September/October - Animal Drawing with Linda

 These are some sketches from the Natural History Museum and the Page.

Gratitude Mantras for Thanksgiving

1) om namo bhagavate vasudevaya

literal translation for this mantra is ‘Om, I bow to Lord Vasudeva or Lord Krishna‘
or ‘I honor all that sustains me.’


2)
Tvameva mata cha pita tvameva,
Tvameva badhu scja sakha tvameva.
Tvameva vidya dravinam tvameva,
Tvameva sarvam mama deva devah.

You are the mother, you are the father,
You are the family, you are the friend.
You are all wisdom, you are all treasure,
You are my everything, My Lord My Lord.

3)Om Namah Shivaya

I bow to Shiva, the supreme deity of transformation who represents the truest, highest self.

4) Ang Sang Wahe Guru

The Infinite Being, God, is with me, and vibrates in every molecule and cell of my being.



5)Asato ma sad gamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrityor mamratam gamaya

Lead me from the unreal to the Real, Lead me from darkness to Light, Lead me from death to immortality

6) Guru Stotram
(last verse)
Brahmanandam parama sukhadam kevalam jnanamurtim
dvandvaateetam gagana sadrusam tatvamasyadi lakshyam
ekam nityam vimala machalam sarvadheesaakshibuutam
bhaavaateetam triguna rahitam sadgurum tam namaami.

The Inner Guru (teacher), Brahman (the one universal consciousness), gives bliss and supreme happiness.
The Inner Guru is absolute unity and
is the very substance of all knowledge.
The Inner Guru, by existing beyond dualism,
is absolute truth, blue sky, heaven.
To see the Inner Guru's true nature is my first
and foremost objective, this is the primary aim of my life.
The Inner Guru is one—eternal, pure, immovable,
existing as the supreme witness of the mind of all beings.
Existing beyond and free from the three gunas, or states of being.
To that Essential Guru, Truth itself, I bow.


7) Vagarthaviva sampriktau vagarthah pratipattaye | Jagatah pitarau vande parvathiparameshwarau || – Raghuvamsha 1.1



Thou art my Mother, my Father thou art.
Thou art my Brother and my Friend thou art.
Thou art my True Knowledge, my Wealth thou art.
Thou art my Everything, my Lord of Lords.

8) Om Bhuur-Bhuvah Svah
Tat-Savitur-Varennyam |
Bhargo Devasya Dhiimahi
Dhiyo Yo Nah Pracodayaat ||
Om.

Earth (the physical world, matter),
Atmosphere (breath of life, that which animates matter),
Heavens (celestial realm, our spiritual existence)…
We meditate on that source of the brilliant radiance, which is to be held sacred. Let that source be the inspiration for our thoughts, prayers, and intentions. Om.

The Painting Experience - Stewart Cubley - Your art is part of the big painting of your life

I took the Painting Experience Workshop up at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino Last weekend.

It was an amazing workshop.

I read the book a few weeks before I did the workshop.  I couldn't put it down. It is called "Life, Paint and Passion: Reclaiming The Magic of Spontaneous Expression.

3rd painting

 The book had great quotes:
p.xx "What is reflected in the forms, images and colors is the by-product of a journey that has taken place on an inner landscape. The real painting has been created on the canvas of the psyche, the true artistic product is the personal transformation that has taken place within the painting experience itself."

art is the pulse of the universe

p.6 "As children we were taught how to do everything: how to read, how to study, how to be polite. We  have been bombarded with the right way to do things. So now we are approaching art and we think we should know how to do it. Yet art is the only thing that we should not know how to do! Art is the place not to know.  To create is to move into the unknown-to move into the mystery of yourself, to have feeling, to awaken buried perceptions, to be alive and free without worrying about the result"

added more paper for the roots

p. 12"If you wait for inspiration, you may wait a ling time. The more you wait, the more you think and get tangled in the tight net of success and failure. You do not need an idea to paint, you need only a brush.  If you do not know what to do, just paint!"

p. 16-17 "Talent is not a gift given to only a few. Talent is like the sun shining outside the window: it is there for all of us-all you have to do is pull back the curtains and let it in. Talent comes from openness, integrity, simplicity, and the courage to feel and take risks.  It is part of being human... Talent is universal. You dip into that source to your heart's content. Everyone is good at what comes to them spontaneously.  If nothing is put in your way, talent will meet you there."

1st painting

p.51 "If you want to explore the unknown, intuition is your best guide When intuition passes through you, it has no choice. At every moment it has only one possibility; what needs to be done. Like a flower, it has only one way to grow. The mind, then, does not spend each moment considering possibilities, but rather enjoys watching the garden bloom.Life gives us the seed: the artist's job is to make sure it will grow."

p.71 "The unfolding of the unexpected becomes the energy that drives you. You discover how thirsty you are for exploration without analysis. You feel strangely at home in a place you can't define. You are truly creating."

2nd painting

The purpose of the painting process is to unclog this channel of intuitive action and allow it to operate in every aspect of our life.

p.74 " To be present with each new development in the painting and to experience it fully is infinitely more lifec-hanging than any interpretation."

p.81 "If you do not listen to your intuition, it will stop talking to you.  Your intuition, is like a sensitive friend.  If you question it, censor it, judge it, it gets hurt and becomes silent. When you paint for process, you don't decide what is and is not acceptable.  The gift of spontaneous expression has been given to transcend that choice, to open you to what you do not know, cannot predict or expect."

p.97 "self-discovery is about opening to the mystery-knowing less about yourself, not more. when you forget yourself and follow the movement of images, forms and colors as they emerge, that is true discovery."

p.104 "Explanations are an escape from feeling: assertions distract us from being in the midst of our present experience, from moving step by step on new ground.  The drama that's on the painting truly does not matter.  What matters is what we are underneath it, and this can be experienced, not explained."

p.168 "The pot is not the water it contains.  The river is not what it carries. Why identify with the driftwood that the river washes onto its shores? What you really are lives beyond any definitions or frame.  It is uncapturable execept for the spirit, which appears in the life of an honest stroke of paint, whatever its content."

p.174 "Remember that each experience is part of the journey toward yourself."

p.177 "You do not use art as a means to an end but as a way t inhabit and explore the present...Your art is part of the big painting of your life. You are on your own, standing by yourself in the middle of creation.  In the beauty of that aloneness, and in how you respond to it, you will find your passion."

Yoga Poses for a Thanksgiving Gratitude Practice

Mountain Pose/Extended Mountain Pose
Sun Salutations
Moon Salutations
Downward Dog
All poses with hands in prayer/Anjali Mudra
Low Lunge
Monkey Pose
Garland Pose
Fish Pose
Wide Legged Forward Bend
Warrior 1
Warrior 2
Humble Warrior
Pigeon
Cat/Cow
Any Forward type of Forward Bend/Forward Fold
Heart Opening Poses
Wheel or Bridge
Prayer Twist
Revolved Side Angle
Reverse prayer (legs in butterfly or in easy pose)
Toppling Tree
Pyramid

I am offering an Art/Yoga Fusion on Gratitude on Sunday, November 16th from 12:30 to 3:30pm at The Yogi Tree called Art/Yoga Fusion: Gratitude Yantra for Thanksgiving.

Sign up under events at www.theyogitree.com

Astanga

Practiced ashtanga yesterday and today with pranidhi at yogaworks southbay. I forgot how much I love the practice. It is beautiful to go at your own pace.  It is beautiful not to have music and just listen to the sound of your own breath .

yoga nidra

did an 8 stage yoga nidrs this afternnon,  i feel asleep during most of it except the opposites.

Healing Dream

I had this wonderful healing dream:

My dad was there. He said he was going to yoga soon.  He was heavy but thinner than I remember him.

My old boyfriend Alex was there, we held hands and we talked.  He asked me to apologize to Leila. I protested I hadn't done anything wrong.  His friend from highschool Dave Loeb was also there.

My sister was washing the dishes from a very tame pizza party I just had.

It was a very vivid dream.

7 stage Yoga Nidra

I did a seven stage Yoga nidra finishing at 7:20am.  I felt very relaxed practicing on my side on the couch.  It seemed to go very fast.  My breathing got very deep.  I had no problem counting backwards from 18 to 0

Art/Yoga Fusion: The Heart Mandala for Self Esteem

Saturday, October 18th was my first Art/Yoga Fusion Workshop.  The topic was The Heart Mandala for Self Esteem.

We started by meditating using Ahamkara Mudra. Aham in sanskrit translates to I, Ego, Self and Kara is the verb to do or make.  The word ahamkara means I-maker. Ahamkara mudra is one of the most powerful mudras for self-esteem. Holding the mudra will help you strengthen your ability to face difficulties with confidence.  This mudra reminds you to get your ego out of the way and allow your intuition to flow and trust your inner self.

We continued with Yoga Poses for Self-Esteem: Tadasana, Tree Pose, Goddess Victory Squat, Sphinx, Warrior 1 and 2, Supported Bridge, Hero, Cobra, Upward Facing Dog, Dancer, Chandra Namaskar (not in this order)

Then I gave people of number of questions to answer by writing.

The answers to these questions were used to male the individual mandalas..

People could chose a template or a blank circle.

I ended with a guided metta meditation.

That was my first workshop. Nine people attended.

It took place at The Yogi Tree in Toluca Lake.

10 Kasinas

In Buddhism, Kasina refers to a class of basic visual objects of meditation. There are ten kasiṇa mentioned in the Pali Tipitaka:  Through focus on the 10 kasinas you understand how everything works.  It is said that all buddhism is in the kasinas

1. earth (paṭhavī kasiṇa),
2. water (āpo kasiṇa), divine eye
3. fire (tejo kasiṇa),
4. air, wind (vāyo kasiṇa),
5. blue, green (nīla kasiṇa),  Attainment of liberation by the beautiful
6. yellow (pīta kasiṇa), Liberation by the beautiful at the moment of aesthetic experience that sets us free
7. red (lohita kasiṇa),
8. white (odāta kasiṇa),
9. enclosed space, hole, aperture (ākāsa kasiṇa),
10. bright light (āloka kasiṇa). creates luminous forms

The earth touching buddha is about doing the earth kasina

Dakini Miao - LMU - September - Art has healing power - Pay attention to the words beginning with IN

I saw Dakini Miao at LMU again this September.  She was as wonderful as ever.

She said we have to remember what we are and what we are is pure spirit. She says that pure spirit has no guilt at all.  Pure spirit also has no duality.

She had us remember our naughtiest and naive story from our childhood.

Guilt, lack of confidence, fear, ignorance are all heavy energy obstacles.

What does REAL ART mean?
- Not entertainment
- Not luxury
- Art is to relax, have fun and see the beauty

What is the profound meaning of art?
- We are pure spirit and have to know art.

Talked about YANTRA

Ya is balance
TRA is liberation

There is a dharma power that is deep and not entertainment, it is beyond entertainment

Art has energy, art has healing power, Art can heal pain, Art can heal guilt.  Art can heal any obstacle.  Say to yourself "I am an artist!"

Use art for transformation,  Do it with the breath.  Let the whole body energy flow.
Do it with singing. Keep curious.  Keep your sense of adventure.  Be silly. Be naive. Be playful no matter what.  Have naive brave energy.  Don't be too serious.

Pay attention to the unintentional spark.  Think of the in words

- Insight
- Interesting
- Inspiring
- Incredible
- Inside
- Intuition
- Intrigue
- Intelligence
- Invent
- Innocent
- Intention
- Interpret
- Intense

Do something naughty and adventurous.
Do something naughty and creative.
Put back interest in your life.
Look inside and see what is frozen.

It takes bravery and big responsibility to face yourself/

Since we are pure - we can use color

Color is: flavor, medicine, inspiration

Art is part of enlightenment.  After samadhi is manifestation.  All artists are mystics.

We can not do anything - let the thing do us.

Just surrender and be ready.

The divine is using me - I have nothing to do.

Do yoga, do breathing and be sensitive to your body.

Form is empty

OM MANI PADME OM

THE POWER OF THE COLOR BLUE
She talked again about the blue pearl.
blue blood
krishna
medicine buddha
God seen as blue dots
Blue is healing energy
Try to start all painting with some blue


White light is chi energy

Pink is the development of the blood meridian

Purple is when the three meridians are in balance

Live like the lotus

Hot Power Fusion

I practice Hot Yoga.  Sometimes I am embarrassed to say it because it is too cool, too hip.  But it works for my body.  I practiced Hot Power Fusion this morning.  A class I like more and more because I can be expressive.  I worked a lot on the Ahamkara Mudra during the practice.  Getting used to using the mudra when I teach my workshop.  I felt very good today in bow, standing forward head to knee and in balancing stick.  Good practice overall.  I like the 6:30am class with Brookelin Gottlieb.

Art/Yoga Fusion Workshop: Heart Mandala for Self Esteem

This is the workshop I am leading next weekend.

"Wouldn't it be powerful if you fell in love with yourself so deeply that you would do just about anything if you knew it would make you happy? This is precisely how much life loves you and wants you to nurture yourself. The deeper you love yourself, the more the universe will affirm your worth. Then you can enjoy a lifelong love affair that brings you the richest fulfillment from inside out. " - Alan Cohen

Often we forget to celebrate and nurture ourselves. Sometimes our inner critique is so strong that we say things about ourselves internally that we would not say to our worst enemy. Many times we rely on other people’s compliments and encouragement to determine our own self-worth. In this busy life, we can easily forget who we are and what makes us unique and special.

Creating the self-esteem heart mandala reminds us to celebrate ourselves as the success we already are. During the process of mandala making we are forced to slow down and remember our greatness.

We still start with a yoga asana practice focusing on opening the heart chakra. We will then do some automatic writing exercise around self esteem. Followed by the creation of individual Self-Esteem Heart Mandalas using collage, paint, writing and drawing.  We will close with a guided metta (loving-kindness) meditation.

The workshop is from 1 to 4pm. The workshop costs $30 if you preregister and $40 at the door.

sign up at www.theyogitree.com

"Yours is the energy that makes your world. There are no limitations to the self except those you believe in." - Jane Roberts