by Brianna | Mar 24, 2011 | Chanting, gratitude, Healing
Almost twenty years ago, when I was a teenager I became interested in psychic phenomenon. Because of that fascination my Mom arranged an appointment for me with an acclaimed medium. During my session, she said to me, “I don’t understand this but they say you will. They want you to know that: ‘We are all one. It is we who are the universe.’” At that time I really didn’t understand it either but I never forgot it. Although I had been raised Christian, and deeply respected my Reverend, I spent most of my late teens and very early twenties trying on other peoples beliefs like clothing. It is not all that rare after all, I was young and I was seeking. At different times I practiced being: Agnostic, Buddhist, Jewish, Sufi, and Wiccan – to name just a few. Where I landed is a very personal place as all belief is. From my experience if you put two people of any tradition together and ask them to define their belief, you best step back and simply watch those sparks fly. Debating faith, which is literally man’s ability to believe that which he knows not to be true, is fascinating. As years have passed, and my understandings have shifted through both trial and joy, I can summarize my belief like this: “We are all one. It is we who are the universe.” The Lamps are different, But the Light is the same One matter, one energy, one Light, one Light-Mind. ~Rumi This weekend at Charm City Yoga (www.charmcityyoga.com), I am teaching a Yoga Benefit for Japan with Kim Manfredi....
by Brianna | Mar 17, 2011 | Chanting, practice
Since my post last week the earth has literally shifted beyond comprehension. What has unfolded and continues to unfurl in Japan is simply overwhelming. My heart goes out to those who are actively undergoing these experiences and I wish them healing and light with every exhalation of my breath. Years ago on September 11th, when I was alone in a brand new city, I turned to Yoga as a way to have an immediate community. During times like these, when the world is more out of control then normal, I actively try to draw my students together – chanting as one voice palm to interconnected palm. It makes me uncomfortable, in fact it scares me to do it but at these moments I teach prayer anyway. I think at times like these, it is too important not to – basically it is worth being uncomfortable for. Last night, my beginning students stood in a circle. One palm to the next chanting with the intention of generating healing for those with them and those in Japan. We imagined filling the circle with light, filling ourselves with light, and then sending that energy we created over the water to Japan. After all, energy moves with intention: “May they be well, may they be free from suffering.” There is a feeling that comes over a room when it shifts into “like mind.” It is a beautiful and distinct energy and one that I recognize immediately in a group that I am leading. It happened last night, like I said – leading prayer, it is worth being uncomfortable...
by Brianna | Feb 16, 2011 | Change, Chanting
When I first started teaching I basically taught Yummy Yoga. I did anything I could to keep my classes and students inside the comfort zone. I didn’t make them chant, I didn’t focus on the breath, I didn’t offer extended relaxations. Basically I taught stretching with a little strength thrown in. People liked it. I liked it. But truth be told – none of us grew. I didn’t grow as a teacher and while my students were safe and secure they didn’t really transform either. My students now would be hard pressed to find the “me” they know in my first years teaching. Now I push myself to teach what is difficult for me. Make people hug each other? Let that love OUT. Chant for a fifteen minutes with arms in the air? Watch those limiting thoughts just melt away. Ten minute guided relaxation at the beginning? The type A’s hate that until one day they LOVE it. So what changed? Why the shift? The reason is simple, I just realized through my own practice that it was when I made myself uncomfortable, when I pushed the edges of not just my practice but my beliefs that I really and truly started to transform. As with all my work, I base my interactions with my students, on my own experiential understandings. If being uncomfortable and doing it anyway transformed me – chances are it would transform them. With that said, I must admit: I still turn to my comfort zone when I am over stressed and under-slept. During those times I melt myself back into the safety of a...
by Brianna | Feb 11, 2011 | Breathing, Change, Chanting, meditation, Uncategorized
Learning to draw our mind to focus is a powerful tool both on and off the mat. But just like every other part of yoga, meditation, is a practice and imperfection is inherently implied. When we have spent years multitasking and treating life like it is a sprint, is it really any wonder that focusing is a challenge? I know when I first started meditating I thought it meant emptying. Achieving a space of no thought, no awareness – a completely altered state of being. But as humans we are thinking machines, many of you like me have monkey minds that are constantly whirring; no matter how much I tried to just “let go” thought was somehow always there. Over years of practice and many good teachers I finally accepted that meditation is not the absence of thought. Meditation is focused thought without attachment. Very nice right, but now: “what on earth does that mean?” Simply put, meditation is an exercise in focus where what you are focusing on is arbitrary. That is why the breath is such a powerful meditative tool – it is completely unconscious yet it can be made into a conscious act. When the breath is used, you can focus on it but if you stop focusing nothing will happen. It will continue to roll. You will continue to live and all will be well. It then becomes your responsibility to remember that it is the nature of the mind to wander. It is the practice to draw it back to your breath. I think it is also important to realize that meditation, while it...
