Since the beginning of this year, I feel like Time has cradled me in wings of "no time." Everything is going by quickly, as if in a dream.
A lot of this has to do with me being pregnant. Yup, that's right. For those of you I haven't seen in awhile, Aria is about 5 months preggers. We are expecting a baby girl sometime in late June. Other aspects to this are varied and personal, nothing bad nor good – just reworking my inner dreams, thoughts, hopes, etc.
I am also writing again for LA Yoga. In the March issue, look for my story and pictures on the Balinese New Year (based on the Hindu Lunar New Year.) Also in the March issue in the Community Section, I'll have a brief review of the Fit Yoga Conference, which I attended, several weeks ago. And remember that article on empathy I mentioned a long time ago? It looks to be coming out in the April issue.
I hope this finds you all happy and well in the month of Love - February. Ahhhh. And, with Mercury in retrograde, I kindly urge you all to not get too upset with your lovely computer or car or stereo or ipod or shower if it breaks down on ya. All will change.
In fact, change is the theme of this month's newsletter.
Blessings,
Aria
Warning: Maybe it's because I didn't write you all last month, but this month's newsletter is quite long. Enjoy, or skip to the end for Cool Happenings Around Town. my Class Schedule, and How to Subscribe/Unsubscribe.
FEBRUARY SHAKTI NEWSLETTER
Sci Fi Yogis: remember this quote from Dune?
"The spice extends life. The spice expands consciousness. The spice is vital to space travel…He who controls the spice controls the universe."
What a tantalizing proposition! And what a beautiful metaphor for every person's inner quest to find the spice of inner peace and harmony. Lucky for us, our journey doesn't have to take us through vast deserts, but it does require inner work, change and metamorphosis. Nothing exists in stasis. If an organism or a belief remains static, it is already dead, withered by its own rigidity.
We are born, grow older, change, live, and one die, will all die. But through our life process, everything around us changes. It can not stay the same. Same with yoga, and yet, so many yogis in today's world exist within the rigidity of one system, denouncing others as incomplete, untrue, or lacking the source. Why? Isn't yoga, like everything else, an evolving experience? Those who tell you it isn't are lying.
A brief history of yoga asanas:
Yoga began as an approach to calm the body and mind so that people could meditate. It evolved to include a series of postures, which have evolved to include 8,400,000 asanas (postures), according to the yoga scriptures. Imagine that (!) I bet you that no school you or I have ever practiced in has ever approached even a tenth of the possibilities in yoga asanas.
Please ask yourself an honest question: are getting what you need out of your exercise, meditation, or yoga practice? If you are, blessings be to you. Skip the rest of this newsletter. If you aren't, please begin to question why. Perhaps it's because you've been locked into one school of yogic beliefs and have never ventured beyond it. Or, perhaps you have explored other systems, but through a too-critical lens.
With the Breath, One will Find the Spice
In yoga, our breath and our mind control are keys to finding our Spice. This is what extends our life. This is what expands our consciousness. This is what helps us get through life's crap and difficulties without becoming bitter, stodgy, old fudge-crumplers.
Please, don't stay with a system out of some outdated notion of loyalty if you are no longer growing within that system. There is nothing wrong with seeking out teachers who inspire you. You can still stay loyal to your primary teacher(s). You can still be of one school or belief system, but please, expand and seek out change if you want to grow.
If this resonates with you at all, and you're not sure where to seek out different schools, please, contact me. I'm here to share my experiences with you. Contact me with any questions, anytime. Above all, please understand that I'm not pushing any one style, most certainly not my own. What I am pushing, however, is change.
Intuition is the Spice
The only way to change is to access our intuition so that we can rid ourselves of habits that no longer serve us. The yogis call these habits samaskars, belief systems that we acquire over the years. How do we access our intuition, though? It's easy to say, "I'm sick of being this way and want to change," but so much harder to do so.
The only way I've found is to do so slowly, little by little, becoming more and more aware of who we are and what we do. Eventually, we begin to access those moments of insight that let us understand why we do what we do. And then, can we choose to change, or not.
But, one thing is certain: we must evolve. Our practice must evolve. Our bodies and minds must evolve. Our lives must evolve. If we don't, we become stagnant, dead creatures.
Breath Exercise: 2x/day. 2-5 minutes/time.
BREATH OF CHANGE
Begin by slowing down life. Pause and focus on the now. Stop what you're doing and listen to your breath. Twice a day, for 2-5 minutes at a time.
Notice: Am I breathing deeply? Quickly? Shallowly? Hardly at all?
Standing or seated:
Adjust your shoulders right over your hips. Now, take a deep belly breath. Breathe so deep that your belly sticks W A Y out, as if you were pregnant.
Now, letting the belly relax, start to breathe into the base of your spine, into your hips and low back. Release that breath.
Slowly increase the length of your inhale, until you're breathing into your sides and your waist. Just as slowly, relax the breath.
Slowly, increase the length of your inhale until your breath reaches your chest and shoulders. Just as consciously, relax the breath.
Continue to increase the length of your inhale until you feel the breath rise as high as it can go, maybe into your jaw, maybe into the crown of your head.
Now, repeat the process and slow down the breath just by 2 percent. That's all.
And notice what happens:
Is your mind calmer? Are you more focused?
Next time, you find the desire to change, but don't know where to start, begin with this breath. Soon enough, I promise you, the breath will lead you to "a-ha!" moments, moments of insight into your intuition.
Like the sacred spice in Dune, our intuition is the spice of life. It expands consciousness. It extends life. It allows for change.
Notice: Am I breathing deeply? Quickly? Shallowly? Hardly at all?
Standing or seated:
Adjust your shoulders right over your hips. Now, take a deep belly breath. Breathe so deep that your belly sticks W A Y out, as if you were pregnant.
Now, letting the belly relax, start to breathe into the base of your spine, into your hips and low back. Release that breath.
Slowly increase the length of your inhale, until you're breathing into your sides and your waist. Just as slowly, relax the breath.
Slowly, increase the length of your inhale until your breath reaches your chest and shoulders. Just as consciously, relax the breath.
Continue to increase the length of your inhale until you feel the breath rise as high as it can go, maybe into your jaw, maybe into the crown of your head.
Now, repeat the process and slow down the breath just by 2 percent. That's all.
And notice what happens:
Is your mind calmer? Are you more focused?
Next time, you find the desire to change, but don't know where to start, begin with this breath. Soon enough, I promise you, the breath will lead you to "a-ha!" moments, moments of insight into your intuition.
Like the sacred spice in Dune, our intuition is the spice of life. It expands consciousness. It extends life. It allows for change.
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COOL HAPPENINGS AROUND TOWN
Chinese New Year Golden Dragon Parade. Saturday Feb. 9 (2-5pm) and Sunday, Feb. 10 (10am – 5pm). Chinatown. (FREE!) This year is the Year of the Rat. (Earth.) For those of you turning 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84, and so on, this is your year! You are a clever person with good, expensive taste, capable of transcending your materialistic nature if you so choose. You are best described as a logical realist, shrewd, ambitious, and inventive. You are also bright, sociable, and family minded. A Rat Year is a time of hard work, activity, and renewal. This is a great year to get a new job, get married, launch a product, or make a fresh start. The best way for you to succeed is to be patient and let things develop.
The Chinese New Year Events take place on Hill and Ord Streets, up to Bernard, and back down to Broadway.
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Morikami Exhibit at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA – only two more days. This exhibit leaves February 11th, 2008. This international traveling perspective of Takashi Murakami's Art features over 90 exhibits of sculpture, wallpaper, movies, paintings, and bizarre experiences. For lovers of pop art gone down the twisted end, you must see this.
Hint: Buy your tickets at the regular MOCA station, on Grand Ave. Your tickets are valid for both MOCA locations, and will save you waiting in a 40 minute+ line at the Geffen. J
Directions and info: http://www.moca.org/museum
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U2 in 3D, at the IMAX - ongoing.
Okay, I have to be honest and admit that we haven't seen this, yet. But those who have can't rave enough about how amazing this experience is. In fact many are returning to see it more than twice. So if you're a U2 fan and you want to feel Bono singing less than an inch from your face, come check out U2 in 3D!
At the IMAX Theatre at Citywalk. 100 Universal City Plaza. Universal City, CA
For more info: www.u23dmovie.com
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MUSIC: Funky in the Middle presents Sunday Outdoor Afternoon Pool Parties at the Custom Hotel. 1pm – 9pm. FREE with RSVP. Every week is different and sure to please those who like to get their groove on, outdoors. Funky, fun, and chill, the Funky in the Middle crew is wowing L.A. with their no-attitude Sunday afternoon pool parties at the Custom Hotel.
The Custom Hotel is at 8639 Lincoln Blvd., just South of Manchester. Los Angeles, CA 90045. You must be 21 and over to attend.
RSVP for free entry to: wiseacre@funkyinthemiddle-la
ONGOING PUBLIC CLASSES
Mondays, 7:15pm – 8:45pm. Vinyasa Flow at Silverlake Yoga.
Wednesdays: 8:00pm – 9:30pm. Donation Yoga at the Wilenskys.
Saturdays: 5:00pm – 6:30pm. All-levels Flow. Bodies in Motion.
For an updated daily schedule of where I am teaching and subbing every week: yogawitharia.com/schedule.htm
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Thank you!
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