But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything

 - alan watts

tree in solitude nesodden 2010

S U R R E N D E R - and unfold your true Nature

Going to Wonderland

Time to fly.

This time New York.
I will spend some time replenishing the philosophical part of me.
Through pulsating impressions from a buzzing and vibrant city.
Contasts.
I like that.
Moving slowly.

Be open. Be decadent. Be restful.

NYC 2011

Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things.

"The Yoda Sutras"


Yoda, the wise little man in Star Wars, comes close to something we also can read about in The Yoga Sutras:

Aparigraha
This last yama is usually translated as non-greed or non-possessiveness.
An easier way to think of it might be learning how to deal with our innate desire for more – or at least, to sit with the desire, observe it in a nonjudgmental way, and, hopefully, watch it subside,

Greed, or wanting more, often comes from two misapprehensions.
One is that ‘I lack something,’ The other is "that you have what I need"

We do have phycial needs, so it’s not about our basic, fundamental needs.

Often the problem comes from the sensation that
‘I don’t have enough,’ or ‘I`m not enough.’
And that’s where it can be destructive.
It’s a paradoxical effect, because getting more almost always stimulates wanting even more.
We are constantly bombarded with images of excess from the media,
which essentially works to “whip up our desire for more.”
And this becomes a cruel cycle.

Me myself are saying yes to desire! 
I say yes to Life.
To abundance.
But I say no to  w a n t i n g .
And I´m curious about how we can be more aware of what we desire.
And why?

And use our yogapractice to really merge with that question.
And be careful not bringing the "lack" to our mats.
Not straining for more excitment.
Do your own practice.



You can read a great article about Aparigraha here where my text in the beginning also comes from.

grounded

Have a romance with Life

Bhakti Yoga - The yoga of Love

The word yoga means "to connect."
In the West, Yoga are mostly known as postures (asanas) on a yogamat.
The old Vedic texts explain that yoga is meant to connect with God. (or the Divine, Nature, something greater)
Bhakti means "devotion," or "devotional service," or "pure love."
So Bhakti-yoga means to practice connecting with God, through acts of love and service, or devotional service.

The practice of Bhakti Yoga can be listening to, reading, and studying the scriptures, meditation and chanting mantras.

All these practices of devotion lead to the last one: surrender.
When we have surrendered our egos and its need to cling and control, we free our hearts to live through love and in faith.
We have surrendered ourselves to God and to a life of Love.

For us earthlings the practice of Bhakti maybe sounds a little strange.
We are human after all.
For some of us, practicing Bhakti Yoga may mean reading holy texts, such as the Yoga Sutras.
For others it may mean a daily meditation, being in nature or even asana practice.

How can we cultivate more sweetness into our asana practice? More sweetness into our lifes?
Cultivate more compassion for ourselves and others.
Diving into our yoga with empathy, curiousity, and acceptance?

Make an altar. Inside your heart our in your home. Or both.
Pimp your altar with things you love and worship.
Pictures, flowers, stones, fruit, chocolate, notes, candles, loving thoughts-  whatever you want.

Unconditional love can be healing.

Have a romance with life itself.

note

The Wise Woman’s Stone

....about Vairagya : letting go, acceptance, detachment
I share this story.....

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream.

The next day, she met another traveler who was hungry,
and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food.
The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him.
She did so without hesitation.
The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune.
He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime.

But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.
”I’ve been thinking,” he said,
“I know how valuable the stone is,
but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious.
Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone.”

Author: Unknown

Vairagya : letting go, acceptance, detachment

“Vairagya” is the term in yoga philosophy that describes non-attachment.
The term “yoga" itself comes from the verb “to yoke,” to be steadfast with something.
This is different from clinging to things out of fear.
Which leads us to attachment. 
Attachment is one of the main causes in our lives of unhappiness. Or gloominess.
Vairagya refers to our ability to let go of things, to leave them be, as well as to go for a challenge.
We need both action and inaction in our lives to keep balanced, and the practice of vairagya helps us stay away from getting too attached.

Vairagya, or non-attachment is truly a powerful practice that we can integrate into our daily lives. 
Our yoga practice can help us to slowly break down our old, annoying patterns.
Loosening the grip on things, thoughts and feelings can make us a little less fearful as persons.
To stop clinging to negative thoughts. Or holding on to things, patterns, people we do not need anymore. Or holding on to the sweetness. The joy. The good things, thoughts and emotions.
It requires faith.
And the fact that we must believe in not knowing the outcome.

 
Practice your asanas (especially the ones who are the most challenging to you)
and try not to be so very attached to their outcome.
Humble as always ;)  
Accept what is, and stay present with every precious moment.


The practice of acceptance and non-attachment doesn’t need to be practiced on a yoga mat.
It`s a practice for each and every, single moment of life.
Every moment of our life is an opportunity to grow.
This is why it is so important to embrace each moment with total awareness.
For me that`s freedom.
Enjoyment of the moment is all we have until that moment is gone – so that we may enjoy the next one....or not.


Acceptance is the art of living in the present.

a present moment in Oslo