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| YOGA SHORT AND SWEET
My dear friend and fellow yogini, Eve Baldwin, has produced a new yoga video especially for busy people like you. Yoga Short and Sweet consists of five sections, ten minutes each, plus a two minute meditation. Mix and match, based on your mood, or just do one section at a time.
STILLPOINT
Stillpoint is a beautiful new studio space located just blocks from Venice Beach. Currently hosting small group yoga classes, group meditations and one-on-one privates, this bright, sunny space has a warm and relaxing energy, the perfect space to reach an inner stillpoint.
| | JOIN OUR LIST |  | | |  | Dear Yogis and Friends,
I hope this finds you all happy, healthy and well.
Our household faced its first bout of baby sickness, this past week. Little Kaia got had quite the cough, and for a few days, all I could do was lay with her and nurse her back to health. Amazing how resilient and happy babies are, though - even in the midst of barking seal-like coughing spasms, little Kaia still managed a smile.
In Yoga News:
Yoga with Aria is now offering privates in the Hancock Park area, in my home studio, and on the Westside at Stillpoint, a lovely new space in Venice Beach. Contact me for rates and more info.
In Life News:
Are you feeling the intensity of these times as much as I am? I feel like everyone seems to be vibrating at hyper-speed. We're manifesting our thoughts -- be they our deepest dreams to our most darkest worries -- so much quicker than before. It's amazing how a simple comment can solidify itself into reality. Before I even realize it, what I've been focusing on inside has solidified on the outside. This has been a huge lesson for me to consciously participate in the process of my own creation, or I will be left behind. Right now, I am both an observer and a creator. I intend to become more of a creator and less of an observer.
Who wants to join me for the ride?
Blessings,
Aria
May our paths meet soon.
Until then, Many Blessings to you in 2009!
| | Change Is Here: And I Feel Fine
| 
"It's the end of the world as we know it,
and I feel fine." R.E.M.
My Esoteric Studies
What initially attracted me to Braden's work was his book, "Awakening to Zero Point." The book delved into exciting and yet, at times, foreboding theories on 2012, the evolution of the human race and planet Earth, the Earth's pole wobble effect on the procession of the equinoxes, the Mayan calendar, and the possibility of the Earth flipping magnetic poles every several hundred thousand years.
At the time, I was living in Venice Beach, working in the music business and delving into my emotional and spiritual past, present and future. In researching the various religious, philosophical, and mystical theories about life, I found myself drawn to the physical/spiritual/emotional healing modalities of ecstatic dance, Chi Gong, and Yoga. The astounding physical release I experienced, coupled with my ever-present psychic nature, led me to study Shamanism and the world of the spirits, which further led me to study ritualistic behaviour and ecstatic states of mind and their effects on the mind/body connection.
Back then, my home library included channelings from alien entities, theories on the 12 (or 144, depending on whom I read) dimensions of existence, studies on the fractal nature of the human brain, sacred geometry and the Flower of Life, π and the Fibonacci sequence, ancient Egyptian, Mayan, Jewish, and pre-historic belief systems, medical healing through the use of spirit guides and the MAP team, psychic experiments, altered states of consciousness, energy grids, ley lines, Soviet and U.S. military studies on ESP and psychic warfare, astral travel, out of body experiences, paganism and white witchcraft, etc. Though I never would have pegged myself as one who studied esoteric beliefs, those subjects were, inevitably the ones that triggered my inner fire.
All is One
Years later, I still find myself drawn to all things esoteric, but my focus is less outwards and more inwards. I feel like an old fashioned librarian, culling together the card catalog of my inner being. I know I have experiences that one day must be shared: rivers of joy, moments of uncertainty, and dimensions of sorrow that have not yet been put into words. One day, it will all arrive on the external layer we call Life. Now, however, I am internal, awaiting the birth of the next stage in my evolution.
And yet, when my external progress stalls, I can become impatient. In the face of uncertainty, I question my path. I am comforted, however, in that all is Good. Because All is One, all paths, all detours, in fact, lead back to Source.
This life may seem overwhelming, and yet it is merely one droplet in the spectrum of our souls' experience in this physical plane. We tend to praise our accomplishments and berate our perceived failures, and yet, on a soul level, all is merely Experience. There is no Good or Bad in experience.
As eternal beings experiencing a physical incarnation, however, we rely on the veil of illusion, or duality in order to survive. We divide ourselves into two camps of Life Experiencers: the fretful worriers and the puffed-up reactionaries. The former are compelled to label every action that others take as either Good or Bad. They may live their entire lives in reaction to others, wasting previous Life Energy on maintaining inner states of tenuous approval or righteous indignation. Instead of being a participant in their own life, they are merely spectators of others' lives.
The latter do nothing, but worry. They worry about their health, their jobs, their homes, their lives, the economy, the bail out, etc. In the midst of all this worry, they forget about the blessings of being alive, and create the things that they worry about. As the Reverend Michael Bernard Beckwith might say, when we worry, we are actually rehearsing our bodies for our worst nightmares: we focus so much energy on the things that we don't want, that we inadvertently worry our darkest fears into creation.
When I find myself worrying myself through the day, or existing as a spectator, I know that I have achieved a significant separation from the Source. As a yogi, I think of this as being out of alignment and ask myself: how may step back into my true nature? Yoga, quiet solitude, meditation, dance, ritual, the ocean, walks in nature -- all these are things which bring me back to Source.
What brings you back to Source?
Out of Alignment: The Greater Picture
Just as a human body can exist in separation from Source, so can a country and a planet. Our way of Life is undergoing intense change because we are out of alignment from what is truly important in life. This correction in our economic systems is not a punishment, but rather, an opportunity to shift our lives into expressing those values that are truly important to us.
We can choose to evolve into the next stage of our existence by actively participating in the creation of a better world, or we can resist and be left behind. Change is occurring. It will happen, with or without our active participation.
When we resist, we deny harnessing the tremendous power of change because of fear. The ways of the old are very comforting. Yet, we are powerless to bring things back to the way they were. So, we exist in stasis: neither alive, nor dead, constantly distracted by what is going on around us.
Sometimes, change appears fearful because we are passing through the darkness of the night. And yet, the darkness is necessary in order for us to see the light of day.
Everything is cyclical. Without darkness, there would be no light. Without light, there can be no darkness. Neither is better or worse than the other: each needs the other in order to survive.
If we approach these shifting times with the spirit of flexibility, we will re-align ourselves into an active, beautiful future. If we resist out of fear, our bodies and minds will become hard and rigid and crumble.
I am challenging myself to become a Creator in my own life. Let's join together and actively participate in the next phase of our evolution.
In service,
Aria
| | Pranayama Exercise: Breath of Liberation | Pause the nonstop chatter inside your mind and focus on the now.
Begin by slowing down life for just a moment.
Stop what you're doing.
And listen to your breath.
Notice: Am I breathing deeply? Quickly? Shallowly? Hardly at all?
Standing or seated:
Adjust your shoulders by aligning them over your hips. Take a deep belly breath.
Inhale so deeply that your belly sticks W A Y out. Watch the belly contract as you exhale and notice the muscles in your belly lift the belly button up and in, towards the back of the spine as you exhale.
Now, readjusting your gaze so that you're looking softly, stread ahead or focusing on a point somewhere near the floor...
Letting the belly relax, start your breathe into the base of your spine, breathing into your hips and low back. Release that breath.
Inhale again, this time slowly increasing the length of your inhale, until you're breathing into your sides and your waist. Just as slowly, relax the breath.
Inhale again, this time increasing the length of your inhale until your breath reaches the base of your chest. Relax the breath as you exhale, but retain the length in your spine.
Inhale once more, allowing the breath to touch your 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. At the end of every inhale, allow your exhales to be complete and conscious.
Now, repeat the entire process, but s-l-o-w down the breath by two to five percent. Not much, but just enough to create a slightly more relaxed and more powerful inhale, combined with a more conscious and complete exhale.
And add this mantra:
With every inhale, say to yourself, "I inhale Liberation."
With every exhale, say to yourself, "I exhale Resistance."
Now, notice what just happened:
Is your mind calmer? Are you more focused?
Next time, you are faced with change, but can't seem to embrace it and find yourself in resistance, try this breath. The beauty of this breath is that it will lead to "ah-ha!" moments, moments of insight into your own light, your own sense of guidance and intuition. The end result is the experience of your Liberation.
Try this once day, or as often as desired. The entire exercise may take anywhere from 3 - 10 minutes.
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