Toxic

I prefer to read the book Meditations From the Mat by Rolf Gates everyday (as it is a 365 meditations book set up for one passage a day) and this year I started to actually read it beginning with January 1st, wanted to see how it felt to follow it with the calendar year.

Currently i am still within the section about the yamas -the ethical and spiritual observances help us develop the more profound qualities of our humanity. The yama that is being discussed in the current passages is about nonhoarding or letting go. Letting go of physical clutter, or not focusing too much on materialism, but also letting go of personal and spiritual baggage. Cleaning the skeletons from our closets so to speak, cleansing ourselves of negativity to better ourselves and to have a more powerful impact on others. Letting go of past blames and regrets, embarassments, jealousies, vengances, bitterness, etc. Letting go of our constant control to be perfect with everything and everyone, and focusing our engeries on knowing already that we are perfect and that all is well. learning to relax more and be more relateable and approachable. Learning to truly accept ourselves and appriecate what we have been given, and moving on, shrouding away the past and letting go of the whatifs of the future and allowing ourselves to be present in the present moment. Someone once told me that it is called the present because it is a gift and we should all learn to cherish it! *^_^*

There are many different meditation styles and techniques out there, one of the most well known and simplest in concept I personally find to be the most challenging to actually practice and master, and that is closing our eyes, calming our breath, and letting go of our thoughts and judgements and concerns and just being there in the moment, in the room listening to the sound of our breath or the tv on down the hall, or the dog barkign outside, or the wind chimes, or the rain, your tummy grumbling, what have you, but lettign go of labeling what you hear or feel, not judging anything or feeling emotion towards it one way or the other and continuing to just quiet the thoughts in your mind.

My challenge to you is to pause reading this or checking your email, or facebooking, or checking out porn (whatever floats your boat), turning away from your phone or computer, closing your eyes and for 3 minutes focus all your energies on quieting your mind, and just being in the moment, being in whatever room you are in however if on a bus or the train or something i suggest waiting til you get home so you dont miss your stop) I am practicing with you, so enjoy!

Saraphine + Cortana

My Husband has a pet tarantula that he named Cortana after the AI in his favorite game Halo, and this past summer for my birthday he bought me a snamke that I named Saraphine.

For those that are unfamiliar snakes and spiders make rather similiar pets as far as care and up keep. Cortana only needs to be fed about once a month, or longer depending on their own mood, and snakes when grown eat once every two weeks and when they feed they usually only eat one cricket or moth for the spider and one mouse for the snake. They both rarely need water, and they are content in small containers. the type of spider and snake that we own are both also similar to cats and dogs in the fact that they are tame, housebroken, and very loving and affectionate to people.

The reason why I bring them both up today, is I have been very inspired by them and their way of life for quite some time. In yoga it is said that you are not a human doing nor are you a human acting, but we are humanbeings and that we all need to master the art of just being! Nature I have found has already mastered the art of peace by doing just that. Both Saraphine and Cortana know how to just be! They just sit or lay in their little tanks, not eating or drinking more than they need to survive and are content without having more of anything. They do not need fancy homes or do-dads and trinkets to gaze at or play with, all they need is their bedding and they keep just fine.

Yoga is not just about doing headstands or balacing on one foot, its about a way of life. In yoga their are 8 limbs:
The first limb, yama, deals with one's ethical standards and sense of integrity, focusing on our behavior and how we conduct ourselves in life. Yamas are universal practices that relate best to what we know as the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Niyama, the second limb, has to do with self-discipline and spiritual observances. Nonhoarding, nonstealing, truthfulness, and moderation are all examples of niyamas in practice.

Asanas, the postures practiced in yoga, comprise the third limb.

It is the first two limbs that I want to focus on. It is here that feel that Cortana and Saraphine have captured what it means to be free, by just having these two things as their way of life.

 Now for us we have grown up quite differently, aside from the obvious that we are humans and have a higher range of emotions and intellegence to deal with, but we live in a world of 'me, me, me... mine, mine, mine..more, more, more' coming up with phrases like 'it's a dog eat dog world', always fighting to have. So we have the ablity to Just Be, however for most its something that we have to practice to regulalry achieve.

Now I am not saying that we must all go back to living in trees and wearign burlap sacks eating one squirl a day or something, we can have our cell phones and our cars and ours homes, but in having them and gaining them its important that we not lose sight of who we are and what are morals are. its important to take sometime to just breath and be in the moment. Or if you really like to just move then do so witha  mind that has let go. Practice really enjoying and appreciating what you have and who is around you, and practice being content in your own skin and your own life!

Utter peace and happiness is within you to achieve!