Posts Tagged ‘love’

love is a royal elephant.

ashleyw on 9:41 am February 14th, 2012 / 2 Comments »

“If you want to know about love, forget all about love, and look for direction.”  – G.I. Gurdjieff

I will spend this Valentine’s Day observing a divorce trial for work.  And having lunch with my fiance – our first and only V-Day engaged.  And teaching a heart-opening, bhakti-focused yoga class.  These activities naturally have me wondering about the nature of love – the nature of its nascence, its cultivation, its demise.  English is a woefully inadequate language when it comes to expressing the nuances of love – just one word to encompass spiritual devotion, friendship, familial affection, romance, strong preference…  But then again, perhaps consolidating all of the different kinds of love into one grand articulation isn’t so bad.  Above love’s many sub-genres, there is one theme: love lives in expression.  If you want to know love, practice the virtues.

A great teacher once compared love to a royal elephant.  Naked, in a state of nature, we cannot tell the difference between a regular elephant and a royal one.  Likewise, without the virtues, love is unexpressed, unembodied, beyond our perception.  But the elephant dressed in royal garb is immediately recognizable.  The virtues of love are patience, respect, compassion, kindness, and on and on. The virtues are expressions of love; sometimes they are spontaneous and easy, like a song escaping from a finely tuned instrument.  But often they involve effort, they are strained, like the reluctant notes of an instrument neglected or misused.  When we let the virtues slip away, our love becomes unrecognizable.  And bad things generally follow.

Bhakti yoga is the yoga of immersing oneself into divine love.  Divine Love is not the example of what we should strive for - that unconditional, forever expansive, always present expression of grace.  It is the very essence of our hearts, who we are as the embodiment of Divine Love.  It is a journey of self-recognition, of sweeping away the clutter that causes us to forget who we are.  The Narada Bhakti Sutra is an ancient text that speaks about this journey of love – expressing – forgetting – remembering.

Sutra 53 is a particularly beautiful meditation for Valentine’s Day, and for an asana (hatha yoga) practice.  The message of the sutra is that love reveals itself where there is an able vessel.  When the vessel is compromised, love is compromised.  In this sense, “compromised” also means “unrefined” or “unprepared.” An asana practice is one way to refine ourselves – as we cultivate awareness and stillness in the mind, as we move deeper into the knowledge and experience of our breath and energy, as we align the organs, skeleton, and muscles, releasing tension and freeing up old holding patterns, we refine our vessel.  Our work is to tune ourselves – body, mind, soul – and then to enjoy the song that emanates from our hearts.  Our greater alignment on the mat allows us to experience the flow of grace – and this experience begins to transform our daily life, off the mat.

Today, I am asking myself, “Is my love recognizable?” ”What can I do to elevate my love?” “What is standing in my way?”  I am taking my inquiries to my mat before I take them into my day.  I am rededicating myself to the practice of refinement.  A real yoga practice is not a selfish pursuit – it is the pursuit of loving better.

Simon Says

kelly on 9:52 pm August 3rd, 2010 / Be the first to comment! »

Would Simon says be fun in a yoga class?

Simon Says stand on your right leg. Simon Says put your left foot on your right leg, *not on your knee. Simon says Wave your arms over your head! Now Shout I am awesome at this, I am Doing TREE POSE! – Oh, wait Simon didn’t say Shout that! Whoever shouted is now Simon! (Wait, do you win if you shouted . . ) Oh well, I changed the rules.

Let the New Simon begin dominating with the Left Side.

Hi, wow I’m random. How are you? Are you finding space to practice and meditate this summer? I hope so, and if not – please check in with us! Tell us about your body and your needs, and we’ll reply. (Ex: Hey Kelly, I am really really busy. I would love to take a yoga class, but it never happens. Help! -DC Friend)

There is a yoga practice for you and for everyone. If you r interested, we will help you discover what is right for your body.

What have we been up to at Boundless this week?!! (Well, other than being ecstatic about the New Space) we are making tons of To Do Lists. Is it just me – or are Google Spreadsheets and Google Docs the next best thing since Pranayama?!!!

Getting organized is a stellar way to prepare yourself for practice and stay grounded in your life on earth. What do you like to do to get organized? What do you love about your life when it is messy? I love both messy and neat spaces. How about you?

For example, I love organizing my purse for the next day.(SIdebar: I always think Andrea Chew would be great at this.) I also looove the disaster of my makeup area on my dresser; No matter how many times I organize, it becomes a wild mess each week. I LOVE THAT!!! I love being organized and making a beautiful mess. This is the joy of life. Being at peace with both spaces helps keep me gentle and true.

Other things I love are feathers, sunlight, and rocks. How about you? What is the summer showing you to love this year?

Just curious – do you love these colors (below) for Boundless’s new marketing/interior? What colors say Boundless to You?

Do you love the pretty pink roses in a jar and Emily Shaw’s gorgeous art behind it? I do.

I want to know what you are loving right now.

With peace and gratitude – Kelly

this one right here’s my favorite.

kelly on 2:17 pm July 25th, 2010 / Be the first to comment! »

I don’t remember where I was first introduced to the “yogic” concept of “false liking and disliking.” It may have been in this book, recommended by a great teacher, Orly Jalowski.

The basic concept is that we think we understand reality, and in fact, we don’t. Part of this “misunderstanding” is evidently what we “think we like” and especially what we “think we don’t like.” I like this concept.

There is a school of thought around “things we don’t like” that says you should “push through that” and challenge yourself. This is a little masochistic for sensitive me, so let me be clear that this is not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about a subtler thing.

I’m talking about when you push your food around on your plate, for example, and go, I like these pieces, I don’t like the crunchy parts, or whatever. Very simple preferences. I like the breeze, I don’t like the heat. I like my grey pants. I cannot stand my white sweater. – - It is quite possible that all of this is generated from a delusion you/we/I aren’t even aware of.

You have no idea why you don’t like the white sweater. Given the right conditions, it could be your favorite.

Try loving everything for a day.

I love this cup, it is my favorite.

I am so glad we’re going to that restaurant, it is my favorite.

I like it when it’s a thousand degrees outside, it is my absolutely favorite weather. (Okay, I took it a little far.)

Seriously though. Even if thought in total experiment, with full awareness that you “don’t like” that restaurant. I have found that this greatly alters my daily life. I expect things to be better. I accept more. I am happier. It is meditation, even if I’m fibbing. My body feels the good vibrations.

What if your dislikes are really a weird vibration in your kidney, or a memory of your childhood? Let them go. See what happens if you love what comes!!!

Now – to simplify matters  – I want to add that it is very helpful as human being to develop an awareness of your preferences n order to keep being a human being. So, do both.

“Love everything” and “notice your preferences” . .

So, like. I love Sundays. They’re my favorite day.

I love that I have to go the grocery store later.

I love my cheap shampoo.

- – - just keep noticing – xo -

Kelly