These days when I'm walking or driving and noticing the deciduous trees, I am struck by how they are really in their fullness right now.  They are full and green. This is their big "ta-da!," before they reach the fall equinox, signaling time to release and rest. 

I can't help but wonder: Are they scared? Do they cling to their leaves, worried they won't have enough to make it through the winter?

Maybe.  But probably not.

If they do, I would be inclined to say to them, "Don't worry. I've seen you do this many times before. You must let go in order to grow. You must release your leaves--you will get new ones, more of them than now, when Spring returns." 

As humans, myself included, we often have a harder time with this.  We can slip into a scarcity mentality that says, "I don't have enough, there isn't enough, and I better hold on to what I have.  Better yet, I need to go get some more."

But this is not what the Sutras teach us.  

Aparigraha reminds us of the ABUNDANCE of life. 

It is the clinging that shows we forgot. 

As Nischala Joy Devi puts it in The Secret Power of Yoga, "Life's ebb and flow brings things into our life and then out again.  Even the slightest hesitation of holding impedes the flow...If you believe that material and spiritual blessings are infinite, a cornucopia awaits you." 

In this week's podcast, I talk more about Aparigraha, and we practice breathing into a sense that there is enough.  We couple this with gratitude, which is the antidote to scarcity. 

Sunday, September 8, is a wonderful opportunity to bring a fresh practice of Aparigraha to your body/mind, releasing tension, toxicity, and thought patterns that no longer serve you.  You will learn about the amazing KonMari Method™ of de-cluttering your home in a way that is lasting and sparks joy at the  Making S P A C E workshop!

If you have a scarcity mindset around time, I encourage you to push back against it.  Give yourself the gift of TIME outside regular life, outside of routine.  The trees lose their leaves and know it's time to rest.  I plan to lose myself in the restful, slow pace of beach life in Aruba, and I want you to join me on my 2020 retreat with Laura F.  Those who register before October 1 save $150! (Talk about abundance!)
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May you open your palms to release your grip, allowing life's abundance to flow through your life with steadiness and ease.​

I'm here to tell you:

You CAN handle the truth!

In fact, not only can you handle it, you ARE it. 

But sometimes we can't see it.  We do not see by the Light of Truth within, so we can't see the Light of Truth around us.  Things like inner conflict, lack of sleep, poor diet, increased stress, and lack of movement cloud our perception.  We start to see the world as ugly, lacking, and dark.  We are more easily fooled by the illusion of separateness and scarcity.  Attachments and aversions creep in and create suffering. 

We get a lot of dross covering up our golden joy.

In this week's podcast episode, I discuss the second YAMA of SATYA, or Truth.  In its most basic form, SATYA takes the form of controlling speech so as not to lie.  But beyond that, when you establish your life in Truth, it "burns away the dross"(B.K.S Iyengar, Light on Yoga) and reveals a life of abundance.

Or, as Nischala Joy Devi puts it in The Secret Power of Yoga,

"The power (shakti) of truth is created through the alchemy of personal integrity, knowledge and humility"    

Now, as Sanskrit might have it, there is a word for the "dross" that covers our joy: MALA.  

MALA means "dirt." This "dirt" is the toxins we carry around in our body and mind.  It covers up True perception. 

Any of those thought patterns you have that came not from Truth but from parental/societal/cultural programming can act like dirt on your window to Truth.  

Here's a great practice to reduce this MALA within you and get closer and closer to Truth:

1. Shake it up! Dance, jog, jiggle, twist, do jumping jacks or have a tantrum.  This breaks up the dirt so it's ready to go.
2. Stop, breathe, FEEL your energy moving within you.
3. Do an asana practice with chair pose, twists, and forward folds.  
4. Fill with PRANA--vibrant life force--through pranayama. (Do the one from your Yoga Therapy Practice, or add a suspension after deep inhalation.)
5. Connect to Light through meditation:
   1. inhale--draw Divine light into your heart center
   2. exhale--imagine the light permeating your body and removing all clouding to perception.

Remember, this dross has taken time to build up. It will take time to break it down. There are no short cuts in yoga. But if you practice regularly and consistently,  you can accumulate it's benefits and gain a life of clarity. 
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May the world you see around you reflect the beauty of the truth and abundance within you.

P.S.  I want to give a personal shout out to long-time student, Julie M. She is my very first podcast supporter!  Her monthly financial commitment encourages me to keep putting this written and audio material out there.  It shows me that she feels the podcast adds value to her life. I am truly humbled.  Thank you Julie! 
If you would like to follow in Julie's footsteps, click the "Support this Podcast" button on my Anchor Podcast page. And THANK YOU!

Here we go! It's YAMA time! 

These are the first five ethical disciplines of your yoga practice. Fun word, bummer topic ;)

Actually, I really enjoy studying these teachings and thinking about them as I engage in society.  

The first Yama is Ahimsa, or non-violence.  Upon first glance, one might say, "Yep! Got it! Don't be violent. I shall not kill. Check!" But you know it's more than that, right?

In this week's podcast episode, we are informed by BKS Iyengar's Light on Yoga to help us wrap our heads around going beyond non-violence and into love of all.  We are encouraged to EXPERIENCE what we believe, not just think about it.   

Start by experiencing it in your own body--pain can be thought of as the body's signal that there is some violence going on.  Stop, back off, breathe, and re-enter what you are doing with more attention, ease, and self-compassion.  Or perhaps change your activity entirely.  Sometimes it's helpful to treat your body the way you want your best friend or partner to treat their's. 

Then take the practice to the world. 

We're all complaining that the country is divided, right?
Do your part to practice love of ALL. 

Besides, how do you feel in your own mind, body, and spirit when you are thinking or speaking of someone in a violent or negative way? It blocks your joy! It makes you no better! There's no shame to it--this happens! The key is NOTICE it, and apply the opposite.

Try this the next time you catch yourself thinking negatively of someone or a group of people: 

1. Notice the negative/violent/hurtful thought or emotion that arises.
2. Pause, breathe deeply.
3. Look for yourself in that person.  Find a common link.
4. Close your eyes, and search for that person within YOU.
5. With a soft gaze, hold your attention on the space between you and that person, breathe deeply, and think, "compassion."
6. Feel how your body and mind react to this practice. 
7. Take appropriate action or make a thoughtful response.

Let me know how it goes! I love to have stories to draw from for my teaching. Your experience could help someone else, so don't be shy!

May the world you create within and around you be one of love, compassion, and non-violence.

NEWSLETTER 4/2/19         

Hello friends!

I am writing to you from Austin, Texas, where we are in a winter cold snap.  I don't ever remember bundling up on the first of April!  But this seasonal change makes me want to remind you to tend to your digestive fire.  When the outdoor weather changes rapidly, or just into the next season, our AGNI, or digestive fire, wanes. It's like the flame within you that transforms your food to energy diminishes.  This means it's best to eat easily digestible foods, or do a seasonal cleanse.  When I search for recipes to help my fire, I turn to Eat-Taste- Heal, An Ayurvedic Cookbook for Modern Living. Kitcharie is regarded as the best meal during these seasonal transitions.  (Weekly subscribers receive a FREE downloadable PDF of my favorite kitcharie recipe from Eat-Taste-Heal.  Opt-in to my newsletter, and never miss a free give-away!)

As we cleanse our bodies from the inside, we also continued last week on cleansing the veils of perception (kleshas) that cause us suffering. We explored our aversions, or DVESHA, and had a BLAST doing all the poses we think we hate! I learned that more information about the poses, i.e. alignment, intention, etc., transformed the experience from dread to enjoyment.  Well of course! It's removing ignorance!  (Need to catch up or refresh your memory on the kleshas we've covered? No problem! Just listen to my podcast!)

This week will certainly be challenging, as we explore the klesha of ABHINIVEŚAH: attachment to life.  This might give our practice of Savasana (corpse pose) a whole new meaning! 

Speaking of corpse pose, in Calm Your Nerves, Lift Your Spirits class Monday, we spent a good amount of time doing a body scan in supported downward facing savasana (see image below).  Resting with your head and shoulders supported, belly on the earth, is a very grounding and nervous system pacifying experience.  We worked with the theme of embodiment, and left feeling very grounded and refreshed. 
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Here's something fun: I'd like to invite you to come be in the audience for a panel I'm sitting on tonight!  Abi Robins of Conscious Enneagram has asked me to join her panel of other Enneagram 3's for a fun and lively conversation about what it means to be a 3 (The Achiever) and how the Enneagram has informed our lives.  You can get tickets and read more about Abi and her amazing work, Conscious Enneagram on her website.  Her podcast is a must-hear! 

​Wherever I see you, and wherever this week takes you, I hope you are happy, healthy, and grateful for your life.
Much love,
Jess

NEWSLETTER 3/26/19

Hello friends!
I hope this Tuesday morning finds you well :)  I just finished a great spring break with my kids, which included a fun weekend in Houston, lots of time with friends, Barton Springs, and my first attempt at Frisbee Golf! That's gonna need a little work...

Hello friends!
I hope this Tuesday morning finds you well :)  I just finished a great spring break with my kids, which included a fun weekend in Houston, lots of time with friends, Barton Springs, and my first attempt at Frisbee Golf! That's gonna need a little work...

The whole week ended in a deep house cleaning and getting out those Easter decorations: bunnies: check! eggs: check! Last week I sent out a PDF for you with some yoga spring cleaning tips.  (There might have been a technical glitch last week that I HOPE I fixed. PLEASE let me know if you can't access it!) 

My therapeutic series Calm Your Nerves, Lift Your Spirits started yesterday.  There were about seven of us (so there's room for you to join us!) who learned about LINKING. Linking is where you are placing your attention.  I asked the questions: what are you paying attention to the most?  What is occupying your attention throughout your day? Are you aware of the effects of what comes in through your senses? How about that 24 hour news cycle? Are you linking to beauty and nature? 

Actively linking to peaceful images and natural scenery calms the nervous system.  Any opportunity you take to deposit time in the peaceful bank helps you accumulate healthy stress response and positive vibes around your life. You can learn more by listening to my podcast Episode 35, here.

Last week in my public classes we focused on the obstacle of ATTACHMENT, or Rāga.  This week is the other side of the coin: AVERSION, or Dveshah. We'll explore how those things that you avoid, detest, or downright hate, could actually cause you less suffering than the thinking you do around them.  For me, one example is the icky feeling of mud between my toes if I'm stepping into a pond or lake.  On one particular occasion, it kept me from enjoying the water with others on a yoga retreat.  Well, my teacher MADE me step in until I stopped caring and could enjoy the water. Aversion destroyed; enjoyment commenced! (One-to-one yoga therapy sessions are the perfect opportunity to explore your attachments and aversions,  and get you started on a practice toward greater life harmony!) 

​Wherever you are, I hope you enjoy life this week by linking to nature, releasing harmful attachments, and ignoring those pesky aversions.


Much love,
Jess

​I’ve never considered myself an activist. My yoga practice has always been a source of calm and peace, helping me navigate the world with compassion and understanding of our humanity. Not really an agent of big change or sweeping reform. Plus, the vision I had of an activist was someone angry with their face set in a frown, a furrowed brow, and fists in the air demanding someone listen to them! Not really my style.  Although I applaud them and am glad there are those of us on the planet with this dharma, I didn’t see myself among them. I also felt helpless. It seems there is SO MUCH WRONG in the world, where would little ‘ol me start, and what could I really do?

Then Sera Bonds of Circle of Health International (COHI) told me I was an activist. What? I don’t think so. Lemme think about that...

​In yoga practice and meditation, we often draw ourselves into our heart, our inner sanctum. Those of you who have practiced this for a while might agree that it’s lovely in there. It’s an escape. It can be a peaceful sanctuary in a tough and busy world. Also, as humans, most of us are seeking happiness. As Swami Muktananda puts it, “happiness lies within.” If we can leave our attachments in the outer world and go inside, true and lasting happiness can be found.

Then on February 14, 2018, there was the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

Seeking happiness started to feel trite. The inner sanctum as a retreat did not feel right.
I began to realize that if we draw ourselves to our heart, it’s not to go to the inner sanctum and stick our head in the sand and say, “ah, it’s cool in here.” It’s that we go to the inner sanctum where things aren’t so messy, so that we can respond with clarity.  We can respond to the world through love, not hatred. From there, the uprising that comes is not, “I’m going to change this and use my fists and fight against it.” It’s, “I’m going to help change this because I love people so deeply.”
We go into the heart not just to be happy, but so that we can respond to the world through wisdom and love and STILL be an agent of change.  Rather than go in and get complacent, we go in and find deep abiding joy and love, as well as clarity on right action. We go to the inner sanctum not to get stuck, but to go in there and realize, “Oh, ok.  I know what to do. I know how to love so hard that it will change things.”

That will look different for each of us.  Some of us are called to global activism, some of us take small actions that have a ripple effect.  We are anywhere along that spectrum. And we are ALL activists. As Sera puts it,

“We do it through choices we make: where to shop, what to drive, how to vote, where to pray, who to marry, what to eat. Some of us also do this work through organized social and political actions, some of us want to do this but don't know where to start.”

On April 29th, you have an opportunity to ask your deepest, wisest Self, “What can I do?  What am I passionate about? What can I offer the world? Where do I start?” Join us for an Activism: On and Off Your Mat Retreat at Yoga Yoga Westlake. Sera and I aim to help you on this journey.  I will guide yoga and meditation towards the stillness of the heart, and Sera will help us all create our own mission statement for the change we want to be in the world. And there’s a freebie!  COHI is providing one free activism kit for each participant in the day-long retreat, a $25 value!
Hopefully you will finish the day feeling clear, loving, passionate, and empowered. I look forward to walking the path of yoga and activism with you!
REGISTER

In my fall semester at UT, I first learned about the "ghost light" in a theater.  I remember stepping from backstage into what I thought would be a dark empty stage, but there was a single bulb on a stand, lit up. There was nothing around it but a dark theater.  Yet this small bulb shed light on the house, very faintly, but enough to see the first level of seats. It stood alone, keeping the ghosts appeased and the perimeters visible.

If this lone bulb had been lit in that same place during the activity of the performance, we would not see it. It would be insignificant.   The stage lights would overwhelm it. It was only when surrounded by darkness that its light proves illuminating.

So often I come to my practice, or my life, with an intention-- a reason for showing up.  There is something I'm directing my energy towards.  There is a show I want to produce.  There are fruits that I desire. Today I practice without intention, without a script, a ticket sold, or a single designed set.  My practice, my prayer, is simply a single bulb shining in a dark theater.  

Inner room, darkened theater, inner sanctuary--a place within that is vast, lit simply by the single light of the Soul.  We see the light because there is no performance, there is no distraction.  It is simple, pure, illuminative, quiet, and deeply personal.  

The dark of the theater is not frightening.   It is necessary.  In our dualistic world, we tend to categorize things as good or bad, black or white, yes or no.  But we need the dark to see the light.  Our challenge is to see them both, hold them loosely, and let them be what they are in our lives.  They are the performance space and the performer.  The audience is the Divine.