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listening and answering

12/28/2014

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There is a very cool thing in my life......my best friend from high school lives 10 minutes from me.  The not so cool thing about me is that I never see her.....  We graduated from high school 30 years ago and except for a few years in there, we have lived very near each other.  Sure, we have our own lives, husbands, children, work, etc...  Over the years there have been a handful of playdates; a handful of walks; a handful of parties (holiday or tupperware....) but overall I have not taken care of this friendship.


I have carefully ignored this fact for many years and had plenty of justifications whenever awareness of my responsibility would arise.  In earlier posts I have confessed that while I have been able to see my responsibility in my life I was very good a finding others more responsible.


Yesterday I happened to have a hair appointment with a new hairdresser and who do you think was just leaving as I was arriving?  Yep...her.


As I have shared, I've been on this journey of expansion and connection.  As soon as I saw her my heart began to ache.  There she was; the most important person in my life from the time I was 13 until about 19 when we began to drift apart.  My aching heart felt the responsibility I had in being connected to her ...in a flash I went through all the possible justifications in my mind.  They didn't work because now I know what they are... and I can no longer believe them.


I have learned that as a human being I am equipped with a sense of what I should do regarding other human beings.  I've discovered that we are all connected with a universal, unspoken language or signal.  We can see it in the eyes of one another we can sense it with our hearts..... we just know. We are all naturally sending and receiving this humanity call.


I know I am ignoring that call of humanity when I find myself running through a list of justifications in order not to answer or in order for there to be someone else more responsible here.....


With so many of us running around in our various situations, the call of humanity is constant....


This constant call of humanity is so easy when I'm in my role as "mom".  I easily hear and want to respond with care and nurture.  They need me and don't reject my efforts.....  It becomes a bit harder toward my husband because his habits and needs aren't as cute.  Even more difficult is the call of humanity from my parents .....for common reasons, I'm sure.  


My sense is that I should reach out to my friend and find a way to be true to the relationship we had and how much she meant to me.  Honestly, part of me is afraid.... I'm not sure of what....  But if all I have on my mind today is the empty list of justifications then I have to take the risk...If I am to expand and connect I have to answer the call I felt and trust the process of expanding into the world of possibility.


So far, my experience of listening and answering the constant call of humanity has been a positive one.....


I'll keep you posted.....









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Yoga is a Team Sport

12/15/2014

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The word yoga means “to yoke”.  The practice of yoga is the practice of binding or yoking together the body ( the heart and mind) and the breath (prana).  As we roll out our mats, wherever we are, and with whatever types of poses we choose, we begin the process of joining our life force with our life form.  We practice this union within our individual bodies and begin to comprehend, little by little the connection of breath and movement; of effort and ease; of within and without.  And as we practice this connecting we soon learn that all the separations we see and feel have been of our own making.  


We invented the separateness of these people and those people, of heart and mind; of breath and movement; of within and without.  

With practice on the mat we learn that we must integrate if we are going to stand on our hands.  We feel the power of our physical body when all parts are performing their function in their respective places.  We feel the power of our prana when channels are opened through the practice of poses........ we learn that we can let go of separateness within ourselves and it naturally occurs to us that we can let go of the separateness everywhere...



…. out there......

When the separations within our yogi bodies release into wholeness, and the “yoke” becomes our natural state of being, we are free to connect and be yoked with the whole human race….indeed, the whole universe. The process of coming together from within creates a fiery drive to be connected  outward because there no longer is a difference between within and without.  

At some point, sooner or later, every practicing yogi must connect outward....into the whole of humanity, in order to continue the practice.  



We find that we cannot remain isolated, solely in an individual quest and still transform........

Yoga, by design or by default, is a team sport.


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    Lucy Facer Bernstein

    I am a committed yogi and community member. I believe in the goodness of humankind and that as we discover our ultimate connectedness we can all find peace....within and without.  

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