Three Steps to Crafting a Personal Vision Statement

What do you want to do or be when you grow up?  It is a question my 18 year old hears often.  He says he feels the stress of trying to decide his major.  But, as adults, do we ever hear that?  Or think about that?  In my parent’s generation you worked for one company and retired with a good pension, but that doesn’t happen anymore.  Most adults have a couple of career changes.  How many of us are still doing what we went to college for?  Can we reinvent ourselves? And if so, what is it that we want to do?  We can bump along in our jobs and keep doing the same thing, one year blending into the next.  Or, can we steer our ship and create different adventures?

This is where a personal vision statement comes in.  I am often inspired by Oprah Winfrey.  I remember reading somewhere about how the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Henley inspired her:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

 Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul. 

To become the master of your fate and the captain of your soul takes vision, planning and chutzpah!

First step: Personal Research

Your personal vision statement captures what you want to be, do, feel, think, associate with, and have an impact on by some date in the future. It is closely aligned with your most important, or core, values. Use the value identification exercise to guide you through this process. Think about your personal vision statement as a personal development strategy.

It's good to create or revise the "personal vision" you have for your life periodically.  Your goals and values will change as you change and age.  What motivated you at twenty will probably be different from what motivates you at 60.   A compelling vision can help you succeed and be more satisfied with your life.

Importance of Having a Personal Vision

Numerous experts on leadership and personal development emphasize how vital it is for you to craft your own personal vision for your life. Warren Bennis, Stephen Covey, Peter Senge, and others point out that a powerful vision can help you succeed far beyond where you'd be without one. That vision can propel you and inspire those around you to reach their own dreams. I've learned in my own life and in working as a psychologist that if you don't identify your vision, others will plan and direct your life for you. I've worked with too many individuals who late in their lives said, "If only. . . ." You don't have to be one of them.

Senge defines vision as what you want to create of yourself and the world around you. What does your vision include? Making a vital change in an area such as health, technology, or the environment? Raising happy, well-adjusted children? Writing a book? Owning your own business? Living on a beach? Being very fit and healthy? Visiting every continent? Helping others with their spiritual development? What are you good at? What do you love to do? What aren't you good at now, but you'd like to be? All of these important questions are part of identifying your personal vision.

Use the following Value Identification Exercises to think through and start to craft your personal vision. It's adapted from many sources and should prompt you to think and dream. Find a place without distractions such as a quiet table at a restaurant. Answer as many of the questions as possible, and discuss your responses with someone you trust.

First Step - Value Identification Exercises

• What are the things I really enjoy doing?

• What brings me happiness and joy?

• What were your two best moments of the past week?  Why?

• How can I incorporate more of that into my life?

• Three things I would do if I won the Lottery:

• Issues or causes I feel deeply about?

Circle your most important values:

• Having integrity

• Spirituality

• Being fit and healthy

• Having a nice home and belongings

• Leaving the world a better place

• Having fun

• Learning and improving myself

• Making others' lives easier or more pleasant

• Enjoying my family

• Others? (Add your own)

Things I can do at the good or excellent level:

What I’d like to stop doing, or do as little as possible:

Did any of these questions trigger some ideas about what you'd like to be doing with your life? If so, keep thinking about the questions and your answers, and continue your personal research.

Identifying your strengths

It's now time to pull together your research and write a Personal Vision Statement. Your vision must be unique and appropriate for you, so I offer the following Personal Vision Statement only as an example:

I am more physically fit, almost finished with my formal education, actively involved in two close personal relationships, meditating regularly, having fun every day, and making at least 75% as much money as before doing work that I love.

Notice in this sample that the person included several areas of life (physical, intellectual, social, spiritual, emotional, and career). It's a picture of how the person sees himself/herself and is written in the present tense.

Use the following tool to synthesize what you've learned about yourself and to write your own statement.

Second Step – These are the main things that motivate me, bring me joy and satisfaction.

My greatest strengths, abilities, traits, things that I do best are:

At least two things that I can start doing, or do more often that use my strengths and bring me joy are:

Something that I need to work on or improve upon that would serve me:

Things that I need to let go of or delegate: 

Third Step – Crafting Your Vision

There are a couple of rules to follow for writing your personal vision statement

Always state things in the present moment as if they are already true.

See yourself in that situation.  What are you wearing/ What is your hair like?  What is the geographical setting? What time of day is it?  Who are you with?  What does the air smell like. Engage all of your senses to make the scene as realistic and believable as possible.

Extrapolate outward.  How does your doing your vision impact the world around you?  How does it make the world a better place?

Dare to dream big.  Experts in this field say that most people dream too small.   Reach for the stars! 

What to do with your Vision Statement

Seal you Vision Statement and put it somewhere where you will find it in December of 2017.  I taped mine to the December page of my calendar.  Open it on December 1st, of next year and read it!  You may be astonished at everything that happened over the year.  Some things may not have happened, but that is ok.  Reflect on those things and see if they are what you really wanted, or you just thought you wanted, or thought you “should” want.  Then after some contemplation, start the process over again.  Revise, rewrite and reimagine!  Here’s to your best year, yet!

Learning to Relax.

The pose of the month for December is Savasana.  That does not mean that we will spend the entire class in Savasana.  Just like every other pose of the month, we will spend maybe 10 or 15 minutes working on the featured pose.   (And, if you are lucky, you will get a lovely Savasana assist by yours truly!)

So what do we need to work on in Savasana?  Aren’t we just supposed to relax and do nothing?  Absolutely, but how many of us can do so?  I know many students who cannot stay for Savasana.  They don’t see the value in “doing nothing”.

But relaxation is so important, it breaks the stress cycle.  We all know how stress is bad for our body and immune system. (You can read about how harmful stress is for your body here.)  While we cannot avoid stress in our lives, we can take steps to promote relaxation and Savasana is one of those ways.

We live in a high stress society.  I am amazed at how many people cannot relax.

All during class I am cueing, cajoling and encouraging my students to engage this, or straighten that, or hug towards the midline, or extend out.  When we finally get to the end, it is time to relax and let go.  Often a strong and sweaty practice is conducive to letting go.  But, I am surprised at how much tension some students can still be holding onto in their bodies during Savasana.

Sometimes during final relaxation, I will go around and adjust a few people. I usually let people know I will be doing this so I don’t startle anyone (and I allow people to opt out).   I approach them quietly and touch them gently before lifting their arm up and slowly wiggling it.  If they are relaxed, the arm should move like the empty sleeve of a jacket.  But more often than not, the arm comes up rigidly and the person moves the arm with me, anticipating which way I am going to wiggle it.  Some students are unconsciously helping me, even though I tell them I don’t want them to help.  It is not unusual for the arm to stay up in the air even after I have let go of it.  When I quietly tell the person that if they were relaxed, the arm would not stay up in the air by itself, they often smile and let the arm down.  Then I begin again.  I ask students to “let go”, to “play dead”, “relax”.  Some people simply cannot do it right away.  It takes practice.  We are so used to being on guard, to protecting ourselves from being taken advantage of, of not allowing ourselves to be vulnerable.  The result is that we cannot let go.

I discovered what I need to do is to prepare people for relaxation; to tell them at the beginning of class what they need to do at the end, to describe what I see and feel in people’s bodies when they are tense.  This seems to help a lot.  In a society that values doing over being, we need instructions on how to relax.

Here are some tips on how to relax:

1. Plan a place and time to relax (if this is done outside of your regular yoga class.) Showing up is 80% of the work!

2. Determine the amount of time you have to relax and set a timer. It is easier to relax when you know how much time you are willing to give.

3. Make yourself comfortable. You should be lying down on the floor.  Place a blanket under you if the floor is hard and you are not on carpet.  Use blankets, bolsters or pillows to support your body in away way to insure you stay comfortable.

4. Make sure you are warm. As you lay still you will feel cooler than when you were moving, particularly if you were sweaty.  Put on an extra shirt, socks or even cover yourself with a blanket.

5. Use an eye pillow, if you like, or cover your eyes with something like the sleeve of a shirt or a hand towel. This does two things for you: First, it creates darkness which is more conducive to relaxing.  Second, it weighs the eyes down and helps to keep them from moving around.  (You don’t need something heavy on the eyes, just a gentle suggestion of weight.) Eye movement stimulates the brain and we want the brain to slow down as part of the process of relaxing.

6. Commit to stillness. Sometimes when I lay down for Savasana I may feel as if I am too fidgety to relax and all of a sudden I have these itches and twitches and urges to move.  90% of the time, if I ignore these urges, they will go away.  It seems that they are the mind’s resistance to staying still.  The mind wants to be stimulated.  If I am able to resist movement I begin to relax.  Now, 10% of the time, you may actually have to scratch that itch, move your leg or grab another pillow.  You have to use common sense here, but don’t be fooled by your restless, monkey mind or you will never be able to relax.

If you don't have the time or inclination to relax at home make sure you come to class during the month of December to work on it.  You’ll be glad you did!

Come on!  I know what you really come to class for:

I’ll see you in class!

Karin

The Ten Building Blocks of Becoming a Great Yoga Teacher

Becoming a great yoga teacher is a lot like becoming great at anything else.  You have to work at it and commit yourself to the path that you are on.  It takes time as Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutra:

sah tu dirgha kala nairantaira satkara asevitah dridha bhumih  Y.S. 1.14

“When that practice is done for a long time, without a break, and with sincere devotion, then the practice becomes a firmly rooted, stable and solid foundation.”

One of the things I firmly believe in regard to the practice and teaching of yoga is the quality of patience and being able to sustain your learning over a long period of time.  One of my favorite teacher training programs I ever participated in was a 200 hour Iyengar program.  We met twice a month for three years!  I loved the fact that I had plenty of time to ask questions and steep myself in the teachings.

As much as we would like our strength, flexibility or our rehabilitation from an injury to happen overnight, we all know that it takes time for our body to change.  As your body changes, so does your understanding about the postures change.   Some changes happen faster than others and some changes are not linear; they may be plenty of setbacks on the road to progress.  That was why I liked the three year program so much.  My understanding of postures changed over time as my body changed. I wouldn’t have known to ask certain questions until I felt the changes in my body.   I know a lot of people would balk at a three year training program, however, so I adjusted my program to take place over one calendar year.  We meet every Wednesday from 12:30 to 6:00 pm.  This way you get the benefit of a true immersion while having ample time for some changes to take place.  (For those students who cannot commit to every Wednesday for an entire calendar year, or who want to spread the financial payments out over time, you can take individual modules and complete the training in two years!)

These Ten Building Blocks are the steps I followed on the path to becoming a good teacher.  They are based on the things I wanted to know and learn, the questions I was asking.  These form the foundation of the modules I offer in my 300 hour Advanced Teacher Training Program.

1. Foundation and General Form of the Poses – seeing Tadasana in every pose

2. Knowing the poses from the inside – developing your own practice

3. Anatomy and Physiology – Another way of learning about the poses from the inside

4. Sequencing – the magical art of opening the body

5. Voice and cueing – It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it

6. Philosophy/Themes – Creating a yogic experience

7. Therapeutics – What to do when something hurts

8. Meditation – Knowing yourself

9. Pranayama – Breath, the vital life force

10. Energy and Intuition – Because it is more than just physical

If you are interested in taking the next step to becoming a better yoga teacher, you can enroll in my Advanced Teacher Training Program by calling Erin Lento at 215.862.2200.

I look forward to working with you!

If you have more questions you can ask them in the comments below.  And/or, you can attend the Open House I am holding next Saturday, December 10th from 1:00 to 3:00 at The Treehouse.  Details can be found here.

If you are not ready to commit to the whole program, you can register for the individual modules. (That way you can experience the longer immersion that I was talking about above.)

2017 Curriculum Planning

I am beginning to plan my yoga curriculum for next year.  I always plan the year in advance.  I like not having to wake up in the morning and worry about what postures I want to teach.  I don't always rigidly adhere to the plan, however.  One of the nice things about having a plan is that you can choose to use it or not.  Not having a plan means you are always making it up as you go along.  Some creative things can happen that way, but not consistently enough for my tastes.

I sometimes sit down with my colleagues and formulate a plan collaboratively.  One of the things I have noticed is that yoga teachers and yoga students don't think the same way about which postures they want to work on.  I remember soliciting feedback last year from students.  Not many responded, but those who did requested mostly basic poses like Wheel, Triangle and Savasana while my colleagues put down arm balances like Fallen Angel or One Arm Handstands!

I think that most yoga students want to leave the planning up to the teachers and they are happy to just show up to class and do what they are instructed to do.  But, there are occasions when students want to have input and give feedback.  So, if you do want to give me your two cents for next year, now is the time.  I have created a 10 question survey here. Please click on the link and let me know what you want to practice next year.  I'm sure I didn't cover all the bases in my questions.  I just wanted to prime the pump and get your creative juices flowing.  Feel free to answer the survey and/or add any comments you might have just below this post.

While we still have the entire month of December to go for this year.  I am looking forward to a wonderful 2017!

Savasana or Final Relaxation Posture

The word Sava means a corpse.  In Savasana you are meant to imitate a corpse, to play dead.  This is often the hardest pose.  I know some students who cannot stay for Savasana because they see it as a waste of time; they cannot stay still.  By remaining motionless for some time and keeping the mind and body still while you are fully conscious, you learn to relax.  In the beginning, you may fall asleep.  This is ok.  It just means that you are really tired and probably are not getting enough sleep.  However, after a while, you should not fall asleep.  Conscious relaxation invigorates and refreshes both the body and the mind.  With practice, the mind learns to follow the breath, stay focused and fall into light meditation.  The posture is then extremely restorative and refreshing.

During the month of December, we will focus on Savasana.  It’s not that we will spend more time doing Savasana, we just might focus on different versions of it:  supported, side-lying, or prone.  The busy days preceding the holidays are often a great opportunity to practice conscious relaxation.  It is especially important to maintain your yoga practice and to find some time every day to sit quietly and meditate.

Cultivating an Attitude of Gratitude

Several years ago I developed a daily gratitude practice.  I wanted to shift things in my life.  Somehow I knew I had a good life, or even a great life, but I found myself complaining a lot about things. I felt dissatisfied somehow.  I began to see that I was focusing on those things that were going wrong in my life, rather than what was going right.

Back in November 2013, I was waiting in line at the grocery store and I picked up O magazine.   I have always loved Oprah's article called "What I Know for Sure" which is on the last page of the magazine.   In this particular article she wrote about how much her gratitude practice helped her.  I remember thinking that Oprah, who seemed to have everything, had to practice being grateful???  But she did.  And, so, I thought that if it was good enough for her, then maybe I should give it a try.

I keep a journal by my bedside and write in it every night 5 things I am grateful for.  That was the beginning in a big shift in my attitude.  Sometimes I am grateful for the same things every night: my husband, my son, my house.  Sometimes I am grateful for the simplest things:  my car starts every morning when I turn the key, I have hot water, I don't have a tooth ache.  The act of being grateful points the way to other things that I am grateful for and so my life changes from feeling somewhat vaguely discontented to realizing how wonderful my life truly is!

One of the things I am enormously grateful for is my job.  I love teaching yoga and I love my students.  In one of my teacher training sessions, one of my students, who also shared a love of Oprah, shared a book with me:  29 Gifts by Cami Walker.

Here is the description of the book from Amazon:

"At age thirty-five, Cami Walker was burdened by an intensified struggle with multiple sclerosis, a chronic neurological disease that left her debilitated and depressed. Then she received an uncommon “prescription” from South African healer Mbali Creazzo: Give away 29 gifts in 29 days.

29 Gifts is the insightful story of the author's life change as she embraces and reflects on the naturally reciprocal process of giving. Many of Walker's gifts were simple—a phone call, spare change, a Kleenex. Yet the acts were transformative. By Day 29, not only had Walker's health and happiness improved, but she had created a worldwide giving movement. 29 Gifts shows how a simple, daily practice of altruism can dramatically alter your outlook on the world."

Check out the 29 gifts website here.

The book details the "prescription" given to Cami by Mbali Creazzo which I wrote about here.

I know that Thanksgiving is the time of the year that we are already supposed to be be thankful.  So, I thought it would be a good idea to take this time to cultivate an "Attitude of Gratitude" that lasted for more than one day.  You might feel that with the beginning of the holiday season that you are already worried about what you are "getting" other people.  But I encourage you to think about these gifts differently.  A gift could be: a compliment, a hug, giving somebody something you already have (but maybe don't use) that you know they would want.

Mbali writes about how the prescription of giving for 29 days changed her life.  She says:  "When I am in service to another person, I am moving from a place of self-centeredness to selflessness.  The act of giving inherently carries gratitude in it.  For me, it is impossible to give without feeling grateful."

Maybe the timing is not quite right for you to begin giving 29 gifts right now.  If it isn't,  wait until you have read the book.  Maybe you start in the new year, as I did on January 4th of last year.  If you do this practice, I guarantee it will cause a shift in your perspective and may very well change your life.

I leave you with my favorite quote about gratitude.  I read this every Thanksgiving to my classes and at my own Thanksgiving dinner table:

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” - Melody Beattie

If you embark on this mission, please share your experiences below.  May you have a wonderful holiday filled with gratitude for all the blessings in your life!

Namaste,

Karin

Elevate Your Practice. Master Your Skills As A Yoga Teacher.

ADVANCED YOGA TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM

We are so very fortunate in our area that there is a lot of good yoga.  This is great for yoga students as they can pick and choose the classes and teachers with whom they want to study.  As a teacher it means that you have to work not only on your yoga practice, but your yoga teaching skills as well.  There is a lot more to teaching a great yoga class than simply loving yoga and playing "Simon Says" on your mat.

My goal is to help yoga teachers develop themselves professionally to become better teachers by offering programs on: refining their ability to see alignment, offer fabulous assists, understand relevant anatomy and physiology, create curriculum to help students make progress, find their special niche for teaching from their passion, expand their offerings to supplement their income streams, offer the benefits of yoga to people who may not be able to attend public classes, and more.

This program is modular.  You may take any section individually, or you may take the whole thing together in order to register with Yoga Alliance for your E-RYT 500. The first modules are coming up!

The first weekday module is:

The Language and Tools of Alignment - It starts with Tadasana.

Gain a deep understanding of the principles of alignment. In this module you will develop your eyes to see Tadasana in every pose. From the moment your students take a seat on their mats, your eyes will be trained to see and understand what their particular challenges are and you will be given the tools and knowledge to learn how to help them.

Class begins Wednesday, January 4 and meets every Wednesday for 6 weeks until February 8, from 12:30 to 6:00 pm

To register for this module call Erin, Treehouse Director, at:  215.862.2200

The first weekend module is:

Sanskrit - The Language of Yoga

Discover the ancient language of yoga! Work with pronunciations and definitions of the Sanskrit alphabet, commonly used Sanskrit terms and the Sanskrit terminology for asanas. Discover mantra, the practice of traversing the mind with Sanskrit. Learn how to practice yourself as well as how to make recommendations for your students

Top 10 Reasons to Immerse Yourself in an Advanced Teacher Training with Me!

My goal is to help yoga teachers develop themselves professionally to become better teachers by offering programs on: refining their ability to see alignment, offer fabulous assists, understand relevant anatomy and physiology, create curriculum to help students make progress, find their special niche for teaching from their passion, expand their offerings to supplement their income streams, offer the benefits of yoga to people who may not be able to attend public classes, and more.

Why should you take an advanced yoga teacher training program?  I have listed my top 10 reasons below:

1. Improve your skills and become a better teacher.

2. Attract more students to your classes.

3. Become a leader - on and off the mat.

4. Expand your knowledge of anatomy to become a better teacher.

5. Gain confidence in giving skillful assists.

6. Learn how to earn more money teaching yoga.

7. Find your niche as a yoga teacher.

8. Help your students advance their own practices, physically, emotionally,  and spiritually.

9. Learn the specific tools and insights to run successful private lessons, workshops and retreats.

10. Improve your own life and the lives of others through the practice of yoga.

What is up with "Venting"?

The Five Layers of the Body

My intention as a yoga teacher is to teach "alignment based yoga".  Maybe that sounds obvious, after all who would teach yoga in a non-aligned way?  That would just be unsafe.  Proper physical alignment in postures is important to stretching and strengthening safely.  But physically aligned poses just touch one layer of our being.

Annamaya Kosha:  The physical, or food layer.  This layer contains our muscles, bones and organs.  This is the physical level of doing postures "correctly".
Pranamaya Kosha:  The energetic level.  This is the level of our breath, our energy, our spirit.  We do Pranayama, or breath work, to access this layer.
Manomaya Kosha: The mental layer.  This is the level of our senses, awareness and perception of things.  This is where we experience the postures and the effects they have on us.
Vijnamaya Kosha:  The intellectual layer.  This layer contains our ability to discern, to discriminate. This is where we are concerned with what is behind the postures.
Anandamaya Kosha: The bliss layer.  This is where we recognize our connection to something greater than ourselves.

There is more to yoga than just doing postures correctly; it has to do with how we perceive and act in our world, it also has to do with the quality of our health and energy and our interactions with others.  Our yoga practice really begins the moment we step off our mat.

In my Yoga Teacher Training Program we talk about the Yamas and the Niyamas; the ethical precepts of yoga.  The first one is ahimsa, or non-violence and the second one is satya, or truthfulness.  Recently a student had this question:  “I was thinking about the yamas and niyamas, about ahimsa and satya- and I'm wondering does complaining or 'venting' fall into either of these categories? I often vent to my boyfriend about people in my life (like my friends or my mom) if I get frustrated with them or annoyed at something they did or said. I don't think this is gossiping, because I am just venting my frustrations, but I feel like it is something! I'm just not sure which yama it would fall under.”

Venting is something we all do and while it sometimes feels good to get things off your chest, it also doesn’t feel good.  As the student comments, “…it is something!”

There are several reasons why it is “something”.

The First Two Yamas: Ahimsa and Satya

The yamas are considered restraints.  As I mentioned above, we have only talked about ahimsa and satya so far.  So I will only look at these two; although the yamas and niyamas are meant to be looked at in relationship to each other because they are truly intertwined.  Is venting your frustrations harmful to another?  Maybe not if the person about whom you are talking doesn’t hear it.  But what if they did?  They might not like what you said about them.  Would what you said be harmful?  If the answer is “yes”, then you know that you are not in alignment with ahimsa.  In terms of satya, or truthfulness is what you said true?  Or, is it just your opinion?  While you may not like what your friend or mother did, that is your opinion.  You don’t know why they acted the way they did.  People do things for their own reasons.  More about his under The Four Agreements later.

The Laws of Karma

The real question to ask is how does venting harm you?   This is where the laws of karma come in.  Karma is defined as anything you think, do or say.  Thoughts and words plant seeds as much as actions do. One of the reasons it feels like “something” when you vent about others is that it is planting negative seeds.  Planting seeds of gossiping or complaining causes those things to happen to you.  Just like planting a tomato seed will only produce tomatoes and not pumpkins. Have you ever been hurt by what others have said about you?  The best cure for that is to not say things about others.  This is a challenging but extremely rewarding practice.  I think it is human nature to vent our frustrations, but nothing good ever comes out of it.  While I initially think I will feel better when I get it off of my chest, I almost always feel a little cheap or dirty, a little something, afterwards.  In other words, I don’t feel good about it.

The Four Agreements

While these agreements come from a different discipline, I think they are applicable here.

1. Be Impeccable with your Word:Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the Word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your Word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
   Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don’t Make Assumptions
   Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
   Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret. 

Again, I will refer to the first two only.  (What a coincidence!)  Venting falls under the category of Being Impeccable with your Word which relates to satya.  This one is simple; venting is not using your word in the direction of truth and love.  In my study of yoga philosophy I have learned that the ancient seers believed that the universe was created by sound.  Even in the Bible, Genesis starts with: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” In yoga there is this idea that the sound “AUM” is the sound of creation.  Scientists have discovered that there is a sound, a vibration in the universe that corresponds to the sound of AUM.  We have all heard that we have the power to create our world with our words, or to destroy someone else’s. In order to manifest things in our lives we often have to speak them out loud.  What do we want to create? What are we creating with our words either consciously or unconsciously?  Again, since karma is everything you think, do or say we need to pay more attention to our thoughts, actions and speech.  There is an interesting story I heard about our thought patterns:

A man was looking to relocate his family in a new town.  He decided to take a drive one day to check out the town he wanted to move into.  He stopped at a gas station to fill his tank and he asked the attendant what the people were like who lived in this town.  The gas station attendant was very wise and asked the motorist what the people who lived in his town were like.  The man said that the people in his town were very nice, hard-working, trustworthy and always ready to lend a hand to someone in need.  The gas station attendant said, “Well, I guess you will find people to be the same around here.”  The man thanked him and drove off.   On another day another man was looking to relocate to this same town.  He pulled into the gas station and asked the attendant what the people were like who lived in this town.  The attendant asked what the people who lived in his town were like.  The man said he hated the people in his town and that was why he was looking to move away.  He said the people were mean and he didn’t trust his neighbors.  The gas station attendant said, “Well, I guess you will find people to be the same around here.”

The Divine Truth of the Seventh Chakra

According to medical intuitive, Caroline Myss, the “Divine Truth” of the seventh chakra is to “Live in the present moment”.  The last reason I can think of as to why venting is “something” is the idea that we are usually venting about something that has already happened.  Another story: 

Monks take a vow of celibacy and are not supposed to have contact with women.  Once, long, long ago, two monks were walking along a path.  They came upon a finely dressed women who asked the monks if they could carry her across the stream as there was no bridge or other way to get across without ruining her dress. The younger monk felt very uncomfortable about touching the woman and declined.  The older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the stream and set her down safely on the other side.

The two monks walked along for a little while in silence.  Finally the younger monk asked the older monk how he felt about breaking his vow and touching a woman.  The older monk looked at the younger monk and said, “Brother, I put that woman down a half an hour ago.  Why are you still carrying her around?”

We cannot control our friends or our parents.  And we know that people do things for their own reasons.  How much of our energy are we tying up by living in the past and complaining about what someone did previously?  Can we learn to unplug, to let go and to bring all of our energy into the present moment?  Better yet, can we learn to bless our friends, neighbors, parents or kids as they move along on their journey while we attend to ours?  Think of how much more energy we will have for ourselves and our own affairs if we let go of the affairs of others.

Simple but not easy!

Metta Meditation – May all beings be happy and free.

Metta meditation, or loving kindness meditation, is the practice concerned with the cultivation of benevolence or kindness.  The practice consists of silent repetitions of phrases like “may you be happy” or “may you be free from suffering”.  These feelings are directed initially towards oneself, then a loved one, a neutral person and finally a difficult person.

This particular meditation is directed towards freeing the person doing the meditating from the negative thoughts associated with holding grudges or ill-will against another being.  Holding a grudge against someone, or being angry with someone is a lot like “drinking poison and hoping the other person dies”.  The only person being harmed is the person holding the negative emotion.  The other person may be totally oblivious to your feelings about them.

To start, come to a comfortable sitting position with the spine erect.  Take a nice deep inhale followed by a couple of long slow exhale.  Do this a few times until you no longer feel any power behind the letting go of the breath.  Imagine the love and light of Divine Consciousness (your idea of God or the wisdom of your own heart) pouring over you and washing through you, revealing the purity of your own heart.  Feel yourself totally safe, loved and enclosed in this radiant light.  Repeat these lovingkindness blessings to yourself:

May I be at peace, May my heart remain open
May I awaken to the light of my own true nature,
May I be healed, May I be a source of healing for all beings.

The second step of Metta extends blessing to our loved ones.  Bring a loved one to mind.  See them in as much detail as possible.  Imagine the light of Divine Consciousness pouring over them and revealing the purity of their own heart.  Imagine them totally safe, loved and enclosed in this radiant light.  Then bless them:

 May you be at peace, May your heart remain open
May you awaken to the light of your own true nature,
May you be healed, May you be a source of healing for all beings.

The third step of Metta extends blessings to a neutral person.  Someone you may come into contact with in your day, but you don’t really know; like the cashier at the grocery store.  Bring this person to mind.  See them in as much detail as possible.  Imagine the light of Divine Consciousness pouring over them and revealing the purity of their own heart.  Imagine them totally safe, loved and enclosed in this radiant light.  Then bless them: 

May you be at peace, May your heart remain open
May you awaken to the light of your own true nature,
May you be healed, May you be a source of healing for all beings.

A fourth step of Metta extends blessings to someone who may be a little bit or a lot hard to love.  Start with someone who is just a little hard to love.  It is quite an advanced practice to send Lovingkindness to someone with whom you have great difficulty.  But remember, this practice is as much for yourself as it is for someone else!  Bring this person to mind.  See them in as much detail as possible.  Imagine the light of Divine Consciousness pouring over them and revealing the purity of their own heart.  Try to remember that they are just trying to do the best they can with where they are on the path.   Imagine them totally safe, loved and enclosed in this radiant light.  Imagine this light washing away all of their negativity and illusion.  Then bless them:

May you be at peace, May your heart remain open
May you awaken to the light of your own true nature,
May you be healed, May you be a source of healing for all beings.

Notice how these practices affect your own heart.  Do you feel more open?  Do you feel more of a sense of lovingkindness?  If judgmental thoughts about others occur during the day, take a moment to send lovingkindness blessings first to yourself and then to them.

The chant that I have been doing in class is a lovingkindness chant.  Use it to help ground you in a sense of compassion and lovingkindness:

Lokah Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu

Listen to Russil Paul's version of this chant here.

Which is poetically translated as:

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings never be parted from freedom’s true joy.
May all beings rest in equanimity free from attachment and aversion.

Metta meditation - May all beings be happy and free.  Not just me and the people I love, but all beings, even the ones I may have difficulty with!  (gulp!)