Welcome to the September
2006 Newsletter
6TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE!
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Contents:
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Schedule (Summer/Fall
2006)
WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS:
108 SURYA NAMASKARS
Friday, September 22nd (for the Autumn Equinox)
7-9am
YiY in Mountain View
by donation
HOW TO GROW A
LOTUS: a workshop with Mark Horner
Saturday, September 23rd, 2:30-5pm
at YiY in Mountain View
$45 if paid by 9/2; $50 thereafter
KIRTAN with Connie Habash
Saturday, October 21st, 4-5:30pm
at the Yoga and Movement Center, Walnut Creek
$15 suggested donation
(1/3 of proceeds benefit
Amma's charitable activities http://www.amma.org/ )
contact YMC to register: http://www.yoga-movement.com/
CLASS SCHEDULE:
TUESDAYS
9:30-11AM Iyengar & Vinyasa,
Beginning
YIY,
Mountain View
WEDNESDAYS ***starts
Sept. 13th!***
11AM-12:30PM Prenatal
YIY, Mountain View
FRIDAYS
9:30-11AM Iyengar & Vinyasa,
All Levels
YIY,
Mountain View
http://www.devi-yoga.com
http://www.yogaisyouth.com
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This
Month's Article:
"Lele,
the Guru Cat,"
by Alison Hammer Winans
My
dear friend Ali writes this month's article
- she's a wonderful healer and yogini residing
in Philadelphia, PA. Enjoy!
I
wrote this little story after ten days of house-sitting
and making the acquaintance of LeLe. It is dedicated
to all cat-lovers who honor feline wisdom.
I
love LeLe whose name rhymes with tree and bee.
LeLe, the soft, feminine syllables slide off
my tongue towards the sides of my mouth, soft
as her smooth fur, tender as her eyes, delicate
as her stature. Lele, an unassuming tabby with
white tummy, chest and legs, lives with her human,
a sincere yogi and spiritual seeker.
LeLe
has spent her days and nights surrounded by images
of saints, gods and goddesses. Her self-knowledge
and grace come from residing among such greatness.
She spends hours sitting in the line of shakti
from a large painting that radiates love and
humor from Neem Karoli Baba’s smiling face.
There are other favorite spots in the house where
she visits other dimensions or simply practices
BEing as the world moves around her–the
wicker chair by the water cooler, her own futon
next to the bathroom radiator, and the sunny
window at the top of the stairs where she absorbs
the wisdom emanating from a small spiritual library.
When she ventures outside, she sits still on
the deck commanding a view of a lively creek
and back yard trees.
At
the wise old age of 19, LeLe has become a guru
of sorts herself. Sedately she walks with purpose,
every step conscious, nothing superfluous -
to the door, to the food bowl, to the litter
box, to her next place of rest and meditation.
Even her markings express the perfect balance
of the universal yin/yang polarity. In symmetric
harmony, she is yang above and yin below. Humble,
yet self-assured, she has taken a vow of silence,
mouthing silent meows as she patiently demands
her two meals a day.
Well, I thought she had become self-realized,
until the discovery that she begged for her dinner
whether I returned from work at 6 PM, 3 PM or
even 1 PM.
“I thought more of you, LeLe,” I
admonished her lovingly. “Haven’t
you transcended your attachment to food?”
She gazed at me, with serpentine green eyes
radiating liquid love as her trim body rumbled
with an ecstatic vibration. She butted her forehead
against my hand and raised her chin, the characteristic
feline way of asking for more pleasure.
I reconsidered. Maybe she
is a guru and she’s
testing me. How good are my boundaries? Can I
say, “No!” compassionately but firmly?
Do I have the heart to feed a poor, hungry cat?
Will I obey the instructions I was given to feed
her morning and evening, or will my ego take
over? Or is this a comment on my own compulsions
about food, my own greed and habitual behaviors?
Yes, she is a guru, I decided, for after all
isn’t every cat a spiritual teacher?
My husband thinks she is
a guru. He told me a story from one of his
teachers who said, “After
a person who is an enlightened being leaves their
body, they come back for one more life as a cat
with a spiritually evolved owner.” There
is no doubt that LeLe is one of those special
cats.
© 2006 Alison Hammer
Winans
Alison Hammer Winans is a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner
and former yoga teacher, who has written a book
about her journey of healing from breast cancer.
For more information, go to www.BeTheFlow.com
Copyright © 2006 by
Constance L. Habash
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Subscribe
to this Newsletter
Previous newsletters:
August
2006
July
2006
June 2006
May 2006
no April newsletter
March 2006
February 2006
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Announcements |
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PRENATAL
CLASS STARTS NEXT WEEK at YiY in Mountain View!
Wednesdays, 11am-12:30pm, starting SEPT. 13TH.
Connect with your baby and yourself, build strength
and develop flexibility that will prepare you
for birth and motherhood in a community of other
expectant mothers. Click here: PrenatalYoga.html
HOW TO GROW
A LOTUS -
Mark Horner workshop at YiY on Saturday, SEPTEMBER
23rd, 2:30 - 5pm
**DISCOUNT IF REGISTERED BY SEP 9th**
My
long-time teacher returns to Mountain View
for a special workshop on hip-opening leading
to Padmasana, the lotus pose. If you long to
open your hips, this is not to be missed! Appropriate
for advanced beginners through more experienced
practitioners.
2:30-5pm on Sat, 9/23. $45 if
paid by Sept 9th, $50 thereafter. More information HERE
KIRTAN COMES
TO WALNUT CREEK!
Want
to connect to the Divine through your voice?
Love chanting and singing? Intrigued by the Sanskrit
language? Kirtan is for you! We'll spend an afternoon
enjoying bhajans (devotional songs) and chanting
mantra, opening our hearts and uplifting our
spirits with sacred sound.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER
21st, 4-5:30pm at the Yoga and Movement Center
in Walnut Creek. $15 suggested donation, 1/3
of proceeds benefit the charitable activities
of Amma http://www.amma.org/
For more information,
click HERE
SUMMER CHAKRA
SERIES continues,
focused on the seven energy centers of the body.
All classes explore one chakra each week (we
are currently on the 5th chakra). Learn the meaning
of each chakra and experience it through the
practice!
The Foundations
of FORWARD BENDING on
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH at YiY in Mountain View.
The Foundations series continues with specific
focus on standing and seated forward bends. These
poses open the hamstrings and soothe the nervous
system, yet can be quite challenging, especially
for beginners. Learn detailed alignment, basic
anatomy, benefits of the poses, and simple yoga
philsophy to deepen your yoga practice. More
information HERE
Would you
like to contribute an
article or poem to the Awakening Self newsletter?
I love writing that touches the heart and spirit,
rich with personal experience and examples, focused
on yoga and/or spiritual growth. Please send
submissions to me at:
connie@awakeningself.com
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Yoga
of the Seasons: |
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It's
Back to School Time
Even if you don't have children, when September rolls
around we often feel like it's "back to school". We've been
playing all summer, yet the return to the classroom has been programmed
into us from a young age.
Our thoughts may be turning now to exploring something new. What have
you been longing to learn? It's a natural time to delve into a new hobby,
take an art class, go back for training that will enhance your career,
or leap into new territory! It's also a good time to recommitt to the
studies and practices that are meaningful to you, such as a meditation
or yoga.
In yoga philosophy, one of the Niyamas, or "unrestrained" inner
practices, is called Svadhyaya (pronounced SVAAH-DHYAAH-YUH). This means
to study the Self. The "Self" with the capital S is our true
Divine essence. It's a practice of getting to know our spiritual Self
through various means. Svadhyaya can entail studying ancient texts about
our inner nature, or it can be an experience of the Self through meditation,
breathwork, yoga, chanting, and prayer. Attending Satsang (a "gathering
of the truth") with a spiritual teacher or listening to a minister
at a church service can be part of the practice of Svadhaya.
It also has the two-fold meaning
of studying the small "s" self - our mind, ego, behavior,
and personality. This can be a moment to moment practice of self-observation,
or it could involve taking a workshop on increasing prosperity or building
self-esteem. Part of the practice might be reading self-help books,
going to counseling, journaling, artwork, and a vast number of other
things that help us to improve and understand ourselves.
The benefits of this disciplined
self-inquiry and study are many. As we perceive what
blocks us from joy in our lives by observing our
attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs, we can choose
new ways of being that increase our enjoyment of
life. Delving deeper into our spiritual nature, we
can find an inner resevoir of contentment that gets
us through disappointments and reminds us that inner
peace and love are far more satisfying than possessions
or achievements. Svadhyaya allows us to see and understand
the essence of who we truly are and how to tap into
the Divine Self, which is innately empowered, peaceful,
fulfilled, and transcendent.
Let this ending of summer create
a renewed beginning of the practice of Svadhyaya.
When we understand ourselves and experience our Self,
we can manifest our greatest human potential.
Copyright © 2001, 2006 by Constance
L. Habash
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Spiritual
Quotes
"What you perceive
in others you are strengthening in yourself."
~ Unknown
"As I lived up
to the highest light I had, higher and higher
light came to me."
~ Peace Pilgrim
"It is our choices
that show what we truly are, far more than our
abilities. "
~ Albus Dumbledore
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