Embracing the new year + a new age: some tips to live your fullest in 2012, Part 2
By Insiya
Here’s a continued discussion of strategies to live our fullest and most conscious lives in 2012
By, Insiya Rasiwala-Finn
(originally published in Asia Spa, Jan 2012)
How can we prepare ourselves for this New Age? Here are some strategies to help you create your own personal transformation as we step not only into a new year, but a New Age.
2. Have a practice:
Bali based Kundalini yoga teacher Daphna Dor is enthusiastic about the Age of Aquarius. Infact, she led a special meditation on 11/11/2011 at 11:11 a.m.; one of a chain of meditations occuring across the globe to promote world peace.
“I believe that this is a coming of age for humanity,” she said. “We have to take responsibility for our actions, we have to share our responsibility. We can add to raising the frequency of unity and oneness but only if we let go of the “me me me” as it doesn’t sustain us anymore, before we crash as a species on our planet. You cannot hide behind the consequences of the way we have been living. It’s almost like things had to come to a contraction in order for us to take a leap forward.”
“The most responsible way we can do this,” she continued, “is to have a practice. Be it yoga, medtitation, whatever calls to you. Having a practice will allow you to cushion yourself to shift and prepare for a new way of thinking and being. “
Dor believes that practices such as Kundalini Yoga will gain in popularity in the new age, particularly because of their emphasis on the spiritual nature of Yoga and devotional or Bhakti Yoga. Anusara Yoga and other practices that combine physical yoga with heart based connection will also continue to spread, as they offer more than simply an asana practice.
Committ to creating a practice for yourself this year. Set aside as little as ten minutes a day to meditate, do yoga, tai chi, whatever it is that allows your mind and body to feel connected, fluid and strong. Just as a mother needs to be strong to birth a baby, we need to be strong in mind and body to face the turmoil and chaos as we move from old ways of thinking into new. As the late Ashtanga Yoga guru Shri. Pattabhis Jois famously remarked, “Practice and all is coming.”
3. Sustain your energy reserves:
Dr. of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda teacher and author of a new book, Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life; Dr. Claudia Welch cautions our tendency to “do too much while not getting enough physical or emotional nourishment.” Between holding down a job, maintaining relationships, caring for our families, we simply blow through the energy we earn each night from sleep, good food and good company. If this happens for too long, we dip into our reserves, which depletes our core nourishment.
“This is no more sustainable,” says Dr. Welch “than spending money we don’t have.”
Ironic isn’t it? Just as we are realizing (around the globe) that we can no longer ignore financial debt, we need to view our energy deficit with the same urgency.
Dr. Welch’s advice: to evaluate “the choices about what we deem essential or desirable in our lives, and the efforts we make to achieve those things.”
See if you can hold yourself to this in 2012. Slow down, pay attention to your body. If you are doing too much, your body is probably sending you signals. IBS and anxiety disorders are commonplace today and a direct consequence of stress say many holistic and conventional doctors. This year, make it your goal to decide what is worth maintaining in your life, what contributes to your well-being and that of those you are in intimate relationship with. Stop trying to hold onto an archetype. You do not have to be a super mom, super dad, super careerist, super spouse. Just be yourself. Your body and mind will thank you in the short and long term. Plus you will be able to truly engage yourself for both the challenges and changes that are coming our way.
Posted On: January 22, 2012 | No Comments »
Embracing the new year + a new age: some tips to live your fullest in 2012
By Insiya
Welcome to 2012, a time of transformation, change and new consciousness. You roll your eyes as you read this. Welcome to another new year, you think. This is the year when everything is going to be perfect, your new years’ resolutions are going to stick and the next 365 days are going to be better, more creative, more satisfying for you, your family and everyone you love and care about, way more than the previous year, and yes, we’re going to achieve world peace as well.
Before you unleash your inner cynic, hang in there for a moment and breathe.
What if you discovered that this year, 2012 is different? That we are actually, truly entering a New Age, an exciting and enriching time where old ideas will be cast aside on a global scale? Where humanity will prosper and we will trade guns for love and oil for sunshine.
It is happening, isn’t it? The vast democratization movements that are spreading like fire across the middle east, the growing use and demand for renewable energy, a rising consciousness about sustainability and living in a way that is more connected to our planet, the Occupy “every city” movements. Aren’t these events signs that we are finally moving into a new age?
Are we moving into a new sphere of human evolution?
Many astrologers and followers of the Mayan calendar believe we are. In fact to them 2012 is the make or break year. The Mayans, who were an advanced and highly literate Mexican people skilled in astronomy and math, had a 26,000 year-old calendar which officially ends on December 21, 2012. Kabbalists, the Hopi indians as well as various other ancient peoples also hold the year 2012 to signify a change. The big question in astrological circles is what exactly did the Mayans envision? Would 2012 be the end of all time, or would it be the dawning of a new era?
While apocalyptic theories abound (especially on internet message boards), the general (and more optimistic) consensus seems to be that December 12, 2012 marks our rebirth into a new world, a new age. An age called the Age of Aquarius.
Late Kundalini Yoga guru Yogi Bhajan, became an ardent supporter of the new age movement, the Aquarian Age, he said “is a time where religion and spirituality will move from a culture of denial and separation to one of inclusivity. “
“Aquarius offers a rebirth into a world that is all about oneness rather than separation. It is a move from a time of secrecy into one of openness. In the Piscean Age it was central and sacred to find and gain access to the right information. In the Aquarian Age, there are no secrets! Information is readily available.”
Not too far off an interpretation from the Age of Aquarius song in the cult sixties musical “Hair” which imagined a world of higher consciousness and openness, one in which “peace will guide the planets and love will rule the world” while “harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abound.” Though a Hollywood creation, the song managed to embed the precepts of the new age movement, really the Aquarian age movement, deep into our cultural consciousness. Love, freedom, liberation, transformation, peace and truth; compelling ideals indeed.
Ideals that we can definitely use in our chaotic modern world, say the Aquarian age proponets. In fact, most believe that we’ve been on the cusp of entering this new age for the last sixty odd years. At the “cusp” according to astrology, one experiences the influences of two different heavenly bodies. This explains the turmoil on our planet, say new agers. Conflict occurs when we pit old ways of doing things against the new.
It’s hard to disagree. Our world, socially and environmentaly is in conflict. The polar ice caps are melting, the ocean is heating up, we are losing forested land at the rate of 17 million hectares a year; the disparity between the haves and have nots is increasing everywhere; our cities are exploding with the problems of population and density; and stress is one of the leading causes of disease. As a species we complain of feeling overwhelmed, underslept, overfed, yet undernourished. Cancer rates in developed countries are now at 40% a statistic that led to Japanese officials in the aftermath of the deadly nuclear accidents in Fukushima dismiss the threat of increased cancer rates because of radiation leaks, any increase would be too slight to count.
Perhaps believing in a New Age offers a measure of hope? Astrologers think so. The symbol for Aquarius is the water bearer, symbolically and eternally giving life and spiritual food to the world i.e. raising the planet’s spiritual vibration. Water with its cleansing properties washes away the past, representing new possibilities, growth and change. Aquarius is also an air sign, which produces intellectuals, scientists, inventors etc. They cite the ubiquity of the internet as a good example of Aquarian ideology, especially the rise of social media. Facebook has more than 800 million active users today. This is unprecedented. Even a decade ago, could you have predicted a world where people were so ready to share information, especially personal information?
experiencing true interconnection, the idea that we are all one, that there is no “other.”
How can we prepare ourselves for this New Age? Here are some strategies to help you create your own personal transformation as we step not only into a new year, but a New Age. Read on next week for more transformative ideas!!!
1. Create Rituals of Interconnection:
“A ritual is a consciously performed action which reinforces a belief system,” says noted Yoga teacher Eoin Finn, founder of the Blissology movement, who advocates that we must always evaluate all our actions on the continuum of how they impact us and how they impact our community and larger environment.
“The belief system that we constantly need to reaffirm, is that we are all connected, and that all life is interdependent, for example, try eating honey,” says Finn in his Blissology Project book. You can eat it in what he calls the “ho hum way” i.e. simply eating it without giving it much thought, or you can turn the act of savouring honey into a beautiful ritual of interconnection.
Interconnection, incidentally is a key Aquarian Age theme.
“Not only does honey taste amazing,” says Finn, “but if it wasn’t for bees making honey, flowers wouldn’t have evolved with scent or colour; and fruits wouldn’t emerge from plants. There are so many small but mindblowing connections if you allow yourself to see them.”
Astrologers say that the Age of Aquarius is a time when we will be filled with more light (from the sun) than ever before. Light in this context refers to sacred illumination. When we practice rituals, we feel more in touch with the divine. Whether you believe in sacred energy or not, rituals when performed mindfully, allow us to slow down enough to get present and when we get present says Finn, “You are filled with awe for the sacredness of life.”
Create your own rituals.
Make every act a ritual. If you walk to work, slow down and feel what you are doing. Feel the morning breeze, listen to the voices of people talking, the sounds of traffic or perhaps birds chirping. Try to make it your practice to bring that same sensory awareness to other aspects of your life. Celebrate small moments, relish your morning cup of tea or coffee, enjoy an unhurried visit with a friend, play in the puddles with your child after school. Realize that small tasks can be filled with profound moments of awareness, joy and sacredness. Open yourself up to them.
(more 2012 strategies coming next week… stay tuned)
By, Insiya Rasiwala-Finn
(excerpted from an article published in Asia Spa Magazine, January 2012)
Posted On: January 3, 2012 | 3 Comments »
5 Tips for Bliss
By blissologist
Is there any more basic goal to life than happiness? Finding Bliss is something we all seek. Yet, in our pursuit of happiness sometimes we try too hard. In the Blissology Project Book we talk about how BLISS is an acronym: Beautiful Living is Super Simple.
As a Blissologist, I have spent most of my life exploring strategies for happiness. You will be surprised how a few simple activities everyday can lead to a positive state of mind. Try these five steps from the Blissology Project for this 28 day lifestyle program and make Bliss a habit.
1) Yoga will make you happy: To find Bliss, don’t try too hard. Yep, lower the bar. Don’t try to be happier, just have less tension in your body and you will be amazed what happens. Happiness and Bliss are always inside of us but stress, worry and tension obscure it like clouds block out the sun. When the sun is blocked by the clouds, it doesn’t try to shine harder, it just waits for those clouds to go. The best way to rid the body of stress is by practicing a yoga routine that heats the body up with a little vigor, making us fit and ready to go deeper and then blissing out with some stretching, breathing and relaxing. It’s a magic formula!
2) Meditation – impossible, right?: “I’ll never still my mind,” you say. Maybe not completely, but again lower the bar. Take ten minutes every day to free yourself from distractions, your “To-Do List” and mental clutter and set a goal of just feeling more peaceful. In the Blissology Project Book we talk about putting your brain in a hammock and allowing the wisdom of the heart come through. Through just ten minutes of daily meditation, you will find that you have more patience and calm in your day-to-day life which is the foundation of Bliss.
3) Nature Appreciation: What does Nature have to do with Bliss? Everything. It is the most fundamental thing we can do for our health. Most children practice Nature Appreciation all day every, every day. They are blown away with the texture of stones, the feel of cool mud on their feet, how flowers grow and what the bees are doing. Our ancestors practiced Nature Appreciation every day, but we have built a world for ourselves where we cage ourselves in with busy schedules and concerns for making or spending money so we disconnect from the big picture. Nature Appreciation brings us back. There is a ton of Nature right out your door, even in a big city. Relax and look at some miracles around you and bring on the Bliss!
4) Food Awareness: Most people are content eating food that is 60-70% as good as it could be. The Blissology Project is about stepping up to 90 to 100 percent by eating fresh, healthy food that is free of chemicals and that has not come from a factory or industrialized process. The yogis called the energy from food Prana. Think about the difference between a well- seasoned steamed kale dish and Twinkie. You feel different eating one than the other, right? That is because your cells will literally be more able to reproduce healthy tissues. One gives us energy with a crash and Prana filled food gives us more sustainable energy that makes our bodies feel turbo charged all day. Eat food high on the Pranameter and watch what happens to the Bliss factor in your mind and body.
5) Gratitude: Our state of mind is everything. Rich people are not necessarily happier than poor. What makes the difference? Our attitude. The state of mind called Bliss is always inside us. As William Arthur Ward sad, “A cloudy day is no match for a sunny disposition.” How do we get this sunny disposition? All the other 4 commitments work wonders, but the fastest is Gratitude. It is easy and when we think about three things that we are grateful for, our attitude becomes positive and we become conduits for the bliss we seek. Practicing Gratitude daily makes Bliss a habit.
Posted On: December 14, 2011 | 5 Comments »
The Mystical Experience of Unity
By blissologist
This is a small extract about Hammock Enlightenment from the Blissology Project Book. Blissology is about staying in touch with this Mystical Experience of Unity so we can balance actions fueled by Love with those of Selfishness. The book explains more about this.
I wish I had a dramatic story about how I had a dark night of the soul and then suddenly discovered a path to happiness, but the truth is it didn’t happen that way. I have always known a deep joy and happiness within. There has always been a place inside my body and mind of quiet contentment that is in love with the experience of life. A place that ignites a deep and profound love. When I feel it, the lines between me and the rest of the world blur. I feel a connection to all life and a peaceful elation.
It is this part of my body-mind that has also always been clear to me. When I
attempt to dissect where it came from, my thoughts turn to my childhood when my father decided not to work in a corporate law firm in Toronto, but moved two and a half hours north to a small amidst lakes and trees. I spent hours drifting silently in canoes on lakes, on the edges of docks under the moon listening to the call of the loon. In other words, I experienced a lot of time in nature.
Much of this time was in the pursuit of rambunctious boyhood activities; building forts and playing war games with my friends, but at the same time I was also drawn to sit quietly and look. What a miracle life was. I was filled with awe and wonder and a sense that I was a part of something infinitely larger.
The spirituality of the First Nations People resonated with what I felt when I was absorbed in nature. I love their idea of the Great Spirit that flows in all places and beings. I admire their connection to animals and their ability to make wherever you are in nature a sacred space. I would look at First Nations paintings for hours, captivated by images showing how the bears and the ravens are inside of us, through lines of connection drawn between people and animals in this art.
As life unfolded, the quest to try and understand this universal connection
influenced my schooling. I studied Eastern and Western philosophy in University. With great zeal, I read texts that asked questions I still contemplate today such as, “What is Enlightenment?”
“It is the absence of suffering,” says the Buddha. In this vague description he does not pin himself down to describe what is really an experience beyond words. He described a mind filled with Contentment, Acceptance and Calm free from desires.
Later I read about the way the Hindus and Yogis described being in touch with Brahman the transcendent world soul. It was called Sat Chit Ananda; the Consciousness of Bliss. The idea is that in all of us there is a consciousness of Deep Bliss that is very real, but you have to get quiet to get there.
I call this the Mystical Experience of Unity. Because it is an experience we feel that is beyond words and therefore a mystery, but the profound feeling we get from it is how we are part of a much bigger whole. From this feeling of connection comes a concern for others, a deep Love.
It is this experience we tune into at the end of yoga in savasana or when we stare out into the vastness of an ocean horizon or the eyes of a loved one. It is there when we contemplate the needs of others on the other side of the planet or generations coming seven years from now. Some thread connects us.
Blissology is about keeping this place alive in us. We tend to think this place is so hard to access. Enlightenment is a lofty complicated goal, but it is amazing when you get quiet, breathe well and sit under a tree what can happen. You may just get hammockly enlightened and it is exactly what the world and your body needs!
Posted On: October 22, 2011 | 1 Comment »
hair of the downdog: yoga for hangovers
By blissologist
I was recently interviewed by a magazine about yoga for hangovers. It turned out to be a pretty fun convo. If your first OM of your yoga class is sounds more like “OMMMMmy God, My head hurts,” this advice may be for you. Incidentally, we are doing a wine tasting event after our new Year’s YES retreat Yoga classes in Tofino for the . the apres yoga event is called a “Detox/Retox Flow.”
Would you ever recommend yoga to alleviate a mild a hangover?
Absolutely. I call it “Hair of the Down Dog”
I’ve seen other yoga experts quoted on the detox benefits of the practice and suggesting that it could help with a hangover. Do you think there’s any “detox” benefit to be gained? If so, can you tell me how this works?
The detox benefits are massive. One of the most simple but powerful reasons for this is yogic breathing. The yogis knew that breathing in a long, slow and deep manner increases Prana or “Life Force” which may have become a little depleted with all those stellar moves on the dance floor the night before. More scientifically, the theory is that yogic breathing increases the metabolic rate which helps break the toxins down more quickly.
I wouldn’t recommend hot yoga for a hangover since dehydration is already a symptom of “margaritasana” but the skin is a great organ to detox through so some sweat is good. A moderately paced class that isn’t too
extreme should be the ticket. Remember not too hot, not too intense. Moderation is the key, which is a lesson that should have been learned the night before! The trick is to break the inertia and lethargy that a hangover causes so blood and oxygen can do their work in the cells.
Just remember to keep a little space from the people around you since the smell of vodka leaving the system through the breath and skin can violate the yogic principle of “ahimsa” or causing no harm to others!
Is there one yoga pose in particular that you’d recommend?
I would recommend a twisting pose like Ardha Matsyendranasa (1/2 Spinal Twist – photo attached) since this acts like a massage on the liver and help process toxins. When you twist, the blood supply is temporarily limited to the liver, then when you release the pose, more blood rushes in.
Do you have any cautions for people before they try this? (Should we avoid intense activity if we’ve been sick to your stomach or have a severe headache, for example?)
I would skip headstands which may feel more like “headachestands” with all that extra blood going to an already pounding cranium.
If you are sick, downward dog is a practical way to support yourself over your toilet!
Make sure you are sober enough to make it to a class! A simple test standing big toe pose – stand on one foot and hold one toe straight out in front of you – if you can’t balance, your still drunk, so go back to bed and head to a later class!
