We need to change our world view now

Why is our worldview so screwed up?

As an example, we are taught from an early age, in all religions to pray to a higher power. If you are praying then you are seen as a religious person. However when your higher power talks back to you, you are crazy. Isn't it the point to have a deep, intimate relationship with your higher power? Doesn't it seem quite natural you should have a dialogue with that higher power?

I have met a few people who have had that conversation with their higher power, Jesus, G-D, etc... and they have been taunted and ridiculed for it. This makes no sense to me. We have it screwed up in our world. I think someone who has this kind of conversation with G-D should be honored and respected...don't you?

Michael Roach is coming to MI and why you should see him.

What causes a good teacher to come into our lives?

According to the laws of Karma, our reality is forced upon us by our Karma. In other words, if we plant the right seeds, we will see teachers as good. If we plant the wrong seeds, we will see them as not so good.

The karma of having and keeping these teachers around us comes and goes, (gets planted and ripens), and if we do not plant those seeds, over and over again...those teachers will stop coming.

We have been very, very, very fortunate to have some well respected internationally known teachers come to Red Lotus Yoga and our local community.

Michael Roach is coming to Michigan next week. He is a highly successful business man and a wise teacher who is an expert in Tibetan philosophy and wisdom.

The karma of respecting and honoring people like Michael Roach has caused him to come to us. The seeds we need to plant to keep him in our lives is, going to see him, listen to the wisdom he brings and then, if applicable, using it in our lives.

It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and he is someone with whom I place a great deal of faith and trust.

The seeds we have collectively planted to have him come to Michigan were planted a while ago and are now blossoming.

It is a very rare opportunity to have him here. He is only doing two talks in North America in the next three years and this will be his last one.

He is my teacher and it is with great honor and respect I ask you to register for these events.

Go to www.themandalacenter.org to register for as many as you can fit into your schedule and bring a friend or two who might really benefit from the wisdom of the ages brought to our doorstep.

If you have any faith in me as your teacher or friend then follow my lead and sign up. I will be there and it will be worth your time invested.

With Deep Respect.

Brian

Finding success in our practice

Dear Friends:

The new year has come and gone and many of us are suffering from "Commitment-idis" We made some kind of New Years commitment and now suffer from not keeping it:)

The Yoga Sutra says success in our practice comes from practicing over a long period of time, using proven methods taught by a good teacher.

It doesn't say, practice once or twice, feel the effects and they will last forever.

To me success is found in the satisfaction of practicing when we really didn't feel up to it. Moderately, softly on those days and stronger on the days when we are up for it. Success is found when we respond to a situation in life differently than how we might have in the past and we found the patience or kindness we were looking for. Success comes when we realize we have enough and we are happier than we used to be.

This kind of success comes from building the mental muscle to breath when life turns sideways or throws a pothole on our road.

This muscle takes time to build and it takes time to undue, sometimes, years of habituation of negative habit patterns. No pill will make it better and no one out there has our answers. Those answers are found in the quite, in the moments of patience and kindness. We just have to have the strength to get ourselves to stay in the heat of those moments rather than numb out or run away.

My advice is to practice moderately, regularly over a period of time with a teacher who seems to live the ideals they teach. In addition, meditate, pray or contemplate daily even five minutes can produce wonderful results.

I look forward to seeing you in class soon.

In Peace

Brian

Tibetan Heart Yoga

We were honored to invite the beautiful Mira Shani (www.mirashani.com) into our studio to teach us Tibetan Heart Yoga Series 8: The Partner Series on Saturday, December 6th. Over 30 people spent their afternoon with us learning an authentic and unique style of yoga.

So, you might wonder, what exactly is Tibetan Heart Yoga? Tibetan Heart Yoga, otherwise called THY, is a unique and beautiful style of yoga founded upon using both inner and outer methods to bring about a blissful practice and a happier self. It continues from a lineage from Lord Naropa, a yogi who lived about 1100 AD. The founder and Principle Teacher of this lineage is Geshe Michael Roach, the first American Geshe.


Okay... so what are inner and outer methods? Inner methods are using our mind and thoughts to create a happier and healthier self. THY brings in a taste of philosophy and meditation to compliment pranayama (breathing) and asana (postures) which are considered the outer methods. When both methods are used together they create a very powerful practice for perfecting our yoga both on and off the mat.

There are a total of 10 distinct series of THY. Each series combines asana and philosophy to create a beautiful practice. Series 8 is the Partner Series which is designed for two people to practice together. The meditation is on opening up the boundaries of the body to see that there is no separation between yourself and your partner. In this series we have the privilege to see our partner as a divine being and offer them total happiness and enlightenment.


We offer Tibetan Heart Yoga at our studio every week on Tuesdays from 7:00-8:30pm with Brian! Come join us and see how bringing together two magical practices can holistically improve your life both on and off the mat!

Namaste,
Brian

If we have a hard time with family how do we effectively deal with them during the holidays?

I get this question asked a lot and often have to deal with it myself and I have two rules I follow.

FIrst: Remind yourself that your strongest motivation in life is to be happy and avoid pain. Remind yourself this motivation is the base motivation for nearly all of your actions...then remind yourself that the motivation of family members is exactly the same...to be happy and avoid pain.

Even when that annoying person says the thing you find horrible or acts in appropriately or seeks attention or one of a dozen other things, they are ultimately motivated by their desire to be happy. They think this action is going to get them closer to happiness.

Although it may not seem like it from your side of the table, that really is what they are doing.

The only way to deal with them is to look at them with eyes of compassion. It doesn’t mean you have to sit there and take abuse. Clearly you can and should set boundaries with people who are in appropriate or even remove yourself from harmful situations. Ultimately, if we are having a problem with someone, it’s our problem, and the best way to deal with it is through compassion.

The second point to remember is that every time we look in the mirror we see a new person. We are not fixed and unchanging. We have changed since the last time we saw family and friends and guess what, they have changed too:) Try, as hard as you can, to see them as a new person this year. Encourage yourself to not play the same tape in your mind of their past actions. Someone looks at that person and thinks they are the best person in the world, someone worthy of love. As a result, it’s not they who need to change...it’s we who need to change our perception of them.

Sometimes the greatest gift we can give is of our time and presence. When we can take time to listen and let others be heard we can often eliminate the problems having plagued us for years. Start by getting quiet before family and work events. Practice some yoga and meditation so you can lead by example and be the light for others to follow.

Many Hugs to you

Brian

(This was written November 25th, 2009)

Dear Friends:

I just returned from NYC and while there attended a class taught by Dharma Mitra.

He is a well known yoga teacher and to some a living saint.

His knowledge, breadth of wisdom and chosen lifestyle make him a true yogi and an example to emulate.

So, here's the problem...I go there, I meet this man, read about him, watch his dvd and discourse on yoga ethics and I am totally blown away. He is the real deal. So now I want to be more like him, I want what he seems to have, I want his calm presence, peace of mind, and happiness....

My mind starts racing, I need to do this and I need to get rid of that and if I could just be near the Guru, then all will be well...then the self defeating talk comes in and I realize I'm not moving to NYC and I can't sell my car and walk to work, I can't live in a smaller home etc...

The key is in the regular practice, rather than extreme or radical life shifts.

All that stuff is just my ego playing a game telling me I will never get there and looking for all the obstacles in the way. There are no obstacles. Just choices. Do I need to move to NYC to be near the Guru. NO, I can watch his DVD, listen to his talks online, visit him a few times a year to study. Do I need to throw out all my stuff...NO, I can remove the excess in my life to make things more simple. Do I need to spend all my time trying to make money for the future...NO, I need to be more balanced with my time and spend some time earning money and spend time in meditation and practicing yoga.

Most of us do not need to live in a cave, give away all our possessions, meditate five hours a day and live off the good will of others.

Most of us do have excess we need to get rid of, live more modestly and meditate and do yoga/something physical daily over a long period of time with a good teacher.

True happiness will come to us all when we convince ourselves the ego desires of life are less important and more painful in the end. Ultimate happiness comes from things other than more house, more cars, more money and stuff.

Master Shanti Deva 750 A.D. "All the pain and suffering in the world, comes from trying to make ourselves happy. All the happiness in the world, comes from trying to make other people happy."

We can only see this kind of idea, realize it's power and act upon it when we have let go of many of our attachments and spent time meditating.

One great way to do this, is practice being grateful.

Every morning when you wake up and are still in bed think of three things for which you are grateful. Over time we begin to see the abundance in our lives and we start to need less, give more away and be much more content with what we have. Sometimes we are grateful for the little things, a warm bed, clothes and a roof over our head. It's more than many others have.

Namaste'

Brian

Yoga Off the Mat

Hello Everyone :)

This is my first blog and hopefully I do not make too many Blogging blunders:)

This is also your opportunity to ask me questions about what how to handle certain situations as a yogi. What direction might yoga suggest when at a cross roads or something as simple as which yoga mat is the best.

Sometimes after a class you may have a question about what I said or how we are running Red Lotus Yoga and this is our forum to answer those questions, voice your opinion and/or have a running debate about issues, ideas and more.

I hope to this blog will truly serve us all:)

A question I often get, mostly from people who don't practice yoga is, "I'm not flexible, I can't do yoga." Implying...why bother, I'm too (fill in the blank) to do yoga.

Actually, what they are saying is, "I'm too attached to my limitations to do something about changing them."

If that's the case, then yes, yoga isn't for them because it will ask them to change, grow and possibly, just possibly get happy or free from their limitations.

The first big mistake is thinking yoga is just a physical practice....like some form of East Asian jumping jacks. It's not.

Yoga is a mind/body practice where our intention is to reach our highest goals on a spiritual level. Meaning, yoga also brings in ethics, morality, meditation, poses, breath work and much more. I can't really summarize over 4,000 years of yoga in one blog, but needless to say, it's a deep well we are dipping into.

On the physical level, yes, yoga poses and practices can make you fit, trim, flexible and strong. But the poses, just by themselves, will not make us any happier. That comes from the seeds we plant in our actions, thoughts and words. Yogic text gives us extensive suggestions on how to eat, think and act in our world. These ideas have been time tested for thousands of years and guess what....they work. If they didn't they wouldn't still be around and still be so popular.

It's OK and good to get drawn into a yoga class for purely physical reasons. However, if you have a good teacher who is also a true student of yoga, you will walk away from the practice wiser, happier and healthier.

When we go to the gym, we typically walk out an hour later just being an hour older and closer to death. At the end of a yoga practice you should walk out an hour later, wiser and closer to your highest level of being.

If someone is inflexible, most often because of lack of movement, then getting some physical in might help. A lot of times that lack of movement is caused by a lack of motivation. Something we might hear in a class, by the teacher, might help motivate us to get more flexible somewhere else in our world, off the mat.

I am simply suggesting that the yoga practice can bring insight into the rest of our lives, rather than just the hour on the mat.

Please write back and feel free to post comments, questions and more.

Namaste'
Brian