World Against War: Global Action from March 15 to 22nd

Even as yoga is internal work, we must stand up in the seen world for peace, non-violence, and compassion.  Whether your voice lends itself to bullhorn protests, holding a sign, or holding hands- be seen and heard.

World Against War is coordinating actions on all habited continents.  Within the US, from Bimidju, MN to Baltimore, San Franscisco to Sarasota.  Stand up for a new way to evolve this planet beyond.

Links and dates for local action:   http://www.worldagainstwar.org/

Love,

Christine

February 18th Class for Peace in DC

Please join Carol Collins for a midday class for Peace- her 2nd effort- beautiful karmic practice-

12:00-1:00pm

2/18/08

tranquil space dupont
2024 p street, nw
washington, dc 20036
phone: (202) 223.yoga (9642)
info@tranquilspace.com
e-fax: (413) 431.7854

Satya: Truth Telling as a Practice for Peace

What does the yogic practice of Satya have to do with Peace?  First, speaking truth has to start with knowing truth  (your own inner truths-what you really believe under all cultural conditioning- as well as the ultimate, universal truths that strip the false divisions between people).  And knowing truth just ain’t so easy.  Here are some thoughts on Satya- the yogic practice of truth telling. 

The Practice of coming into truth- of Truth Telling- isn’t as simple as it sounds. There are layers to this- from Outer Truth, to Inner truth, to the Ultimate Truth- all of which play a role in creating a life of ease and freedom and connectedness- and Peace between people.

Outer Truth- This is the old fashioned “honesty” kind of truth- stating that which is factual, intending not to lie. However, we all have lenses and viewpoints that color perceptions- so how do you actually know what is true- not “spun” or positioned? This is the kind of honesty you were likely taught as a kid. But we’re also taught throughout our lives in subtle and not so subtle ways that speaking truth can beget punishments of all forms: the withdrawal of love, or of favor- maybe just for holding a belief or acting in a way that others don’t approve of.  Sometimes we lie (nations do it, political parties do it, ahem, even religious leaders do it)  solely for ego reasons- to get what we want,  to not miss out on coveted prizes. It may even come from a desire for freedom- to not to be accountable to anyone else. So over time, we may begin to lie, or color, or withhold, not of malice, but from self-protection or pure self-interest- and these untruths build up, they layer on and become blocks to our own evolution, and blocks to connection or intimacy with ourselves and others.   This happens on a cultural level as well- “my company is so fair”, “my country is so generous”, “my war is so holy”- even in the face of much evidence to the contrary.   The conscious practice of Satya- of knowing and then telling the truth- can play a role in becoming free.

Inner Truth- This is the truth we call in our house “taking your seat”: before you speak, or when you are feeling confused, you find your center, go inward, and come into a deep knowing of who you are, what you feel, think, and hold true- and then you act from that place- even when it is not condoned by society (the small society, like your own family, or the larger society).  This can be risky- Speaking Truth to Power almost always is.  But whether your knowing makes you a Gandhi-like person, with the strength of character and conviction to lead in changing the world, or whether your truth-knowledge solely changes the way you personally react to circumstance, at the very least, you will cease to act and speak from the conditioned falsehood- to move from “dis-integration”- to integration, to words and actions that come from  a strong center.  

The Ultimate Truth- Oh, the suffering that would be relieved if we all walked in the awareness everyday of ultimate truth- where each step is taken with the conscious awareness of impermanence and permanence, perfection and imperfection- all things in one. If you faced the world with this level of Satya and truth telling- the present knowledge of life and death, of everyone being made of the same stuff, the same breath and sun nourishing the each of us- how would this color your “truth”- would the false divisions we erect still be true?

The great metaphysical philosopher Alan Watts wrote about “scale” or “field of vision” as a determinant in what we perceive to be true. The same scene viewed with the Naked Eye, a microscope or a telescope are all True, but what you see through those lenses will be vastly different.

If you have a yoga practice: 

Telling the Truth on the Mat: Satya in Asana

A teacher once told me that how you react on the mat is how you will react off the mat. So, in our belief that the world changes as each person wakes up, here are some personal questions to consider on the mat.

• What stories are you telling yourself while you are practicing?  When things get hard?  When things are a snap?  What is your internal mantra or language? What’s your perceptual filter?
• How does your asana help you settle into awareness to become conscious of your inner truth? Have you ever had a moment on the mat where a realization of a deep truth has met you head on?
• Where in your practice are you pretending, holding on, struggling, competing? What holds you back from being 100% truthful, going to your edge when you need it, backing off when you need it?
• Where does your yoga live off the mat, and where do you lose that compassionate awareness you are cultivating in your practice? How do the postures serve your meditation, and how does that fit into Satya?

I like the practice of internal inventory as a gateway to Satya- you have to know first. The practice may be just looking at where I wear masks, where I get tight, pretend- and where I am at ease and free- I find that just noticing is almost the entire answer in itself.

From this place, we can also inventory the beliefs held in the culture around us, and move from that place. 

Love,

Christine

 

 

New sister studios:

Welcome new sister studio participants and partners!

• Yoga Moves, Utrecht, Holland
• Yoga One in San Diego
Inspiration in Brussels, Belgium
Tranquil Space in Washington DC 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  Keep it flowing!

Peace from the Inside.

Uneven distribution of wealth. Differing values. Conflicting goals. Vastly imbalanced workloads. These conditions, among others- spark everyday conflicts (within families, at work)- even when there’s adequate food, and heat and light- and the bombs aren’t dropping overhead- when all is, to the naked eye, just fine. Now, imagine adding “want of the basics” to the stressors, or socio-political conflict seemingly outside of your control. How do you not react, how do you keep your head, and come from a place of love? How do you find center? Can yoga really make a difference?

There are two things that are always available to you when you incorporate a yoga practice into your life:

The Breath- the deep calming force of life in you- and The Empty Mind.

The breath and the empty mind can be called on to provide a buffer between external stressors, situations, circumstances and the way we react to those circumstances. In that free, open space one discovers “witness consciousness”- the part of the mind that watches the self in action- the part of awareness that has a higher vantage point, a broader perspective on the goings on below, as it were- the machinations of the reactive self.

Witness consciousness and awareness in turn can help you see situations as they really are- not through the filter of emotion and reactivity, but with a compassionate, kind and very clear eye- and from this viewpoint make choices about how you will speak, act and be in the world.

It is simply, and direclty stated in the sutras:  Yoga citti vritti nirodinah.   Yoga calms the fluctuations of the mind.

So, begin, again.  World peace, one person at a time (but maybe simultaneously)- from the inside.

Love, always love.

Christine

Carol Collins on awakening, and her class for Peace on MLK day

Last week, Carol Collins held a class for Peace.  Here’s her account of how karma yoga is happening for her…. and how she’s moving off the mat.   We all found it inspiring.

“i saw a documentary this fall called “angels in the dust” about a woman who almost single handedly has fostered over a 100 children in south africa and creates a community to help children deal with death and sickness from AIDS – their own and their loved ones. this touched me deeply.

i began thinking more seriously about my role in the world and questioned how significant my work is. i began asking some of our students at tranquil space yoga studio in dc before and after class about what it is they do for a living  i was surprised to find out we have many global relief workers, environmental consultants, and other professionals whom i feel really are making an intentional difference in our world.  some travel quite a bit. some of my students shared with me that i really help them to relax, rejuvenate, and re-focus on what is important to them – in part the work they do!  so the connection was there: i’m helping others to help others.  still a step away, i received an e-mail from heart of yoga peace project and jumped on the opportunity to support an effort to bring yoga to active conflict zones around the world. i’ve always admired dr.martin luther king and his activism, so i thought initiating some activism in my life on his birthday was a perfect opportunity to donate a class to the peace project,

i’m not done.  i’m reading activist books such as “end of america” by naomi wolf, “getting a grip” by frances moore lappe and now “freedom next time” by john pilger all about united states politics and the veil of democracy we proport to hold so dear.  with the presidential elections coming up, i feel more informed and involved just by my increased interest.  so this president’s day i will invite more of the tranquil space community to support the peace project once again, as a way to say yoga in the world helps all kinds of people.  here we are in a country so full of wealth -let’s attempt to tap into more of our abundant inner power and be an active participant in the world!  this is a small step of which i intend to take more of.”

  Carol Collins, teacher team leader, tranquil space yoga

2024 p street, nw

washington, dc 20036

202.223.yoga

www.tranquilspace.com

carol@tranquilspace.com

 Love to all,

 Christine

Tranquil Space in Washington DC to host class for Peace: January 21st, 2008

Are you in the DC area? Know anyone who is?

Please join Carol at Tranquil Space (“a vinyasa yoga playground offering 45 creative classes in 2 sunny studios every week”!) to Practice for Peace the evening of January 21st!

www.tranquilspace.com
202.223.yoga (9642)

Proceeds from the evening will go to support Peace Project teacher training efforts and regional dialogues.

If you are interested in hosting a Practice for Peace, or an event, please email Christine@hoypeaceproject.org

Heart of Yoga Foundation Launches Peace Project on the Web

We are so pleased to announce the official launch of the Heart of Yoga Foundation’s Peace Project.

For those of you who have been following our threads, we have been working for a while now on how to use the transformative, unifying power of yoga to improve the situation in the Middle East.  One of the first initiatives was a joint yoga training with participants from Israel and Lebanon.   The powerful connections forged there have persisted even through armed conflict- showing that even in climates of animosity and terror, an alternative exists- and that yoga can provide a non-religious, non-dogmatic way to bring peace- starting with the heart of the individual. 
 
It also seeded a dream to bring the practical, healing wisdom of yoga to people in active conflict zones and other troubled areas of the world- and the commitment to create an organized effort to turn this vision into reality.
 
And now it’s happening.  Today, I am pleased to tell you that we have officially launched The Heart of Yoga Peace Project!  Along with the help of many already committed studios and teachers in North America, the Middle East and China, we are raising awareness and funds for peace, training teachers in conflict zones, and building an interconnected global community that places being human before any divisive label that blurs that reality.
 
The Peace Project has been under construction for a while, and we would like to thank all of you have helped over the last 6 months in framing the mission, making phone calls, general planning, and getting the website and infrastructure up and running.  Special thanks to the tireless efforts fo CN Riley, who got the site up and running, and Melanie King for her content contributions, and to our prelaunch supporters, including:

• Sharon Gannon & David Life, Jivamukti Yoga
• Shiva Rea, Global Mala Project
• Center for Yoga, Johnny Kest, Jane James
• Daren Friesen, Moksha Yoga
• Dave Tomaszewski, House of Yoga
• Moses Love, I Love Yoga
• Duncan Wong, Yogic Arts
• Rusty Wells, Bhakti Yoga
• Margaret Goeden
• Yoga Tree, San Francisco
• Susan Swan
• Kate Rabinowitz
• Simone King, Bikram Yoga East Bay
• Yoga Flow Tucson
• Tree House Yoga, Tampa
• Christine de Lizer, Namaskar Yoga
• Yogaworks, New York and LA
• Serena D’Arcy Fisher
• Yoga Community, Sonoma
• Prana Yoga Studio, Tel Aviv, Israel
• Vishnu’s Couch, Koln, Germany
• Deborah Bassett, ChannelG.TV
• Jenn Cohen
• The Esalen Institute
• The Omega Institute
• Kripalu

Please join us!  www.hoypeaceproject.org, Come to the site, see what we’re about- get free posters, music, send cards, order tshirts, make donations, get involved.

Thanks, and Peace.

Heart of Yoga Foundation joins Alliance for a New Humanity

There’s power in numbers.  Heart of Yoga is pleased to join forces with Alliance for a New Humanity.  The alliance is a group of organizations worldwide dedicated to creating a new way for humans to interact with each other and the planet. ”At this moment, nothing is more important for healing the world than to link all those who believe that we must set forth a new narrative and create a new world where hope, social justice, peace, and a sense of the sacredness of life prevail. For this, we need to form a critical mass of humanity that influences change at a global scale, to bring together the inner streams of sensitive human beings” -ANH Founder, Deepak Chopra http://www.anhglobal.org/
 

Changing the Mind, Creating Peace

 

New research shows that there are genetic markers that indicate a predisposition toward things like aggression, anxiety and violence. However, these genes will not express themselves unless the conditions are right. For example, if you have an aggression marker, it won’t express unless you are subject to abuse, adverse conditions, etc. If you don’t have it, you can be in these kinds of situations and not become aggressive or violent. In other words, its nature AND nurture.

A second group of research is showing that the brain, even well into adulthood, is incredibly “plastic”- it can be remolded, rewired and reshaped. Even when environments or past/current events, do create a fear, depression, anxiety or aggression response in the individual, this can be undone and healed- the brain’s “worldview” and chemistry can be changed.

What can create the change? The only things that are proven to create sustainable long term change in the brain are:

• Cognitive Therapy/ Reframing- Changing how you process and perceive the meaning of factual events
• Meditation- Controlling impulse responses through self-awareness, awareness of thoughts, perception of source
• New Actions- Rewiring the brain by developing new neural pathways through different/new behaviors

Drugs, for all their helpfulness, are not a permanent fix.

So that is all well and good, but it does not provide much tangible assistance on making these things real for the individual. One proven way to cultivate meditation and cognitive shifts, with tangible, specific steps and readily available instruction, is through yoga practice. Through regulated breathing and movement, and the opening of the body, meditation arises. From this place of awareness and centering, interactions with others can be developed through a new cognitive frame. From this place, one can act differently toward the self, the family, the community and the planet. From this place, one sees no divisions between people, that we are all made of the same stuff.

We can shift our consciousness. A combination of yoga training, new ways of managing conflict & fear through cognitive reframing, and tangible skills for communicating better, can change day to day life for the individual, and change the world. If you want to know more about developing a peace practice, and how to feel better, please get in touch.

XO, Christine