Forgiveness

When we are unable to experience the world in our own authentic way as children, conflict arises. This conflict results in a non-physical wound and becomes a part of us. A wound can become a strength or a weakness.
Developing our strengths as well as our weaknesses is part of our greater purpose. To find your wounds, look to your deepest and most persistent frustrations and ask yourself honestly what you have done with each of them. For example, does it annoy you when people are late? How do you feel and react? Does it remind of a conflict that arose during childhood? Have your frustrations become your greatest strength or your greatest weakness?
Each feeling, thought, and action holds a particular vibration. To Forgive is to let go of the past to live in the present. To begin the path of forgiveness is to raise your vibration and must start with yourself and then those who have unconsciously wounded you. Confront your past with honesty, openness and willingness to forgive, and grow from the experience.
The next step is change. If you often put off low vibrations such as hate, judgement, fear, shame, guilt and control you can change by simply switching to higher vibrations such as divine connectedness, joy, love, acceptance, truth, compassion and forgiveness. The universal law of attraction states that what goes around comes around or like attracts like. Happy Holidays and may your path be filled with love, light and lots of forgiveness!

Gratitude & Abundance Go Hand In Hand

There have been many periods in my life where the flow of gratitude feels kinked. A gentle reminder of how good it feels to be grateful along with the embarrassment of all the moments I was not usually snaps me back into place. Easy enough when life is good but it takes a lot more courage & strength to remain grateful when life gives you lemons.
I have just returned from the land of manifestation, beauty and abundance...the land of Esalen located in Big Sur, CA. There I spent 28 surrounded by jagged cliffs met by majestic redwoods on sacred Indian grounds. Esalen is the meeting point of three waters: sulfur hot springs, fresh mountain creeks and the cold Northern Pacific ocean water. Everywhere I looked, I was reminded of why it is so awesome to be alive! Being surrounded by all this beauty was the perfect foreground for cultivating an attitude of gratitude.
Upon arriving back home in Southern California, I was able to let out a delicious mmmmmmm...when driving up my street in Rancho Santa Margarita finding the purple Saddleback mountains, multi-colored maple leaves, warm but ever-so present Santa Ana winds and the flock of Canada geese talking up a storm across the street from my house. I reflected back to all those moments of beauty that I had missed and not been grateful for in the past few years. How embarrassing! I invite you to live in gratitude and enjoy the abundance all around you. Make a commitment to yourself to find the drop of nectar in each moment of your life and you will be surprised how appreciation is almost always met with abundance.

Compassion

Compassion is what makes us human and as we become more & more compassionate towards all living things and the relationship between all living things, we also become more evolved. A planet, an ecosystem, a species can become physically evolved but it would be ignorant to ignore that we don’t evolve on a spiritual & conscious level. What you do, think, feel, say and make habit holds power and a certain energy or vibration. Like a trail that get frequently used, our easiest path through life can lead towards things that serve us or that don’t. So how do you decide which way to go? You take the path of compassion in action. Practice compassion towards yourself and all life because you see God in all of life. Forgive and forget to those who show true remorse because holding your past is a heavy burden. Sympathize with the pain and suffering by doing what you can, but don’t let the burden be heavy, use it to inspire to make good on your actions and words instead of discourage you. Be a warrior for peace!

Inward Beauty

"It is simplicity born of abandonment with austerity that brings about the state of creative beauty. You can be creative only when there is abandonment-which means, really, when there is no sense of compulsion, no fear of not being, of not gaining, of not arriving. Then there is austerity, simplicity, and with it there is love. The whole of that is beauty, the state of creativeness." - J. Krishnamurti

A longing for truth

Truth is something that we all search for in one way or another. Some of us find it through religion, spirituality or experience, but all the many paths lead to one truth. The ultimate truth is our relationship in relation to God/Spirit. Kabir, a great Sufi poet, refers to God as the Guest inside you and says; “When the Guest is being searched for, it is the intensity of the longing for the Guest that does all the work.” So this longing for truth is everything we need to find it. J. Krishnamurti says; “to truly find out what is truth there must be great love and a deep awareness of man’s relationship to all things - which means that one is not concerned with one’s own progress and achievements.”
The four noble truths, the first teachings of Siddhartha Buddha, deal with suffering. The first noble truth is that suffering is part of being human and the second is that we suffer when we resist change. The third is that suffering ends when you let go of resistance and the fourth is that we can use everything we do, from the moment we are born to our last breath, as a tool to realize our oneness with all living things.
A mantra is a verse, hymn, chant or phrase that holds a special meaning and can elevate ones level of consciousness. SAT NAM (Saht - Nahm) is one of the most widely used mantras for calling upon truth and awakening the soul. As an exercise, sit in a comfortable position with your spine tall and shoulders melted down your back. Breath deeply and consciously repeating this mantra and focus on its meaning for about 10-15 minutes.

Intuitive Force

I was in a class the last night & had to write about my experience because it was very special & unique to me. It was a really great class that seemed to be focused on truth & connecting with intuition as the voice of God interpreted by you. The very last thing we did was connect our index fingers together. The right hand was facing palm out and the left palm in. We were instructed to raise the connected index fingers right in front of our third eye, close our eyes about 95% and see our fingers with our third eye. The breath was two strokes in with the mouth and two out with the nose. We did this for what seemed like 10 minutes but was more accurately 3-4 minutes. After awhile I began to feel a bit dizzy, but kept at it. I then began to feel my whole body. I am talking my whole body all at once. The instructor kept talking and I felt as if God was speaking through him, saying exactly what I needed to hear in each moment. I kept going, I then began to feel every pain but not in a bad way, in a way that made me feel more alive than ever. It was a reminder that I was human and at the same time a reminder that I was more than my body. I felt my shoulder injury, that the middle of my spine was out of alignment, that my left middle rib was suffering from this subluxation, that my right hip flexor was aching, that the front of my left hip was tight due to my sacrum being also out of alignment, I felt my knees aching & the pads of my feet get really hot. At the same time that I felt all of this I knew that I had the capacity to heal myself & I was able to call upon all of my bodily aches and pains all at once and intend healing for myself. It was like I was giving myself permission to let go of the pain and knew that it was my choice to hold on to it for whatever reason. After class I felt completely blissed out, at peace and more powerful than ever. Boy! What an amazing experience.

The Bhakti Path

There are four major types of yoga: Jnana Yoga (yoga of knowledge), Karma Yoga (yoga of action or service), Raja Yoga (yoga of meditation, which is where you will find the asana/pranayama practice) and then lastly Bhakti Yoga (yoga of love or devotion). Bhakti is not the lustful or sexual type that we think of when we think of some of the ways that Tantra Yoga has historically gone. The Bhakti path encompasses an honest introspection toward connection to universal spirit that lies within all of us. This path winds spontaneously in the direction of our karma (our easiest flow). It begins with, is propelled by and ends with love. What is love? "To love is to not ask anything in return, not even to feel that you are giving something. This is the only way to freedom" - J. Krishnamurti.”

Revolution

J. Krishnamurti - Think On These Things - “To know one’s mind is a basic purpose of education. From the moment you were born: your impressions and influences have gradually conditioned and shaped you into who you are right now in order to have you “fit in” to a societal pattern. True revolution is to break away from this pattern & to inquire outside it. Breaking through deeply embedded tradition, dogma, indoctrination and authority to shake off the conditioning that holds your mind will set you free. Free beyond what is known and documented.”

Karma

Karma is your path of least resistance, & when you can overcome it, it becomes the way to salvation or enlightenment.

Give and take

To everything in life there is a balance of opposites. Nature consistently fluctuates between form and formless, give and take and light and dark. Between these opposites there is no good or bad, they are just different forms of the same thing.
How many times have you given expecting something in return? On a deeply unconscious level, many of us give to get. Embarrassing as it may be, when we shine light on this, we can begin to change it. We create our own reality through the awakened and unawakened parts of our conscious and unconscious.
Giving to get often leads to disappointment when our expectations are not fully met. Trying to control something so unpredictable is a waste of your time and energy.
The universe/God is so much bigger and more powerful than we could ever imagine. So why project our limited viewpoints into our experience here on earth? When you drop the limitations on what you receive from the universe, you never know what you’ll get. Practice humility in your everyday life by giving with absolutely no expectations for return.
On your mat, you can practice humility for staying completely present. In your life’s journey, let go and let God. Namaste!

Freedom From the Known - J. Krishnamurti

‎"What can be described is the known, and the freedom from the known can come into being only when there is a dying every day to the known, to the hurts, the flatteries, to all the images you have made, to all your experiences-dying every day so that the brain cells themselves become fresh, young, innocent." -J. Krishnamurti, "Freedom From the Known"

Detachment

The universe conserves the laws of opposites. Our thoughts, our words our actions all contribute to this change. Positive attracts positive & negative attracts negative. The energy that you share with the universe matters. There is a flux to everything in life, so things are always naturally transitioning between one opposite to the other until that part of us arrives at an equilibrium.
Change happens within every moment & that change is not always perceived as good by us. But, all is perfect in god’s eyes and so we, even with our perceived flaws, are also perfect. Perfect meaning we are whole, meaning we are part of it, part of the universe and therefore, part of God.

abhyasa vairagyabhyam tannirodhah / tada drastu svarupe 'vastanam


“The fluctuations of the mind are restrained through practice and non-attachment... Then the seer abides in his true nature.”
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: Book 1, Sutra 12 / Book 1, Sutra 3

Daily Mantra 8/3/10

Maria's 6:15PM flow @ Pacific Ashtanga Yoga Shala

"Think positive!"

Enneagram

‎"Our personality is a stepping stone to a greater consciousness...you set the personality aside to allow the next phase of consciousness to unfold."-Enneagram, Helen Palmer.

A Compassionate & Loving Self

Hippocrates believed that nature cured disease and many of today’s modern diseases can be prevented with maintaining a healthy mind and body. Understanding this requires a different approach called “quantum healing”.
Deepak Chopra describes quantum healing as “the ability of one mode of consciousness (the mind) to spontaneously correct the mistakes of another
consciousness (the body).” From the quantum perspective, as we think and feel, we create chemical changes in the brain that set off a chain reaction of bodily responses. Both good & bad thoughts alter the field of intelligence and thus the body for better or worse.
Ayurveda is a medical perspective whereby symptoms are controlled by attention. The use of meditation and other techniques, such as primordial sound are implored to initiate healing. Meditation brings awareness of thought patterns while primordial sound uses one vibration to heal another. Usually Om, pronounced AUM, is the vibration or sound used to represent the collective vibration or sound of all living things and is a way to connect to your true undistorted self. Ayurveda differs from Western Medicine in that it believes the war (disease) begins inside the body.
Love and compassion are our highest qualities and in this state, we cannot contradict ourselves. True love and compassion for ourselves and all other beings enables us to live in accordance with nature.

Letting Go

As we move through life, we tend project our past into the present, classifying them as good or bad. In reality, there is no good or bad. They are opposites that cannot exist without each other. There is a dynamism to life: light and dark, up and down, etc., and life fluctuates between them. Our spiritual progression depends on our surrendering, not fighting against, what is. “Change is never easy, you fight to hold on, and you fight to let go.” – The Wonder Years.
Often times we hold on to past experiences we liked, wanting to repeat them, and experiences we did not like, taking them personally. We often forget letting go of the old provides an opportunity to receive the new. As Lao Tzu, the father of Taoism, says “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
Repeating a mantra or prayer while contemplating its meaning can help penetrate deep layers of consciousness. A mantra on the law of impermanence is “Everything in life changes, nothing is permanent.” Another mantra that helps us understand the bigger picture follows “Whatever happens, happens for a reason, and the Universe knows best.”
Let go of what no longer serves you and step into your fullest potential. You have nothing to lose except emotional baggage, stress and tension. Practice yoga, exercise, and meditate. Get adequate nutrition, rest, and sun. Do things you are naturally good at and enjoy. All major religions and spiritual paths teach these universal or natural laws.

Maha Mudra

Rest your body in stillness & the mind will follow...like ocean waves, our thoughts are merely fluctuations of our deeper consciousness. When we can let our minds be still, the glassy waters of our consciousness can bring us pure bliss. Maha Mudra is like a mind that clings to nothing.

Unattached Planning

Let your dreams manifest into reality & put thing into motion, but then, let go of the attachment to a particular outcome. What comes of your creation is determined by the one true, all-knowing divine spirit.

Gayatri Mantra

Gayatri Mantra:

Aum Bhoor Bhuwah Swaha, Tat Savitur Varenyam , Bhargo Devasaya Dheemahi Dhiyo Yo Naha Prachodayat

Translation:

"May all beings on earth reach enlightenment"

This mantra is known as the oldest & most powerful mantra originating from the ancient Rigvedas, which pre-date the Egyptian Pyramids by a couple of thousand years. As the mantra is chanted it purifies & sets at ease both the person chanting as well as those listening.

Unify

The word yoga is a sanskrit word meaning "to unify." Physical yoga implies the unification of movement & pose (asana), where the movement from asana to asana are linked by breathe. A good teacher will direct movement, breathe & asana so the thinking mind can turn off & connect you with your "true self." Your mat becomes a sacred space where a sacred journey takes place every time you step onto it. Your mat becomes a battleground where the false & true selves meet & where you begin to find truth. For all truth-seekers, please give me the honor of guiding you through the wonderful tranformational process of yoga check out my Yoga Co-op in San Clemente at http://www.scartsupply.com/asacredspace/schedule.html


The light in me bows to the light in you (namaste),

Serra Lynn Kelley
Yoga Instructor

Where you can find me:

A Sacred Space

Thursdays:
7:30-9AM & 6:30-8PM - Power Flow
9-10:30AM - Organic Flow

Sundays:
7:45-8:45PM - Guided Meditation

Triad Yoga & Pilates

Tuesdays:
10:30-12PM - Hatha Yoga

Thursdays:
12-1PM - Hatha Yoga

Saturdays:
9-10:15AM - Vinyasa Weekend Flow

Flow, you are the Path

A poem from the book of Kabir...

I said to the wanting creature inside me:
What is this river you want to cross?
There are no travelers on the river-road, & no road.
Do you see anyone moving about on that bank, or resting?
There is no river at all, and no boat, and no boatmaun.
There is no towrope either & no one to pull it.
There is no ground, no sky, no time, no bank, no ford!

And there is no body, and no mind!
Do you believe there is some place that will make the soul less thirsty?
In that great absence you will find nothing.

Be string then, and enter into your own body;
There you have a solid place for your feet.
Think about it carefully!
Don't go off somewhere else!

Quote from Jesus:

"I am the way, the truth & the light."
John 8:12

दिविने फ्लो

Live spontaneously in the flow of life, & yet, guided by, connected to & filled completely with divine spirit.

बे ओने थिंग

We are all connected by energy, by spirit, by true self, our essence, or GOD...what is your greatest desire?....to know God/Self?...self-discipline is mechanical & from the past...stand on the shoulders of the past & look beyond & jump from experience...just be one thing all the time, on all levels & at the same time...ask yourself always, am i doing what fulfills my greatest desire?