My Life Mission and the Blissology Project
By blissologist
Knowing my Life Mission has been the biggest blessing of my life. It is both something that sets me free and something that binds me.
Free to see the deepest calling of my heart become manifest in the world. When I really considered how short and fleeting life is, it became a necessity for me to define mine. In spite of all the conditioning I faced, I let all other forces in life; social pressures, economic pressures and competitiveness all fall silent. What remained was my life mission, my whole ultimate reason for being here. It was aching to come out. When I listen to artists like Michelangelo talk about sculpting, it reminds me of the same process I went through. He talks about how the sculptures were there in the rock, but he just had to carve away everything that was not part of the vision.
My life mission is what propels me. It is also my ultimate guide. It allows me to see when I am off track or misguided so I can readjust my course
Whether I am successful or a failure in the eyes of others doesn’t matter. Bringing this vision out into the world is the ultimate barometer to me for how successful my life is. At the end of my life, in those fleeting seconds when it is all passing, I hope to have a smile on my face, knowing that I tried wholeheartedly to bring my inner vision out into the world. My Life Mission is truly the wind in my sails.
So, what is my Life Mission? To tune into this huge, vast and powerful force that lights us up and makes us feel connected to the concerns of other people, other beings, and all life. To me, this force is Love. My Life Mission is to be a conduit for the force of Love an let it be expressed in as many interactions as I can, from how I talk to a small child to inspiring thousands at once.
This Life Mission, by the way is the essence of the movement I call ‘Blissology’. As I launch the Blissology Project, which is a manifestation of my Life Mission, I combat all fears. I have no corporate sponsors at all, no trust fund, instead I put the money I borrow from banks on the line.
On top of that, I spend hours and days working out technical glitches, carefully aligning ones and zeros which is, more often than not tiring and frustrating. But when my head hits the pillow, the gratification from knowing that I potentially have increased the forces of Love, Awe and Connection in the world and furthered my Life Mission soothes my bleary eyes and aching shoulders from hours in front of a computer.
Will it be a financial success? I don’t know. I trust it will because all I have experienced before in life is that when I get out of my own way and let something come through me like a radio channels music, there is a power to these offerings that is beyond my full understanding.
In this case money is not the motivator, no, what guides me is a deep-seated calling to bring my Life Mission out into the world. It wakes me in the morning and fuels me all day.
So welcome to this Blissology Project. I hope that this offering lights up something in you that allows you to create an upward spiral in your own lives and in the lives of all those we touch. We are going to have fun in the next 30 days and I hope your inner Blissologist becomes so open that you feel more love, awe, wonder and joy than one body can possibly contain!
Let’s all live the life we are meant to.
Namaste.
Expect more on defining your Life Mission in future Blog Posts and in The Blissology Project Book
Also, We will have a page soon on our website that will be part of the Blissology Project. You will be able to post your life mission so you can share your inspiration with others and be inspired by them…
Posted On: September 6, 2010 | No Comments »
Salmie, the Sea Lion
By jeremy
Salmie, the Sea Lion:
Have you ever had a stray puppy befriend you on the beach? Tongue out, they are one big rambunctious ball of uncontrollable playfulness. “Throw something, come on, let’s play. Throw Ball! Throw Stick! Come on!” They seem to be saying as they jump onto you with their sandy feet. You feel a strange combination of annoyance mixed with amusement.
Keep picturing that scenario of puppyhood, but know this is not a story about a dog. It’s about a sea lion. Yep, I have befriended a sea lion out here on one of the most remote western edges of North America.
I see sea lions all the time. Almost everyday. I moved to Ucluelet and Tofino 2 months ago because of my love for the ocean and surfing. Everyday, I put a 4mm wetsuit on and paddle around the North Pacific swells and there are without fail lots of creatures that pop up. It is part of the thrill of being here. Dolphins, seals, sea lions, and whales. We see them routinely.
There are two main types of sea lions out here. The California Sea Lions which weigh up to 650 pounds and the Stellar Sea Lion, a massive species where males weigh between 1300-2500 pounds. Thankfully the encounter I am about to describe was not with the Stellar Sea Lion. Those encounters always freak me out. I have found myself paddling through some isolated reef a long way from shore and up from the kelp comes what I can only describe what looks like the Grizzly Bear of the ocean. A huge barking display telling me I am swimming through his territory in some kind of odd looking tight neoprene seal suit. I reassure him that I have no interest in his females and am quite happy in a relationship back on land. Somehow it works, but I am always shaken.
This was a relatively small, maybe two hundred and fifty pound sea lion that won the prize for playfulness and slowly my heart. It happened one day this spring on Wickinninish Beach just north of Ucluelet. The waves weren’t epic, in fact with a higher tide, they were becoming quite mellow or what we call in surfing “fat.” So my friend Marc and I paddled close to shore in about 4 feet of water where the waves would dump on the beach providing more punch but a shorter ride.
Then in comes Salmie. I didn’t call him that right away, that name came the day after, but it is pronounced like ‘Sammie’ but honours the staple of most sea lions, the Salmon.
He makes his presence known not by slowly and curiously swimming up to me, but by leaping out of the wave beside me when I take off. It is a short ride in the shore break, but when it is over Salmie is literally swimming under me and jumping over me. I am not thrilled, in fact I am freaked out.
This is nature after all and I am always aware that cute, cuddly creatures can turn ferocious in a second, a playful nip to a sea lion is the end of my fingers to me.
But I can not shake him. As I paddle back out, he is still swimming around in excited circles, jumping over me, bumping into me, swimming around me. “He has to get bored of me at one point,” I quietly hope, but no, Salmie is here to play.
And that is when it hits me. This sea lion is like the puppy on a beach I described except my red surfboard is the ball in this exciting game of ‘aqua-fetch’. I recognize that this is enthusiasm to play gone wild. Just as dogs never tire of fetch, you can throw a stick morning until night, Salmie was not tiring of ‘chase the dude in the seal suit’.
Our game didn’t end for twenty minutes when I finally had enough and went in. It was cute for sure to play with a sea lion, but I was a little annoyed that this creature ruined every wave I got by getting in my way.
The experience was incredible though and once I had time to digest it on land I really valued that he had chosen me of the 60 other surfers in the water to play with. When would I ever have an experience like this again?
The answer is, the very next day. It was a dismal West Coast day where the sky is one flat shade of gray and the drizzle is pouring down. A few people were out surfing down the beach, the waves were small but often when it looks bad from the beach, it can often be better on the water than it looks, so I paddle out. All my stresses from the day disappear as my paddling arms help unleash an endorphin high in my body. I notice some the little splendors of the ocean like the hidden hints of orange in bull kelp floating on the water that lights up even on a dull day. I feel sad for people who only get a pale comparison of this feeling in small, chlorinated pools.
As predicted, after about half and hour of less than mediocre surf, the waves get better. Just as they do, as if he has a fun detector on him, Salmie shows up. Again. Could it be him? There are thousands of sea lions in these waters, but he is the same size and same light beige. When I catch a good wave, there he is jumping out of the wave in front in me. Yep, that’s him.
This time I relax and go with it and trust that he doesn’t want to get hit by my board. As clunky as these creatures are on land, they are surprisingly elegant in the water.
When the ride is over, he is up to his same tricks, jumping over me, swimming circles under me as I begin my long paddle back out. I am amazed that he is back and actually welcome his presence the same way a dog owner loves coming home to the family dog.
We wait together for the next set to come in. As my eyes scan the gray horizon for the bigger sets coming in, Salmie sits beside me, eyes also fixed on the ocean for incoming waves of fun. They come, I turn and we really hit our stride now, his body outstretched in the wave in front of me, with the grace of an eagle in flight, I zig zag over top of him whacking the lip. I feel the high that synchronized swimmer must experience when they are in the zone. We were dancers before with two left flippers, but now we are moving in synch like polished tango dancers.
After paddling back out, we watch for waves again. The phrase ‘man’s best friend’ comes to mind. “You need a name,” I say to him literally looking him in the eye as we talk. Immediately Salmie comes to mind. And we glide together until dark.
Sadly, that was the last cold day so my winter wetsuit with it’s unique scent of seasons of pee in is now in storage. My new wetsuit is brand spanking new, but I am hopeful every day that it will regain the same scent and Salmie and I will once again share our love for playing in the waves in our ocean shrine.
Posted On: June 29, 2010 | 8 Comments »
the ultimate wave: a yoga, ecology, surf lifestyle
By blissologist
my good friend jamal yogis interviewed me for a yoga journal article on yoga and surfing. they only ran a photo and not any of the interview, but when you tap into your life’s passion the answers to his questions came flowing out. i wrote 5 pages of responses. there were 12 questions in total. here are the answers to 4 of them.
incidentally, you should check out jamail’s work as well: ‘the saltwater buddha’, is a great memoir of how surfing and buddhism shaped a zesty life philosophy that led to many intriguing adventures. it’s a great read. check out his website too: www.jaimalyogis.com/
1.) How did you start doing yoga and surfing? Which came first, etc?
What’s cool for me is that I learned both in the same year, 1987, my first year of university. I was a philosophy student minoring in comparative religions captivated by eastern philosophy. I had gone to the east coast of Canada because I had already been to the West Coast for high school. I had heard about the surf there and was adamant to see it for myself. I fell in love with both. My first 3 months of school, I decided to pay “tent” and not rent and lived above Lawrencetown Beach 30 minutes outside Halifax, taking in the Indian summer mornings and riding waves by afternoon, or whenever I could fit it around my classes.
I was journaling this winter about how good it feels to realize that the path I am on now fueled by my passion for Yoga, Ecology and Surf is a natural extension of what was deep in my heart as teenager. I have definitely taken to heart the “Follow Your Bliss” philosophy of my hero Joseph Campbell.
2.) How have the two come to blend for you, if at all?
Yoga and surfing for me are both about the feeling of interconnectedness that so many mystics describe.
The yoga path is about going inwards, retreating from the world to the still place deep within, a place that when you get there, eventually connects us to the network that binds all of us.
The surfing journey is about reaching outwards and embracing the world. Taking in deeply how the moon affects the tides, the patterns of light on the water, looking at weather systems from New Zealand, Japan or Alaska that will soon affect the swells on our beaches, the animals swimming beneath you. If you allow them to, they profoundly open you up to that same powerful feeling of deep connection with all beings that we experience on the yoga path. It’s the same destination, just a really different way of getting there. Each path enhancing the other.
3.) Has surfing affected your yoga practice and your teaching? If so, how? And feel free to speak spiritually, physically, psychologically?
Absolutely. My life mission is about taking in the energy of beautiful, natural places and radiating it out as positive energy. That is the fuel for what I am channeling in a yoga class. We are talk so much about interconnection in yoga, but surfing gives me that first hand experience of it, something that I can then transmit via my teaching. If I go for long periods stuck on concrete, I am like Superman around Kryptonite and lose my superpowers – that ability to be a conduit for channeling a larger force that is evident when a good yoga teacher leads a class.
One of our major service is our Yoga Ecology Surf retreats. I feel like the yoga experience is not as powerful when it’s only a personal experience. That is what I see a lot of in our cities these days. People feel amazing from the physical yoga, yet so many people travel back home on concrete after practice with very little connection to the natural environment and to a community. I have always considered myself a Blissologist more than a yoga teacher. If you look at so many past societies who knew nothing about physical yoga, they were happy because they lived in community and had a very intimate relationship with Nature. That is where our Yoga Ecology Surf Retreat idea comes from.
When you combine the power of the yoga experience with being really connected to the ocean and nature along with a heartfelt connection with others, the experience goes from being a stick of dynamite to a nuclear bomb in its ability to open you up to the radiance of being alive.
12.) Anything you’d like to add? Feel free to ramble away?
The ocean is a shrine of interconnection and I worship there often.
I am making the most courageous jump of my life. Following the words of my hero Joseph Campbell, I am ‘following my bliss’ and leaving the security of Vancouver where my classes are filled with 70-90 students per class and moving to a small town on the west coast of Canada with a population of less than 1,500 people and more than 800 sea lions. There I can wake up by the ocean, watch the moonlight on the water, surf daily and learn more about my greatest love next to Insiya, the ocean.
I am not sure how it is going to be manifest but my desire is to make people feel the sacredness of the ocean again.
I promised the universe a while ago if I got to a point where my workshops around the world and Video sales could support us, we will work towards enhancing the lives of people, animals and oceans. I plan to work with a lot of ocean stewardship groups.
If before I die, people feel 1/100th of the passion I have for the sea and their actions keep the ocean full of life, I will have the biggest smile on my face heading into eternity.
Posted On: May 28, 2010 | 1 Comment »
From Trash to Treasure
By blissologist
Eoin and Happy Lombokers
Insiya and I have traveled to many beaches across this beautiful planet we call home. In the past five odd years, we have been to Mexico, Costa Rica, Indonesia, India, the US, Australia, and of course Canada. We follow the ocean to surf its waves and stepping out into water is usually only possible from land. And with all these voyages to beach-lands, we’ve noticed a disturbing trend, one that seems to garland developing countries in particular, a surfeit of plastic bottles and bags that thread their way onto the sand, create thick layers of obstruction in shallow water and depending on which way the current is flowing, even mark where a wave might break.
Yesterday we took a little boat out from a town called Gurpukh in Lombok, Indonesia. It is a small settlement, possibly numbering about 500 inhabitants, maybe more, yet the water by the boat dock was littered with everything from cigarette boxes, candy wrappers, foil packages, remnants from potato chip packages, plastic straws and of course some bottles, meshed into floating reeds, seaweed and seagrass.
Despite the detritus, the water still glowed its tropical aquamarine hue, the blue turquoise that sells resort ads in travel magazines and makes us dream of warm ocean. And the surf break that we boated to glistened in the distance, its perfectly peeling waves calling our name. And yet, here it was again, the now familiar thread of plastic, weaving its way into our midst, puncturing the transparency of the wave face, obscuring the brightly coloured fish beneath us. It was enough to make your heart break.
So we decided to do something. We’ve wanted to for a while, and we’ve had all sorts of grandiose plans, like making surfboards out of PET bottles, and educating local kids about plastic… but big plans have to start somewhere, somewhere small usually, or they get stuck in our heads and never really happen.
There are a lot of children that hang out by the beaches of Lombok. Tourists represent something they don’t see enough of: Money. They work from morning until night hustling, selling trinkets and t-shirts in a way the redefines the word tenacity.
Walking back from the surf beach to our hotel two young boys were relentlessly pestering us. “Hey mister, you buy bracelet? You pay me tomorrow. No problem. I trust you.” The last thing we need is another bracelet but what we do need is real communication with these kids. Underneath the pestering words, they were like all kids around the world, boyish and sweet.
“How about this?” we suggest in pigeon English and poor Indonesian: “we clean the beach tomorrow together. Plastik on Pantai. Tidak Bagus.” Plastic on the beach. Not Good.
They stare back wide eyed and a little confused.
“We all clean together, you and I.”
eoin and two new friends beside the trashIt’s afternoon the next day and we arrive at the beach. Of course, the kids have done exactly what we asked them not to, they told all their friends, so instead of meeting two young boys on the beach, there are over twenty local youth waiting to partake in the clean up.
We don’t fight the current and it turns out to be a blessing. A local girl translates into Indonesian for us that when all of our kids have kids this plastic will still be here. So let’s get cleaning!
Insiya and the kids get busy
They get it. Eyes lit up, smiles wide and a bounce in their step that is universal to excited kids around the planet. The girls somehow all end up following Insiya, I am left with the rambunctious boys. They ask what to put in the bag by showing it to me, “Cigarette packs. Ok in bag. Coconut. ok on beach. It can stay. Plastic bottle. Ok in bag.”
I am amazed at how many single sandals are strewn on beaches. We collect and collect, stuffing our bags like Santa. Soon we are laughing and singing, exchanging names. We realize that we are not just cleaning the beach together. Something else is happening. We are seeing each other as real people. Insiya and I are no longer rich foreigners who represent their meal ticket and no longer are they annoying, hustling kids. We have something in common. It’s not language or skin tone, but a deep connection that all people feel given a chance.
even the hills get combed for plastic
When the pick up is complete, we gather our bags of plastic debris and hand out a dollar to each kid. Two young girls say “thank you for taking care of our country.”
“This is not about our country or your country, this about the earth,” we respond in unison.
We walk back to our hotel, reluctantly parting ways with our new friends. We’re not sure exactly what flowed through all of us that night, but it runs deep and connects us still.
The vibe is contagious
Smiley Girls of Lombok... Bagus
co-written by eoin and insiya
Posted On: April 18, 2010 | 11 Comments »
finding a yoga class
By blissologist
are you new to yoga or do you have someone that you would like to find a yoga class for?
here is this blissologist’s advice on how to find the one that is best for you:
a lot depends on the teacher – you sometimes can’t know about a class based on the style of yoga only because they will add some unique flair to it. be ready to try a few classes because trying yoga is like trying music – it is so varied – you may get the rolling stones or you may get celine dion. it is a big scope.
call or email the teachers/ studios and ask these questions. also your friends will have amazing advice for you based on their experiences. ask them about these four categories specifically – this should help narrow your search:
1) detail and flow
detail emphasizes doing a few poses per class and learning to do them well (iyengar yoga or progressive, sign up yoga classes)
flow -seamless sequencing of poses (asana) where like dance, it is very un-interrupted. could be gentle like hatha yoga more vigorous like power, hot. anusara is a new popular style that emphasizes both at the same time – i do too in my classes.
2) fitness and relaxation. most yoga poses rely on the same pool of yoga poses, the same way music relies on the same scale. the tempo can vary a lot. some yoga practices are quite vigorous a pretty incredible fitness challenge, some are slow and gentle. (the one’s i teach are usually vigorous but we always emphasize relaxation believing that you can really relax after physical exertion. some classes do miss the relaxation part at the end, and i believe that is a shame.
3) spiritual content – some students want it and won’t go unless this element is present, some people find it too woo-woo. ask ahead to try and predetermine your comfort level.
4) levels: most classes will assign a level to there class – beginner, intermediate, advanced. ask or look it up.
other questions/ considerations:
what’s with the heat? muscles are like glass, when they heat up, they are more mailable. some styles like bikram and hot yoga heat the room up. some styles like power yoga or ashtanga yoga create warmth in the muscles by burning calories, which is internal heat.
hot yoga is becoming very popular, especially in chilly vancouver. make sure you don’t get too warm and over-stretch your muscles, ligaments and joints.
injuries or concerns: if i tell the teacher you are new so they can give you special attention. most people teach yoga because they want to share yoga that they love and not have an unpleasant time.
don’t push or compare or get down on yourself. follow what i call, the “feel better principle “- simply, set a goal to feel better leaving yoga than when you walked in. take a big breath in, say the words “i just want to feel better”, then breath out. even that feels better. keep going.
listen to you breath - you will hear it all the time. it is a barometer for your state of mind and nervous system tone. if you are not breathing in a long, slow deep way (what i call LSD breathing) then you could be pushing too hard and at risk of injury or missing the key benefits of the practice.
remember, don’t miss out on your chance to partake in yoga – it is the best way we know to feel amazing. i always tell people that “saying you are to inflexible to go to yoga is like telling people you are too dirty to have a shower”
