FROM MY HEART TO YOURS

Cardiology is a specialty within allopathic medicine that specializes in the biomechanics of the heart. To truly become a master of the heart we ought to dive into the mystery of the heart that reveals itself to us not solely through understanding the mechanics but truly through the heart language. 

"Lub Dub" are the sounds which the heart makes. Lub relates to the exhale and Dub corresponds with inhale. Inhalation is the "yes" and exhalation is the "no." The heart is the heart of the matter; the matter being the configuration of cosmic dust that makes us up. Without the heart the body can not exist. All organs and systems are rooted in the heart. The inner child to us all dwells at the center. The heart is that which possesses the true wisdom of knowing cosmic consciousness and that which we can rely upon as the navigational system for our lives. It is with the heart that we can absolutely feel joy, passion, outwardly expressed creativity, affection and happiness. 

Amongst all the languages of the world the one common tongue is rooted in the heart and called Heart Language. Regardless of creed, color, gender, with and without sharpened senses we all connect through the heart beat. All species possess an inherent pulse that stems from the heart. It's crucial to understand our own hearts and in doing so we can hold the space for all individuals. Those of us with armor based on the hardening experiences through time and space can soften when we meet a heart that can lovingly help us to disarm ourselves. It takes so much energy to contain the weight of this armor that produces tension and friction in our own being. This is the path that ages us faster by depleting us on various levels. When we come from the heart we are at our own centers in the universe that is formed into a river of love. 

The journey of learning this heart language is crucial for our well being. It's easy to harden up but it isn't our true nature. When love starts to dissolve the hardened walls of historic wounds we experience a rebirthing and rejuvenation of sorts that extends itself to the very fibers of light behind our tissues and genetic structures. We connect to each other more deeply and profoundly when we can leave our shields at the door. Reactions that would normally be reactions from these wounded places can transmute into a genuine sweet and palatable experience. 

As this time of year envelops us, it is commonly a pivoting point where emotions find their peak and then plummet post holiday season. Such a rise and fall like the inhale giving way to the exhale. Simultaneously, we enter into the darkest time of year only to propel us in a direction back towards increasing light. It's like going into the darkness and discovering the light. The combination of both the holiday season and the transitioning through the darkness tends to spark so many different types of emotions. Know that this is just a cycle of life and nature playing their own roles and let's try not to get caught up too much by such vacillation. Emotions are triggered and heightened and the heart strings will be strung in a way that we can choose what sort of love song it will become, based on the awareness we have in the moment. (Don't worry. If we miss the chance, we will always be given another.)

Like going into the density of heavy emotions that return to love, love is the container that holds the space for anything that isn't love to transform itself. Awareness of such things gives us the opportunity to be mindful of our own stuff and to excavate within our hearts anything that doesn't serve us or function for us, as we explore what this really means for us. 

The language of the heart, like any language, takes time to master. It requires attentiveness. Diligence. Perseverance and openness. Within this we shall find humanity because humility is part of humanity and that which connects us to our humanness, over and over, until we are fully integrated and embodied. It is our responsibility to drop into ourselves versus spending so much time avoiding ourselves. We can only hold this mask and armor for so long until the inevitable becomes prevalent and reveals itself. So many distractions we find ourselves engaged with to only eventually return back to the point of origin which is heart based centered-ness. 

I know I was born from love before even taking form. Something got lost in translation during my childhood and I learned how to be unloving, jealous, judgmental, angry, violent and hateful, which caused me to shut down parts of me as a result of protection through defensiveness; only to finally find my way back to love and to share this with others and appreciate both strength and fragility through vulnerability. Love always finds its way like light eventually shines through darkness. I invite you to join me on this journey to cultivating and learning the Heart Language. May we continue to be guided through these versions of opportunities that fosters the growth needed to encourage the hearts expansion. 

With fear may we return to love. From outward may we return inward to and discover the treasures that await us. May you receive this message from my heart to yours.

UNHEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS

Unhealthy relationships are reflections of our own relationships with ourselves. 
It's an inside job and our responsibility to uncover those aspects within that are to be addressed and transmuted. These undiscovered places in our hearts are beckoning us to bring them to light. When we choose to ignore them because of fear regarding the potential of what we may discover we end up suppressing them, which not only causes us harm but can come out in other ways, such as self-sabotage or even passive aggressiveness which is unresolved or unaddressed anger. This anger is an indicator for us to look inward to see what we are and aren't doing that us honoring to us. Sometimes, if on some level we choose to, if we even suppress this anger we become depressed. We spend much time and energy avoiding ourselves and this alone can cause us to feel tired more often. The body can only hold the weight of so much before it can't any longer and produces symptoms. The body communicates to us in symptoms when we are out of balance. Similarly, the lack of or reduction of symptoms is an indicator of being more in a direct relationship with ourselves and how we choose to listen, sometimes. It's a tedious process at times and this is why many people choose to not adventure here. Though, so often I hear of people complaining about wanting things to be better but when push comes to shove they'd rather play victim than victor. I played victim for a short time and realized that it didn't get me anything more than what I was already suffering from. It's still a process but the momentum I've created takes over and keeps it moving at this point. A worthy investment is say. 

We are to find enJOYment in joy. Joy is from the heart and in the heart we do the "work" to unearth whatever is being harbored that is rooted in wounds to be healed through awareness, acceptance, forgiveness and releasing them. If we aren't feeling joy from any relationship, be it with intimate partners, friends, family, children or co-workers it is up to us to be clear in where we are at. What we are putting out there. What we are doing to honor ourselves and where we are willing to extend boundaries as needed. Self-preservation is needed. It starts with us first and the choices we make depends on how willing we are to see what we deserve for ourselves and are willing to accept for ourselves. Love doesn't ask us to lose ourselves but only those aspects of ourselves that prevent us from fully being in and with love. If anything, love wants us to show up fully and present with both feet. We deserve it but we have to truly know it and feel it for ourselves. On a deeper level this truth is available to all of us. Yet, are we willing to take a step back and peek back a veil or two, of our own making, to see it and then align ourselves with what we say we want? This deeper yearning trickles out from time to time as a reminder of our potential. We all deserve happiness and know in a deeper level that it's our divine right. Can we show up for ourselves as need be? Or do we choose to look the other way? Do we settle for anything less than we deserve or do we step up and take the leap by letting go of what's not matching us, to accept what does?

Love always returns to love and truth always comes back to itself. Truth itself is the blazing blade of white fire purity that casts light on the darkness. I choose to show up for myself each day. Some days more and better than others but I'm always willing to look at my shadow pieces to see what they are drawing my attention towards so that I can continue to transform what doesn't serve me. What do you choose?

CALLING ALL BOYS...TO BECOME THE SACRED MASCULINE

The child and child-like innocence lives in the heart and the discerning adult lives in thoughts and mind. As we progress through childhood our thoughts and feelings shape and are influenced by our surroundings. Our internal world is molding to match and understand the external world. We are born with certain predispositions, tendencies and ideas which are cultivated one way or another as we go through the phases of life. 

As boys, we explore in various ways this reality called life. Along the way we incur circumstances that support or inhibit our growth but, make no mistake about it, we must all grow up sometime. It is an ideal but not impossible goal to be integrated adult males which means being whole in our being where both our heart and mind are working together in harmony. So often is the case that because of wounding and traumas, especially childhood related incidences, we gain shadow pieces that hide in our subconsciousness and we become children wearing adult suits. I know because I was one of them for a long time and it took me many years with a great amount of support to help me to return to who I was before the wounding in this lifetime. I had forgotten who I was before the trauma-drama, but currently and for several years now that me before everything is coming back. Not only was I to heal such scars from this journey but also all the lives that have preceded this one. When we heal our wounds and face our shadows we are doing it for various levels which includes this lifetime and all the ones prior to this one. Not only that, but we are doing it for the collective consciousness. As I continue to dive in and address the remaining shadows and resolve old wounds I am supporting the planet in shifting globally and inviting others, especially men since I'm representing an aspect of the masculine energy on this planet, to show up and change. 

It's time to reduce the excess testosterone and welcome more estrogen. The majority of devastation in this planet has been a result of generational, ancestral and lineages of wounds that have been culminating and passing forward. The patriarchal energy is out of balance and it is only through the invitation and integration of the matriarchal, the feminine, energy that we can bring balance. It first starts with home and within this body and mind. Then, it can ripple others and affect the grater change that we are looking for. If we are truly looking for change, we must go inward. If we are truly looking for love, we must go inward. If we are truly looking to create peace and balance, we must go inward. This is where the journey starts and be seeing through our lens what is happening on the planet and in current times gives us the opportunity to use this as a mirrors that invokes the highest healing by seeing what aspect of ourselves is in conflict. This basic conflict starts with the idea that we are separate from one another and the separation of masculine and feminine is the next level where the wounding occurs. Only by integrating the masculine and feminine can we obtain balance. Only by removing oppression of the feminine energy can we reinstate true order. The feminine goddess energy is powerful beyond imagination and therein lies the threat upon masculinity which creates war in the name of man. The solution is to go into the fear and see why the feminine is so threatening. When we go there we will discover there was nothing to fear. 

I'm inviting men to show up to a profound level of healing that can absolutely shift the consciousness on this planet and help make a longer lasting change. Little boys in armored shells called adult men is what I see so much of these days. (Actually, I see this in women as well. I see their inner little girls in adult suits called women.) Acting out roles, that's the key word which is "acting", playing grown up and disconnected from themselves. These disconnects show up as health conditions and this is a calling that most don't respond to until things have gotten worse. It's so common that men wait until something finally breaks before they/we address it. It is up to us to really look at our stuff. Own it. Name it. Face it. Transmute it. We have had our own suppression/oppression where simply the feminine was lacking. Many men were taught not to express emotions, though emotions are a part of being human. Many men were taught to "suck it up" and "be a man" which means to harden but that little boy should not harden; only to become a hardened adult. Emotions are more if feminine quality by nature and even here it makes sense why men perpetuated oppression of emotions but we have narrowed our vision from seeing that this prolongs the damage done to the genuine because both masculine and remind reside in all of us. Body tissues that harden represent tissue that lack in circulation, oxygenation, blood flow and life flow. The tissue must be relaxed and hardened only when necessary; much like a penis. Yet, and on that note, men operate from their penis more, so often, but disconnect from the heart. Mind and penis are connected but what is forgotten and oppressed is that so is the heart. When we integrate love in its purest form an orgasm on the highest level possible can be achieved (without even having to touch the penis.). Imagine that fellas? (I bet you can't but some part of you knows that this is true. If you don't think about it too hard.) We are looking for love in all the wrong places. It's inside of us and not somewhere out there. This integration process is the true tantra that we are seeking.  We reduce such practices to ejaculatory superficiality when in face we can reach a higher plain without such mundane practices. (Not that ejaculating is a bad thing but more like there is a potent seed potential in the seed that hasn't been cultivated or harnessed fully, yet.)

As an integrating man I have arrived at a place where my heart, mind and body, along with my inner child and adult life are functionally working together. I'm still working out some kinks but the ride is becoming smoother as I become more whole. It is through exploring the darkness that I have been able to shine brighter. It is through viewing and experiencing a lack of love that I am learning to love more fully and easily. It is through embracing my child and his wounds and reminding him that he was whole and perfect, that I can be a truly present and grounded adult in this life so I can support others on their path by reminding them of the potential that exists within each and every one of us. 

It has become clear because of the amount of self-inquiry that I do; the healing that I do, that one of my main missions on this planet is to be a bridge for both women and men. For women, being a safe male I can help them to see the possibility of a male that isn't oppressing or violent but one that is embracing of the feminine and encouraging women to come back into their own power. For men, I'm providing a loving space that challenges them on a deeper level to go deeper and to face the wounds so that violence can reduce and the integration of the feminine can happen. Let's feel again. Let's feel into it, the it being us and that part of us being our hearts. 

A balanced man is a man who can be sensitive, kind, loving, gentle, attentive, accepting, passive as and when need be, compassionate, caring, strong when needed, delicate, gentle, amicable, open minded, light, playful and uses their courage to face internal obstacles that prevent them from being whole. Vulnerability is a strength and it takes more courage than hardening up and trying to be tough. This act is simply a mask that represents guarded untapped emotions today will eat us up from the inside like a cancer because unexpressed anger is like a cancer and when we are somehow buying into emotional oppression we are cutting off our lifelines because not expressing from the heart is like holding our breath and suffocating. Our deeper cellular intelligence desires life and when we aren't living fully and integrated we are deprived. This is an untruth and our soul and essence knows what's true for us. We just have to cross the bridge to get there but the only way to get there is by being here now and noticing what's coming up. Look at the armor and begin its dissolution with love and compassion. One step at a time. One baby step at a time. We are worth this journey and effort. Our lives are worth it. The planet depends on it. Tyranny of the masculine must come to an end. If not, we will come to an end. The only way to survive and thrive us to align ourselves with the feminine again and re-establish our connection with the mother by healing related wounds. 

The earth represents the feminine and all this fighting and blood shed is polluting the entire atmosphere. The planet will survive long past us and recover just fine because the mother is that powerful, but we don't have to lose ourselves in the process and we can live more integrated as we address the matters of our own hearts and take responsibility for ourselves. By doing our own parts we can all make a difference that serves human kind. 

So, I'm asking my kin; my fellow man to begin disarming these hardened shells by having the courage to soften and transform the shadows and wounds into lightness and love. Let's look at our inner little boys and help him to feel safe and loved in the world. Then we can all play together. I'm asking the boys out there to hear my call and join this journey to deeper healing with me. Our lives depend on it. Isn't that worth it?

Love holds the space that makes transformation possible by inviting love to show up. Sometimes this means that love will show us what love isn't so that love can show us what it really is. Love is patient and awaits us in any given moment. All we have to do is slow down. Sink in and let it take us; sometimes by taking away what isn't love. 

What say you? Will you come play with me? Will you show me yours and I'll show you mine? (My heart)

JOURNEY WITH THIS BODY HAVING ITS OWN KARMA

This month marks 21 years of me beginning my rebirthing journey through yoga. I say rebirthing because yoga has brought me back to this body and it has and continues to give me back life, over and over again. Prior to 21 years ago, this "I" was very disconnected and ungrounded because of my childhood traumas. They rendered me defenseless and hopeless, where I was simply not in my body and called upon death often. 

When I stumbled into yoga class for the first time it was per a suggestion of my dear friend who encouraged me to take it because I had "anger issues."  I meandered into class with a boyish curiosity as if I was five years old and starting school for the first time. I was nervous but also curious. After taking the class the instructor asked us a series of follow up questions, one of which was to guess her age. We all thought she was in her fifties but my jaw dropped when she said she was 87!!  She had this appearance that emanated a glow. Being around her I felt her warmth and something that I had never even known but could only fantasize from the deepest part of my being and that was this feeling of peace. It was foreign for me because all I knew was escapism and violence in my earlier years. There was something a or her and this yoga thing that drew me closer to its bosom over time. 

You see, I started yoga when it wasn't even popular, let alone anything related to a yoga for men's movement that is more modern. Doing yoga slowly began helping me to integrate into this body. Massage has also been a strong component in my life that was another means for me to develop body consciousness. Yoga, in a sense, is from the inside out but massage works is from the outside in. Because of both yoga and massage, along with other techniques, I have developed a keen sense of even what even my cells are doing. Yoga is amazing for bringing it all together and support this vehicle of the body as we remember who we really are. My yoga adventure has brought me to great depths. I wasn't really doing any kind of "fancy yoga," at least not like what's being so publicized today with all the twists and binds and inversions that seem to be the new images of yoga especially in the men's practices. For me it's always been about coming back to basics. I can do some of the fun stuff but basics have been crucial for my practice and provided me with great nourishment. 

I've met many guru's, master's, mystics, shamans, sages and saints. I've traveled to India and meditated near the Ganges, in the Ganges, in caves  dating back to at least 8,000 years where Vasistha set up shop. I've visited temples and partaken in and performed countless sacred rituals. I've been exposed to and have been practicing Ayurveda (the sister medical side of yoga) for over a decade and been initiated in other Tantric traditions (traditional tantra and the other sister to Yoga and Ayurveda).  So much greatness and abundance! I have infinite gratitude to myself and that first day when I stepped into yoga class not knowing what I was doing there but by no coincidence because I was answering a deeper calling. 

21 years later and I weave in and out of timelessness with my yoga practice as my companion. I may deviate from it sometimes but it never leaves me. I can always return to my mat and be in my meditation room sitting at my altar. The divine looking at me and my looking at the divine and in between disappearing into the oneness. I have learned that the body does have its own consciousness and intelligence. The body has its own karma. It holds memory and as we use yoga we can unwind the stories by transmuting and releasing but that doesn't always mean that the body will be perfect or disease ridden. Rather, we gain perspective and understand how even disease is part of a bigger unfolding sometimes that even the mind can't wrap around, the body may not change but the heart understands. Whether we become free from such things as illness, completely or not, we can reside in a shifting of perspective that can lighten the load on our mind by easing into acceptance of what is as what is. For instance, there are times I do a yoga practice diligently for weeks and then something inwardly shifts that either I can use my practice to work through it on a physical level or I take a break from the asanas and focus on other aspects of yoga to allow what's coming up to work its way through. It takes true insight to know when to stay in it or take a break. Pushing past it can work sometimes and at other times it can cause imbalances to deepen and karma to prolong. 

The body is also subject to the elements, which is where Ayurveda takes this deeper, and that the body also unravels in its own way but inevitably itself returns to the five elements. The body has a story and through my yoga practice I have given it the space to show itself. There are times where I use the asanas to move things through and move through things. Then there are days where I don't do a physical asana practice but have an awareness of what is happening (usually and without the story) as if it's a walking meditation. I learned years and years ago that the point of doing yoga asanas was simply to strengthen and lengthen as we prepare the body to sit and meditate for extensive periods of time without distraction. Additionally, yoga asanas are designed to maintain vitality and energy of the body. Getting into a good regimen can help maintain the body. There are many simple poses that can achieve this without the modern definitions that yoga is about revolving around how well we can do arm balancing. Advanced poses are fun and I suppose they have purpose but even many of the great sages simply depended on a few techniques to keep the body agile while focusing on extensive pranayam (life force utilization) and meditative techniques. As for advanced poses, we can practice them over time but what I've noticed with some modern day yogi's/yogini's that such vigorous practices are wearing away at the body. Even within myself, I can idealize a pose and work towards it or with it but if the body genuinely feels that it's not interested and I still want the pose to happen then there's a discord and I injure myself. Which is counterproductive and sets me back a few weeks. It also shows that I didn't listen. There sometimes has to be a point to do it and not just furtherance of the ego wanting to prove something. (I don't know. It can be tricky and complicated.) I have no judgment about advanced poses versus not advanced. (As a side note:  Yoga was designed for self-realization and it was also designed so that we can strengthen the body so that we would have more time for self-realization to happen, versus cause the body to break down faster, which seems to be happening to yogi's/yogini's in their later years from what I've encountered. Ayurveda brings a whole level of awareness that truly integrates the yoga practice and reduces wear and tear.)
I suppose it's relative because I can consider peacock pose advanced or I can simply enter my breath while in child's pose and go very deep. For me, it's not about the outside as much as it is about the inside and ironically the outside landscape depends on the seeds that are planted from within. 

Anyways, there are many people practicing yoga, new and old students, and enlightenment hasn't come. Yoga asanas do not guarantee enlightenment but they do at least encourage a development of consciousness and hopefully at least encourage us be more loving and peaceful. That is if the instructor is instructing accordingly. I have known teachers who teach a basic eight Kriya techniques and have awakened and I have known other teachers to perform the poses that are exquisite to look at but are not very conscious. A teacher can only take their student as far as they have gone themselves but the journey is about the extent to which we have trekked the inner terrain because that's where the magic is. We can easily become distracted by even outer practices of the countless yoga poses but that's like knocking on the divines door but never walking in, even after the divine has said come in. It's with grace that we enter that place where the inner guru lives. It's within this place where the presence of essence presents us with our true selves. 

For me, and in recent years, especially with the push for men's yoga and gymnastics of sorts, it's been about tuning in to what the body feels like it needs in the moment. Versus what my fellow dudes are up to based on the current yoga fitness fad.  I could be in a 40 day sadhana (spiritual practice) that involves daily asana and pranayam excursions and then have puja offerings, and be ascetic. I could also just have days where I light my puja lamp and incense, say a quick mantra and call it a day as I continue my day. All of what I have learned, started with basics and have delivered me to today where I'm less reliant on techniques and more guided by the offering in the moment. I learned that my life itself is a daily puja to the divine within. I've become less distracted by the necessity of tools and find myself more integrated and connected the simpler I become. Yet, the basics of yoga is where I always come back to. The magic of yoga has captured me. I am inspired and enamored by it at this point. Every day is a dance with the divine and a play with consciousness. I can't force it to be anything more than it is in the moment. When the "timing is right" the grace of the goddess and invitation of Lord Shiva awaits. I can simply prepare space for it to happen and that can happen any number of ways. I am open to it and accept what's been here all along. I thank my inner knowing for helping me to integrate all the pieces of me so I can feel whole again. I'm grateful for finding my heart and being able to come from there more and less from my mind. I'm grateful for my first yoga class and teacher inspiration they had delivered me to this moment. I'm excited to see where the adventure is taking me. It's truly been an adventure and I'm alive in it with joy and excitation. Some days are crappy and some days are outstanding. They are just days and balance is the acceptance that what is in the moment is the only thing that's true and real. Coming into my heart in both instances simply ties it all together and provides me with comfort from a place that remains untouched by all these distractions. To be loving, kind, gentle, sensitive, non-judgmental, patient and compassionate is a gift we give ourselves because we are these and we get to share this with others and hopefully inspire others to look within for what is calling them in the whispers behind the delusions of time so the heart is heard and lived from. My heart is the biggest it's ever been and I'm still aware that I can be in a bigger place with love. 

I invite you all to join me. Namaste and thank you for being here with me as part of my life's unfoldment!

BRO-PUNZEL BRO-PUNZEL, LET DOWN YOUR ARMOR

What I've been saying recently is that it seems as though that the first 10-15 years of life and all that happens during this time is so compacted that we spend the rest of our lives showing what the product of this earlier time period has created. It seems as though that we spend the rest of our lives undoing whatever damage that was incurred and facing or hiding our wounds. It is amazing to know from personal experience how the little version of myself made such quick choices that determined whether this world is safe or not. In less than a nano of a second we choose and from this choice spirals and creates this domino effect that follows us in life. We can play victims by hiding in the dark void of the shadows within the subconscious/unconsciousness or we can be victors and choose to use the inner wisdom as the flashlight that guides our transmutation, transformation and transfiguration. 

As we are knowing which role, victor or victim, we are playing we are playing a game with our wounds. The wounded parts of us attract to wounded parts of others and we can either be wound-mates, that fall into patterns of dysfunction or we can be soul-mates that rise to the opportunity of changing these wounds into healing. We take the flashlight of inner wisdom and slowly sift through these old patterns that have melded and crystallized and we invite love in to reduce the desire of darkness so that light can travel more easily through it. 

In the interim, our wounds have created a fortress and intense armor around our hearts keeping it captive. We perceive that the armor keeps us from further harm but what we fail to recognize is that this armor also keeps us, ourselves, trapped from the inside. The heart is a muscle that expands and contracts and if we apply pressure to the chest cavity we can threaten the heart by reducing its function and cause more stress on it. The heart is the first mind and is the central intelligence that gives life to the body. When we limit the expansion of our hearts we restrict and reduce the quality of our lives. The tissues in the body responds to this in fear and the sympathetic nervous system is engaged. The cells are defensive and over a sudden parts of us start shutting down or flaring up. This is because each cell in our body knows this isn't our nature. Each cell in our being knows that this isn't loving. 

These last few days, I had the pleasure of doing more intense work with an amazing group of individuals studying advanced techniques of CranialSacral Therapy through SomatoEmotional Release(realization). We all had our own processing and became receivers. I experienced this profound gift with a guy that I had the honor of working with. I led the session with a hands on therapeutic approach and he was deep in a process that ended with him softening into my hands and falling basically into my lap as he was guided on the floor from the table. I/we as a small group, held him and complete nurturing and safety. He melted and allowed himself to receive. It was beautiful to be a part of. It was beautiful to hold another man and his little boy at the same time. Such sweetness in the moment that I was touched beyond words. It was an incredible gift to experience. After the session was over, it was my turn. The adventure took me to visualizing the armor I still hold from my past and see how it continues to hold my heart captive. I continue to hold my heart captive because of fear of trusting the world that started a few lifetimes ago and continued as I was being cultivated in my mothers wound with the words I would hear that this wasn't where I was welcome. I saw this armor as an opportunity to keep me safe but learned it was holding me imprisoned at the same time. It served a purpose back then but no longer in the now. As the session continued the group all placed their hands on my heart and I could feel their loving intention. It was a powerful moment to receive this support. Imagine, just having your heart held literally and figuratively until the tightness melted away and the heart beat was expanding with each breath. I just lay there for some time as they just held the space for me. It was beautiful. My fragments connect to the fragmented. My wholeness connects to wholeness. As my pieces are remembering how they are part of one whole the more I love from a deeper place the clearer I see. 

Stan Jerome, the instructor of this last course said "I've noticed that the more advanced the classes become the less men are in the group. That there is a specific men that are drawn to them but an archetype of men do not attend because of the nature of the work being more feminine because of its gentle and nurturing approach. If the work was called Inner Warrior versus Inner Wisdom, then men would more likely attend."  It was great to here this. From my experience, a lot of healing circles tend to contain women. Including yoga. Unless is a Bro-Yoga. 

There are layers and layers of stories imprinted upon our cells, organs, tissues, structures and systems that span the distance of time in this body, and even before (if you believe in reincarnation.) Vulnerability is the gift we are given and entitled to have as humans. Coming from our hearts is being vulnerable. 

Little boys are generally gender neutral and I'll go as far as saying that we were all basically bi-sexual. Little boys who aren't forced into stereotypical roles end up growing up more wholesome and in touch with both aspects of the feminine and masculine. This goes for little girls too. Somewhere along the line, influenced by society, school and proximally by parents themselves; which contain their own wounds and pass them down generationally, children are forced into models of conformity. Little boys are to "not cry because boys don't cry", "toughen up", "be a man", "real men don't do this", "don't be a faggot or sissy."  Little girls are to "do as daddy (later on men) tell them to do", "should not express themselves" etc. such suppression causes grave damage the the little boy/girl and great damage to the heart. This further feeds the fragmentation of the mind because untidy is severed. 

It is through remembering who we are and by letting go of the stories we tell ourselves and were force-fed to us that we start to melt this armor and live more freely. Times are changing and being stuck in a box isn't as common anymore, societally. Forcing our heart into a box isn't as easy anymore because the light of consciousness is piercing through the density of darkness that fear once held us captive with. Things are shifting. Men and women today are integrating because children are growing up more integrated. It's beautiful to see how in the gay community we have the "category" of Queer being a place where labels no longer define what we are and who we are allowed to love. Bisexuality is becoming more common for men because it seems as though men are remembering the freedom in this. The playfulness in this. The ability to love more freely based on what the heart desires and not an old script that prevented love from being fully expressed as individually designed. Love is freedom and we are loving more. Love isn't bound by labels. It is all the colors. 

Loving ourselves and all our pieces ties it all together and reminds us that we are whole. The wounds are to be looked at with an awareness that our soul demands if we are to live life fully as victors victoriously and joyfully. One of my missions in life has been to provide a space for women to feel safe in the works and with the masculine energy. Another one of my missions and purpose is to support/create a forum for men where men can remember the Sacred Masculine within which is an integration of feminine and masculine by reminding men to include their hearts and cultivate a relationship within that uses the power of awareness to transform the wounds, and allow the fragments to participate in the whole. I wrote a piece not that long ago that spoke of the three main categories of boys, guys and men. The ultimate goal is to have a man integrated with all three. I'm inviting this because I am modeling this by living this and doing my work everyday. 

It is an adventure for me now. I can now navigate through the darkness by holding more light and freely moving about within darkness because I'm not afraid of the dark any longer. I'm no longer afraid of what I'll find. I'm more curious about what still lurks and I'm finding myself in adventures that are sometimes loopy but that return me back to me eventually in a more unified way. I'm inviting boys, guys and men to be a part of the circle, bring balance to our lives and this planet by embarking on the journey with consciousness that becomes the Sacred Masculine. Let's explore that dense space that invites violence into our lives/minds and help it to shift with more awareness. Let's come into our hearts more fully. Heal old wounds that keep us from ourselves by sinking into the vulnerability of what the wound appears as and transform into greatness. Let's go into our hearts and rediscover who we were that includes the beauty of who we were with the innocence of the child within us that's screaming for our attention. When are we done with the charades and games and hiding? Who will join me?

WHISPERS OF THE HEART

Sometimes in life we come across someone who we have a special type of connection and that is usually seen and felt on a subtle but deep level. There's a sense of seeing/feeling something remarkable that reflects us as though there's an awareness of such a beautiful kindred connection that stands a part in its own way. Yet, they may not always see it yet. On a soul level there is something there. The soul and heart knows. It's like a faint whisper.

When this happens, it's ok. They may not be ready. It's clearly not time in the moment and it is enough to know what is right now is what's real. They may have to catch up or simply miss out. Though, it's never a loss. Just an experience and a mirror. There's a gift, regardless.

It's not to say that it may not suck but having the feelings that come up around it is quintessential to our growth and we must stay within our own emotions. We have to hold the space for ourselves first and foremost. In doing so, we then hold the space for them/others and see what unfolds. However it may.

Love doesn't expect us to lose ourselves or sacrifice ourselves. Actually, it's quite different than that. When we love, we love fully. Which means that we show up with it first. It doesn't come from the outside do looking for love will only cause us to get more lost inside ourselves. When we remember that we are it then there's no looking. Only receiving gifts that remind us. Love sometimes gives us the gift of also showing us what isn't love so that we can truly experience what love is.

So, when we come across that kindred spirit (whether they know it or are willing to accept that at the forefront of their mind) that is slightly set a part from the average, relish it. Give it space. Love doesn't know time. When things are ready then we are ready. If not, we aren't limited to just this one. Few and far between but they're definitely out there. How do we know this? Because we exist. Love always meets us where we are. It also shows us when we aren't open to it. Notice those tight spots around the heart and breathe into it. Be with it. Be gentle. Be with what comes up. It about us, not them.

Let the light shine. Let the love unwind into a fully open heart. This is our design. Fear keeps us from it. It takes more energy to close a heart than it does to keep it open. Just like it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile.

Sacrificing love for fear isn't worth it in the long run. Work though it. I'm worth it. You're worth it. Your heart, our heart will thank you. Your life, our life will reflect it.

Let's get to it! The time is now. We asked for it a long time ago. This is all a part of its unfolding. Life isn't happening to us IT IS happening for us.(Don't forget to say thank you for the opportunities that serve this purpose.)

MORE IN THE SACRED MASCULINE

My work is an integration of old and new paradigms and not only an exploration of but an evolving into the sacred masculine. 

The sacred masculine is more complex and can not be limited by general psychological models. Modern psychology still falls short because it is still a system not fully integrated but a work in progress. Some things just can't be taught by books. It's a combination of various things including a direct link to a deeply rooted understanding of what the sacred masculine is that involves the exploration and integration of consciousness. Not everyone is called. Not everyone that calls listens or is ready. Not everyone hears. It's not a huge group. But, I will say that the first level is the development around being more conscious. It's part of the awakening process.

Additionally, a more integrated form of sacred masculine isn't limited to understanding the psychology of a man. It also includes knowing the heart of a man. It includes an intimacy that can invite cuddling and body contact and a deeper level of being with one another, when the moment arises, intertwined and exploring sacred sexuality. A man knowing himself fully, deeply and freely. Has nothing to do with "gay or straight" and that's why I appreciate the new found definition of "Queer." It's quite beautiful to witness and be a part of this experience from a much deeper perspective. Otherwise, the development can only go so far and still shows signs of fear and societally based restrictions.

Yes, "It's all spiritual" and the path to awakening for men and women is a spiritual path in and of itself because there isn't anything that isn't spiritual. But when we speak of the sacred masculine that is much more than a new-age concept. The sacredness comes from more integration and awakening into the power of the masculine that involves the balance of the feminine in a man. Its the Shiva and Shakti spiraling together like the dance of yin/yang. It's a full integration. It's joy within enJOYment. It's all spiritual but the sacredness within this incorporates a refined experience that beckons and summons the more evolved aspects of consciousness which is a clarity of inner vision and the hearts freedom to explore terrain that awaits us and provides us with treasures sublime. Being rooted in the sacred masculine is when the pieces of a man, body, mind, heart and spirit are united and freedom of expression is a simple pleasure. It's freedom from societal dictation and has a more direct connection to the divine which isn't attached to labels. The heart knows no such thing. It's the folly of the mind to create stories around it which are still limitations. It's beyond words and is a feeling place. Freedom. The boy and man are one. The armor is gone and the old saying "the child is father to the man" becomes true. Little boys, that aren't tainted by limited belief systems imposed upon by the father or make figures surrounding him, are free to play with one another and aren't attached to limited belief systems. They just play and have fun. Somewhere along the line boys develop a more narrow vision and become stuck in a box. Then, crystallized patterns develop and the man is saying "I would never be so close with another guy." Yet, on a more honest level it is craved. What I see amongst more gay men than straight is that they/we play still in other ways and more freely. There's more joy in sexuality. There's more connection outside of the bedroom. I'm not saying all me should be gay. Gay is a bit different from a man being free in his sexuality like a little boy is free in playing without preset definitions of who he should play with and how. Should he choose to play with dolls and wear moms heels, this has nothing to do with gay. Furthermore, there's a freedom that comes from the heart and extends itself when it's no longer trapped by the limitations of the mind. Guys can cuddle, and fall asleep together, with or without the sexual expression, and be fully embodied and comfortable. There's something profoundly beautiful when two men are intertwined (close in or off). We are all one in the dark and we are all one heart in the face of the divine. There's no masculine or feminine. It just is what is, in the face of the divine.

WHOLENESS AND HEARTNESS

What a journey it is in this lifetime we have as we move through time and space. We have pleasant and unpleasant adventures in coming to the place where we remember our wholeness by having to accept and integrate of the pieces of ourselves. This is the point. We have so many aspects of ourselves and it's about coming to accept all of them as being aligned with one whole self. There is nothing wrong or broken about us. These thoughts are illusions that keep us from ourselves. An untruth that prevents us from seeing ourselves by perpetuating a cycle of suffering. It's up to us to not really allow ourselves to escape into thoughts that promote suffering. Sometimes we take a step back and notice this and others we are caught up by the veil that blinds us from what's true. What is true us what is real and what is real is what IS right now. When we fall into the trap of "would/could/should or had I done this or if I do that" then we are adding an anvil to our growth and weighing down the heart. When we pass all this by being present with and accepting exactly what is happening right now, because it is what IS real, we can soften into the moment and sink past the edges to a place of calm. We eventually soften into the heart where the mind is now the servant and the thoughts are more under the command of the heart. 

There is nothing or no one out there that can give us what we need. Nothing outside of us that completes us. When we feel alone, one it's a feeling, which is valid to have and two it's just a reminder that we haven't remembered our wholeness and that we feel something outside of us can change that. This is an untruth. We aren't incomplete beings waiting for someone or something to complete us. We are already perfect as we are. All of us and all of the pieces of what we are. Just like there are numerous leaves that make up a tree but not just one leaf deserves attention. At the center of our hearts is the knowing that we are whole and full. We somehow (but that doesn't even really matter) forgot along the way but here we are, learning to remember that all the pieces of who we think we are makes up our wholeness. The gift, of many, in this life is that through others we see our reflection and we have the opportunity to see where we aren't loving ourselves enough and how much we are loving ourselves. Both exist simultaneously. There is no polarity. Only one experience. When we forgive ourselves and permit ourselves to be with what is right now and now let our mind get the best of us by running away with infinite stories we can finally soften from the heart and stop running from ourselves and what is...right now which is whole and plenty and fully loving. This is our "task" and yet the irony is that there's nothing to do. Actually, thinking we have to do anything is just one more thing that distracts us and supports the notion and implication that having to do something will fix something when there's nothing broken. It's exactly what is right now that is all that exists and that's key. Let's not run from ourselves. Let's not hide from ourselves. Let's not do and let's be more with what is. This is where all of who we are is seen as whole. This is what is real..right now.

STHIRA SUKHAM ASANAM

Darkness and light are part of each other. We can not have one without the other. From darkness comes light and with light we go through the darkness. When we have too much light we are blinded and when we have too much darkness we are blind. We journey through the shadows and shed light where there is density but light self doesn't not completely dispel the darkness of the shadow because light also can create shadow. It's up to us to have the awareness of the shadow and accept it for what it is in order to learn its mystery. Darkness is the unknown. Light is the known. When we awaken, when we are enlightened, we are simply having a grander and clearer perspective. 

As we move through life, we can more easily traverse the terrain by not getting so caught up in would, could and should. Or what could be, should be. Rather, if we make love with what is and if we accept the intimacy of what is  happening right now we can shift into a deeper consciousness. Instead of changing or fixing or feeling that something is wrong or broken it is more important to be vulnerable and personal by integrating all our pieces, by accepting all the pieces of who we are in this moment versus trying to change anything based on the thoughts that there is something wrong with us. What is right with us is what is right now. If we accept and lean into the current circumstances of the moment, which is what is true right now, this is what's real. There's nothing to judge or change. What is right now and what is showing up right now is the gift. When we let the mind fall into its typical patters of division and separation we fall into pieces. Yet, when we can step back and embrace all the pieces we remember our wholeness and fullness. 

As in yogic practices, STHIRA and SUKHAM are about finding the edge where we observe and experience pleasure and discomfort. We sit with that place. We breathe into it. We slow down. We see when it is ready to shift. We can't make IT happen any faster, because by doing so, not only do we miss out on the opportunity of the gift but we also tend to cause injury which then perpetuates and prolongs suffering. When we sit with the dark pieces of our minds, embrace them. Talk to them. Engage in a friendly conversation.  See what is relevant and real right now. Don't try to avoid or change it because it's bound to come back and anchor us in more suffering. Find the edge, physically and mentally. Sit with it as comfortable as possible. Find the comfort in discomfort by being and breathing with it. When it's ready, and only when it's ready, will it shift to the next level. There's no rush or haste to "get there". There is no there without here. There is no there until we sit with what's here now. Numbing devices and sensations only keep the pain away but do not get rid of the pain. Being with and sinking into the edge, along with being vulnerable and honest with what is, will. 

Om Shanti!

Doctor of Ayurveda...

AMAZING NEWS!

It is with great excitement to announce that as of this past week I am officially enrolled at the CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF AYURVEDA and headed for the Doctoral of Ayurveda Program, first of its kind to be established in the USA!

I am excited and nervous as to what this next chapter of my journey will bring and how this process particularly will unfold for me but I'm totally open to the possibilities and unknown. (Now, to start with step one which is to take the placement exam and the first class towards this profound goal.) Oh my goodness!

I hope and pray to see you all on the other side when I've completed this with the credentials to show it. It's a long road ahead of me but a road still filled with great potential.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement on this path. Much love and sincerest gratitude.

CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF AYURVEDA

On ADDICTION

https://www.facebook.com/Vishnu.OM.54/posts/464765943721488:0

ICING OUT THE COLD STUFF

Article published in PGMC 

http://www.epgn.com/columns/work-it-out/9162-icing-out-the-cold-stuff

SIMPLE TIPS FOR HEALTHY DIGESTION

Article published in Healthy Ayurveda

https://healthyayurveda.com/simple-tips-for-healthy-digestion/

IMMUNITY: AWESOMENESS WITH OIL AND AYURVEDA

This is an article published by Healthy Ayurveda.

https://healthyayurveda.com/ayurvedic-daily-routine-oleation-self-massage-abhyanga/

BEHIND THE ZIPPER OF A MAN (Part 2)

Behind the zipper of a man we find his self-proclaimed manhood.  A fair amount of men identify with this aspect of themselves through this organ.  Yet, what makes a man cannot be simply reduced to such a small part of him, regardless of size.  I feel that this understanding is relevant to modern times.  Let's explore this further through history. 

 Man and woman are not that old in relationship to the age of this planet.  When the first man was born he was governed by a primal nature which solely resided in survival of the fittest through maintaining an intelligence that thoroughly comprehended the surrounding environment where he cultivated his capacity of resourcefulness.  He had to outsmart predators and competitors.  To ensure his genetic lineage he would mate.  The woman (and this varied with tribal dynamics around the world) would support this process and provide the nest for him. As humans first discovered the ability to harness fire this was the first step of awakening.  Anthropologically and biologically, this may in fact be around the same time the evolution of the cortex along with  the inherent wisdom of the body formed the neo-cortex and higher brain functions. As each generation of humans evolved so did brain and to various degrees. And, regardless, the designed base level functioning of humans has never sacrificed the primal necessity for love, security and sexual expression.  Interestingly, we can understand this development according to the ancient system and  philosophy of the chakra system; the seven major energy centers of the body that not only are representative of the five main elements but also the psychological vantage point that explains evolution of spirituality from the ground up. For instance, the first chakra, at the base of the spine, is about stability, security and base need for survival.  The second is within the pelvis and within the region of the reproductive organs, where our power, creativity and sexual expressiveness reside. From here, with each having a purpose, we progress to the naval area, then heart, then heart, next the throat, arriving up to the center of the eye brow area and then the ultimate high, which is the crown chakra where we connect to the highest realm of spirituality, awakening and absolute consciousness.  The details of the chakras are beyond the scope of this article and can be researched separately.  The point of all this is to see the progression of lower consciousness to higher planes of consciousness as we evolve in these bodies.

 As we explore this and have it exist in the background of our mind, we can formulate our relationship to time, space and nature.  Within the realm of higher conscious we can determine that there are two main energies at play in the universe.  These being the masculine and the feminine. Masculine energy is symbolically represented by a spear-head and the feminine energy is represented by the receptive cup. Biologically, the predominance of testosterone is common in men and estrogen in women. The quality of hot is more masculine and cool is associated with the feminine.  Various cultures around the world have their own wisdom that defines the qualities of masculine and feminine.  In pre-historic times, it was more cut and dry to understand the roles of the masculine and the feminine. As consciousness evolved and continues to evolve, we understand more easily how in actuality the male energies and feminine energies exist in each other, like the yin-yang symbol where we clearly see how the colors of black and white are in each other perceived by the inner circles.  

 Currently, the understanding of how masculine and feminine can be defined isn't as determining as it once was of time past. Though anatomically the physical genders can still be ascertained to some degree, inclusive of the transgender genre as part of society (please forgive my ignorance if it seems as though I didn't accurately or respectively understand the best words to describe this amazing group of light beings), the clarity of these roles of masculine and feminine fall within the gray zone.  Times have changed. Men are becoming more in touch with their feminine side, gay or not, and women are more in touch with their masculine side.  In some homes, men are stay at home dads while mom works and in other homes, women still stay home while men work. Other homes in between, we have single moms and single dads.  Modern times even show us a home with either two moms, or two dads.  Within the latter scenarios, we can see that in such interrelationships that one person more than the other tends to express themselves with a predominant role and in some cases there is an equal sharing of roles and responsibilities that isn't restricted to conventional definitions of masculine and feminine.

 We have evolved greatly over the thousands and thousands of years that we have existed on this planet. The old definition of what is a man and what is a woman no longer serves the current times accurately. Now it’s more about what is it about being human?

 Since this article is about men here is where I'll focus the attention, though there is much overlapping disparity to maintain a separation from the two qualities and energies, in my perspective. Men come in all shapes and sizes. They participate in vocational settings that are no longer gender specific. They engage in sexual roles that are no longer typically defined. Self-care is increasing and the mentality of men is evolving, catching up to our female counterparts. The list is growing and men are changing, slowly. Yet what exists behind the zipper of a man is no longer restricted to the importance of his physical penis.  The mental version shows itself through competition and we can say that this competitiveness comes from the primal urges that still exist deeply within our being since the beginning.  We can see this inherently rooted importance to establish our manliness through how we tend to participate in society. Whether gay or straight, there is a common them for survival to some degree. Both versions of men seek to establish themselves with some level of importance, and who knows? Maybe this is some simple function of having more testosterone because chemicals have intelligence. Anyways, both versions are competitive and we can see a distinct split between gay and straight men. Here's how.  Straight men generally come across with a stern, retracted and confining demeanor. This may be a way that, as in pre-historic times, he had to ruffle his feathers to gain superiority over others. They did this to preserve themselves and survive and at least prolong their survival through progeny. Gay men, though they may be operating from a similar place, have less of a possibility or maybe even less interest in enduring time through progeny. In simpler words, both straight and gay men are still men. Both, on some level may have a drive to prolong their genealogy for survival via a competitive edge that supports survival of the fittest but and unless gay men adopt or find a surrogate mother, straight men may be more inclined to pursue this avenue.  Gay men may in fact redirect this to other ways of self-preservation or not be that interested. I'm hoping this message is clear at this point. 

 Now, I'd like to also shed light on men that aren't as forthright or as driven and seem complacent or gentler.  This does not make them any less than a man. It's actually that simple and for there be a need to justify this would simply encourage that competitive mentality which is rooted in duality, fear and essentially an unrealistic definition. I say this from a spiritual standpoint and that in the eyes of the Divine we are all equal, straight, gay, lesbian, men, women, all colors, all shapes, all religions and all creeds. There is no separation.  One is not lesser or more than. We are all created in God's image which is infinite in form. Again, it's that simple.  Love and God are one and since God is love and doesn't discriminate, neither does love.

 The point of all this is to move from a place of fear and back to a place of love that lives in all our hearts.  Behind the zipper of a man is more than his penis, our penis.  As we evolve within our consciousness, higher consciousness, we rise within love in our hearts. For women, they are not as pre-occupied by their vagina because the quickest way to a woman's heart is through her heart.  We tend to error on the side of thinking that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his penis (and/or his stomach) but at the deepest level, when a man has the awareness, the quickest way to his heart is his heart too.  The mind has created a story and men can have dense barriers that must be transformed and dissolved so that we can access his heart completely. His mind has taken over as a powerful tool for self-preservation and maintenance of the survival of the fittest philosophy, in modern times, to stay above the ever changing times. In my opinion, for a man to truly secure his lineage it is by being in the heart with love more and less in the mind where fear resides. We can see this in some examples such as major world male figures that have operated from their heart such as Jesus, Moses, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Their legacy lives on because of love. Freedom and health comes from a heart that is open and loving, less from a critical mind.  We must continue to explore the dense shadows of the past that keeps us trapped and bound to the point of where we feel claustrophobic and asphyxiated. Step by step, we must be willing to surrender the layers of fears seeds and rise above like the phoenix. For a man to truly be successful, we must be intimate with our vulnerability and show up in the world as such. The Divine knows that we can because the very fabric of who we are was created as such.  Now it's a matter for us to tune in and know that we can too. There is no need for competition since we are all eligible and deserving of life's riches and richness. The universe is abundant in all ways and we are each equally entitled and deserving of all that is has to offer; we all have a lot to offer. We must recognize that competition is a mask of fear and if we explore this fear we can see how unrealistic and untrue it is.

 So, what is a man? A man is integrated with all his pieces as being part of the one story of him. A man in integrity is a man who takes responsibility for himself and shows up in the world as his own version of the divine and in the world. Then, this man can also see that a woman is essentially and fundamentally no different than him; that male qualities and female qualities exist in each one of us, making us whole and reminding us that we are all love. (we just forgot)

 Behind the zipper of a man is much more that what is superficially understood. There is an entire universe that awaits us if we take the time to really sink deeper and let the heart be our guide.

PEOPLE AND AYURVEDA

It always amazes me when clients and new clients prolong their involvement with Ayurveda. I know how phenomenal and life changing Ayurveda is but some people just decide to not make the necessary changes and prefer to deal with the health issues that they come in with, to begin with, versus take the leap and let go of old habits that have contributed to their ill health. They don't see that they can obtain the desired results that they long for, and thensome, that awaits their committing to as they willing let go of fear.

I reluctantly agree with backing out and "seeing if they're ready" by taking a step from Ayurveda, but from my perspective it's like witnessing a patient prolong their suffering and health issues. I'm reluctant because they have to run the new information through they're pre-existing mental filters, that are on guard with fear of change, and then decide from there. What they don't see is that their own filters are clogged and will bias their decision from a standpoint that isn't true or optimal.

The other piece that they don't realize is that Ayurveda is the Science of Light, which is about consciousness, and that Ayurveda will shine its flashlight on those places in our lives, our diet and daily practices that aren't in our highest good and in the biggest picture. Some people aren't ready for truth or for this light. With this, they just karmically endure as they have been and stay in the density of denial and darkness, whereas, Ayurveda brings our lives back to us by shining the light on our health.

I say take the your time in deciding whether Ayurveda is "right" for you but as you're deciding know that your imbalanced mind and health conditions will only deepen into pathology, quicker than you know it. This isn't about fear but a reality. People are suffering and Ayurveda is a natural healthcare/sick care system that brings our lives back to us through our health, every day. It's that simple.

Ayurveda works. It's not always easy, especially at first but it's definitely by far worth the investment. The investment isn't fundamentally in Ayurveda but in yourself. Would you attach a dollar amount to your health? Especially if you're already afflicted by health issues? For me, the answer is easily no. Health is wealth, says Ayurveda. I'm worth it. I've invested 13 years into it and will never deviate from it. I've wealth with various health issues and chronic illness with Ayurveda and Yoga at my side. I live it and sweat by it until my last breath. Ayurveda has withstood the test of time. It was hers before me and will be here long after me.

Take your time in deciding if you "can handle it" (while disease awaits you). Ayurveda will see you in the next life. There's nothing else like Ayurveda and Ayurveda says the same about us.

SICK? TIPS FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT

So many of you have been and are sick right now. As an expert in Ayurvedic medicine, I have found that there are various considerations that provide us both with an understanding of how sickness forms and how it can be prevented. It is the time of year where we have to be

extra diligent in maintaining health. Once our immunity is compromised, we are more susceptible to other types of infections.

With colds and flu/viruses brewing this time of year, here is some food for thought to prevent or reduce your risk for sickness:

1. Hydration: Are you drinking enough water (not cold or ice water)?

2. Keeping warm: This means keeping the body warm from wind and preventing the cold from getting into the body by avoiding intake of cold foods/raw foods and cold beverages.

3. Staying moist: This happens by avoiding intake of cold foods/beverages because the natural oils in the body dry up with anything cold, since cold is astringent.

4. Air quality: Homes are often dry because of the heat being on, especially as it mixes with night air, which provokes dry sinuses, which can eventually bleed. Have a cool-air humidifier, especially in the bedroom (unless there is wall-to-wall carpeting).

5. Staying up late: Being awake past 10 or 11 p.m. negatively affects the liver and provokes dryness and inflammation. This also reduces the quality of sleep, which is fundamental and necessary to maintain optimal health.

6. Smoking: Smoking any product increases dryness and causes reactive mucus to form, which invites bacterial formation and infection. Reduce or cease smoking.

7. Coffee: Drinking coffee is drying and affects the nervous system negatively. It also fuels inflammation and can thereby weaken immunity. Reduce or eliminate coffee.

8. Stress: Overworking, over-exercising and overdoing anything can deplete our adrenals, weaken immunity and dry us out. Don’t overdo it.

9. Travel: Reduce or eliminate traveling during this climate.

Other simple remedies:

1. Eat more soup, such as chicken and/or veggie.

2. Sip hot water and teas (like Tulsi, ginger and lemon) throughout the day and with meals.

3. Moisturize with a warm oil massage before bathing.

4. Increase oils such as coconut, flax and ghee in the diet. Include nuts.

5. Line the nasal passages (and this is crucial) with an Ayurvedic herbalized oil. Perform this daily and throughout the day.

6. Home yoga practice is excellent for maintaining lubrication, warmth, digestion, respiration and immunity. You can enhance the benefits by knowing what the correct regimen is for your constitution, per Ayurveda.

7. Spices are natural digestive enzymes that encourage metabolism. Pungent spices increase warmth in the belly and absorption of nutrients so that cells receive this information to keep the body happy and healthy.

Doing all this will strengthen health. We tend to think of ill health as an inconvenience when in fact it’s a gift that at least shows us how we can live more mindfully and healthy. Good health is at our finger tips — when we aren’t making other choices to compromise it.

BEHIND THE ZIPPER OF A MAN AND HEALING (PART ONE)

Behind the zipper of a man is more than we can conceivably bargain for. Lurking in the shadows of a man hides his past, present and future. This deep mystery is masked by this masculine strong facade. There is much more than testosterone that defines a man; an unspoken truth that isn’t always revealed to the host himself.  This process requires subtle inquiry and a surrender of what societal influences have defined for us over the centuries.

 In recent times, my meditation process has been about exploring the story of a man by diving deep and inquiring from my essence what this means amidst the folly of the universe and consciousness.  During these exploratory sessions and viewing the revelations through my own journey of awakening, I have been shown how deep the mystery of a man is. (At this point as I'm still meditating and exploring.) I see how we have been governed by not only current societal domestications but through influences spanning ancestral lineages, going back millennia.  Years and years, generations upon generations, centuries upon centuries, the compiling of pressure that latently is embedded in the crevices of our being, genetically encoded with so much fear, so much wounding.

 Day to day, I interact with men from this place of perspective and insight, ranging from simple eye contact/eye avoidance to a man lying on my massage table and I explore his tissues that secretly reveal anger, repression, suppression, old tears of past sorrows and future fears. From intimate moments, while satisfying earthly pleasures, to social gatherings of sorts where men pool together to express their "manliness," I ask my essence and their inner master to speak to me and show me its secrets.

 Behind our eyes, we have seen and personally experienced grave injustices committed. We have held our tears and concealed our truth as victims to oppressive forces that are inherently caused by an imbalanced patriarchal system that lacks the softness of the feminine energy. We were taught to toughen up, be strong, not express emotion, "act like a man", work hard/play harder, fight, attack, destroy, conquer, be stern and immovable. We carry our own pain to the point of disease formation and sometimes we say "mercy," most often we take it to our graves. This weight upon our shoulders remains generally untapped.  There are glimpses over time when we are able to perceive these rays of hope and healing but often are the case that the defense systems engage and shield us once again. Though we may think that we are hiding from the world, our intense secrets, we are really hiding from ourselves through denial. Our being, our essence and our soul tattle on us through our eyes. Yet and sometimes simultaneously, we think we can avoid eye contact because we know this on some level; without realizing that even the act of avoiding eye contact is an action that reveals so much just as quickly. 

 Behind this majestic presence of masculine that we show up with, we often hide behind such definitions that are actually superficial and shallow. In what we think we are concealing, others who have done the inner mining will simply see the child of the man. I love the old saying "the child is father to the man."  (This wraps it all up in seven words.)  When I confer with woman and other men who have done much inner work and healing, the common theme of how so many men walk around with their inner young boys playing dress up in suits of adult men is amazing! We can and tend to remain our own versions of unchartered territories that can draw to us grave consequences and situations least likely in our favor, to the point that this unconsciousness can circle around and we repeat patterns of harm to ourselves and the world around us. This is how we pass down generation to generation deeply seated wounds and into seeds of our unborn. 

 We generally roam freely, but as men are we truly free when we carry such burden and feel stifled to the point of numbness? We are limited in our words and we attempt to use words to describe emotions but in a round-about fashion or we use the "wrong" words to navigate but we end up more lost than the beginning of the journey.  This is how conflict is created and how many relationships fail, or don't even have a chance to set sail. This is the perfect springboard opportunity to take responsibility for ourselves and to make a change. 

 We roam around unattached, one way or another, and venture sexually meanwhile justifying our behavior that this is "what we do because we are men" or fall prey to the story that it's "dictated by evolution and biology". But, how true is this? To some extent, it is true but it isn't fully truthful because it would seem as though we are falling into unconsciousness again while we chalk over our behaviors to predetermined ideas. Yet, let's ask ourselves "where did this idea truly start from to begin with?" Yes, evolution is a process that's generally considered real but what was the impetus? Where did this process start from? A thought in cosmic consciousness maybe? 

 "Show me yours and I'll show you mine." As early as childhood, we play such games from an innocent place because we learn to explore the world through comparison. We get older and then this simple game still exists but is played under different categories, from the child mind to the adult version, and basically divide it into two categories with overlapping. Let's first look at the two categories, though be mindful that there's no absolute because there's always a gray area. First group is where as we mature we side with sexual expression. By this, I mean that as children we are just sensitive boys simply exploring the world and not fixed by rigid rules like man/woman. We may be fundamentally heterosexual but have a small (in most cases) undeniable curiosity for same sex connection and even intimacy; but are generally herded into this group to fit the current standards.  This group will tend to repress (knowingly/unknowingly) some of the curiosity or on some level forego the idea and integrate it into sports, politics, gym activities and athleticism. How we still hold the idea of "show me yours and I'll show you mine" is through competition in seeing who the alpha male is.  This is like most species where male energy is present. It's the "normal behavior" per say, of even mating/courting and/or even just being pack leader. The other group becomes homosexual (gay men), and usually undergoes a much more tumultuous path (less so these days and at least less in bigger cities). I say tumultuous because there's usually a coming out process that happens, where for heterosexual men there isn't. Men in this second group can and do still participate in similar activities to the other group but with one more advantage, which is sexual liberation to some degree. In the gay male world where we say "show me yours and I'll show you mine", we mean it literally. Gay men spend a lot of time focusing on the penis, more easily and more openly.  Not necessarily all gay men, but a good proportion. The dialogue is usually about "how big are you?" but it is also around how much of a "man" you are in other ways, which is not that different from the heterosexual realm. As men, regardless of grouping, we have two heads but one mind and in between is the referee known as the heart. Biologically, physically, the body has its own needs and intelligence.  The mind has its own story and can dictate like a king, over the kingdom, which is the body and direct it into peace or traffic. 

 When the heart is involved there is balance of body and mind. When there is chaos of body and mind, the heart suffers. We must clear up this traffic jam and miscommunication and allow the heart to speak and be listened to.  By doing so, we can avoid health complications of mind and body.  This is the greatest gift we can give ourselves. In giving this to ourselves, we inevitably radiate this outwardly to all those around us which can ripple across the planet and influence the generations to come. By doing our work and really becoming intimate with our own wounds we can heal ourselves from the inside out.  We can fully show up in a true sense of balance in both our masculine and feminine, and we can be fully grounded in the world because we are living life, in light, light in our bodies (verses dense and compressed), along with being integrated and in harmony with the Earth and stars. We cannot be fully integrated unless we can look at, embrace and hold space for ourselves and hold all the pieces of ourselves under the awareness and acceptance of pure loving acceptance itself. We can have improved health and relationships which are interdependent. We can heal our own past and have a bright future. We can transform the violence into peace by inviting our own personal healing journey to take over. Our deepest self is yearning and sometimes screaming to get out.  It's time for us to listen to this inner voice that beckons from our hearts and where our inner little boys still live feeling abandoned because our minds have spearheaded our reality. 

 There’s work to be done. We are each responsible for ourselves. Are you ready to start? Are you ready to show up? Are you ready to do this work along my side? We don’t have to do this alone.  Actually, it’s best if we didn’t. We do have to go in by ourselves but we will soon discover that we aren’t alone. Are you ready? Because I am and I invite you.

MANTRA YOGA: A MEANS TO ENHANCE OUR SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

 

As a yoga teacher, many of us have played cd's during class that consist of mantras.  Some people may simply view this as "New Age" music.  Yet, the reality is is that mantras pertaining to the yogic tradition are thousands and thousands of years old. As teachers, we may play these cd's and have them fill the background of the class without having a purposeful or complete understanding of the power of these sounds. But, there is forgiveness from these magical, mystical and age old sounds that are eternal, withstanding the test of time and space. The forgiveness I speak of refers to that even if the forefront of our ego mind hasn't developed an understanding of what these mantras are doing our deeper and more consciously alert mind "gets it" and will slowly permeate through the various layers of the ego and transform those parts of us that don't "get it." In this, there is no coincidence when any particular mantra calls to us as part of our classes because on some level our higher and more awakened selves has arranged it as such. 

In our training of classical vedantic based yoga, of the main branches of classical yoga Mantra Yoga is the most powerful and profound expression, practice and experience of yoga according to the Vedas. According to Deepak Chopra, "the word mantra has two parts: "man", which is the root of the sanskrit word for mind; and "tra", which is the root of the word instrument. A mantra is therefore an instrument of the mind, a powerful sound or vibration that you can use to enter a deep state of meditation." 

Even without asana practice Mantra Yoga is considered a hierarchy as a science that can transform the mind and body at its roots.  Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley) states "The development of concentration through mantra is one of the best tools of psychological healing. It can help break up deep-seated habits, addictions, and traumas, releasing the mental energy and prana trapped within them. It helps dissolve negative emotional patterns, even those forgotten by the conscious mind. It does not require that we analyze the unconscious, relieve out traumas, or dig up old memories. The mantra changes the energetic structure of the mind, so they such negative patterns have no place to develop or remain." 

Sound is the first of form manifested and light comes with this. Sanskrit alphabet is embedded in the chakras and with this the power of creation and creator. Transformative. Shifting and enlightening. The body and all that has form contains a vibration of sound. Dr. Vasant Lad (an internationally known master yogi and Ayurvedic Physician) teaches us that each person has a particular mantra that is the seed and root of our manifestation into form. He proceeds to say that if we find our personal mantra that we can heal all afflictions and diseases of the mind and body.  His authority comes from his personal experience through highly meditative states and his sharing of what the vedas teach us. Furthermore, the medical science of Ayurveda, uses mantras prescriptively as a means to enhance performance and quality of herbs, magnify effects of asana, as well as meditation, and to basically use to support the mental and physical health of an individual as a whole to expedite deeper healing.

BREATH AND MANTRA

There is a level of mastery that occurs when mantra is combined with all the other yogic practices. An alchemical process of this relationship affords and benefits us by magnifying the effects of the physical practices with the outer limbs of yoga as we shift from the outer to the inner limbs of yoga. The gateway is pranayam, according to Patanjali, where mantra and pranayam guide us to the more subtle realms of consciousness and we sail through cosmic breath into stillness and meet the divine.  

Slow deep, rhythmic, intentional, consistent and full breaths through the diaphragm is one of the main ways to "calm the savage beast" known as the mind and all its rippling turbulent and crippling dysfunctional thoughts. To accentuate this process we couple it with mantra/prayer to the divine/God, through disciplined and continuous practice the mind can becomes subdued. "Yogi's" strive to replace thoughts with mantra/prayer and then eventually (knowing these are still thoughts but of a "higher" nature) these thoughts are also offered into the master of silence where the thoughts are digested and dissolved. All that you're left with is silence. This is samadhi. This is satchitananda. This is the Nirvana which Buddha shares with us as an inevitable possibility.

  PRACTICE

I recommend practicing with one mantra that grabs your attention.  The ancients teach us that the power of the mantra comes from its constant repetition. Though, it's not just repeating it mechanically. Practicing like this becomes what Ed Zadlo, my first mantra teacher, called it "mental chewing gum." No, mantra practice with intent contains the power of shakti ma as shakti prana that energizes accordingly.

Remember that none of these mantras are "new" and that on some level we know the mantra because we are the mantra. Our current state of reality in these bodies just has to catch up.  As we practice the mantra it will come alive and transform ever cell of our being. When the mind finds itself distracted simply focus on a mantra over and over again. Vamadeva states that it takes over 100,000 repetitions of the mantra to continue with momentum that is unstoppable.  Another very potent way to receive the mantra is through a guru, a teacher who has achieved a level of mastery and/or enlightenment. The teacher who has practiced the mantra with such dedication and continuity has embibed the mantra and the mantra itself has shakti that penetrates deeply. The teacher can pass of the mantra that is specific for an individuals sadhana (spiritual practice.) Mantra itself becomes one of the most powerful meditation practices, aside from surrendering into silence.  Mantra can lead us to silence as do all roads of spiritual practice.

For me, my first Guru Ammachi (Mata Amritananadevi), gave me a personal mantra that only I and she knows. This is a traditional practice to maintain the shakti and preserve it within the being it was passed to.  It is also about meeting the student where we're at. Sometimes due to the nature of a mantra, to simply and otherwise give a random mantra, would be like giving an herb/medication for one person and ailment whereas the same herb/medication may not exactly be what another person would benefit from in that moment.  The very first mantra that came to me as a yoga student coming from a catholic background was "Om Namah Shivaya." I hadn't known what it meant but as soon as I heard it it stuck and began instantly repeating itself and showing up in my mind when I wasn't even thinking of it. I suppose Shiva has this effect and I suppose this is similar to the love for a lover. Right? I resisted the urge of my monkey mind to dissect what meaning of this mantra and surrendered my need to do so because I had this subtle understanding that I already did and that there was no further need to distract myself by doing anything other than simply receiving the blessing of what it was and had to offer. Sometimes, most often, we don't really need to know because we already do. We just have to question who is the who that needs to know. 

Other means of receiving mantra is through Kirtans and Bhajans. Kirtan and bhajans are similar in the sense that they both involve singing the names of the divine but the main difference is that bhajan is a sing a long and kirtan is a call and response practice. There are great kirtanists and local communities that have bhajans circles available, or at least in my area and major cities, that are somehow affiliated with yoga and meditation centers. 

Finally, one other way which mantra can come through is via meditation itself. As we sink into a quieter place within ourselves and connect with the cosmic breath we can hear sacred verses being uttered. The yogis know that there is one mantra that exists throughout the entire universe and that is the "So Hum." The sound of "So" corresponds to the inhale and the sound of "Hum" is the exhale. We know that the entire universe is inhaling and exhaling. Therefore, if we struggle with finding any mantra that resonates we can all always come back to the breath by following So Hum.  Consequently, in recent times, NASA reported that there is a sound frequency amid space this is low but eternal similar to a humming. In yoga teachings we learn this sound to be Om. 

CONCLUSION

Another point to mention is that I have witnessed many sacred rituals here in the USA and in India called Pujas (offerings) and Yajna's (fire rituals) that invoke the divine with mantra incorporated as a main component to these practices that help synergize the experience and take it to a whole other level.

Please understand that mantra is not limited to the language of sanskrit or India. Ancient languages all have prayers and verses that support calling the divine name somehow. I am excited to share this with you and hope that it inspires you into a deeper relationship with mantra as it can be not only part of asana practice but also as a practice in and of itself. In yoga this can be witnessed through the practice of Ajapa Jap which is the practice of continuous practice.

I am humbled and aspire to reach my own version of this through my own journey within consciousness. As a student, I stumble in navigation from becoming the doer to simply just being, as I encouraged to move into stillness in the moment of now.  I am grateful to the community that I am connected to, that I'm surrounded by and have been nurtured by that has and continues to feed me with such nutritive sustenance. My soul dances and can reach such a state of being as mantras integrate into my practice on a daily basis. At this stage in the game and within the matrix, thoughts of a chaotic nature are being progressively replaced by mantras that are inevitably transforming and transcribing themselves into the transition of silence and stillness. I'm grateful mantra yoga has made its way to me and through me!

Hari Om Tat Sat! 

REFERENCES

**Are available upon request.

**Much of this information shared has been a result of my personal practice, as well as my reflections and teachings based on my clinical training and class notes from lectures.

ENERGY DRINKS, An Ayurvedic and Yogic Perspective: What the heck are we thinking? (Or, are we, can we?)

 

It amazes me to know how such drinks still exist on the market today, in spite of the compounding science and clinical data that supports how toxic these drinks are on our health. Over my many years of Ayuvedic clinical practice I have had the pleasure of undoing the damage done on the mind, brain and body from indulging in such toxic beverages. My patients are grateful and healthier than ever and can rely on their own energy reserve that the body provides when we create the forum and foundation that supports the body to do so. This foundation begins by right diet, sleep, lifestyle and overall mental approach to life. Simply by introducing healthy organic foods, exercises, yoga, breathing techniques and meditation a person can go from night to day in a matter of weeks and notice how amazing the body is at giving them the same energy levels that something like a energy drink superficially and temporarily provides, without the side effects and long term damage. The energy potential in our bodies is vast, when we've tapped into the reservoir of limitless energy that awaits us. We simply have to tune in and give ourselves the opportunity to do so. It amazes me when I see people/teachers in the physical training field eating supposed good foods but then mixing it up or filling in the gap with energy drinks. This is an oxymoron from the Ayurvedic perspective because we cannot be indulging in such destructive behaviors that counteract the "healthy diet" we engage in. I always encourage, based on my opinion, my patients/student that if they see their gym representative/physical trainer/yoga teacher or other healthcare provider taking these beverages in or other habits that don't seem to support the message they are trying to convey as a messenger, to choose wisely and look for another option because they are not living the talk. In sharing this it is only an intention to re-educate, remember and remind us of what is already understood on a deeper level. I understand that we are all children learning how to reconnect to this deep wisdom and must find our own way, with the right guidance being our feeling of good health.

Here's a SHORT list of what are some consequences of energy drink intake:
1-stresses adrenals and depletes them
2-affects the nervous system and causes hyper arousal, eventually leading to deterioration
3-stresses the pancreas and negatively affects the proper functioning of insulin
4-leaches minerals and nutrients from bone, later causing weakness and deterioration
5-increases testosterone as these drinks affect the pituitary gland which is the master gland and hormonal system of the body
6-increases tendencies and symptoms of short attention span
7-can ironically cause depression because of the "crash" associated with coming down
8-is addictive and habit forming because the body requires you give more of it to maintain levels of energy so you can function
9-dehydrates you so you rob your cell of nutrients 
10-can increase sex drive (but causes long term damage to the gonads as this is part of the hormonal system previously mentioned), later leading to ED (erectile dysfunction)
11-increases acidity in the body (and we all know, even from general chemistry class) by promoting acidity in the body and helping to develop or feed into inflammation
12-can support the grown of candidiasis (which is an over growth of natural fungus in the body) which leads towards yeast infections and other complications

Furthermore, within the body's natural intelligence it shouldn't even need to see this list or these numerous studies to convince it that artificial means of boosting the body's energy isn't the way to go. The deeper and inner wisdom within the body already says "no way" and "I can do better, naturally"...it then says "give me what I need, which is love, attention, good exercise, good water, breathing techniques, good food, good air and good impressions to support the mind and I'll give you back ten-fold". It is ideal to continue to listen to this inner wisdom because it will not steer us wrong. If we have deviated from the ability to check in and see what the body wants then we can choose wisely and pick a practitioner who can guide us as we observe them to be the model standing within integrity. 

Back to basics is the way to go with health and well-being, there's no short-cuts or quick ways to it. This is what Ayurveda continues to show us and this is what consciousness looks like. The first "rule or code of conduct" in yoga is called AHIMSA, which means non-violence. When we present the body with negative thoughts,  allow the negative thoughts to pervade, or subject the body to harm we are causing violence which affects us on a deeper and cellular genetic level. Energy drinks are a form of violence on the body because there is no gentleness to them. They're meant to override the body and suppress what is inherently and naturally within the body’s already designed capacity of infinite energy. This is a subtle manifestation of harm upon the body and mind. Why give yourself something artificial when you can support your body in doing what it can do naturally? If we're playing our cards optimally then these drinks can be a thing of the past that invites in a more positive future in our health. Do yourself and your body a favor and turn the cheek when you see an energy drink. Your whole being will thank you, now and in the long run.

Please know that there is no judgment on this topic only an intention to re-educate, remember and remind us of what is already understood on a deeper level. It is my duty as a practitioner and clinician to present information that will help guide others in a more optimal direction into health and well-being.  Ayurveda gives your life back to you. Just invest in it and your outcome will be abundant! Om Shanti!

For more information, feel free to inbox me. 

Some references:

https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2012/196/1/energy-drinks-health-risks-and-toxicity

http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/health-dangers-of-energy-drinks/

http://lifespa.com/energy-drinks-a-dangerous-experiment/