ROGER WRITES | 30 Day Challenge

My 30 day photo challenge is coming to an end.  A week before I started this commitment,  I took myself out on a date to take pictures.  I was looking to be inspired and to boost my stock pile of photos for my newsletter and blog.   Well, I came home from my date with my head hung low.  I had snapped 3 or 4 humdrum images.   A few days later I came across the 30 Day Challenge video, and I knew instantly that it was going to be a picture-a-day.

Even though the daily undertaking of snapping and posting one picture was simple, it had a great impact on me.  Every picture that I took was consciously taken.  I can look back at each photo and remember where I was, what I was doing, and in some cases, what I was actually thinking.  There were days when it was the first thing I thought of in the morning, and some days I didn't post until almost midnight!  What I realized is that it didn't matter where I was.  I could find inspiration in my very own living room, in a restaurant, out on a walk, anywhere.  Oh, and I took a lot of bad photos.  That's just part of it.  I took more photos this past month then I have all year.

I know that many of you committed to the 30 day challenge, as well.  The variety of commitments was astounding. Several people chose to dance.  Doug has been posting his dance videos on Facebook every day.  I would love to hear how the experience was for you.  Let me know if you are going to start or do another one next month.

I'm already excited about my next 30 day challenge, which will start June 1st:  One muscle a day for 30 days!  I've always wanted to learn more about muscles -- their names, function, etc..  My intention is to select a muscle first thing in the morning, and then throughout the day pay attention to how I'm using it.

If you'd like to join me for this make sure you "like" the Sacred Tremor Facebook page, and check in daily.  I will post the muscle-of-the-day in the morning.  Together, we can think and learn about them all day long!

Make sure you watch the TED talk on the Three Brains.  It gives a scientific explanation of something yogis have known for thousands of years.  It also reveals how activities like the 30 day challenge do, in fact, re-wire the brain and shape how our mind views and experiences the world.

TED | Joe Dispenza : The Three Brains

Joe Dispenza, D.C. has lectured in 24 countries on six continents, educating people about the role and function of the human brain. He has taught thousands of people how to reprogram their thinking through scientifically proven neuro-physiologic principles. As a result, this information has taught many individuals to reach their specific goals and visions by eliminating self-destructive habits. His approach, taught in a very simple method, creates a bridge between true human potential and the latest scientific theories of neuroplasticity. As an author of several scientific articles on the close relationship between the brain and the body, Dispenza ties information together to explain the roles these functions play in physical health and disease.

POETRY | Dorothy Allison : Two or Three Things

Tow or Three Things
-Dorothy Allison

Two or three things I know
for sure, and one is that I
would rather go naked than
wear the coat the world has
made for me.

DOUG WRITES | The Inner Weaknesses

The Inner Weaknesses by Douglas Allen Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate that the global beauty industry consisting of skin care, make-up, hair-care products, and perfumes is $95 billion, and is growing at up to 7% a year.  If you figure in the amount spent on cosmetic surgery, diets and weight loss programs, the figure is much higher. Now, don’t get me wrong.  I like to look good.  However, I have been guilty of going above and beyond the call of hygienic duty by purchasing exorbitantly priced creams made by monks in small batches in the monastic mountains.  Counseling myself from the pain and into the comfort and relief found in products that improve chances of finding admiration and love is a natural go-to.  While strengthening the inner is having an upsurge, it is easy to fall back into traditional normalities.  Establishing a more desirable physical presentation of oneself is always in fashion and does not require one to get in touch with what is really bothering them. We are all aware of the ubiquity of the pretty lady syndrome, and now men have been given the permission to pamper and prod and poke in order to more fully realize the occupation with the outer self. This desire to be cloaked in beauty is one of the oversized coats the world has constructed for us.  It is certainly part of our pie chart, but an obsession over looking good didn’t always make me feel good, and this predilection did not leave much time for occupying the space within, which is where an everlasting beauty awaits our consciousness.  Everyone has so much inner knowledge and beauty, and oftentimes it sits inside instead of being assimilated and translated into beautiful gardens for all to savor.  Tragic. “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  2nd Corinthians 4:16

THE SPANDANANDA SHOW | Dear Diary

The Spandananda Show : Season 1 : Episode 8 : Dear Diary

Dear Diary:  I will no longer limit myself with drab entries that all contain the same energetic quality.  Instead, I will embrace a newfound sense of creativity and have variety in my journal in order to gather insight and wisdom and have more fun!

PLAYLIST

MUSIC | Lemonade : Lifted

PLAYLIST | Heart Yoga Sadhana

This is the music playlist from the Temple of the Heart Yoga Sadhana at The Lotus Pond.  May 20, 2012.

PLAYLIST

ROGER WRITES | Primal Scream

I returned a few days ago from an awesome trip to Tampa where I was teaching yoga. It's always a joy to re-connect with friends and students. The journey from Portland to Tampa is long, but I'm an easy traveler; I sleep well on airplanes.

My flight to Tampa was a red eye on Jetblue. They handed out these lovely snooze kits, which included an eye mask and earplugs. The snooze kits are a great addition to the pillow and light blanket that I travel with. I snuggled into my seat. Just as I was about put my ear plugs in it started:

Waaaaaaaaaaaeeeeeehhh! Waaaaaaaaaeeeeeeehhhh!

It wasn't the typical cry of an unhappy baby. This was the primal sound of ferocity that curdles the blood. I put my earplugs in, but even the earplugs only slighly muffled the screeching, high pitched wail coming from about 10 seats away. As people put their luggage away and took their seats I could see it on their faces: the horror of knowing that possibly for the next 6 hours they might be locked into a sound chamber of madness. Let me be honest. I actually had the thought: would someone throw that baby out the window!? I chuckled to myself thinking that I knew I wasn't the only one with that thought, and also knowing how terrible it sounded.

The turn around to this story is that I caught myself thinking negative thoughts, wondering if laws could be passed to prohibit this, designing sound proof seats, etc.. I put myself in the mother's position, and I realized how awful it must be for her not only to be holding her screaming child, but also knowing that her baby was basically ruining 200 people's flight experience. Then I put myself in the baby's position. What was going on? Fear? Hunger? Pain? In that moment I felt a little softening in my heart, and decided to practice Metta.

Metta is the Buddhist practice of loving-kindness. It's a practice that helps us to remember that while we each individually want happiness and ease in our lives so does everybody else. When we offer blessings to others, we in turn have greater access to it in ourselves. Here's the blessings I offered:

May you find peace.
May you find comfort and ease.
May your journey be quiet and calm.
May you find rest.

I said this 3 times. Once for the mother, once for the baby and once for everyone on the plane (including myself).

The crying no longer gripped me, but instead opened me to compassion. Eventually I fell asleep. When I woke a little while later the airplane was quiet.

Ironically, and I'm totally not making this up, on my flight home I was assigned to a seat next to a young woman with a baby no older than 6 months. As soon as I sat down the baby started crying. A huge grin took over my face. I met the woman's gaze, and she immediately apologized. I wanted to hug her, but I knew that would be inappropriate so instead I told her not to worry about me, "I don't mind crying babies." I wiggled my fingers at the baby and smiled and made a little goo goo sound. The baby stared back in bewilderment, and then let out a little laugh.

You can now start calling me "the baby whisperer."

THE SPANDANANDA SHOW | Golly Gee It's Ghee!

The Spandananda Show : Episode 7 : Golly Gee It's Ghee!

It's hard to believe that something can be better than butter, but when the nutty-flavored, toffee smell of this clarified butter envelopes your senses, you'll have a change of heart with this heart-smart option!  

POETRY | Jewel Mathieson : Every Bone

Every Bone
-Jewel Mathieson

I collected them all, found every bone
except I couldn't find my hand, my hand
my mother had it
her calloused hard hitting hands have held me
gripped my spirit
she seized my hand at six
stripped it of innocense and grace
she severed my hand at seven
I found it again in a dry riverbed pointing North
this hand that has the most number of bones
fragments of bones, joints and articulation
I can't open it
I have my hand now
I can pray
I can pray again
I turn to the Goddess, pray for forgiveness
She says,  "there is no forgiveness because there are no sins"
She places God on the tips of my fingers
on the tips of my toes
and tells me that everyone has to learn how to pray
in their own way
in their own way with everything, everywhere
I collected them all, found every splintered bone
every piece of myself
now I dance flinging by bones to the floor
like the I Ching
like the I Ching each time I hit the floor
I'm different

DOUG WRITES | Consciously Conscioius

Consciously Unconscious

By Douglas Allen

The unconscious is a powerful part of our existence that gets to sort itself out when we meditate and dream.  If we pay attention and incorporate its language in our waking state, it connects us to creative ideals and meaningful imagery. Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and dream analysist, formed a basic tenet that said all products of the unconscious are symbolic and can be taken as guiding messages.  He has been a powerful influence in the pursuit of my truth through the continual analysis of my dreams and meditative states.  Witnessing a part of our psyche that does not usually enter our awareness is frightening and enlightening at the same time.  These fleeting moments of ah-ha and eureka, if jotted down and interpreted, can be golden opportunities to help us avoid traps, and can lead us towards where we ultimately want to go!  It is all about intention at a deep-seeded level. In my dream last night, I was looking at two trees which were severely cut back for the season.  I felt the shock that they had experienced during the cutting.  On the trees were still some remaining orange seeds. The image and sensation was like in a stand-still.  Then, like a fluttering lens trying to find its object and focus, the image shifted in a blurred and jumpy way to another image.  The dream now fixated on a magnificent tree standing in all its glory; wicked tall and with an impressive trunk and a unique shape.  It was complete. Upon waking, I wrote down my dream like I’ve been consistently doing for fifteen years now, and it had been an invaluable experience to learn about my inner psyche through these messengers. Lately, I have felt densely trimmed, stripped of what I have known, bare, in shock, and without my typical expression, and yet, there are seeds of growth in that state.  Life and healing (one in the same) is a process, and the shifting focus represents time passing.  I then saw a whole tree, representative of myself, fully realized.  “To believe you are magnificent.  And gradually to discover that you are not magnificent.  Enough labor for one human life.”  -- Czeslaw Milosz

MUSIC | Donna Summer; Honoring A Disco Legend

In honor of a disco legend's passing, this offering from the legendary Donna Summer!

VIDEO | Arthur's Inspirational Transformation

Arthur was getting stronger rapidly, and he was losing weight at an incredible rate! Because of DDP's specialized workout, he gained tremendous balance and flexibility -- which gave him hope that maybe someday, he'd be able to walk again.

His story is proof, that we cannot place limits on what we are capable of doing, because we often do not know our own potential. Niether Arthur, nor Dallas knew what he would go on to accomplish, but this video speaks for itself. In less than a year, Arthur completely transformed his life. If only he had known what he was capable of, 15 years earlier.

Do not waste any time thinking you are stuck - you can take control over your life, and change it faster than you might think.

Hopefully this story can inspire you to follow your dreams - whatever they may be.
Anything is Possible!