Do It Anyway

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway. -this version is credited to Mother Teresa

Imbalance on the Wall of Fame

So many beautiful thoughts and ahh ha moments have entered my mind while here at Kripalu. My teacher this week, Dr. Scott Blossom, shared abundant wisdom about human beings, including our tendencies. He is helping us to understand ourselves better from the inside out. Westerners are basically approaching life all wrong and this weekend left me feeling raw and considering the realities about my yoga practice and teachings. Shift happens and information is evolving. The Ayurvedic principles are some of the most amazing teachings I have ever encountered. Is our body out of balance? More than likely. You are from the West and it is more common than we would all like to admit. No wonder the world at large is out of balance. It begins with you and me. People and their communities behave strangely when they are easily agitated, scared and unhealed from their wounds. That is why war, poverty and control happen. Regarding us individually, Blossom said illness begins with Grief and some "unfinished business." His statement intrigued me and also brought up many recent memories. The outcome of unresolved grief causing illness is often referred to in writings by researchers such as Dr. Hammer from Germany. He found cancer linked to sudden trauma where lesions in the brain caused disturbances in the body's energetics. The disturbances are also called "parts" in NeuroLinguistic Programming. We become stressed when we have lost our ability to understand alchemy and healthy metaphors in the West which in the past has helped us healthfully integrate our experiences. I would say most people are good and sincerely want to be the best human beings they can be. But in an ever-growing spiritual community, we are seeing and influx of challenges never seen in previous years. It is exciting to see yoga become so accepted and explored. The communities are booming with enthusiastic seekers and the movement has been something I have envisioned for many years across the states. There are a few things that I didn't envision. For example, what would happen if the new trend toward yoga moved too rapidly within a community where people are shifting economically and searching for a change in career, or where they see yoga as glamorous and accessible? I wondered how will our teacher trainings and popular retail stores accommodate this trend? Were we ready for this? I have seen a lot over my 10 years serving the Houston Yoga Community. My friends and I from other states agree with what I am about to say. The sanctity of yoga is now facing a new sort of challenge. There is a new kind of "yogi" popping up all over the states - those who will do anything to be recognized and on the wall of a retail shop in their yoga gear, with little experience and time from what little experience that have had to integrate the teachings successfully enough to be glamorized as a "yogi." There are lots of attempts, often successfully, to ride on another's coattail to make a name for themselves. Sort of psychopathic behavior, but it is mushrooming in very discrete forms. The hunter often zeros you out presenting themselves as a wish come true, to "help" you or partner up with you, be your best friend often pointing out how much you have in common and argue how unique is the relationship, or even take a training from you, only to later steal from or betray you just to "be somebody" in their community. That desire to be popular and on a wall - to be glorified - is frightening. I don't think the retailers, nor I, understood that we may be creating local monsters of girls trying to make themselves celebrities and just like in Hollywood, will do anything to get to the top. Remember Wanda Holloway in the Texas Cheerleader murder attempt or the multiple stabbing of a lulu in the Northeast? This is a world totally out of balance with what's important. The yoga community is growing fast and also changing fast. Everyone wants a slice of the fame pie finding less gruesome ways of stabbing others in the back to open a studio which just may help them to move forward in the greater plan of getting on that wall. These are the teachers entering our communities without experience or the right heart. Whether or not they ever get to the wall and succeed in their businesses is yet to be seen. There is less reverence for serving as there is for beauty recognition, which is often just a show than any real beauty cultivated inside. It's what goes on behind the scenes that makes this so scary. These girls want it all without really doing anything to get there (besides striking a pose, signing a lease and building a Facebook Page or also a concern...stealing your contacts and ideas right out from out of your nose). They lack gratitude for their teachers, are shallow as a friend, and totally fail to be authentic or solid in integrity. Perhaps betrayers betray because they never felt very loved or accepted? Maybe they were abused and simply don't have the tools to make an honest attempt. Yoga can give a practitioner a newly felt sense of power. But that type of power isn't real, isn't empowerment, nor is it helpful to others. It is EGO and arrogance. It is someone young on the path. One bad apple can spoil the bunch so you should learn have to recognize this person. They mocking the decency of others who don't live up to their odd expectations, whisper negative things about our community's leaders with passive-aggressive seeds. Ahimsa is a limb on the path of yoga. Talking smack about a teacher is a yogic no no. Jeff Armstrong said we eat the karma of others we try to harm. I realized in depth that most in the West are simply out of balance and lack tools to cope with any mixed feelings. They project rather than try to understand. They harm rather than try to be honest and work out their fears and misunderstandings. This is common among many yogis who have made a name for themselves. Brene' Brown calls it shame projected onto another. There are major imbalances everywhere and we can do something about it. We need to rest a lot, eat whole foods, find good friends, and good-hearted teachers who have wisdom, alchemy and good stories from experience. Appreciate that wisdom. It can't be learned in a book. Most of us today in the West have Vata and Pitta imbalances and it is common to see many, including myself at times, over do our schedules and commitments leading to burn out and all that great stuff that comes with it - fatigue, irritation, inflammation, lack of vitality, etc. Just remember Mother Teresa's poem...do it anyway and be your best living a life of compassion and non-violence. If you are kind, others may portray you as weak. If you are strong, others may portray you as a bully. And no doubt vultures will try to steal from you when they think you are not paying attention. We have to have compassion for them as well. Not everyone knows how to do things themselves, including building their reputations and experiences with compassion and support on the journey. They didn't learn to live that way. Instead they watch until they find someone with innovation to align their energy with in order to better themselves. Lesson I have learned...stay away from those who heavily pursue you (every time the case) and try as hard as you can to stay balanced...the imbalance isn't worth dealing with those waiting for you to trip on the sidelines. They intend to only hurt you in very discrete or or even overt ways to get on the wall of fame.

Wisdom versus Knowledge: There is a difference

Wisdom versus Knowledge: There is a difference by Jennifer Buergermeister Knowledge is the accumulation of facts and information. Wisdom is the synthesis of knowledge and experiences into insights that deepen one’s understanding of relationships and the meaning of life. In other words, knowledge is a tool, and wisdom is the craft in which the tool is used. Arrogance brought in by some accumulation of knowledge, may often lead us astray and into the ego - the building blocks of narcissism and the promotion of elitism. As the young and indignant, driven not by truth but by ego and inexperience, try to find their way, we watch the West unfold as it may in the name of Yoga. I was taught that we should always respect our teachers and to honor that which has been built often with great vision. On the rise is a lack of patience, originality and respect for others in our communities. Some simply function through the faculty of control using tactics from the art of war to divide and conquer in order to gain support by manipulating those who are too weak to think and act for themselves. They lack the ability to use logic or tell the difference between the need for control, power, and popularity versus genuineness with the best of intentions. There is also a strong tendency by some to project onto others fears often masked by a facade of having it all together as they mock the decency of others. It's the "who is the most popular kid on the playground" sort of behavior that we should have outgrown in middle school. Genuine people, especially wise ones, can typically see through the shadow attempts to veil the light and hard work of true innovation and leadership. Fear is the culprit. Manipulation is fed by fear. Speaking anger to another is fed by fear. Hurting another is fed by fear. Denying and using people for one's own gain is led by fear. Accusations unfounded are fed by fear. Stress surely doesn't help the process. Who hasn't said or done something stupid under pressure? If hormones are out of tune, the thyroid in particular, it is even harder to control emotions. Good thing is that we are not our behaviors and all things can be brought back in balance with a little practice and a sincere apology in most cases. The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman is my favorite book turned motion picture honoring true wisdom through spiritual events comparing knowledge and wisdom. It also beatifully portrays the release of fear through the journey into no ordinary things. I highly recommend the reading and the movie! If the hearts of our communities were truly open rather than bound in fear of their own true authentic potential and/or shadow side, there wouldn't be this increase of superficiality by comparison and bitterness. The inexperienced and naive who are tapping only into the surface of who they truly are would soon realize wisdom simply can't be rushed. They wouldn't hurt others for their own gain. They wouldn't lie, manipulate or steal. They would be supportive and kind, honoring those who helped them along the way. Spirit knows that we do not have to knock each other down to get what we want. Wisdom understands that time and experience is indeed the true bringer of leadership. Wisdom also understands that we are all at different milestones along the path to realization and that we too were all once grasshoppers. Time and experience can bring all truth to realization as wisdom. Blessings on the path. Namaste'

In the Beginning...and we all began somewhere.

In the beginning...and we all began somewhere. Any time is a good time for someone to find a well-suited yoga practice. I have heard students who found yoga later in life say how much they wish they would have found it sooner mainly because they begin to feel better about everything in such a short amount of time. I am one of those women and have dedicated my life to its pursuit. After years of experience with yoga, I now believe yoga actually pursued me. My friend Michele Hebert said the main principle in yoga is the spine. I agree. I have learned that a healthy nervous system is the key to a balanced life. Yoga and I met when I was 24 years old, which was 17 years ago in 2011. It was love at first sight. The philosophy resonated sweetness and hope in an uncertain world of a then young adult. I lived in Mexico City for three years and while there became interested in the history of Mexico and other ancient traditions such as Buddhism and yoga. Something resonated with me energetically about yoga’s inception. Maybe our nervous system is an antennae reaching to the universe, sending and receiving messages in accordance with the law of attraction? I could not escape yoga, nor did I want to. I liked the way it made me feel and feeling is also energy. The energy inspired me to delve deeper into knowing yoga and life, as we know, can bring many experiences to help us understand that which we seek. Why is yoga so AWEsome? The autonomic nervous system consists of two systems: sympathetic and parasympathetic. The two subsystems work together to regulate the body including heart rate. The sympathetic system accelerates heart rate and the parasympathetic nervous system slows the heart rate down. Finding the quality of breath and learning to control the breath brings the parasympathetic nervous system into balance with the sympathetic nervous system. Balance is the key. When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, heart rate increases and blood flow restricted to the organs is restricted. Instead, blood is sent to the limbs in response to the fight or flight mechanism. Breathing into the upper chest breathing is caused by stress which then triggers the sympathetic nervous system into overdrive. The energy needed throughout physical exertion to discharge energy accumulated during stress, if not met, will result in anxiety. When this happens, anxiety is perpetuated by continuous arousal of the sympathetic nervous system which results in states of irritability or even hyperventilation, adrenal exhaustion, and diminished blood flow to the vital organs. Studying the interrelationship between emotions, breath, and the autonomic nervous system could bring valuable insight to the prevention and treatment of many stress-related diseases. Learning and practicing mindful meditations, pranayama, and full diaphragmatic breathing, which expands the chest while contracting the abdominal muscles, are found to achieve the best results intended by the autonomic nervous system in the body. Becoming a widow at age 30, yoga empowered me to eventually believe in myself and refrain from slipping into the mindset of a victim. We have a choice to see the world through whatever shade of glasses. We decide whether we will be happy or not happy. Life and our experiences have a way of helping us synthesize and gather wisdom, especially when we have lost a loved one and also when we are or someone we love is faced with a diagnosis of disease.

FOX Interview with Jenny about Breathe the Cure

Just pull it together right? There are two sides in the union of balance which has been articulated by many different names over the years: the yin and the yang, the Shiva and the Shakti, light and darkness, as above so below. A polar opposite must exist to recognize the other, and together the opposites unite to make up what we know to be as life in balance and harmony. Man and woman represent the two sides of the same coin by their expression of yoking, or yoga. Yoga provides deep, analytical insight into the human body and energy field through anatomical evaluation of alignment and meridian flow. I like to express my art in yoga as an authentic expression of the body’s natural tendency to unwind if given the chance through fluidity and grace. Vinyasa flow yoga helps the body to let go of blockages using sound, vibration, intent and movement correlated and connected with the breath. The masculine is Shiva. Shiva is the containment of energy, often also seen as the void or point of singularity. Together the masculine and feminine represent the metaphor of rushing water in a river (Shakti) held by the beauty of its bank (Shiva) to manifest its primordial energy into the creation of life. Shiva and Shakti are inherently complementary and loving within the fabric of the universe and all of its creation. This book is a reflection of my life. It will often reflect each of the masculine and feminine viewpoints in how yoga can be expressed as an art and science where spirituality and the physical become one. We are all artists. We will learn that there are universal truths and how to facilitate energy flow. My intention is for all to see universal truth revealed through the practice of yoga. Yoga is experiential. I hope you enjoy the yin and yang concepts of yoga through my personal journey where I discovered the power of unity consciousness and oneness by simply paying attention.

Monday is my day of sharing as I work through the chapters of my new book! A Tell Tale of my heart's experiences in grief, yoga and community.

Check back every Monday for a sample from Jenny's book! Please leave a post giving much appreciated feedback! I want to hear from you! :)