fitness industry changed. The component of stretching and relaxing was not very strong. During the ’80s we were all into high impact and in the ’90s yoga and pilates came into the picture with more focus on flexibility, strength and weight-bearing exercise. I wanted to share it and raise awareness. The true beauty of yoga is that it sneaks in. I can only be a vehicle and I guess that our truth is there anyways.
What is your most inspiring read lately?
A book called The Buddha, Geoff and Me by Edward Canfor-Dumas (See www.thebuddhageoffandme.com) about Buddhism in a pub in England and teachings of God over bottles of beer.
What is your favourite saying?
“It is what it is.” This saying embraces a bit of surrender and letting go, the nature of impermanence, that everything’s changing.
What is your favourite pose?
Downward dog. I have a tendency to slouch in my body so downward dog really asks me to elongate my spine and get back into my body. If you do one pose daily, I recommend this one.
What is your least favourite pose?
Any back bend. I have a tendency not to use the back of my body. We can be flexible enough not to move into our stiff places. We get stuck and try to go around it.
What are you listening to these days?
Hindi music I bought in India. Jhoombharij Jhoom is one of the songs. It’s dance hip hop.
Do you have another job?
I work part-time at Mountain Equipment Co-op.
Kat teaches four classes currently at Lions Breath: Yoga Flow on alternating Mondays from 12-1:15 p.m. and Tuesdays from 12 to 1:15 downtown; Beginner Hatha on Wednesdays downtown from 9:30 a.m. to 11 and Intro to Meditation Wednesday nights downtown at 6 p.m. Check the website for schedule changes.