Valley Spirit Yoga Cloud Hands Blog Heart
Valley Spirit Yoga Cloud Hands Blog
"When we get caught up in the outer appearance of things,
our prana (vitality) flows out of us
as we scan the stimulating sights. Allowing the eyes to wander creates
distractions that lead us
further away from yoga. To counteract these habits, control and focus of
the attention are fundamental principles in yoga practice. When we control and direct
the focus, first of
the eyes and then of the attention, we are using the yoga technique called drishti."
- David Life,
"The Eye of the Beholder."
"The
practice of Drishti is a gazing technique that
develops concentration- and teaches you to see the world as it really is."
- Yoga Journal,
February 2002, pp. 73- 76.
"Elegance means appreciating things as they
are. There is a sense of delight and of fearlessness. You are not
fearful of dark corners. If there are any dark, mysterious corners, black
and confusing, you override them with your glory, your sense of beauty, your
sense of cleanness, your feeling of being regal. Because you can override
fearlessness in this way, tantra, or the highest stage in Tibetan Buddhist
practice, is known as the king of all the stages on the path. You take an
attitude of having perfectly complete and very rich basic sanity."
- Shambhala Publications, Ocean of Dharma
"Before beginning this journey inward, we
must clarify its nature. There is a frequent misunderstanding of the
journey inward or the spiritual path, which suggests to most people a rejection
of the natural world, the mundane, the practical, the pleasurable. On the
contrary, to a yogi (or indeed a Taoist master or Zen monk) the path toward
spirit lies entirely in the domain of nature. It is the exploration of
nature from the world of appearances, or surface, into the subtlest heart of
living matter. Spirituality is not some external goal that one must seek
be a part of the divine core of each of us, which we must reveal. For the
yogi, spirit is not separate from the body. Spirituality, as I have tried
to make clear, is not ethereal and outside nature but accessible and palpable in
our very own bodies."
- B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Life, p. 18
"If you engage earnestly in the various
practices of making yourself whole,
all your impurities will be destroyed:
and then you will gain the light of wisdom,
a revelation beyond even discrimination.
The eight limbs are self-control, commitments,
the physical poses, control of the breath,
withdrawal of the senses,
focus, fixation, and perfect meditation."
- Yoga Sutra, II 28-29
Translated by Geshe Michael Roach
"The commitments are to be clean,
to be contented with whatever we have,
to embrace hardships for higher goals,
to engage in regular study,
and to seek our Master's blessings."
- Yoga Sutra, II 32
Translated by Geshe Michael Roach
"I bow to the lotus feet of the gurus,
The awakening happiness of one's own self revealed,
Beyond better, acting like the jungle physician,
Pacifying delusion, the poison of samsara.
Taking the form of a man to the shoulders,
Holding a conch, a discus, and a sword,
One thousand heads white,
To Patanjali, I salute."
- Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Mantra
"Then life is to wake, not sleep,
rise and not rest but press
From Earth's level, where blindly creeps
Things perfected more or less
To the Heaven's height far and steep."
- Genevieve Stebbins, 1989
Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality
"1. Moving with Attention, Wake Up to Life, Mindful Movements
2. The Learning Switch, Bring in the New, Lifelong learning, Retraining
3. Subtlety, Experience the Power of Gentleness
4. Variation, Enjoy Abundant Possibilities
5. Taking Your Time, Slowing Down, Not Rushing, Luxuriate in the Richness
of Feeling
6. Enthusiasm, Turn the Small into the Great
7. Flexible Goals, Make the Impossible Possible
8. Imagination and Dreams, Create Your Life
9. Awareness, Cultivating Mindfulness, Thrive with True Knowledge"
- Anat Baniel,
Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality
"The Learning Switch: Learning occurs in the brain.
However, for the brain to do its job, the "learning switch" needs to be turned
on. During childhood, the learning switch is turned on a lot. As we
grow and take on the responsibilities of adulthood, we tend to develop habitual
patterns, a set way of doing things, rigidity and resistance to change.
Our learning switch turns off and learning slows way down. We can learn to
turn the learning switch back on, regardless of age. When we do,
everything in our lives becomes an opportunity, and miracles seem to pop up
everywhere; our lives are filled with movement, new ides, vivid memory,
sensuality , and pleasure."
- Anat Baniel,
Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality
Move into Life: The Nine Essentials for Lifelong Vitality
Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons
Valley Spirit Yoga, Red Bluff, California
Valley Spirit Yoga
Yoga Practice, Education, and Research
© 2003-2012, Green Way
Research, Red Bluff, California
Michael P. Garofalo, All Rights Reserved
Red Bluff, Tehama County, North Sacramento Valley, Northern California, U.S.A.
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This webpage was last updated on December 7, 2012.