Beauty is a matter of the heart.

Beauty is something we are fascinated with in our modern world. Not that a desire for beauty and beautiful is new as far as history goes, however our fascination seems quite narrow. From beautiful clothes, cars, bodies and homes, we seem to have lost sight, literally, of the beauty that is not attached to status and ego. Though a general description would define beauty as something that is pleasing to the senses, I would like to suggest another interpretation of beauty, perhaps a shift off the beaten track.

I was in Phoenix this past week, on a yoga marathon to deepen my own practice, review the market trends there and catch some rays. Honestly, the definition of human beauty there is quite interesting. I could not help but notice the bling, boobs and big hair set out as the standard… the hegemonic definition of female beauty. In tune with this was the hegemonic male… buff, short hair and so big and short he could scarcely enter through a regular straight on. So it would appear that we define beauty… we meaning media, and all those who propagate this interpretation by buying into it, as such. It was truely a relief for me to go to several classes a day so I could be around people whose bodies were not defined by this narrow expectation (silicon boob, bling and big hair).

It was in class that I experienced the beauty we see not with sight but with feeling… heart feeling.

When beauty is seen with the eyes only, the item invokes a sense of wanting, desire for possession and somehow retention of the item. Usually the item is assosciated with ego and an attempt to raise the status of the beholder. The ego usually keeps us in a state of 'never enough'… mostly that you will never be enough until you get here, get this , or get him/her. Of course there are never enough of the items or proceedures (cars, houses, clothes, jewelry, cosmetic surgeries) to satisfy the black hole that the ego functions under because for the ego there is never, never, never enough. It is in a state of perpetual dissatisfaction. It keeps us in a perpetual state of wanting just so we can feel complete, free and calm.

The other beauty… now this is something. This other beauty is drunk in by the heart. There is no need to possess this other form of beauty because it is temporal, temporary and it is only found in a very moment. It can be visual too, but it has another quality that makes it less about grasping and more about drinking or degustation or savoring. It is like the difference between a meal that is bountiful yet rushed and one where each bite is savored and appreciated for its unique flavor. In moments of deep beauty, time stands still rather than time being a medium for an attempt to acquire that item.

Check out the GT3. Savor the beauty of this car. The lines, the fiery red heart color, the essence of this beautiful creation. As soon as thoughts enter of possessing it, of it being something to bolster your status...you have lost the beauty that is in the moment. Do you see how the ego steals? The ego and its need for possession to bolster and heighten its sense of insecurity is literally the biggest kill-joy in life. Doing yoga on this car was a total rush and it felt like an integration of the beauty as narrowly defined by our society combined with the beauty of the yogic path. I also felt as though opening my heart through back bending on this car was my best expression of how it felt. Extrinsic and intrinsic; visual and heart felt; eaten and savored; drunk in yet never possessed.

The path of yoga leads straight to matters of the heart. Once you land back in your body after years of being in your head, you begin the inward observation of the mind. Once the mind is put in its proper position, subservient to the heart and answerable and diretly commanded by it, the truest, deepest and most savory heartfelt beauty becomes your daily bread.

With a grateful heart as your beauty is my daily bread. Dawn.

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Anusara® Yoga Part 1, 2 & 3 Immersion with Barrie Risman

Part 1 Immersion

The Anusara Yoga Immersion is a great journey into Anusara Yoga philosophy and technique. Led by Barrie Risman, one of Canada’s leading Anusara Yoga teachers and teacher-trainers, the Immersion program provides a powerful framework for your own deepening relationship with the practices of asana, meditation, pranayama, study and contemplation. Click here for more details.

Date: Feb. 1 - Feb. 5, 2010
Monday through Thursday 1:00-5:00pm, 6:30-9:30pm Friday 9:00-1:00pm

Part 2 Immersion

An investigation into more refined aspects and applications of the Universal Principles of Alignment and auxiliary principles An introduction to the remarkable cosmological model of the Tattvas developed by the Kashmir Shaivite tradition An exploration of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali examined through the enlightening and accessible viewpoint of Tantric Philosophy A deepening of the practices of meditation, contemplation and pranayama More detailed discussion of kinesiology and anatomy

Date: March 20 - March 24, 2010
Saturday 9:00-1:00pm, 3:00-6:00pm; Sunday 9:00-1:00pm, 3:00-6:00pm, Monday and Tuesday 1:00-5:00pm, 6:30-9:30pm Wednesday 9:00-1:00.

Part 3 Immersion

Continued expansion and refinement of the Universal Principles of Alignment, including general principles for all classes of poses. The art of sequencing Anusara style Study of the Bhagavad GitaThe anatomy of the subtle body (kundalini, chakras, nadis and koshas) Intermediate pranayama.

Date: May 29 - June 2, 2010
Saturday 9:00-1:00pm, 3:00-6:00pm; Sunday 9:00-1:00pm, 3:00-6:00pm, Monday and Tuesday 1:00-5:00pm, 6:30-9:30pm Wednesday 9:00-1:00.

Price: $575+ GST each Level
Each level is 32.5 hours
*Early Bird rebate $525+ GST by December 15th, paid in full. Teachers of Lion's Breath receive 20% off. (read more)

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