Traveling and learning....

I have just arrived in Bulgaria. My brother picks me up from the airport and we are making the "the short" cut trip to my mother's apartment weaving through the back streets, avoiding traffic lights and traffic all together. As always it takes a while for the ugliness to set in. I make a comment: "Why can't people in these giant, communist apartment complexes get a piggy bank going, an HOA, and repaint the outside of these buildings?" I mean, rust is streaking down the balconies, the original colors long ago fainted and satellite dishes hanging in disarray do not make a pretty site, by any stretch of the imagination. Add to that the hanging laundry, waiving it's whites and colors to the world and the occasional "home improvement" project which consist of folks enclosing their balconies and making them as part of the interior by way of glass or other not previously agreed upon materials and you can see how each building resembles a gypsy patchwork of tasteless functionality and dubious safety. "They don't care" he said.

A few hours later, the sun set but the summer night still pleasnatly warm, we are seatted in an old gazibo in the Tsar's summer garden. It's now the property of Tabo&Co and the place is alive with drinking and smoking. The menu sports over a hunderd alcoholic bevarges but i find a fresh squeezed lemonade with mint in it for the price of $3. Yes, this is indeed the Tsar's summer garden on the back side of the Tsar's palace in the heart of Sofia. Once the communists claimed the place and kept it off limits but now it appears everything is within limits.

Dressed up dolls walk around in their high heals with properly applied make up and seemingly an intention to outdo the next one. Guys stooping over tables with cigarettes between the fingers and the usual "I am too cool" scrunched up eye brows, seem to be all involved in very serious, loud conversations. Hardly any laughter, which makes my giggling all the more abvous and a few heads turn around to check out who can possibly be so happy!

My brother's child hood friends arrive and they both proceed to explain to me how hard things are and how if they just had more money, all their troubles would melt away. One would take over a defaulted restaurant and make a bank. Theother is deffinitelly sure that the root of his problems is that he's not making enough money, which amazes me because by his own admission he makes above the average pay check and lives rent-free with is mother at the age of 30. What also amazes me is that on the way to this fine establishment we have passed by many big and small coffee shops, restaurants and night clubs with flashy facades and judging by the expensive BMW, Audis and the likes of cars parked on the outside of these places, everyone's a BMW, or the like, driver with everyone has too much money and too much time to spare packing these places at 11 pm on a Thursday night. Yet, you do have to drive through a lot of pot holes to get there. "They don't care" he chimes.

What's that got to do with yoga...all of it. First of all, yoga, as a way of life, makes a person care. Ghandi cared so much he caused a revolution. Modern day yogi and yoginies are involved in variety of causes from helping children, to urban development, to support for homeless and raising money for varieties of causes. Practicing yoga, even if you don't devote your time studing the philosophy of it, opens you body and your heart to a sense of connectedness from which comes care and genuine compassion and concern for other fellow humans, nature, the environment, everything.  Bulgaria, and the whole world for that matter, needs yoga. I am the only one laughing all evening while a few more of my brother's friends pour out of the dark say "hi" to me.

"What do you think?" one of them askes me. I say "I am hearing a lot of 'no', 'cannot,' 'it's impossible,' 'no way' around here" - I say."I am more used to 'why not,' 'lets give it a try,' 'everything is possible' and 'what the hack, if it doesn't work, do something else' where i come from."

First of all, that's just how most American's are - optimistic, oportunistic, adventerous bunch, dispite alot of things. But second of all, in my little yoga comminity, i see enthusiasm and trust that things will work out and life is more fun than trouble over all. You don't have to do yoga to be that way, but yoga definitelly helps you gain a perspective, a greatitude for everything you are, everything you have and everything you can be. Which, overall is a better place than being in the Tsar's summer garden on a Thursday night in Sofia.

"The glass is either half full or half empty" i tell my brother's friends. "What do you mean?" they say. I go into my gratitude lecture with enthusiasm and more laughing, to which more heads get turned as my second lemonade arrives and i just about give the waitress a hug and tell her how wonderful this fresh squeezed lamon, suger and crushed mint tastes. She likes my outburst but is clearly confused as to what to do with it. People are sure guarded around here. I guess i used to be too. So, i count my blessings and with gratitude in my heart for my karma, which i am fully aware of, is the product of my choices and the ability to unpack the potential given to me, i pay for the drinks and leave the place laughing on the way to the car as my brother endearingly makes fun of my made up Bulgarian/English words.

"I love when you visit" he said. "It's like the sun shines all the time you are here." "It's always shining", i say," you just have to change your sunglasses and be willing to bask in it's glory without judgment, nacked, open to whatever comes and greatful for the way things turn out, even if they don't turn out the way you think they should." After all, who are we to know how things should turn out. It's enough to know that we are all God's creatures and when it says in the Old book that we are created in God's image, it does not mean, we all have long beard and sit on a cloud. It means that we are all creators. That's power. That's responsibility. That's inevitibality and that's the beauty of life!

Yoga is skill in action, according to the yogic teachings. Yoga is the yoking of your individual self, with the Supreme Self and in that way, yoga is the yoking of you with Life without and ALL of it's manifestations. So, enjoy. Tat Tsvam Asi - You Are That.

This being human….

Life goes on, weather you are a hero or a cowered…I read this somewhere. It stuck. It means that life is not personal. It means that regardless of what I want, like, deny, become, live through, etc, I am really just there for the ride. Sometimes the ride may make you nauseous – too many twist and turns on the road.   Sometimes it makes you exhilarated, looking at the scenery ahead and around. Sometimes it’s dark and sometimes it’s so bright you have to put your shades on. Either way, the road you are traveling on, doesn’t much care you are on it. You care, though. You think you chose you destination, you find your road and you are going places. You think…. 

You think, therefore you constantly qualify, analyze and file your experiences in the usual categories – like, dislike, want, do not want, good, bad, beneficial or a waste of time… 

You think, therefore you can’t see that life has nothing to do with you. 

You think that you are you. You think that there’s a “you” out there that makes it all happen. This you visualizes getting what it wants, suffers when it doesn’t get it. Gets in trouble. Gets out of trouble.  Goes on a diet. Goes off the wagon. Goes on another trip. 

Constantly trapped by what the yogi’s call “The 5 afflictions of the Mind” this “you” suffers.

1 Affliction: Ignorance. Yes, ignorance as in not knowing the facts, the way of things, what to do, etc. More importantly, ignorance of who you really are. Therefore, Know Thy Self. That’s different than knowing what you want, what you need, what you like and dislike, what you think you deserve. That’s helpful for sure, but that’s just scratching the surface of the illusion. 

Know the nature of beingness that is life flowing through this manifestation you call “yourself.”  That’s enlightenment. Everything else is circumstantial. Play chips on the board of life you think of as real money. 

2 Affliction: The I-maker. That’s the “you” you think of when you think of “yourself” conventionally. That’s the personality which evolves because it’s necessary to navigate through the world of phenomena, because you don’t Know Thy Self and because you need it while you are embodied. That’s also the collection of personality traits that are responsible for all of your karma, suffering and generally the experience of living a life as an individual. That I-maker tends to take over and make itself the all important experience of who you think you are because it does thenthinking. It thinks in terms of itself as separate and it likes to make itself feel better by thinking of interconnectedness and compassion and wonderful aspirations like enlightenment, wholeness and wellness. It plays games like “growing” and “learning,” “healing” and “achieving” and in the process it inflates itself, if it conceders itself successful, especially when it compares itself to others. That is, if left unchecked. How do you check it? Know Thy Self and you will know what the I-maker is too. 

3 Afflictions: Attraction. That’s all the things the I-maker likes, considers important and generally gravitates towards. Which is all kinds of fun, when you consider all the things people like and want. The more you have of what you want, the more solid that I-maker feels. It erects a castle around itself surrounded by the walls of all of its accomplishments, possessions, labels and titles, all of its future aspirations, all of its wonderful past experiences and stories about itself. The more of what you want you get, the bigger that sense of ME and I. “This is who I am” you say. “This is what I do.” “This is what I want.” The idea being that the more you get of what you want, the happier you will be because the fuller “I” feels! These are what the “I” becomes attached to. Unless, of course, you Know Thy Self.

4 Affliction: Aversion. That’s all the things the I-maker dislikes, considers unimportant and generally gravitates away from. Which is all kinds of fun, when you consider all the things people dislike and do not want. The more you stay away from what you don’t want the more solid the I-maker feels. It builds a castle around itself on top of all of its mistakes, mishaps, judgment of others, all of its denials. Buries it all in the basement and stands on top bigger than all of it. Bigger than its problems. Bigger than its issues. Bigger than its ignorance. It’s “Who I am not.” It’s “What I don’t do.” It’s “What I don’t want.” The idea being is that the less you have of what you don’t want the happier you will be because the fuller the “I” feels.  These are what the “I” becomes disconnected from. Unless, of course, you Know Thy Self.

5 Affliction: The Fear of Death. That’s anything that hints of annihilation of “I” as you know it. The death of a dream, the unachievable goal, the failed relationships, the terminal disease, the rejection from someone else, the disappointments, loss of status, job and friends, the not having enough of (money, house, friends…), the ultimate Death.  This is what the “I” feels anxious about, all of the time. Unless, of course, you Know Thy Self. 

You can call yourself whatever you like – a looser, a life coach, a day dreamer, an accomplished anything, an artist…those are just labels. They are useful in describing something to someone else or to yourself, such as “This person is tall.” Or “I have HIV.” Or “I am the mother of 2 children.” Or “I am an artist, come check out my gallery,” You are not the labels though. If you can’t live without the label, you limit your ability to experience the mystery of life and you make your life be about your labels. 

You can deny anything you don’t like – an addiction, a disease, a friendship, a move to another town, a talent, a psychological trait. It eats you up from the inside, festers there in the basement of your castle.  It makes your life about labels. You are not those labels either. If you can’t live with those labels you limit your ability to experience the mystery of life and you make your life about your labels. 

Life is not about labels. Life is not about you. Life is just life. So, life is not supposed to be fair. Life is not supposed to be easy or fun, or anything at all. Life IS and it is every moment, weather you are sick, or blind, or preoccupied, or alert, or happy or sad. Life does not know of emotion. Humans do and they tend to attribute their own emotions to it. Life lives. Life happens. Your interpretation of it is yours and yours alone, and therefore, your experience is yours and yours alone. When you Know Thy Self, than you ARE. You live. You happen. All of it is absolutely fascinating, however it turns out. You play the game with skill and you use your chips in creative ways, discovering possibilities and manifesting life through your fingertips like it’s nothing. Because it is nothing and in being nothing it’s absolutely everything. It’s the end of “growing,” “achieving” “learning”. It’s the death of “you” and therefore its life in full force in infinity and eternity….and the bills still get paid, the house painted, the kid’s nose wiped off and the divorce wrapped up. You donated to charities, eat ice cream, pet cows, climb mountains, learn French, yell at someone here and there and vote for your favorite politician…chop wood, carry water. Absolutely delightful. Then the lights go out. Or so it seems. Life still lives. So do you. Again. Or so it seems. 

At  your disposal....call me if you want to know how things are :)) 

Breath, Metabolism and a Peace of Mind!

Recently a girl I know asked me a question. She said: “My roommate and I decided to loose weight and started working out.  She started doing yoga and I am going to the gym. We do it regularly. My roommate’s lost weight. I’ve gained weight. Why? “

I always educate the world of the many benefits of yoga, but I definitely have a more psychological, emotional, spiritual bend on the practice, rather than strictly physiological, although I never miss a news announcement that shows latest research of how yoga helps anything from high blood pressure, to fertility, to cancer survivor rates…you name it. Today, I’ll focus on the physiology of yoga and specifically on the AWESOME benefits of the breath. 

Most people are completely unaware of their breath and don’t even know that there are better ways to breath, ways that lead to less stress, more energy, weight loss, low blood pressure and generally a healthy body. Yoga utilizes varieties of breathing techniques to give you that advantage in life. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is an integral part of every yoga practice. Most yoga styles incorporate the breath with the movements. A few, will instruct breathing separately from the movement. My personal preference, and from my observations, moving and breathing is better than move now – breath later. I will explain why in a minute. 

Deep diaphragmatic breath stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system and kick starts the relaxation response in your body – hence less stress. Drs. Brown and Gerbarg in a recent article in Current Psychiatry show how trained deep breathing can relieve trauma symptoms.  The sympathetic nervous system, which is stimulated in times of stress and anxiety, controls your fight or flight response, including spikes in cortisol and adrenaline that can be damaging when they persist too long, becoming responsible for conditions such as depression, anxiety, muscle tension and pain, insulin sensitivity, GI issues, insomnia, adrenal fatigue and cardio vascular disease, among scores of other conditions.

Deep diaphragmatic breathing is the fastest way to influence the nervous system.  Also, it increases oxygen in your blood stream. More oxygen = more active metabolism. More active metabolism = leaner body. 1 L of oxygen burns 5 calories. Which is why people exercise. When you exercise, your body demands more oxygen. Even after you finish exercising your body stays saturated with oxygen for a while which keeps you metabolism more active, continuing to burn calories. This is known as the “afterburn” effect. 

Now you can see why moving AND deep breathing is better than just moving and then deep breathing. When you combine the two, as in the way of yoga – you move, increasing the demand for oxygen and your deep breaths supply extra amount of oxygen. This results in high metabolism, which results in burning more calories even though you may be working only at the level of moderate intensity. Some forms of yoga are very active and intense. The effect there is even more pronounced because the intensity of your effort is directly correlated to the amount of oxygen consumed post exercise. Nevertheless, it’s the deep breathing that turns a gentle or moderate activity into a fat burning activity through stimulating your metabolism.  This also means that more intense practice will be more effective if combined with deep breathing. But that’s not all!!! 

Breathing is the “pump” for the lymphatic system – that’s the sewer system of your organism, the way the body transports and gets rid of toxins.  Your cells must have oxygen to survive moment to moment. They rely on a complex exchange between the circulatory system and the lymphatic system. Blood flow carries nutrients and oxygen to them, while the lymphatic system carries away destructive toxins. Proper breathing is the moderator of this exchange. More oxygen to in the blood stream = less toxins in the cells, to put it simply. But that’s not all either!!!

Pranayama is a whole practice of yoga on its own when one delves into various breathing exercises which have such an immediate and pronounced effect on your body/mind that only a few minutes per day can be of great benefit. Because of the profound mental, physical and energetic effects of some breathing practices, the supervision of a qualified instructor is necessary. So, don’t just do something because you read about it in a magazine. 

Curious about what it’s like to live life with energy and lightness in health and happiness, rather than stress, gloom and discomfort? Give yoga a try today. As always, remember the teacher has a lot to do with the outcome of your practice, so try a few and choose wisely. 

Happy breathing, all.

Valentina Petrova has been teaching yoga since 2001. She owns Holistic Movement Center in Morro Bay, CA where she teaches group classes and  advises people privately. For more info, or to book an appointment, call 805-909-1401, or visit the web at www.holisticmovementcenter.com.

PS...Some fun calorie burning facts, in case you care...

Energy expenditure and tables with a calorie calculator: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/energyexp.htm Also, there at the bottom in the extra info you can find other tools like ideal weight (which tells me i am on the lowest border), body type, and all kinds of other stuff.

Scientists have found out that the burning of carbohydrates during exercise is equivalent to 5.05 calories for every one liter of oxygen consumed. For fat it, is 4.73 calories per one liter of oxygen. They also found out that there is a greater production of carbon dioxide when carbohydrates are burned compared to when fat is burned. So, scientists can accurately determine how many calories come from carbohydrates and how many come from fat during a single session of exercise. In fitness textbooks, the figures are rounded off to 5 calories per one liter of oxygen.

Cardio Equipment
Most cardio machines (treadmill, bike, elliptical trainer, and rower) base their calorie burning formulas on a reference person who usually weighs 130 or 150 pounds. Unless you weigh exactly that much, the number being displayed on the console is slightly inaccurate. Here's how to make it more accurate.

Find out from the gym staff what the cardio machines calculations are based on. Let's assume its 130 pounds. Divide the number of calories burned by 130 pounds. Multiply the answer by your weight in pounds.

For example, the treadmill's display console says you burned 300 calories. Divide 300 calories by 130 pounds. The answer is 2.30 calories per pound. Multiply that by 120 pounds (your weight). The answer is 277 calories. 

Then, if you are feeling bad because that's all the calories you burned for one hour of walking, console yourself with the fact that you burned 277,000 physics calories. 

A calorie in physics is different from a calorie in nutrition. Doherty explains that one food calorie (which should technically be spelled with a capital C) is 1,000 times bigger than one physicist's calorie (spelled with a small c). In other words, a food calorie is actually a kilocalorie (Kcal). It is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one degree Celcius. Sometimes, the physics calorie is called a small calorie while the food calorie is called a big or large calorie. Whew! No wonder one website starts its definition of calories with an ice-breaker question: How many calories do you burn just trying to understand what a calorie is? 

So now you know that a cup of rice has 220,000 physics calories or in food terms, 220 Calories or 220 kilocalories.

Humbled and Grateful...

I do not have a problem with people dying - disease, or accidents or natural disasters. In a way. I think there are too many humans on this planet to sustain a healthy balance and that we prove this every day. I happen to think of humans as just another species and do not think that we should expect to continue as species indefinitely. So, actually, i am OK with the entire human race being wiped out in a flash by a meteor. Why? Because, I don't think we are entitled to life and we are definitely not entitled to life forever. We are just organisms on the face of a planet which is hurried through the Universe at 67,000 miles per hour to imminent destruction. These are the facts of life.

But there are other facts, which are equally present. The fact that suffering exists. The fact that the higher the nervous system, the more developed the brain, the more developed the ego, the deeper, stronger and inevitable the suffering. So, as humans we hold first place in being able to experience suffering. No other creatures on this planet can make themselves so miserable as we can. Mainly because no other creatures on this planet has the well cultivated egos that humans have. That being said, i have nothing but compassion for ALL beings but especially for the beings who experience the greatest suffering daily, hourly and by the minuted - humans.

Outside of being parasites on the face of the Earth, humans are also magicians and creators of the highest order. We are the only species who can imagine and manifest from that imagination. This is nothing short of amazing. This is Godly attribute. And what makes it more amazing is that we always, almost certainly fail to recognize that, so we devote our time and attention to building identities, acquiring things - beliefs and objects that will re-enforce those identities and then we spend a lot of time asserting those identities, fighting over our differences and defending our selves from folks who challenge our identity. Meanwhile, we are cooking delicious meals, creating art, inventing technology, raising kids and not even noticing.

So, I find here and there something i can do, like teach yoga, not eating anything with eyes, support the American Cancer Society...to perhaps alleviate some of the suffering, even though i know that suffering is nothing more than the experience of an ego who cannot accept the way things are. Pain is definite but suffering is optional - as we are told by the sages. If we reach a place in time when cancer, or other disease are no longer anyone's concern, we've solved our political dilemmas, or figured out how to build nuclear power plants that don't explode, it is likely that suffering will still exist because humans are masters at finding reasons to suffer.

At the end we shall all be returned to dust and it won't matter. Meanwhile, Ghandi and Mother Teresa showed us that helping people without judging them is a noble pursuit and makes a huge difference while we are around. Humbly, I try to learn from them and others and count my blessings every day because i realize that life is a bitter sweet phenomena, temporary, unreasonable, unfair and that it will never be reasonable and fair, because reasonable and fair are not adjectives that should be used with the word life. Life is consciousness manifested in form.

For me to live something dies every day. But does it? Consciousness is never born, and it never dies. "One man believes he is the slayer, another believes he is the slain. Both are ignorant." teaches the Bhagavad Gita. Chew on this for a while. Enlightenment is when one realizes this truth and after that....as the Zen folks would say "Chop wood. Carry water."

So, i choose to dwell on the marvel of being here and the opportunity to experience life as this form in this moment and look forward to crafting the next moment equally consciously.  I am grateful for the life forms that are "lost" everyday for this life form to continue it's temporal existence. I always ask "what should i be creating" knowing full well that the answer to this question would, at best, contain only a relative truth with relative significance that makes all the difference in this space-time reality of illusion. This heart beats the words of Ramana Maharshi: The World is unreal. Brahman only is real. The World is Brahman.

And tomorrow is another day and time for a cream cheese croissant, listening to birds, painting the bathroom, getting into arguments and wondering at the stupidity of politicians, why my phone battery only lasts a few hours, when will we finally have the teleport..."chop wood, carry water."

Yours truly....
Valentina Petrova. Call me if you want to know how things are :)))

Clean cut and color co-ordinated....

So, the Yoga Journal has a "talent search" which consists of sending your picture in a yoga pose and writing a paragraph about your self. Over 2000 people respond. Most of them with less then 5 years of yoga practice experience. A lot of them in postures they can't fit into but trying anyhow. People have to vote by clicking on 1 - 5 stars to show their vote. No telling of how many folks have voted for each person just by looking at each one, but we will be told who wins by the Yoga Journal staff at the end of the round.

This starts me thinking along these lines....

Folks flock to see the celebrity yoga teachers out there and the Yoga Journal apparently manufactures them - the prettiest face on a picture will get to be featured and as soon as that happens, this pretty face is now also a celebrity folks will flock to. No wonder i don't go to YJ conferences anymore. I am not into pretty faces who don't know much about yoga, teaching me what i can learn on my own from books and teachers who have earned the title.

You know how when you want to sell or rent your house, you have to make it "vanilla" so that essentially has no character. The idea is that since you don't know what a buyer may want, you don't want to turn someone away just because they don't like your color pallet. Well, yoga journal models are "vanilla." White background, color coordinated, perfectly representing the woman/man ratio of 70/30 and the white/ethnic ratio (which means mostly white, middle aged females) clean cut, smiling faces, no wrinkles and nice toe nails...

Last time i checked, all the yoga sages were on the scruffy side. Mad hair. Dark skin. Old (most of them). Skinny. Basically on the wild side of life and on the fringes of society. Probably stinky too, but since i never met one that i can remember, won't say anything about that. Those are the folks that left us the greatest teachings, the wisest of scriptures and coolest of practices. All we are going to leave is a hole in the Amazon forest where the trees to print the Yoga Journal's glossy advertising for things we do not need, came from.

Not that we should all aspire to cruffiness or stinkiness, but i find it hard to believe that there are no accomplished yoga figures out there that have more character than the Easter bunny. I mean, yoga is about building, or more accurately, unleashing your character in it's full potential. There's nothing "vanilla" about yoga and there can't be any because this practice gets deep down inside where the shadows lurk and churns your world upside down, if you let it (and you should). Is Ramana Maharshi vanilla? Is Gandhi vanilla? Is Yogananada vanilla? Is Krishnamurti vanilla? How about Aurobindo?

I think i sound like a broken record, but folks have to earn their teaching credentials, not just take a teacher training, or look good on a picture. I look good on a picture too but until you hear my voice, you have to idea who i am or if i am your cup of tea at all. Gymnasts look great on pictures in yoga posture, mainly because their bodies have been beaten into submission from an early age and not without the price of injuries, but they do look awesome in yoga postures. That's not the same as having a clue about yoga.

So, if you also got the "vote for your favorite" from the Yoga Journal, think about what you are really voting for. Next, think about what yoga is for you. Then think of who your teacher is/are. If you are after working out - the gym is very effective and less costly, not that there's anything wrong with working out, because you do that too while practicing yoga. If there's more to your practice than a work out, make sure your teacher is more then a pretty face, entertaining figure or sweat talking son of a preacher-man.
Just a suggestion....

Call me if you want to know how things really are :))
Namaste.

This life...know thy self!!

There used to be a time when I'd look in the mirror and be so absorbed in thoughts that I wouldn't even see my image there. The hair got brushed - yes i did see those early gray strands, which produced more thinking of the sort "Darn, why do i have to be just like my mother?" The teeth got brushed. The face got washed...the usual stuff. I just didn't see what was in the mirror, or who was in the mirror...

All those wonderful days living in Hawaii I notice the fragrance of the Plumeria tree in front of my window. I noticed the red headed cardinal skipping about from branch to branch. I noticed the smell and the sound of the rain drumming on the roof...I noticed the waterfalls off the Pali as i drove through, right after the rain. I noticed the deep green on the leafs and the mist on the tips of the mountains. The rainbows mauka and the waves makai...that's mountain side (mauka) and ocean side (makai)...I noticed so many things. The work load just to pay the bills. The school load just to get an education. The friends, the huli-huli chicken stands and the malasadas in front of Daiei supermarket, the colorful sarongs and puffy mumus of the local, the way the clouds make a hole right over Diamond Head...so many things.

I just didn't notice me. In all that beauty i managed to find my self depressed. In all that life I managed to write morbid stories. I forgot all about them but i just found them unpacking boxes from the past. It's been 13 years since I've left Hawaii for California, and yes, friends, it is a downgrade, but things can be a lot worse. There could be real snow out there, and this would be a major bummer. One should not live where the weather can kill you!

So, reading those things, at first i wondered where i got them from and who wrote them. There's a definite advantage of selectively remembering only about 20% of my life. It's not Alzheimer's. It's bliss. Anyhow. I red a few things and it sounded strangely familiar until the full details of that particular piece of broken heart, or lost soul, creativity floated up to the surface of my mind... and OMG - this was really me!

Anyhow...all that just to say one thing - Know Thy Self.  Here's why:

1) It seriously cuts down on the drama. Well, if you like drama, this will be a bummer for you, but then, if you really like drama, you'd never really want to Know Thy Self. You'd "know" a version of your self you like to display to the world and make everything that happens totally personal for that version of you. And in order to be convincing to others, you'd have to believe that this version of you IS you. Therefore, you will defend it. Hence, the drama.

2) Getting older is not that much fun. I know because i work with older folks and listen to them talk about their younger days and about all the body parts that just stopped working. I have wrinkles too, and apparently my face is starting to sag. Seriously? I mean, really?? Whatever! This body has a shelf life and an expiration date. You can either accept it and move on with other more important things to wonder about, than your own demise, or stew in the inevitability of degeneration, cellulite and indigestion. Which one would you rather do? Because, you know, all the plastic surgery in the world will not stop your liver from producing liver spots on your face....and no matter what, your hair is going to turn white and start falling off and everyone will be able to see your skull through it....what are you gonna do about it? Know Thy Self so that you can see through the illusion of aging and the inevitability of decay.

3) Finally, and MOST importantly, Know Thy Self so that you can be of use to others and you can manifest that which you are here to GIVE. There isn't anything more sad than the face of a selfish person knowing that he or she is running out of time and scramming to make meaning out of this blink of an eye existence. "Me," "Myself" and "I" are not your best buddies! Looking back at nothing but your self and your problems and concerns over a 50, 60, 70 year period is not just boring, but down right depressing!

That's just my opinion. I've earned it because i started out like all other forms of life in Bulgaria with nothing but "Me," "Myself" and "I" to play with and with plenty of examples of how well this works out on the long run. I had one example on the other side of the spectrum - my maternal grandmother. She was so selfless and so giving that we kids knew exactly how to get what we wanted! She died making dinner for my uncle, who shortly after that kicked my grandfather out of the apartment where they were living and where she made that last supper.

I've earned this opinion the hard way through loss and through error and through drama and, dear God, I hope I've paid up all that karma from when i was a bad person on the wrong side of the street. But in my defense, I wasn't bad, i was just hanging out with bad people and giving them smart ideas on how to do their bad things...which is why at one point in my life i was thinking I'd make a great lawyer. Anyhow...

Know Thy Self because it is the only door to self fulfillment, to lasting happiness and a better world for all beings.
Know Thy Self because it is the only thing you'd ever really know. Everything else is pure speculation.
Know Thy Self because no one else will ever really know you.

The shortest way to knowing your self is...the way of yoga and meditation. Don't fool yourself otherwise. There are folks out there who have been going to therapy for 20 years, or more and still have the same "issues." That's not to say that therapy can't be effective. Yes, it can. But therapy with yoga is definitely effective, and for many people yoga and meditation is their therapy. Even for a few therapists i know...

That's all folks.... See you on the mat! Call me if you need someone to tell you how things are without beating around the bush :)))

Spring is upon us....

It's a rainy day and the coldest temperatures in a 30 year history, and yet, there's no mistake that Spring is slowly taking over. Just look upon the blossoms on the trees and the fragile, green sprouts of grasses and flowers and you will know it. Look at the longer days, the nice light and the impulses within to do things, to go out, clean up, get organize, have fun! Yep. It's Spring.

Yoga and Ayurveda offer plenty of suggestions for a balanced life, one of which is "live with the seasons!" We are organisms and just like all other organisms we are affected by the way of Nature. We feel things on a basic level, despite our busy lives and crazy schedules.

Spring is especially interesting as it is associated with the birth of life and newness. It is associated with blossoming of potential. We get creative, fall in love, plant the garden, look forward to summer vacations and fun. In Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains his attributes as: "I am the Soul in the body, the Mind in the senses, the Eagle among birds, the Lion among animals. Among all the trees, I am the sacred Bodhi tree, and of the seasons, I am Spring."

Me too. I am Spring! I've had about 11,000 projects that i want to do all equally. Right Now. I am the gardener. I am the mushroom picker. I am the dancer again, the writer, the home decorator...I am making an exotic brew of herbs and spices to match the season....

According to ayurveda, coming out of the winter we are heavy on Kapha dosha - that's the state perdominated by the water and earth elements. It's cold, heavy, stagnant, sleepy just like what we are suppose to be while we hibernate. It builds in us through the winter until by the beginning of spring it accounts for fatigue, dullness, congestion and gaining of weight. When the spring hits the hills, all that water and congestion starts running out and results in colds and runny noses.

The quality of Spring is warm, moist and gentle. It's this warmth that pulls all that excess water out of your system. So, let it run and help it along.

So, what's in my tea??? Fresh ginger, cinnamon, pippali, clove, black pepper and lots of honey :))

There are many herbs and spices you can use to flavor your spring drinks and meals. Changing what you eat, according to the season will mean that you give up the oily, heavy foods and go wild and crazy with some green leafies. Sour and salty foods increase kapha, so I'd stay away from them. Even sweet can increase kapha, but if you are an obviously strong vata (air & ether predominating element constitutions) then you'd keep the sweet in moderation and strictly natural, of course.

Avoid ice cream and cold or icy drinks.

Incorporate more bitter, pungent and astringent foods, such as onions, radishes, chili, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, okra, sprouts, spinach, yellow split peas, red lentils, garbanzo beans. Use fewer dairy products, especially in the morning. Ghee is OK but only in small amounts. Seafood, lobster and duck are not a good idea during Spring season (and in general, if you care about life in more than just a food kind of way.) Fresh juices are great, especially apple, pomegranate and berries.

Start waking up early. Go for walks, do yoga, dance, build things, plant things...do things. Don't nap in the middle of the day. If you practice yoga, make it harder! More movement, more Sun Salutations, more energy, more heat, more standing postures, more back bands. It helps move that kapha.

It's a great time to start learning new things. Your mind is ready after being half awake through the winter and hankering down, concerned with survival, heavy on oily foods, not enough light and not enough motivation to do anything of consequence.

Those of you coming to my Spring retreats you get a healthy dose of all the right yoga stuff. We eat well and we do tons of stuff. That's why Spring retreats are fun, productive and enriching. (For the next Spring Retreat in March, check this link: http://holisticmovementcenter.com/Spring2011.htm)

Cleanses are also productive during changes in the seasons. So, this will be a good time for one. Right around the equinox. Clean up from inside and from the outside. Kiyoko will lead you through a Chakra cleansing workshop and Narayni is putting together a Spring Equinox and Renewal Workshop where she will tell you about herbs and aromas and yoga postures...For those of you in the area, keep you eyes open for the information in the newsletters and Facebook and always check our website.

If you need help figuring out what to do with your self, call me and I will help you put a little program together that you can follow for a few weeks as you transition with Nature.

Cheers all. Happy Spring right around the corner....

Valentina
valentinap@holisticmovementcenter.com
(805)909-1401