Sharing Yoga

In a few weeks I will be turning 50. Traditionally this is a time for a midlife crisis - an excuse to get a red convertible or some such thing. I have been graced in the past with getting this mid life crisis thing out of the way, many times, at a very early age. I am able to put my focus and attention towards helping others get their red convertibles or something else they need.

 

During the last 4 years or so, Laurie and I have encouraged our nieces and nephews to pick charities, and we donate money in their names. This has been a learning experience for both us and them. They have to research and tell us why they pick the certain charity: Cancer Centers, Orpanages, etc. On our end, we have learned that small amounts of money given to charities with huge administrative costs are not very effective, as these charities tend to spend way more than our original donations on postage, sending us glossy magazines, flyers, etc., every couple of months.
 
Since then, we have adopted a philosophy for a more direct way of charitable giving. We were originally inspired by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, head of the Himalayan Institute, in a talk that he gave about investing directly to charity. Before we traveled to India/Nepal in Feb 2007 we raised money here in NH for charitable giving. During our travels we met directly with, and donated money directly to 3 organizations in India (which you can read about on our website), where we saw the work they were doing and how all the money would be put to good use, right away, right there. Little or no administrative costs.
 
We continued with this philosophy when we returned home, raising money at the Yoga studio and giving it directly to the local food pantry to purchase large quantities of food at wholesale prices. In addition, between thanksgiving and xmas we collect food and warm clothes at the studio, and in conjunction with other local businesses downtown, it gets delivered to the local homeless shelter.
 
Right now I am on a personal mission to help a wave of refugees who have just arrived here in Concord, NH (from Nepal). These folks were originally born in Bhutan but were uprooted, persecuted and then left their motherland in an effort by the Bhutanese govt. to ethnically cleanse their country of everyone of hindu/nepalese descent. The citizenship law of Bhutan stripped an estimated 100,000 individuals of ethnic Nepali origin of their citizenship rights, a factor leading to their forced expulsion from the country. Some have spent the last 17 years (I'm not kidding) in refugee camps.  During their time at the refugee camp a fire destroyed 1300 of their homes (huts) leaving thousands of families homeless. The US govt. has agreed to take up to 60,000 of these folks. I have come to know many of them these past 2 months, and they are wonderful folks. They are going to need warm clothes for our NH winters, blankets, bus fare, they need help filling out job applications, rides to interviews, etc. They already have assistance for things like food and shelter for now.

 

I thought instead of gifts for my 50^th birthday, I would hit people up for a small donation as we continue our efforts of direct charitable giving.
 
Thanks for listening. Hope all is well. Peace, david

Tomorrow marks a week for me here. Great environment. Every day there are deer right outside and you can walk pretty close to them (they must know we're all vegetarians here). There are tons of different kinds of birds and also rabbits. And a white bird, maybe a small pigeon.

 

OK, here's what I've been working on:

-The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. It's a group of 195 short sayings that were written over 2000 years ago. I have studied and read them for the last 6 years. This week I was able to delve deeper into the Sutras during this intensive program with a master teacher, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, the spiritual director here at the ashram. I have also spent personal time here reading and writing about the sutras and how they pertain to spirituality. In September I plan to share my insights at Sharing Yoga with a presentation "Growing a Spiritual Practice" Stay tuned for details.

- Pranayama (breath control). You've all done this in our classes. I have learned many breathing techniques over the years and have shared many of them in our classes and workshops. This week, we had a Pranayama intensive for 4 days in the mornings. Here's the key: Pick a breathing technique and practice it daily. Simple. More to come.

-Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra - this is the mantra that the ashram is using in it's year long meditation. This fits perfectly with our Yoga Sutras study and growing a spiritual practice.  When I return there will be an opportunity to learn this mantra and also work with the translation and interpretation.

 

Next, I know I'm supposed to be off for the month away from work :) , but I have been working a little. Here's some news that's not on the schedule yet.  A Tuesday 9 AM class coming in September! As we grow, we continue to be blessed with wonderful yoga teachers willing to share their practice and love of yoga with us.

 

Peace, good night, see you soon, db

My stay has been great so far. Really getting into the intensive part of our 10 day program. The focus is on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Each evening we have a presentation pertaining to the sutras. During the day we work with a bunch 60-90 minute intensives on yoga, pranayama (breathing techniques), meditation, and mantra. I have been able to maintain a commitment to 30-40 minute meditation each afternoon.  The center is in the middle of a year long, round the clock meditaion. They are using the Maha Mrityunjaya mantra for the meditation. I have learned this mantra some time ago, probably in India, but have never used it until this week. I hope to continue the mantra meditation when I return, at least until the end of the year long program ends in November. Of course when I return to Concord we will offer a mantra workshop and include this special mantra.

Overall, it's great to be able to focus completely on Yoga here, and not have to think about the details of life. Off now for relaxation before tonights program. peace, db

I arrived at the Himalayan Institute Friday, 8/15 and have settled in. The first part of my progarm - a 7 day Yoga Sutras intensive - began last night. Typical day - rise at 530, Yoga class at 6 or 630. (hardcore yogis rise at 430 and meditate for 1 hour first. Then breakfast at 8, then Yoga Sutras walking, pragarm from 10-1230, then lunch, and time off till 4. (i slept) Today we had fire ceremony at 4. At 530 meditation til 6-615, then supper. Yoga Sutras Program continues at 730-9. Tonight there is a guest special swami here to give an additional talk. then, 9-10 PM - I play guitar. That's it for now. peace, db

OK, So I decided to take the month of August off. This is a test run to see if the Yoga studio can live without me for a month, or more like if I can live without it for a month. If everything goes OK, we are planning on taking next August off and traveling to India/Nepal again.

 

For the first 10 days off I have been at home. I have not done much Yoga. I did get to work on the house a bit and play and record a lot of music. I have walked every day in the area around our house. The pictures below were taken in the last week and represent a snapshot of our surroundings. We are only 12 miles from downtown Concord. Here is what I've seen within a 10 minute walk of our home:

 

 

 

Today I head to Boston for 4 days for a "Functional Anatomy for Yoga Teachers" course. After that, I head to the Himalayan Institute in PA for a 10 day Yoga program. When i'm done there I will drive to MD and meet Laurie and my Aunt and Uncle and hope to do some sailing.

 

I'll have my camera with me, so maybe more pix from the road. See you all soon, peace, david