LOVE IS YOGIC: GUEST BLOGGER FROM ELEPHANT JOURNAL
Love Is Yogic
By Dylan Barmmer on May 7, 2010
I have always been deeply and madly in love with Love.
I was named after a romantic poet. I was raised by a would-be Priest and heart-on-his-hairy-sleeve hero of a father. I started falling in love with girls when most boys were pulling their pigtails and screaming about “Cooties”. I listened and felt and sometimes cried to The Cure, The Smiths, REM and U2. I thought John Lennon was the baddest rebel lover ever – even if my Catholic Programming suggested I should condemn him for “imagining there’s no Heaven.”
An ex-girlfriend of nearly four years even told me I was too in love with Love – after insisting to her other lover and I that we had never made love. But that’s Another Story for Another Day (!).
I’m listening to Enigma while writing this. And chatting with a friend about the beauty of Unconditional Love. And hoping and dreaming I catch a good case of The Cooties soon.
What can I say? I’m a Hopeful Romantic. I’m a Leo. I’m a poet.
I guess it’s like Osho says so beautifully in “Emotional Wellness”:
“If you are rational, really rational, you will become a scientist. If you are really emotional, you will become a poet.”
But I wasn’t always so good at loving myself. In fact, sometimes I was downright terrible at it.
Yoga changed all that. And continues to do so.
I’ve tried a lot of different things to patch that hole in my Old Soul through close to 36 years of living this life on this beautiful earth, and I can’t say I’ve ever found anything that makes me as happy or alive or truly in love – not just with the idea or feeling of love, but with life and truth and beauty and others – as my yoga practice.
But most importantly, yoga has taught me to love myself. Unconditionally. Without judgment. Without fear. Without reason. Without boundaries or borders or limitations. All ways.
Always.
And it’s not just because it’s honed and toned and sculpted my 30-something body into the best it’s ever looked (though that doesn’t hurt). No, it’s way beyond that. It’s more about how I feel inside. How present I am. How aware. How passionate. How compassionate.
I’ve always been highly passionate, tactile, affectionate and sexual (I am a Leo Man, after all). And I’ve always been fascinated with living and loving at the intersection of The Sacred and The Profane. The link between The Divine and sexual passion has also always fascinated me (consider the use of bedroom talk like “Oh God that feels good!” or “Jesus, that’s it right there!”). The one Truly Tantric sexual experience I’ve had (thus far) literally rocked my world, and opened me up to a whole new dimension of Love and Freedom and Expression.
Anyway, my mom might be reading this (if so, Happy Mother’s Day. I love you!). So I’ll stop there. The point of all this is that yoga, at its very core and elemental essence, is really all about Love. Love of The Divine. Love of all other beings. Love of life. Love of service. And, most of all, love of self. Because it all starts from within – and radiates outward. You know, kind of like the sun.
So I wrote this poem – after a yoga + poetry class I had the honor to help create and facilitate with my amazing friend Cindy Sitara Lee at my beloved Yoga Swami – called “Love Is Yogic.” And I’ve been performing it more and more lately.
You might even say I’ve fallen in love with it.
Following are both the written form of the poem, as well as a link to a videotaped performance prior to a class in the Yoga Swami yurt (home to a true Abundance of Love). Enjoy. And tell your mother you love her on Sunday – and beyond!
Love Is Yogic
Love is an asana
it comes and goes, ebbs and flows
how long can you hold it?Love is a sutra
it binds and holds, folds and unfolds
connecting at The SourceLove is a mantra
it is O! O! Ommmmmmmmm…
waves of bliss, an endless kissLove is a journey
it starts within and where it ends
is entirely up to you
TO DO LIST REPLACES TO BE LIST
What we can control is showing up to our lives. The outcome however is still beyond our jurisdiction. So let’s focus on what we can control and that is HOW WE ARE BEING. How we are being is the only that we can do something about.
So today I invite you to create a TO BE list.
Say to yourself “how am I going TO BE no matter what gets done, or the outcome of this situation.”
When we focus on a TO BE List it is giving ourselves permission to do the hardest pose of all which is TO BE YOURSELF. And I can promise you that being yourself is the coolest decision anyone can make. However if you’ve been used to trying to be who everyone else wants you to be there is a paradigm shift there and sometimes being ourselves means we will temporarily disappoint those people. Especially if they are used to us focusing all our time and energy on To Be Lists as a way to prove our self-worth.
You are wonderful the way you are. And when in a state of being present, where we are being ourselves we slow down and get quiet enough To Be more human. This place of quiet helps us be with the opportunities and love surrounding us or as the poet writes, “When a great moment knocks on the door of your life, its sound is often no louder than the beating of your heart and it is very easy to miss it.”
So today practice making a To Be List. And don’t forget on it to include a moment of gratitude for Mother Earth herself, who always serves as our best example of being still and present. Love yourself, love your day! Silvia
“Let us bless the imagination of the Earth. That knew early the patience to harness the mind of time, waited for the seas to warm, ready to welcome the emergence of things dreaming of voyaging among the stillness of land. And how light knew to nurse the growth until the face of the earth brightened beneath a vision of color. Let us thank the earth that offers ground for home and holds our feet firm to walk in space open to infinite galaxies. Let us salute the silence and certainty of mountains their sublime stillness their dream-filled hearts. The humility of earth that transfigures all that has fallen of outlived growth. The kindness of earth, opening to receive our forms into the final stillness.”
GRATITUDE
FEBRUARY 13, 2009: It is really impactful to think that we have been chosen to breath today on purpose. That not everyone got picked to breath and so in a sense we won! the lotto of all lotteries. The most fundamental cause for gratitude is life itself! I start every morning with a gratitude meditation that is pretty sijmple: you say to yourself "I am grateful for...." then fill in the blanks for a few minutes or however long you comfortably can. Two of my favorite inspirations about gratitude are below for you to enjoy! Peace out, Silvia
Gratitude gladdens the heart.
As gratitude grows it gives rise to joy.
Like gratitude joy gladdens the heart.
We can be joyful for people we love,
for moments of goodness, for sunlight and trees,
and for the breath within us.
And as our joy grows
we finally discover a happiness without cause.
We can rejoice in life itself, in simply being alive!”
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ Melody Beattie ~
YOGA REVEALS OUR HABITS
FEBRUARY 9, 2009: Today is the full moon. The moon reflects the sun. As BKS Iyengar says in Light on Life, “The meaning of Hatha Yoga is Sun (Ha) and Moon (tha), Yoga is which Sun is the Soul and Moon is Consciousness. Consciousness can be compared to a lens. Its inner surface faces the soul itself, and its outer surface comes into contact with the world. Inevitably a degree of grime attaches itself to that outer surface and obscures our vision. In fact prevents us from seeing clearly what is outside, and it equally prevents the light of our soul from shining out. If our house is gloomy because the windows are dirty, we don’t say there is a problem with the sun; we clean the windows. Therefore yoga cleans the lens of consciousness in order to admin the sun (soul).”
We all form habits as we go through life. Yoga teaches us that even our good habits keep us from growing spiritually. This is because habits are by definition an attachment to a pattern of behavior, or a form of dependence. So a key principle of yoga is to break our attachments. This includes not just our attachments to material objects (like needing a hamburger and fries to be happy), but also attachments to only seeing things our way rather than being open and accepting of other’s opinions.
Our time on the mat is important because it gives us a chance to examine our behavioral patterns or habits. When we realize that we are creatures of habit and that those very habits, even the good ones, keep us stuck in patterns and we begin to break those habits and to try different things, then true spiritual growth begins. Alex Levin puts it like this, “habits allow us to not think about what we’re doing . . . giving us the illusion of ease.” When we are under the illusion of ease, not thinking about what we’re doing. Breathing the same old way, moving the same old way, thinking the same old way we check out of the present, out of happiness itself.
I invite myself all the time to step (think) outside the box. For example: I emptied my bedroom of furniture and rearranged everything. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Friday for the first time in years, I am going to a movie tonight at 9:30pm instead of during the day. Even my trip to
Chapter One
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost .... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
Chapter Two
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend that I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in this same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
Chapter Three
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit ... but, my eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.
Chapter Four
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
Chapter Five
I walk down another street.
DETERMINED TO TRUST MORE
OCTOBER 9TH, 2008: William Shakespeare wrote: “Learning to trust ourselves is a worthy practice, the practice of authenticity. This is the work of aligning the standards we have for ourselves with our deepest passions and dreams. It’s the work of making promises to ourselves and keeping them. It’s the work of knowing who we are without judgment.”
TRUST MEANS I HAVE FAITH IN MY ABILITY TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE
I get it you guys we want to trust others but we are afraid they will let us down. Today instead of focusing on trusting others remember that there is something bigger; trust YOURSELF. Trust in your ability to be okay even if things are not okay.
REVERSE LIVING
OCTOBER 7TH, 2008: So I have been meditating on this poem. I hope you enjoy!
Reverse Living by Jack Kornfield
Life is tough.
It takes a lot of your time,
all your weekends,
and what do you get at the end of it?
Death, a great reward.
I think that the life cycle is all backwards.
You should die first, get it out of the way.
Then you live twenty years in an old age home.
You are kicked out when you are too young.
You get a gold watch, you go to work.
You work forty years until you're
young enough to enjoy your retirement.
You go to college,
you party until you're ready for high school.
You become a little kid, you play,
you have no responsibilities,
you become a little boy or girl,
you go back into the womb,
you spend your last nine months floating.
And you finish off as a gleam in someone's eye
WELCOME NEW TBY TEACHER TRAINEES!
OCTOBER 3RD, 2008: I am deeply touched by the amazing welcome of our TBY teachers to our newest teacher trainees. I want to share with you a welcome letter from one of our senior staff members, Mary Scudella:
Namaste Teachers,
I’m very excited that you all have found the path of enriching your experience of yoga through the TBY teacher training. I know you will all learn so much about yoga practice, life, and yourselves over the next several months. Please know that you are traveling a path that is beautiful and right. Wherever this path leads you, enjoy the journey, the moments, and the light within.
During my teacher training, I attended a workshop led by Todd Norian in
Together
We call down grace,
and gaze without wavering
into the fires of creation.
We find the place where
love embraces fear, and
tears taste like faith.
We let our radiance
be revealed in laughter
and in longing.
We hold the whole of life,
sweet grapes and bitter,
healing herbs –
We hold until we overflow
and offer back the gifts
that we’ve received.
The vessel never empties.
The glowing love between
us keeps it filled.
~Danna Faulds
Mary