YogaEverywhere 11/2000 section 1

Welcome to The Living Practice by Megan Lurie McCarver

Welcome to The Living Practice - our monthly newsletter from YogaEverywhere.com and friends. Thank you so much for showing an interest and connecting with other sentient beings via the internet. Every month we will be shining just a little bit more light and yoga into your life from our worldly eclectic team of experts and writers. Enjoy and breathe.

Let The Living Practice be another loving teacher in your life. Become part of the lesson! If you have interest in writing about a topic that may contribute to a more peaceful and loving lifestyle, eMail it over and we will consider it for future issues. After all, The Living Practice is created for us, the people.

For November ... go with the season, the squirrels are collecting nuts and the bears are preparing for hibernation. True, the chaotic holiday energy is beginning to stir and the department stores are already displaying Christmas products. Step out of that path in to a deeper state awareness. The days are shorter and the nights are darker. Begin to rest more. Practice scheduling relaxation time every day. If you cannot lie down to rest, maybe it's a soothing bath, a meditation book for lunch or a short cat nap in an uninterrupted space. Save time and shop on the Internet!

One leaf left on a branch and not a sound of sadness or despair.

One leaf left on a branch and no unhappiness.

One leaf left all by itself in the air and it does not speak of loneliness or death.

One leaf and it spends itself in swaying mildly in the breeze.

- David Ingot

Featured Article by Shirley June Johannesen

MEDITATION

Meditation is a path to inner peace and freedom. Meditation training is, in many ways, quite similar to a good program of physical exercise. Both require a certain kind of effort and energy. Attempting to describe meditation in words is similar to attempting to teach a person, via diagrams and words, to ride a bicycle. In both cases, one will not learn how to do it until he or she tries it.

Meditation is a discipline which has unique characteristics that distinguish it from the many relaxation and stress reduction techniques in common use today. Meditation is a vehicle for active learning, in which one can build on the strengths that they already have. It is possible to focus energies and increase concentration. This in turn increases one’s ability to cope with the pressures of everyday life and ultimately will lead to a higher peaceful state of being. Meditation practice helps one to balance the materialism of our age with compassion, love, kindness, a skillful mind and a peaceful heart.

There are many meditation techniques and traditions and through investigation you can find one that is most suitable for you: a program that meets your personal needs, life style and personality. Meditation can take many forms and can be used as a catalyst for personal growth and development, and also for quieting the mind and focusing attention. The spiritual path is about letting go - of conditioned habits, possessions, ideas, beliefs, thinking patterns. It is essential if life is to grow in depth and vision.

I teach a simple, intensive and direct practice known as Vipassana (Insight) Meditation. This mindfulness method of moment-to-moment awareness, is a process of observing body and mind intentionally: Of knowing what you are doing while you are doing it, by paying attention and being in the present. Through the continuous process of silent, calm, focused observation you enable the mind to see into itself more clearly and new kinds of understanding, clarity, generosity and happiness emerge. Out of this balanced awareness and deepening insight, wisdom and compassion arise. Mindfulness does not involve trying to get anywhere or to feel anything special. It is about coming in touch with what is actually there, through nonjudgmental self-observation. It is a process of watching the body and the mind, of letting experiences unfold and accepting them as they are. Mindfulness is cultivated by purposefully paying attention to things we ordinarily never give a moment’s thought to.

Featured Postures

by Megan Lurie McCarver and Gary McCarver

This month's Theme: YOGA IN THE AIRPORT

Walking Meditation

Walk mindfully to receive your precious boarding pass. Feel each step as you make contact with the floor. Inhale deeply, let the breath touch you inside, exhale completely and stay awake. Sure you might feel funny at first, but let's face it ... Every moment is precious, even in the airport chaos. Enjoy your walk. Mobility is a gift … Be proud to be alive and present!

Prayer Pose

Prayer pose is a wonderful gesture to experience before you take off and just before you land when traveling in the air. Some people do it for the entire flight! Begin by placing your hands in prayer pose to your chest, gathering your energy around your heart. Don’t be shy to pray, even if you're in the middle seat, especially if you’re afraid or stressed out. The power of prayer reaches far beyond our intellectual minds. Trust it. Seats A and C might just join in.

Flying bird pose

Jump for joy! Inhale fully while you extend your "wings", let the breath touch you and exhale completely. Actually, you don't really have to literally jump, just feel that feeling. After all you arrived safely and hopefully on time. When you finally get your two feet back on the earth, merge with her energies, take a deep breath and get grounded. Don't worry if your luggage ended up in Auckland instead of Oakland ... things have a way of falling in place. Remember your true journey is your living practice.

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Sage Advice by Dr. KEV

The Prison Ashram Project

Most of us come to yoga to get something out of it for ourselves. To find shelter and healing from a cruel world. Going to the Ashram for us is a voluntary act. But because yoga is so powerfuly beneficial, it is known to actually inspire people to give something back in exchange for the life transforming benefits they have received. That is how ashrams get built in the frst place.

The most antithetical thing I can think of to yoga sensibilities is to force people into an ashram and then not even make yoga available to them. Our penal institutions do exactly that to more people per capita than any other nation on Earth! Sad as the situation is, a couple people, in a fit of mental ju-jitsu, got the idea of offering voluntary yoga instruction to inmates under the catch-phrase, "We are all doing time."

So why not make the best of it? Why let the system defeat your spirit when you can find freedom in confinement? After all, people voluntarily enter an ashram so they can folow a structured life of discipline in order to attain spiritual liberation. The Project invites inmates to rethink their situations and become pro-active in their rehabilitation rather than mere victims of the system. An opportunity to take responsibility for oneself and use the time to become a healthier, happier and holier person.

Although accomplished not without some contraversy the Prison Ashram Project continues to revolutionize the thinking of inmates across the country and has even won the admiration of some prison officials. I bring it to your attention as an example of how yoga is more than just a fitness fad. And that fulfillment often comes in ways never expected.

For More information on The Prison Ashram Project

Created by Bo Lozoft and Ram Das in 1973 please visit:

http://www.humankindness.org/project.html

Until next month please check out Dr. Kev's website in RealAudio!

Body Mind Spirit by Tanja Barnes

Stone Soup for the body and soul

LaStone Therapy is the hottest massage treatment available today that incorporates smooth hot river stones and chilled marble stones to relax muscles and release tension. The physiological benefits of alternating hot and cold (also called "thermotherapy") to treat the body has long been scientifically and medically proven. The result is "vascular gymnastics" for the body's circulatory system, producing alternately sedating and stimulating effects. The overall experience of a LaStone Therapy treatment soothes and nurtures both body and spirit.

On a physical level, the application of stones penetrates deep trigger points and stubborn knots embedded in the body from the stresses of everyday life. The smooth stones not only emit a profoundly penetrating heat that melts tension from each muscle but also submerges you in a state of oneness with Mother Earth. LaStone Therapy, was developed by Mary Hannigan of Tucson, Arizona, and is deeply connected to Native American spiritual traditions. It builds on this tradition by blending massage and stones with the healing power of the earth itself.

Hannigan claims that many of her clients are in a deep meditative state by the end of a session. Tanja has personally trained with Mary Hannigan to become a certified LaStone Therapy instructor and will be leading workshops early in 2001. Tanja works in the greater Los Angeles area and when you are in town be sure to book an appointment, but this treatment is popular ... so please book in advance!

Call Tanja at (310) 993-0564 or eMail her at tanjab@sprynet.com

The Family Corner by Denise Levinson Ross

Fun Activities for the Family

My 4 year old, Emily loves do draw pictures and place them on our refrigerator. When we run out of room, we add a special note to the picture and mail it to a family member. This is a simple way to keep in touch with love ones.

Reading time is our favorite time of the day. We spend time together reading about animals, friends, sharing and love. Reading to your child is a calm and relaxing activity. Even if the child can not read they are able to tell a story about the picture. Take a moment out of your day and read a book to a child today to feel the positive effects in your life.

Being a new parent can be very challenging - remind yourself to laugh. This simple activity will make you feel better and enable you to handle the stress of the situation. The baby will even learn to laugh along with the parent and everyone will be able to enjoy the moment.

Denise Levinson Ross is the owner of Love 2 Read Personalized Children's Books. She is the proud mother of Hilary, age 10 and Emily, age 4. Denise and her husband, Mark, read to Hilary and Emily every day.