“Your Vision Will Become Clear Only When You Look Into Your Heart” – Carl Jung

“Yoga Is A Friend To Those Who Embrace It Sincerely…Enables Them To Live Fully…” – B.K.S. Iyengar

“Yoga is a friend to those who embrace it sincerely and totally. It lifts its practitioners from the clutches of pain and sorrow, and enables them to live fully, taking a delight in life. The practice of yoga helps the lazy body to become active and vibrant. It transforms the mind, making it harmonious. Yoga helps to keep one’s body and mind in tune with the essence, the soul, so that all three are blended into one.”

From “Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” bu B.K.S. Iyengar

Consciously Practicing Non-Attachment Allows Us To Go Inward And “Let Go”…Bringing Inner Peace

By Jennifer Miller

The practice of non-attachment has provided me with tools to navigate through life. Life will always present obstacles that we have no control over. So it is important to always be aware that I am able to choose how to react. By choosing to let go of a negative thought, emotion or event, I trust in the process and am quickly filled with inner peace.

By quieting my mind, I am consciously practicing non-attachment as I  go inward and carry out my responsibilities without having expectations of others.

Remaining detached, I am able to truly discern what things are without self-interest and/or personal judgment. I better understand the workings of nature and the course it takes. Non-attachment allows me to view ‘My Soul’, seeing myself for who I am and why I am here.

Knowing what is mine,

Aware of what is not.

My business, your business

And God’s business….

Namaste

“When You Are Steadfast In Your Abstention Of Thoughts Of Harm…” – Patanjali

“When you are steadfast in your abstention of thoughts of harm directed toward yourself and others, all living creatures will cease to feel fear in your presence.”

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

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“Breathing In The New Day…Keeping The Stillness Within My Mind”

By Jennifer Miller

Breathing in the new day,
Gazing at its sunrise beauty.
Gratitude fills my soul.
Ocean is still, reminding me to
Keep the stillness within my mind.
Accepting and knowing that all is
Well and perfect as it is.
Crisp air fills my lungs while
Sounds of nature calm my senses.
Birds chirping and the pond trickles,
Joy rises in my heart.

Namaste

“In An Asana, The Mind Has To Reach Inside The Body To Find A Quiet Space…” – Geeta Iyengar

“In an asana, the mind has to reach inside the body to find a quiet space until a point comes where perfect balance is felt. If the mind is wandering while practicing, then one is not fully present, and there can be no union. Involvement, interpenetration and insight are the required qualities for the practitioner.”

Geeta Iyengar, Eldest Daughter of B.K.S. Iyengar

“Awareness Is Not The Same As Thought…More Like A Vessel Which Can Hold And Contain Our Thinking” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

” Awareness is not the same as thought. It lies beyond thinking, although it makes use of thinking, honoring its value and its power. Awareness is more like a vessel which can hold and contain our thinking, helping us to see and know our thoughts rather than getting caught up in them as reality”

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From “Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life” By Jon Kabat-Zinn

“…Events That Happen In The Moment Belong To The Moment…You Must Stop Defining Yourself In Relationship To Them, And Just Let Them Come And Go…” — Michael Singer

If We Are Conscious That Our Mind Makes Excuses, We Can Overcome Negative Attachments In Life

By Jennifer Miller

My yoga practice continues to teach me about my inner self. Working through advanced postures, I am conscious of how my mind makes “excuses” during periods where I struggle: too many babies, weak bandhas, arms and legs that are too long (very creative). But through discipline and focusing my mind, I am able to block out these thoughts and “distractions”.

This past Thursday at the Ashtanga Yoga Center in Encinitas, CA,  I finally nailed the difficult Urdhva Kukkutasana B pose (a lifting lotus) in the advanced series. But this short-term success highlighted a major theme in my overall practice: that difficult transitions in my life had reduced the desire to “push forward”.

As mothers, we must be able to “detach” from the emotions and negative energy that arise as we watch our children grow older and naturally struggle with life’s journey. We need to remain objective with the strength to make the tough calls that do not enable a continuation of poor decisions and actions.

My yoga practice and personal life both thrive when I maintain a healthy mind-body connection. My teacher noticed from across the room when I succeeded with the difficult pose. I quickly do the pose again to confirm it in my muscle memory. My mind has thoughts of “I CAN” running through it and the body responds.

I remember with a smile back to a day when I worked with girls at the Recovery Home and demonstrated this same pose. The purpose was to show them that a yoga practice mirrors our daily lives. We can feel stifled and stuck in life, but we need to have the strength to push through the barriers holding us back.

One of the girls had said “…you’re so strong you could probably take us all out”. We all laughed.  They had reacted to the positive energy I demonstrated when facing a seemingly impossible situation.

We must maintain the ability to focus our minds on the positive things we can accomplish each day in order to push through even the most difficult of times in our lives.

Namaste, Jennifer Miller

“The Deepest Desire Within Each Of Us Is To Be Liberated From…Our Own Psychic Madness Or Patterns Of Fear” – Caroline Myss

Full Quote:  “I am convinced that the deepest desire within each of us is to be liberated from the controlling influences of our own psychic madness or patterns of fear. All other things—the disdain of ordinary life, the need to control others rather than be controlled, the craving for material goods as a means of security and protection against the winds of chaos—are external props that serve as substitutes for the real battle, which is the one waged within the individual soul.”

“A Morning In The Life Of A Yogini” By Jennifer Miller, Published In SunGoddessMagazine.com

Reflections On “A Course In Miracles”: Choosing to Live In A Place Of Love And Not Fear

“No matter what is going on in my body, I strive to remain in a quiet place of peace.” Jennifer Miller

By Jennifer Miller

Marianne Williamson’s “A Course in Miracles” teaches that most of us live in a place of love or fear. We have a choice of how we want to be and act in any given situation.I have been reflecting recently that I am at a point in my life where I am aware of how am feeling and, if I am reacting to these feelings, I know it. I am striving to limit these “reactions”, and remain in the moment, a state of peaceful quietude where nothing can “rock my world”.

And I continue to make progress. There have been many situations in the past year that might have “taken me out”. I now strive to find that place of acceptance and often, detachment, which allows me to step back and say to myself “I see what is going on here…game over”.

Every one of us can chose to live in fear or love at that very moment. I recently watched Marianne Williamson speaking to Oprah about how our life’s blueprint is designed to achieve our highest purpose.

Anyone can “download” their life plan but if it is not synchronized with our emotions, we have little chance of fulfilling our highest purpose.

In yoga, we are trained to stay with our breath. Whatever asana or posture we are in, no matter what is going on in my body, I strive to remain in a quiet place of peace. Our body and mind follow our breath. I strive daily to remain conscious of this and come back to this “place of peace” when I feel rattled or off in some way.

Ahhhh… that beautiful connection to our soul is all through the discipline of BREATH…

Namaste, Jennifer Miller

“Breathing In The Benefits Of Yoga To Achieve Happiness In The Moment” – By Jennifer Miller, “SunGoddess Magazine” In July 30 Issue

“Like A Bird In Flight, Your Life Can Soar Above The Troubles Of The World” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie

“100 Secrets for Living a Life You Love” by Jonathan Lockwood Huie

Photograph by Vince Maidens, “Snowy Owl, Canada”

National Geographic “Photo of the Day”, July 11, 2012

“If We Sit With An Increasing Stillness Of The Body…The Mind Gradually Stills And The Heart Is Filled With Quiet Joy” – Ravi Ravindra

“If we sit with an increasing stillness of the body, and attune our mind to the sky or to the ocean or to the myriad stars at night, or any other indicators of vastness, the mind gradually stills and the heart is filled with quiet joy.”

“The Wisdom of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras: A New Translation and Guide by Ravi Ravindra” 

“Mindfulness…Is The Observing Of Things As They Are,…Without Laying Or Adding…Expectations Onto What Is Happening.” – Frank Jude Boccio

“Dwelling In The Present Moment, I Know This Is A Wonderful Moment” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“…If You are Standing Before A Beautiful Flower, You Will Not Be Able To See It…You Have To Be Silent, Utterly Silent, Not Even A Flicker Of Thought–And the Beauty Explodes.” By Osho

“Thoughts can create such a barrier that even if you are standing before a beautiful flower, you will not be able to see it. Your eyes are covered with layers of thought.”

“You have to be silent, utterly silent, not even a flicker of thought – and the beauty explodes….”

 From “The Great Pilgrimage: From Here to Here” by Osho

Picture from: 2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contestant Fred An

“See If You Can Give Yourself Gifts That May Be True Blessings, Such As Self-Acceptance…” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

“See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose.”

“Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts, without obligation–to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe.”

“Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life”  By Jon Kabat-Zinn

“In The Attitude Of Silence The Soul Finds The Path In A Clearer Light…” – Mahatma Gandhi

“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light…Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.”

“Speak only if it improves upon the silence.”

Mahatma Gandhi