Be Cool
If you are in your teens, you know that being cool means having the right look, the right social media platform or the right hobby. In brief, if you are cool, you are in. If you are a hippie dude from the seventies, being cool means that you are laid-back, you don’t sweat the small stuff, and you take it easy.
Now if you don’t fall into these two categories what am I talking about? I am talking about your ability to stay peaceful and still inside no matter what.
If we listen to the yogis, we are made of five gross elements: earth, water, fire, air, and ether. Each element plays a role in our system and has a unique set of qualities. The balance of these five elements supports our health and happiness.
The energy of fire is necessary to digest and process food. It also feeds our courage, passion and allows anger to be expressed. It helps us to be focused and resilient. Yet, too much fire in our life is extremely consuming: everything becomes a source of irritation, anger or anxiety.
If you live mainly on the energy of fire, you may have a lot of energy, but you consume a lot as well. Chances are you end up being at the center of everything which does not serve you and the people around you: your impatience and reactivity are too loud.
Practicing being cool is choosing to stay away from yelling and screaming as an ongoing communication style; it is choosing to step back instead of jumping in, it is being considerate of the impact of your words, thoughts and actions for yourself and the people around you.
Being cool is not pretending that everything is great. There is no need to wear a mask or the emoji sunglasses 😎; we want you to be true to yourself and still feel a wide range of emotions.
After an intense physical exercise, cooling down helps you to relax and recover faster. The same applies in life if you get caught into unnecessary heated conversations remember to cool down so that you can move on quicker.
With Love
Book your Transformational One-On-One phone session with Tejpal.
The Purpose of Discipline
What is the purpose of discipline? Is it about achievement? If discipline is outcome driven, you will never be at peace or content. You will always run after the next challenge, and often the results you are chasing will own you. At that moment you disconnect with your true infinite self and you are trapped into the finite.
The purpose of discipline is not about keeping your body fat at 20% or less, not eating your vegetables or sleeping the right amount of time; the purpose of discipline is to live beyond the polarity of your emotions. If you get stuck into the world of emotions, you will go through highs and lows, excitement and depression, addiction and reaction, seduction and rejection; in brief you will not access the wisdom of the heart and its stability. Emotions are wonderful when they are part of a whole spectrum of life not when they take over you.
When you go beyond the polarity or your emotions you are free; you can access the clarity and neutrality of the heart. From there you have a direct experience with your infinite self; it is not a concept anymore it is palpable.
When you remember that discipline is about staying connected with your infinite self, then your discipline does not become a chore, then you don’t identify yourself with your accomplishments or failures, then you realize that discipline is simply the path to happiness.
With much love,
Keep The Light On
Our responsibility on earth is to keep our light on no matter what. Whether we fall, we fail, or we hurt, we need to keep the light on. We have to decide that there is no other option.
I am not asking you to pretend that you are happy and ignore any parts of you that need healing. You can feel pain and keep the light on at the same time. We have all witnessed people facing drastic challenges yet smiling and shining.
We will all go through unexpected challenges at times, yet we have to decide clearly and be impeccable in our decision: no wishy-washy behavior, no “I don’t know how to do this,” none of this. You think what I am asking you to be is hard; in fact, it is easier to keep the light on than the other way around.
There is a spiritual warrior within you that needs to be awakened if you want to keep your sanity. You do it for you and others, as we are here to serve each other.
Your lifestyle needs to change. You need to be sure that no matter what you create situations that enhance your light: whether it is what and how you eat, the friends you spend time with, the activities you are involved in or the teachers you choose to learn from.
From your own light, you will not be part of the tsunami of noise; you will find peace the foundation for love. Keep it bright and keep it light!
Peace and love to all and happy holiday season!
Book your Transformational One-On-One phone session with Tejpal.
Be Empty
Feeling empty usually has a negative connotation. It means that we are depressed or exhausted and that our ability to bounce back is gone. The tradition we are living in does not promote the art of emptiness. If we choose emptiness, we buy less, and our economic model cringes.
Every time we celebrate, we usually create a notion of abundance by providing too much. Too much food, wine, gifts and we leave the table full, which creates within us apathy.
We live in a country where obesity is a significant problem. In 2016, 40% of adults and 30% of children were obese. We live in a country where we die by overeating. To be alive, unique and vibrant we need to practice emptiness.
If your physical body is constantly full, it cannot do its necessary cleansing; your energy goes down, and your ability to focus is damaged. Now think about your breath: if you are full, you cannot breathe deeply. When you don’t breathe deeply, you can get into many kinds of trouble: addiction, depression or anxiety to name a few. To inhale you need to be empty; to take in, you need to be empty. A spacious body will help you have an open mind.
Beyond the physical body, pay attention to how you live; clear your space. Space is the foundation for your creativity and imagination to blossom. When your surrounding does not distract you, you are more in touch with who you are.
The heart by nature cannot be too full; simply because love is space, love is flow; love is about sharing.
In business, if you are too busy, that means that you are good at what you do. We never promote space for nothingness even though it may be the only way you can see what is going on. Without space, it is hard to set priorities and truly reinvent the business if necessary.
Practice emptiness; you will realize that nothing is missing or lacking. Instead, you are creating the opportunity to feel your self fully, grow and open up to new possibilities and new meanings in your life.
With much love,
Be Connected
In the world we are living in, unplugging seems the thing to do as we can easily get overwhelmed with the number of threats, crisis’s and catastrophes. Staying away from the news and the noise is tempting and at times necessary.
Yet, being connected and aware of what is happening on this planet is our human responsibility. We need to learn to be with the chaos and any crisis that occurs without drifting away. We need to stay rooted and not sink in despair but stand up or sit still in the middle of the storm.
Decide how much information you can digest without being lost, depressed or agitated. Yet don’t hide. If a hurricane destroys a part of this country, feel it. If a culture is getting threaten and bombed, feel it; if injustice happens, feel it. Feel it and keep your light on; there is no need to add to any destruction already happening on earth, there is no need to bring more drama.
Our responsibility to stay connected and stable inside requires each of us to have a mind-body-spirit practice. Any breath practices that will engage your belly are always great options. To name a few, breath of fire or any pumping breath will create a solid foundation.
The time is not to hide and separate, the time is to connect. When we connect, new strengths, new visions, new skills, and new energy appear. The magic of this era lies in the quality depth and authenticity of our relationships. Let’s decide to extend ourselves and reach out further; let’s decide to go deeper.
With much love,
Book your Transformational One-On-One phone session with Tejpal.
Shift Happens
Workshop Jan.17-Jan 20 2019; Miraval Resort Tucson Arizona
With Tejpal MA, MBA and Shari Gootter MA, LPC
Hear it at many levels.
When shit truly happens in your life you may shut down, go into blame, anxiety, guilt, depression, victimhood, etc. In other words, you are stuck. Before you know it, you are trapped by uncomfortable emotions and an agitated mind that desperately tries to find a way out.
When shit happens it is time to shift. Instead of using your survival skills to get out of your unwanted situation, you need to completely reinvent how you relate to everything.
This “Shift Happens” workshop is the promise that no one has to get stuck no matter your circumstances. Shari and I are really committed to support each of you in this process. We both have experienced the shit and the shift.
Shari has dealt with J.R.A. at a very young age. When she was two years old, moving was a great challenge. Eventually, she ended up losing her sight. She also lost her brother abruptly. Today, Shari lives her life fully: she is a yoga instructor a leadership facilitator and a therapist. Her life is filled with many interests, many friends and a life partner.
I had my share of existential pain. For the first 33 years of my life, I simply wanted to commit suicide. After lots of therapy, healing, a few name changes, a new citizenship and a radical turn in my career, I am now at peace with myself and grateful about my life.
If you want to expand your horizon of possibilities and “unstuck”, if you want to feel free and alive, if you want to experience a deeper sense of meaning and gratefulness, then join us.
We are not telling you that this workshop is the answer to all of your problems, yet we are holding the space for you so that you can create deep healing and relate to this world in a new meaningful and loving way.
Are you ready?
To register, click here.
With much love,
Tejpal
“Vibrate The Cosmos And The Cosmos Shall Clear The Path” (Yogi Bhajan)
Today you may be at a crossroad in your life and seeking guidance.
The problem is, the more you aim for clarity, the more you use your linear mind and at times over-analyze everything. The results are greater confusion, more doubts, and worries.
My invitation to you is to look at any situation that you are in from a different perspective.
Instead of engaging your analytical mind, pay attention to your attention. Choose where and what you decide to focus on.
Instead of focusing on your problem, “Vibrate The Cosmos,” stay open and receptive; don’t go anywhere, don’t solve anything; receive and experience any problem throughout your whole body. Stay curious and tune in, be sensitive to your whole being. Surrender, let the cosmos in, let anything in, drop your walls and create intimacy with your environment.
When this happens, everything flows. At that moment you are not pushing, using your will or forcing an outcome, you are open and willing to learn.
To create this drastic shift, start practicing with elements of nature. Experience in your whole body, a tree, a plant, a flower, a cloud, invite them, be curious and sensitive to their essence …practice every day and then you may develop your ability to dance with the cosmos.
Are you ready to create more flow in your life?
With much love,
Book your Transformational One-On-One phone session with Tejpal.
The Best Medicine On Earth
I know… most of you would say that the best medicine on earth is Love. In many ways I support this statement: when one lives in the heart center there is a level of stillness awareness and presence that create a wonderful foundation for healing. Yet too often love is often confused with emotions, attachments and or loving something or someone …and so I have decided to look at something else…your breath.
“When you are short of wisdom, breathe.” Guru Nanak
We have a tendency to breathe between 16 and 20 times a minute with a shallow breath that does not give enough oxygen to the blood. A sweet tooth comes from a lack of oxygen in the brain. Lots of diseases are created and enhanced with shallow breathing. If you breathe eight times a minute you will become calmer. If you breathe four times a minute you are more aware, more intuitive and more in tune with the cosmic intelligence. You can go with the infinite flow instead of constantly fighting or worrying.
Your breath is directly connected to how you think and how you feel. A negative thought or action will make you breathe three times faster.
The way you attract people, the way you manifest is directly connected to your Aura, which is greatly impacted by the quality of your breath. In brief, your radiance depends on your breath.
Your intelligence has nothing to do with how many brain cells or degrees you have; your intelligence is based on the capacity of your breath. Choose to practice conscious breathing every day; it will transform everything within you and around you.
The following is a breath you can practice at least three minutes a day:
- Seated on a chair or in an easy pose on the floor.
- Eventually, close your eyes and focus on your third eye.
- Put each hand in Gyan Mudra (index and thumb together) on your knee.
- Inhale through the nose, hold the breath in and as you hold the breath in mentally vibrate the mantra three times: “I am light, I am I am.”
- Exhale through the nose, hold the breath out and as you hold the breath out repeat the same mantra in your head three times.
- End with a deep breath in, hold the breath in and apply Root Lock (squeeze sex organ, rectum, and navel) to seal and integrate the benefits of your breath.
Relax.
Much love to all,
The Lesson Plan
What are you choosing to learn this year? How do you want to express yourself? What are your biggest challenges?
I came on earth with a very strong mind. At a very young age I was aware of people’s patterns and behaviors. I never was lost into the fairy tale of childhood; at time I wished. I was judging, observing and fearing the many distortions around me. Yet with this strong mind of mine, my heart was underdeveloped. Terrified to be loved, terrified to ask or need anything, I chose isolation and pride.
When the mind is not connected to the heart center, the mind divides and reacts. Fuelled by emotions instead of compassion the mind is too loud or too quiet, opinionated and never at peace.
I used to be a quiet kid, unhappy, unfulfilled, and the few times I spoke up I was too negative. At five or six years old my negative expression felt like poison to myself. At that age, I really wanted to be wise stable and compassionate; the gap was painful to experience.
In the time we are living in, we can choose to get lost in the flow of insanities out there and point the finger at the others or we can choose to go within, look at our own distortions and practice forgiveness to self.
In this lifetime, the heart is my great teacher. The heart is not fluffy, nice or soft; the heart is real in a beautiful neutral way. It invites me to stay stable, present and awake with compassion.
If you want to serve in any kind of way you absolutely need a daily practice that invites you to go within and really look without a story, without blame. You need to have a practice that really observes with compassionate stillness. When that is in place, decide how you can be of service as the options are endless.
With much love,
Transformative One-on-One Session Reserve Your Session Today!
How Do You Bounce Back In Your Life?
As I am looking at my own life, the lives of my clients and the on going tragedies that are happening in this world, I am asking the following question…How do we bounce back from a physical illness, the loss of a loved one, the destruction of a home, a complete lack of meaning in life or a sense of deep isolation? What are our options?
One of the most potent medicines in bouncing back is to create meaningful connections. You may or may not know how to create authentic relationships, how to ask for help, how to be real in your deepest places of despair, or how to trust the people around you…. Regardless, reaching out is certainly a key element in finding yourself again.
There is another component that I would like to emphasize today; I call it the Art of Falling. In order to bounce back you need to know how to fall. If you are too rigid when you fall you will hurt yourself; if you don’t let go you will break parts of your body. You need to allow yourself to touch the bottom; like playing on a trampoline you can ‘t bounce back if you don’t touch the bottom.
When you really fall you are able to experience a sacred space where the swirl of emotions does not overwhelm you anymore; you become stable and lucid, there is nothing more to loose.
The mind does not know how to fall; the mind wants to be safe. The heart knows how to fall simply because the heart is not driven by fear or the future. The mind on its own has a distorted relationship with pain…either it runs away from it or it is addicted to it.
How deeply can you let yourself fall? How deeply can you feel your own pain, despair, anxiety or loss? If you go deep your will heal yourself and the pain will shift to a more spacious and sacred experience.
What do you do to avoid falling? Do you make yourself busier? Do you abuse your body? Do you blame your circumstances? What do you do? Learn to fall if you want to bounce back. Learn to fall if you want to grow and experience peace in your life.
With much love and gratitude for being part of my life, I wish you a great holidays season.
Boredom…
When I invite my clients or students to do a daily spiritual practice, very few end up really doing it. I have heard many stories…stuff gets in the way…kids, work, health, family crisis, etc.
The real truth is that most of you are bored with yourself…yup…most of you are like a little kid that needs to be distracted every so often. And because it is so easy to get distracted these days you get bored even faster. Now you are not the only one! I can relate now and then!
If we get bored with ourselves so easily…then our life is going to be full of distractions, attachments and we will go through a constant emotional rollercoaster. The one thing we need to do is to fall in love with ourselves again and that is a discipline.
Loving yourself is not about liking yourself. Loving yourself is about embracing all of who you are, your light and your shadow. It is about accepting with kindness, your beauty and your limitations. Loving yourself is a practice that helps you to stay away from the polarity of the positive and negative minds.
The most efficient way to get there is to have a daily spiritual practice. As you do it you go beyond pain or pleasure, you become less reactive and impulsive. You have a chance to experience inner stillness and from that place you can see clearly and make life choices that are truly meaningful to you.
There are many kinds of spiritual practices. Today I am offering you a meditation from the Kundalini tradition that will balance your nervous system, create stability and bring you serenity. Do it with me for 40 days in a row and let me know how you are doing!
Open Your Sky
In my practice I notice that most people spend lots of time listening to their thoughts instead of listening to their experience. That pattern is the same when it comes to listening to others. If you are thoughts focused you create lots of pollution in your system. When you pay attention to your experience you nourish yourself. That is the essence of self-love.
Many of you are amazing achievers. Your accomplishments are often outstanding yet your self-care and self-love are lacking. You have used your will and your brilliance in a limited way…and my wish is that you choose to open your sky.
When you choose to listen to your experience your life opens up to unknown possibilities. Are you courageous enough to love yourself? Now…I am not talking of the love and peace movement of the 70s or romantic love; I am talking about love, the ultimate form of commitment, the ultimate discipline that will expand your awareness and intuition.
This discipline goes way deeper than a discipline that comes from your will. I have experienced both and I know the difference.
In my mid 30s and early 40s I was will driven. I ran the NY Marathon (and I never liked running), road bike races and played in golf tournaments. Everything was outcome-driven. Each time I won I felt empty, sick and dry inside. When I did not win I had to focus on the next event.
Self-love has a different flavor. You are curious, sensitive to what is and stay with any type of discomfort. From that ever-changing place of yours you listen and you create your day.
When you choose to connect to your essence there can be pain but no drama. There can be joy but no frantic excitement. You dramatically enhance your awareness and make decisions aligned with your true essence.
Are you ready to open your sky?
With much love and healing,
Tejpal
What Is The Purpose of Healing?
As I have been “sitting around” for the past 12 days or so healing from a knee replacement, I have contemplated the following question: What is your first response when someone asks you about the true purpose of healing?
Is it to feel better? Have more vitality? Gain more joy? Get rid of your pains? All of these answers sound pretty good to me but that is not the ultimate purpose of healing; these benefits are the side effects of the healing process.
The ultimate purpose of healing is to develop your relationship with your true self, beyond your titles, your credentials and the different roles you are taking on as a mother, a father, a leader, etc. Some of you may say is that it? That does not sound like too much fun!
Let’s list of few benefits:
- We make decisions that serve our heart not our ego.
- Our emotions are not leading our life; they are part of it.
- We are less reactive.
- We are able to experience more inner stillness in time of chaos.
- We are more aware and curious.
- We are more authentic.
- Our intuition expands.
The process of Healing brings us closer to our true self and from there our awareness expands tremendously. There is a sense of unity that is priceless to experience particularly when we are hitting a wall…any wall. And so be curious this month about what distracts you and what helps you to connect deeper with you!
With much love and healing,
Tejpal
I Got My Answer
One of my beautiful true friends, Catherine, is a comic and mother of three. She has been diagnosed with LAM lung disease; a rare form of cancer in the lungs that they have not yet found a cure for.
In 2006, she was given 5 to 10 years to live and she is now more vibrant than ever. Her life force and heart are priceless and her humor is contagious. She has been able to raise 2 million dollars and attract some top-notch scientists to find a cure for this disease. She touches so many with compassion and great laughter that you can only do one thing when you are in her presence…open your heart and laugh really loud.
Here is a newly documentary about Catherine and her website if you would like to make a donation. Please watch it! You will be inspired!
Why am I talking about Catherine’s journey? In many ways Cat helps me to answer that question that has became louder for the past couple of months. How do I show up in this world? What do I stand for? What do I fight for?
I got my answer…I simply need to connect to my gifts and uplift moment to moment. That is where I heal others and myself; that is where I keep my inner light going.
If we listen to the Yogis, the heart’s projection has a 60-degree angle. By nature the heart uplifts.
Uplifting has nothing to do with motivating; there is no agenda to make the other person feel better or have more energy. Each time you expect an outcome you are not in the heart center you are in your will, convincing, forcing and pushing.
Uplifting is not about ignoring what does not work either. You still commit to glow no matter what. If you embrace that quality, every cause you stand up for will not eat you up. More than ever before we all need to glow.
How do you uplift in your day-to-day life?
With much love
Tejpal
My Theme For This Year
As I was cleaning my files during the holiday season I found a piece of paper with this quote on it: “Everything is possible in your life if you approach it with humility.” I have no idea you wrote this; regardless, I started to ponder…
As a child the way I understood humility was: “be less, be small, be invisible”. The focus was on the ego; make it as small as possible. Later in my life I realized that humility is not about asking the ego to be small but is relying on the heart to be big. And moment-to-moment we have to choose what we say yes to: is it our heart or our ego?
The path of humility may not be the easiest one but the other one carries way too much suffering. We did not come on earth to win; we came on earth to heal. When humility is at the center of your life you are at peace with learning the same thing over and over.
Humility keeps us on our toes…there is no falling asleep…everything needs intention and attention …our health, our relationships, our hobbies, our work…
This year I choose to celebrate as much as I can with the quality of humility at the center. In this context, it is not about how great I am but how blessed I am.
Now what about you? What is your theme for this new year?
With much love,
Tejpal
Be The Light House
As we are approaching a new year my true wish is that you let go of setting goals for yourself. Bury that concept, burn it, dance around the fire …whatever speaks to you but once for all…drop it. When you set goals you simply limit who you are because you rely too much on your linear mind and your will. I personally don’t recall that reaching any of my goals made me happier; I always had a next goal in mind…
We are not linear beings we are spiritual beings. Our focus is to increase our vitality. More than ever before we need our vibration to be strong as we are constantly reminded of the political, economical and ecological chaos in our lives. We can pretend to ignore it but because everything is a vibration we still are impacted.
If you want more vitality keep it true. Stay connected with your wholeness, that means your light and your shadow. If you are running away from your darkness you will not experience your spiritual dimension you will not be vibrant. Stay human.
In this period that the Yogis have called “The Grey Period”, we can fall into our reactive patterns and be stressed or we can stand up in our light and be vibrant no matter what. More than ever before we need each others’ light. Yogi Bhajan used to say “Be the Light House”.
Happy holiday season.
With much love
Tejpal
How I Discovered Kundalini Yoga
Twelve years ago I was working with a therapist who was a Sikh and a kundalini yoga teacher, her name was Guru Ravi Kaur Khalsa. One day she mentioned about a kundalini yoga teacher coming to town to lead a workshop and in her detached usual way she said: ”you may like it.” As I was longing for deep personal transformation I went without hesitation.
When I arrived, I saw students seated on a sheepskin with their head covered. There was a wide diversity of people…old and young, male and female…I was taking it all in. After a couple of chants at the beginning of the class we started some series of exercises; some of them were odd and made me laugh. Our eyes were closed to stay within and be present to our own experience. Some of the exercises were physically challenging because of the repetition but very quickly I ended up experiencing my being as pure vibrant energy, invincible and free yet connected and present. As an energy healer working with energy patterns with my clients I was amazed of the sensation and the brilliance of this approach. At the end of the class I went to talk to the teacher and asked her for a daily kryia and meditation. I also mentioned that I wanted to become a teacher. She laughed and said: “ I created a bomb!”…Her name was Gurmuk Kaur Khalsa. I left the class with a sense of complete renewal… I was hooked.
Why Do I Practice Kundalini Yoga
At a very young age I was touched by anyone who committed to a spiritual practice. I explored many traditions and practiced essentially Vinyassa Yoga, Siddha Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Nichiren Buddhism and Qigong. One day I got introduced to Kundalini Yoga and at the end of my first class, I knew “I found home” and that I would become a teacher.
Every spiritual practice has unique gifts to offer. Kundalini Yoga has this no BS essence in it that fits my style. It has been called the Yoga of Awareness. This practice helps you break unnecessary patterns, take responsibility for one self, develop your intuition and support you to go through any layers of confusion, worries, anxiety or depression to connect to your true essence. In fact in the seventies, there were a lot of centers that used the technology of Kundalini Yoga to help people with drug addiction. It is a “cut the crap” practice …whatever the crap of the day maybe.
After ten years of teaching students and future teachers, I am always amazed of the efficiency of this practice. The transformation one goes through is a gift to witness. It brings simplicity clarity energy and inner stability in one’s life and from that place true happiness can emerge.
Now this practice touches me. I experience very quickly energetic shifts and a sense of expansion that I never came close to before. Often it will bring in me energy and pleasure and at time old emotions of anger or anxiety will come up to be cleared. One thing is sure; the practice of Kundalini Yoga has been my best teacher to love myself deeper than ever before.
How to Say Goodbye
Every culture has its own tradition. If we look at death in China people buy their coffins before they die and put it in a place where everyone can admire the luxury of it. In America, death is still taboo and we are doing everything we can without clarity to avoid aging or simply dying.
How do you say goodbye when it is time to let go of painful situations? For years I used to say goodbye by slamming the door with a lot of conviction stating how much I was right and how much “they” were wrong. We all know that never works: I was not able to deeply learn and surrender and in this process I was not able to say goodbye.
Saying goodbye is a vital skill that needs to be learned particularly in the time of uncertainty we live in. What do you want to say goodbye to in your life? Is it a person, a behavior, a thought? When you choose to say goodbye you truly grow from within.
If you say goodbye to some habits, a good amount of focus and determination are not going to be the answer. Your focus has to be towards your desires not your will. How clear and strong your desire is?
If you say goodbye to a person you need to allow your emotional body to go through its convulsion and commotion. That is the first stage of any transformation and each time you dismiss it you will prevent any healing to happen.
The culture we live in does not teach you how to say goodbye. If you go on a business trip you text before you take off, you text when you land, you text when you check in your hotel….and it keeps on going.
Saying goodbye is not rejecting, reacting, accusing or blaming, it is a healthy way of living…not always easy but it will bring you closer to your own truth and to your heart, closer to your spiritual dimension.
Be curious and explore…What and or who do you need to say goodbye to?
First write down a list and then connect to the clarity of your desires for each item. In some situations the fear may be to overwhelming and you may not be ready to take actions yet invite consciously your intent and trust that at some point you it will reach a level of simplicity.
With much love,
Tejpal
Do you want to explore how to say goodbye? Book a transformation session with me.
Chill…Take A Deep Breath…
Every one has heard that sentence before and right there lays some ancient knowledge about the power of breath. Each time you change your breathing you change your thought patterns and with this your feelings. Any yoga practice includes conscious breathing to help you stay present to your inner experience and prevent your mind to run your life.
The practice of yoga started approximately 5000 years ago and its intent was to yoke/bring together the mind, body and spirit. Many schools of yoga emerged then focusing on different aspects. Patanjali (200/800 AD) was interested in creating a system that embraced all the different forms of yoga. He organized and codified into a system of 195 sutras the different knowledge approaches and philosophies. In this system he describes the eight limbs of yoga, which are essential for a yoga practice.
One of the limbs is called Pranayam, which is the ability to control the movement of Prana through breathing techniques. Prana means life force and Ayam means expansion. Pranayama is energy management. By practicing different breath techniques you develop your Prana and therefore promote your health, vitality and intuition.
There are many breath patterns from many spiritual traditions that create a very specific impact on your being. Do you want to develop your intuition? There is a breath for that. Do you want to reduce your anxiety? There is a breath for that. Do you want to develop your focus? There is a breath for that. In fact there are many breath patterns for the three mentioned above.
Most people breathe too shallow at a rhythm of fourteen times a minute, which does not bring a lot of vitality or stability of the mind. When you breathe eight times per minute you feel more relaxed. If you breathe four times a minute you increase your awareness and if you breathe one time a minute you develop dramatically your intuition.
Your breath gives you a glow. In fact the yogis used to say that your attraction factor is your Prana, therefore your breath. Do you want more glow in your life then come to Miraval and dive into the many practices of yoga you will be glad you did!
Reinvent Your Relationship With Forgiveness
In my 30 years of working with thousands of men and women I have noticed that most people misunderstand forgiveness.
The forgiveness process is a healing method to help you release old pains you are holding onto. The biggest obstacle lies in your attachment to the outcome. Too often you get so caught up in wanting to make the situation better that you skip the crucial phase of the forgiveness process, which is focusing on what hurts.
We don’t know how to connect to our pain. We live in an environment that promotes running away from pain. The amount of drugs available to relieve physical or emotional pain is humongous. The list of distractions to never experience our own feelings and thoughts is endless. By running away from our own pain we simply don’t know who we are, we have no identity. From there nothing can happen.
The common resistances to focusing on what hurts are:
“If I connect to my pain I will hurt more” or “I need to stay positive I don’t want to dwell in the negative”.
In these above statements, there is no heart connection, just an ego or mind connection. When you connect to your pain from the heart center you heal and grow.
What will it take for you to feel more connected at the heart center? Journaling is often an insightful process. The following is an exercise:
Everyday for three minutes or so list your pains (physical, emotional, heart or spiritual) without analyzing them, just write them down. Depending on the amount of healing work and personal process work you have already done, this process can take ten days or six months. For each of you it will be unique but if you trust the process, you will be able to drop in a place of neutrality where you become curious; that is the sacred space of the heart center.
If you want to truly forgive you need to connect to your pain. There is simply no shortcut. Trust this process if you want to feel more vibrant in your life.
With much love
Tejpal