A Yoga off the mat contemplation

How would it feel if you loosened the reins of control?

Having a human mind means having a desire to know and control, it comes with the territory, it is part of the nature of the human mind. We like that feeling that things are ‘under control’.

This might be to a greater or lesser degree, depending on our life situation and personality. We have a tendency to live a fantasy life in our heads, rather than our actual life.

The problem with control is that we don’t really have it.

Yes, really.

Of course we do have some degree of agency or free will in the choices we make.

> Do I get up or hit the snooze button?

>Do I go to yoga class or sit on the couch?

>Do I discipline my child or let it go?

>Do I keep a tidy and uncluttered house so as to feel more free to live my life and not be pulled down by unnecessary busyness, or is that all too hard and not a priority?

So yes, we make those sorts of choices, and maybe even some big picture choices about what country we live in (although to be fair we do not always have a huge choice) or what sort of job we want (which also becomes limited according to our education and experience).

It seems to me that we somehow co-create life. We play our little part, but there is a bigger picture, a bigger force working as well.

Perhaps we are a somewhat avoidant in being real with life. We play the safe game. The familiar.

So it is perhaps shocking to realise that the idea that somehow we ‘control’ life itself really is illusory.

(Sometimes it takes a big life event for us to see this, or maybe we tip-toe toward this recognition.)

However it is for you, if you invite a sense of ‘allowing’ rather than ‘controlling’, what then?

Maybe a sense of the scary unknown, the mystery?

Maybe that is somehow more ‘real’ than the ‘control’ that limits us and boxes us in?

Oh I know we are always trying to juggle and manage and control things, but don’t forget to leave some room for what the Universe wants too.

How would it feel if you loosened the reins of control a little? How would it feel to be a bit more open to the mystery and realness of life?

Consider this your invitation to let life find you!

PS: We don’t usually look at our minds in this way do we? We know we have one, but we don’t realise the full extent of how we can use it as a tool rather than being ruled by it. We rarely recognise that our sense of self, or ‘me’ is a mind-generated collection of ideas that has no actual reality. What fun it is to explore these things and to recognise that we can use the mind as a wonderful tool and not be ruled or limited by it!

Fluff free freedom is an online course that helps you to find the state of inner freedom that comes from truly recognizing your mind for what it can and can’t do.  It takes you from stressed to calm, from uncertainty to clarity, to being present and mindful and to really getting clear on living your best life. Check it out here.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

inner freedom, self realisation, awaken

Now is the time to get back in touch with your Self, to come home to your Self.

This quote is a good reminder for me that right now is where our work is.

Not in some future time when everything about life is more tidy and organized. Not when we have more money, more time, better relationships etc. No, that is an excuse to put it off. Why wait?

Why not experience inner freedom now?

If not now, then when?

Patanjali used the word ‘atha’ in the first of the Yoga Sutras, which is ‘Atha yoganusasanam’. I am not a Sanskrit scholar, but my understanding is that this translates as ‘now to Yoga’. Now is the time.

Not some other time, but right now.

Why waste another day not exploring the possibility of feeling connected and free?

If we are willing to let go, willing to drop back from the mind, we are there, home with our Self.

Still-mind Meditation and contemplation are the means that worked for me to experience this, along with my practice on the mat. I don’t think anything works sufficiently without some guidance and support. Some help to tease out the way we live in our heads…

The usual ways we think of our ‘self’ is a person with a body and a mind isn’t it? The mind comes up with a ‘me’ that describes our roles, our relationships, our desires, our problems, the whole lot.

We think that mind-created ‘me’ is who we are.

It takes a lot of effort to see that ‘me’ is something that the mind creates.

That the mind creation called ‘me’ is only some thoughts and has no substance really – isn’t that mind-blowing?

What this card suggests is that there is a Self to come home to, and that Self becomes apparent when we drop the ‘me’ self, when we drop back from the thoughts altogether. What may become apparent when we drop the body and mind (like we do when we practice corpse pose, and also when we meditate) is a stillness and quietness, a place from where the mind can be observed.

To me, this is much more where we want to keep our awareness. That quiet, watching, non-commenting Self. The expansive and unlimited space. The place where we experience what I like to call inner freedom.

Lets do all we can to get in touch with that now!

To realise your Self, to come home to your Self.

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a starting point.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

*If you are interested in the possibility of experiencing more inner freedom in your life, then my online course Fluff-free freedom might be just perfect for you. Find out more HERE

Sarasvati with yoga off the mat contemplation cards

Don’t look outside yourself for happiness

Can you find happiness within rather than being reliant on anything external?

Do you say things like, ‘I’ll be happy WHEN …

and then there is a great list of possibilities …

*When I lose 10 pounds (or kilos)

*When I have the perfect relationship

*When i have the perfect house

*When I have the perfect children

*When I have the perfect job

*When I can travel overseas again

*When I have a more up-to-date wardrobe

It is so easy to think that it is external things that give us happiness – the cake, the chocolate (oh yes, the chocolate!!), the perfect relationship, the right income, being the right weight, wearing the right clothes, children behaving, things going to your ‘plan’.

But … really … how can something external have such an effect on our state?

Surely we know that is not a long-lasting or reliable situation?

Being happy is much more an attitude and an inner state. This is the living practice of yoga off the mat, isn’t it?

And it is something we all have access to if we drop the mental chatter for a bit and feel within. Can you do that? Can you close your eyes and feel a sense of quiet, a sense of watching and perhaps even a warm glow inside? Can you sit with that feeling? Can you even allow it to expand?

We really do have to find our own happiness. Our own inner joy that is remarkably reliable, even if things are not going the way we want them to. Perhaps you first taste this feeling on the yoga mat? Or out in nature? Then it is a matter of remembering it, of keeping the feeling, of practicing yoga off the mat as well.

As the saying goes ‘happiness is an inside job’.

It really is. Have you found that? Please share your experience!

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in AustraliaThey make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

This moment now – perhaps messy, perhaps complicated – is perfect

It seems like a strange time, when there is a world wide pandemic, to pick this card.  How can things possibly be perfect?

Then again, it is easy to see that there are perfect moments. Things when everything seems to go well. A beautiful day, a delicious meal, a nice full belly, time with loved ones, all feel so perfect.

What might be harder to see is that every moment is a perfect one.

This moment, whatever it contains, is perfect because it is what it is. If we argue with it, if we don’t want to accept it, then we are arguing with reality. We will never win that argument, it means we are not accepting reality. So the cold wet rainy day, the burnt meal, the hungry belly, how on earth can those situations be perfect as well? The messy and complicated life we are having, how can that possibly be perfect?

So back to the pandemic, no one in their right mind would wish that upon the world, right? However it is the situation that we have. I am not going to enter a discussion about whether it is good or bad for the planet, for humanity etc. because it is what it is, and no amount of explaining or rationalizing will change that.

I could come up with reasons why things are perfect. Of course our planet needs rain and a variety of weather, of course occasionally feeling hungry helps us appreciate food, and so on.

But again, that is not really the point. The point is that arguing with the reality of the moment is not accepting this moment.

The moment is perfect because it is the moment that it is. It is what it is. For this moment now, it is perfect.

This yoga practice of acceptance can be really hard. Perhaps we see things that seem desirable that we don’t have and think why can’t I have that / be like that? Whether it is the ease that you see in someone else, or the abilities that someone else has or even the circumstances in which we see someone else. Or maybe it is the other way around, we wish that they were not in that situation?

Of course things will not stay as they are right now, they never do, and time will give perspective. And we can work towards change, don’t let us forget that.

This practice of acceptance does not have to mean mean apathy.

I guess acceptance is another way of embracing the reality of our life right now. Our personality, our roles, whatever situation we are in and so on. It doesn’t mean we can’t make things different – both for our selves and others – but for now we can also be fully okay with this very moment.

It IS the one that we have.

I’d love to know YOUR thoughts! Has the practice of acceptance of the perfection of each moment made a difference to you?

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in AustraliaThey make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

Stay aware of your connection to all that is

This card was picked in class recently.

It makes me wonder, when have you really felt connected?

*Perhaps while gardening?

*While sitting in a temple in India (if you have had such a privilege)?

*While meditating?

*While knitting or crocheting or painting? In a yoga class?

*Walking along the beach?

*Spending time in nature?

There are times when we feel a sense of peace and bliss, a feeling of expansiveness, of connection to all that is.

Times when everything seems perfect, when we somehow know everything is okay.

Have you ever had such a feeling?

If you can recognise your sense of connection once, then perhaps you can remember the feeling.

If you temporarily lose that feeling of connection, can you recall it?

The more you can remember and experience your sense of one-ness, of connection, the more you are in a state of Yoga.

You can’t necessarily make a state of Yoga, a state of feeling connected and free, happen.

You can set up the circumstances to make it more likely. Regular yoga and meditation helps, as does being in nature.

Being present in your daily life helps too. Keeping your mind in perspective rather than letting it run you life also helps.

I think being of service to others also helps us to stay connected. It gives us purpose.

What helps you to stay aware of your connection to all and to experience freedom?

I’d love to know.

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in AustraliaThey make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

Yoga off the mat contemplation cards to inspire your practice

Can you live the mystery rather than trying to manage life?

Do you usually live a very predictable life? Do you try and control as many aspects of it as you can? Dotting all those ‘I’s and crossing all those ‘T’s so to speak?

Rather than attempting to control every aspect of life, what would it feel like to be open to the idea that everything can’t be controlled, and that we really don’t know what is around the corner?

Can you be open to the mystery, the unknown?

Meditation can be a great help.

There is a difference between going into panic mode about catching the Novel Corona virus COVID-19 and taking sensible precautions.

We do what we can, and for me, as well as hygiene measures, it also includes taking the time to practice yoga and meditation at home in Mordialloc and eating well so as to stay as well as I can.

When we let go into meditation, we are dropping all that control and surrendering to the unknown.

It is unknown because we are dropping back from the mind that knows.

Aaaah, bliss, the mystery, the great abyss of peace. Life’s inner mystery might be more real than any idea in your head!

It is true that right now we are in uncertain times. As well as the opportunity that meditation offers us to drop into a blissful state, I think that knowing how to reduce stress with yoga and meditation and regulate your own nervous system is so helpful.

We have a great opportunity to slow down our own nervous systems and help to reduce the state of heightened anxiety and nervousness that surrounds us.

This yogic contemplation is about being OK with the twists and turns that life takes. And it is also about not being so attached to outcomes. We can do the work we do and by all means have goals, but perhaps we can still be okay if the path swerves a little or a lot and the work no longer leads to those goals.

Don’t live small and controlled, micromanaging every second. Be open to the mystery!

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

You can purchase your own set of these ‘Yoga off the mat, contemplations to enrich your practice’ cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. They make a perfect gift too.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

Yoga off the mat contemplation cards to inspire your practice

Life is a mystery that unfolds

We don’t really know what is coming next, what ups and downs and twists and turns lie ahead.

That doesn’t mean we should just lie down and give up! It means we can stay open to the mystery! It means we don’t have to always know. We don’t have to always try to control (we can’t anyway).

There are lots of amazing things to notice in life if we pay attention, here are just a few:

  • The buzzing of bees and the incredibly industrious work that they do
  • The human body and its amazing capacity, even despite how we treat it sometimes
  • The practice of meditation that can give us a taste of wonderful bliss, as well as perspective on life
  • The way plants can pop up in a crack in the concrete
  • The way clouds make patterns and float across the sky
  • The way our hands are so dexterous
  • The way our dogs greet us when we get home
  • The kindness of a stranger

What is it like living in the mystery?

Life is going to unfold whatever we think, isn’t it? Maybe if we have an attitude of being open and okay rather than feeling as though we always have to know and control there is a different feel? Maybe there is a feeling of being more connected, and also more accepting?

Lets live the mystery as it unfolds!

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

You can purchase your own set of these contemplation cards from the store HERE and also my book Yoga off the mat, freedom in everyday life HERE and postage is free in Australia.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

When we work on ourselves, it ripples out and we heal the world

When you listen to the safety advice on a plane, they always tell you to take care of your own oxygen mask first before helping others. That way you are better placed to serve those you are helping, right?

I think it is the same with the work we do on ourselves.

Have you ever noticed how the energy of some people has a heavy feel and you have to work hard to stay centred and not pulled into their energy? I know I have.

When your energy is light, when you feel truly grounded, centred and inwardly free, then you pull people easily into your orbit, so to speak.

I know it is tempting to try to ‘fix’ other people.

Especially if we finally see something that has been hard to see, when the penny finally drops, when we finally ‘get’ what yogis have been talking about all these years. We want everyone else to see it too.

The method I have chosen is to not try to help unless people want it.

Walk the walk, do my practice.

If someone books into a meditation or yoga class or workshop then of course I will offer things that have helped me. I wrote my book because I wanted to share what I had come to realise. But you can’t force this onto people, it will unfold as it is meant to, and if you are really keen then it will definitely unfold for you.

So work on yourself, that is the work. Let people see the difference it has made for you, that will be enough to draw people in and they can work out what is right for them.

I do wish you profound freedom. It is your birthright. Work on yourself and let it ripple out.

Much more meaning than is teased out here can be taken from these cards, this is just a start. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

You can purchase your own set of these contemplation cards from the store HERE and also my book Yoga off the mat, freedom in everyday life HERE and postage is free in Australia.

The gorgeous original picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art.

You are okay just as you are

A series of blogs arising from picking a contemplation card from my deck

You don’t need fixing.

Do you ever think, everything will be okay when …

  • I have the perfect body
  • I have the perfect job
  • I have the perfect relationship
  • I have the perfect children
  • I have the perfect home
  • I have the perfect yoga practice
  • I have the perfect meditation practice
  • I have enough time
  • I have the perfect knowledge / understanding
  • I have enough money
  • And so on?

Maybe these don’t all resonate, but maybe at least some of them do and you can probably come up with a whole lot more.

The feeling of not being good enough is pervasive. It is very common.

But the universe will not criticise you. Your life is unfolding as it is meant to and you really are okay.

Yes you can make changes, it is always possible to work towards change. But you are okay just as you are. This moment is okay.

Sometimes it is easier to see in others what we can’t see in ourselves. Have you ever admired someone only to find that they, too, suffer from not feeling good enough? And you think how ridiculous that is, right?

Do know that you have as much right to be here having you life – with all its ups and downs – as anyone else. Of course you can do some work. But intrinsically you don’t need any more validation that the fact that you are here on this earth.

The practice is not about ‘fixing’ yourself because you are not broken.

It is about being awake to who you really are and recognising your nature.

And then it is obvious, you really are okay just as you are.

Funnily enough when you do realise you are okay and let your authenticity shine though, that is when life feels rich and you are free to explore what it is you are here to do. To live your dharma, to be authentically yourself.

You can purchase your own set of these contemplation cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. The picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.

Don’t take it personally

A series of blogs arising from picking a contemplation card from my deck

But we do take it personally, don’t we?

Our usual habit, and it is so familiar that we don’t even realise we do it, is to view the world from a sense of ‘me’ – as though it is ‘me’ looking out into the world or ‘me’ that things are happening to. Life is just unfolding and yet it feels personal.

Do any of these examples sound familiar?

*You don’t get that job or enough clients, so straight away you think ‘I musn’t be good enough’

*It rains on your special day, so you assume ‘I didn’t deserve to have the perfect day, look what happened to me.’

*Someone pushes in front of you in a queue or to get a parking spot, so you decide defensively  ‘How rude people are, it just isn’t my day’.

Why do we think things are happening ‘to us’?

Not necessarily with any input from us, things happen. Why do we think the job, the weather, or other people’s behaviour are happening ‘to us’ when it is just life unfolding? If you can drop the sense of it happening ‘to me’ perhaps you can experience how it feels less personal.

Of course these are light-hearted, almost flippant examples. What if our partner or child dies? Gosh that hurts so much, feels so much worse as though it really is happening ‘to us’. It is not as though it is not happening, or that we shouldn’t feel pain or sadness. Of course we would. Yet it too is life unfolding, not really something happening ‘to us’. Life unfolds in all sorts of messy and shocking and glorious ways.

And if you really feel connected and whole, we feel the pain of injustices all over the place, the pain of damage to the planet, and the big love of connection and wholeness. Rather than feeling separate, when we feel connected and whole and free we ride the waves of emotion, we feel fully, yet somehow we don’t take it so personally.  And we are more free and able to respond.

You can purchase your own set of these contemplation cards from the store HERE and postage is free in Australia. The picture on the front of each card is by Gayle Stone Art. I’d love your feedback and look out for my blog about the next card soon.