Sunset over Santa Monica Photo by Jeff Skeirik/Rawtographer The word ocean is so beautiful that it is a mantra all by itself. Listen to the sound of it––Ooooohhhhh turning into shhhhnnnnn. It has a susurration* that lends itself to meditation, a variation on OM. The physical reality of the ocean is a great [...]
How the air we breathe can teach us about our environment During a workshop, I heard a woman say, “Breath is exciting.” She spoke with the delight a person would reserve for talking about a delicious and slightly dangerous love affair. Victoria (not her real name) continued, “Ever since I was a little girl, I [...]
Life is Full of Surprises Unless you live in a cave, life is full of surprises. Even meditation is full of surprises. In the relaxation of meditation, we are often presented with mini-movies of whatever we are stressed about, including traumatic events from the past and whatever we are gearing up to deal with in [...]
Placing your mat in class, the teacher gives you a spiteful look. You don’t know it, but her ex-husband, to whom she is paying alimony, was walking out the door as you walked in, and she saw you smile at him. Driving to work, you slow down and give lots of space to a woman [...]
Just for a moment, let’s breathe in awe and delight with Shakti, for She is power and always awesome. In English, we might refer to her as “Mother Nature.” We are all powered by Shakti, and when we practice Yoga, we are invited to notice that every thought we think is a sparkle of Shakti [...]
A meditation on lust, anger, bewilderment, and intoxication From The Radiance Sutras, a new version of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra By Dr. Lorin Roche She drives you wild, out of your mind. You are crazy over him. She cast her spell over you. You’re thinking with the brain in your pants, not the one in [...]
Sutra 16, Verse 39 From the Radiance Sutras, A New Translation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra The universe is an expanding shout of joy. A jam session is vibrating throughout creation – tune in. Feel it humming in your body. Hear it in the sounds of nature all around you. Listen to the deep, blissful [...]
Think you know what “yoga” means? Here is the full definition of the word, Yoga, as set forth in the Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, page 856: the act of yoking, joining, attaching harnessing, putting to (of horses) a yoke, team, vehicle, conveyance employment, use, application, performance equipping or arraying (of an army) fixing (of an arrow [...]
Sutra 18 From The Commentary On The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra IN A SONG, IN THE SPACE of a few minutes, we can let go, lose ourselves and then return, refreshed, with a deeper sense of self. In music, we ride our passions into the vibrating core of energy from which they arise. On the [...]