My Irish Ode

When Saint Patrick’s day rolls around there are usually a few things on my mind:  Hanging with my dad, drinking Guinness, anniversary of when chris and I became “official”, green silk camis, and hanging with my sister on her 21^st birthday because that was the first time we had met a full blooded Irishmen!! It was a bit of a disappointment when he claimed I was a FookIng disgrace for pouring a Guinness with bubbles, and claimed that I would be in trouble if I wasn’t married. (whatever that means)Little did he know I found him a prepubescent, pissin drunk boy. The only thing that made him cool in the slightest was that he was truly Irish. I am just a American half-ly Irish girl, and always have been.   Anyways, this unforgettable 21^st birthday was the night when my sister and I coined the term  Hiya Paddy! Something that is only funny between sisters and after several cocktails , but comes up every st paddy’s day.

This year is different. All I can think about it my grandfather, who past away this February, and the best complement I ever received from anyone…

I sat by his side, as he was suffering and ending his long journey with cancer, and he said “You really are a beautiful Irish lass”  He was still a charmer and full of it, but anyone that knows me as Dani, not Vani, the teacher, knows that flattery will get you everywhere.

God knows I am not nearly as Irish as grandpa but I have learned a few things from him about being Irish. , and it really isn’t about Guinness, green silk camis, and Irish boys at all. 

I learned that to be Irish is to be resilient; To be emotional, there is no middle ground like there is in Yoga.  It is either lovin or fighten. The Irish love God and trust Him to do all the work because, well, he is God and we are human. So we can sit back, enjoy a beer, and screw up as much as we want.  I learned to go to church, and to make sure everyone else goes to church,  but to find God in nature. The Irish don’t need much to be happy; just a little log cabin, a dog, a beer, and family. But mostly, family. They are just a little bit mystic.  I remember grandpa calling Wisconsin God’s country as he would go for long walks and soak up the green.  He didn’t drink a ton(when I knew him), but he would drink a beer, and cheers to family, ritual, and calling one another out on their bullshit.  It is said that The Irish people are a fair folk, they never speak well of one another, but that wasn’t true. I will hold on to grandpa’s compliment forever, because like a true Irishman he knew how to exaggerate like the rest of them.  Most of all I learned that the Irish are loved and lovers.

 My Grandpa and Katie

I’ll leave you with a quote from the eminent Historian Carl Wittke on the Irish Temperament.

"The so-called Irish temperament is a mixture of flaming ego, hot temper, stubbornness, great personal charm and warmth, and a wit that shines through adversity. An irrepressible buoyancy, a vivacious spirit, a kindliness and tolerance for the common frailties of man and a feeling that 'it is time enough to bid the devil good morning when you meet him' are character traits which Americans have associated with their Irish neighbors for more than a century."

A Breeze of Consciousness

Have you ever caught a moment of pure bliss, it washes over as you are driving, maybe on a sunny afternoon? The moment is as sweet, as it is gone in a flash. Still something has shifted within you just from having had the experience of remembering. When captivated in this state of joy it is difficult to notice sensations in the body. It is an “other-worldly” experience. It is consciousness, our true essence that is joy.  We are continually chasing happiness using our senses to try to bring us closer to this state, but it exists beyond the senses. We long for this freedom, because it is the truth of who we are. And when we get glimpses through this window of meaning, it keeps us seeking.

As Seekers we dance with the idea of freedom as we kiss our lovers lips, indulge in our senses, or listen to our favorite song(I love music that makes me feel like I am flying).  How do we free ourselves of duality and fluctuations between consciousness and unconsciousness, and slide into Truth.

Like Surfers, we can only know how to ride theses waves of bliss. Knowing that there is no lover to be kissed except for the one truth we all share, no sense that can be indulged permanently, and the only song that goes on forever is the one playing in your soul.

We had our first warm day this week where i live in Indiana. Unusually warm, as it was 77 degrees in mid March. As most people drove with windows down, tops rolled back, or got their motorcycles and jogging strollers out; I wondered how many people were experiencing moments of bliss, or "flight", as their favorite song blasted through the speakers and wind blowed through their hair. 

Then I noticed a few scattered cars with their windows rolled up and I was pissed!!  How could they block themselves off from such a beautiful day. As my compassionate side tried to think up excuses for them,  I became more outraged. There is no excuse for such misconduct.  This was true scandal…not the usual blah blah drama that irritates us.

As humans we block ourselves from the light all of the time. We prevent our souls from taking flight like they were meant to.

We can’t fly if we are anchored down by Fear, Ego, Refusal, or Attachment, The four veils that color the truth of our souls, and are usually at play during any given moment of the day. 

The practice of yoga is to help us remove these veils that distort our true nature(joy) and wear our hearts on our sleeves.

A practice that I try to do each day, around these veils of illusion(avidya), that helps me to be more real and enjoy being ALIVE...

1.     Fear-Do something that scares you. Fear is just excitement without the breath.-Fritz Perls

2.     Ego-Be compassionate. Practice Non-Judgement. Know that if you were that person, with their past and karmas, you would be doing the same thing.

3.     Refusal-If my first reaction is a big NO to something I know to pause and think it through, most of the time it needs to be a YES to LIFE.  I am not speaking about the voice of intuition that tells us no, but the voice of denying transformation and living our dharma.

4.     Attachment-The spiritual practice is always about letting go. Deep breathing and softening help me to let things flow out of my life just knowing this is freeing me up for sweeter fruits.

A mind held too tightly is like a window rolled up on the most beautiful day of the year so far.

A mind held too relaxed is one that steers us out of control.  A mind held not to tightly or too relaxed is the way of yoga.  The shift is happening for us to move beyond yogic concepts to embodying this way of being, but you have to open some windows and let the breeze touch your spirit. 

Practice the above when you can, enjoy the waters of life, and maybe you will be set free to feel more ALIVE. 

We dive in and out of consciousness and we dive in and out of this world. Sometimes we meet here and sometimes we meet there. Today we are separate and tomorrow we are one. 

Here is a great playlist of  summertime music me and my loves put together. Enjoy next time you are driving with the window DOWN on these beautiful days..And let us know your favorite tune to listen to on a warm summer day.

Clocks - Coldplay                       

Sunrise - Norah Jones

Fallin’ For You  -Colbie Caillat                                   

Collide -Howie Day

Let Go -Frou Frou

Fireflies-Owl City

Brand New Day  -Joshua Radin          

Sugar Magnolia -Grateful Dead

The Boys of Summer-Don Henley                                                           

Flowers in the Window -Travis                                   

Caring is Creeping - The Shins.

It’s a Summer Night-Flash Cadillac

Beautiful World-Colin Hay

Yoga, Shit, and the Practice of Ahimsa

Ahimsa(non-violence) is the first Yama. We know that Yoga means relationship, and Yama is the relationship that we have to everything in the world. Our relationship to the world is a mirror of our relationships to ourselves.  

"For a person who has experience his Buddha nature, he sees the Buddha nature in everyone. For a person who is full of shit, he sees everybody as a pile of shit." -Dharma Master Fo Yin in his conversation with the infamous poet Su Dong Po(A.D. 1037-1101)

 What does this mean to us? Maybe it gives us some insight on how to put up with that annoying co-worker and the person, or press, that keeps slamming the practice that has transformed our lives, maybe it means to just cut off those that challenge us? What the dharma master is saying is that yoga starts within. Yoga begins with awareness, and that awareness, has to start with ourselves.  It begins with our Yoga(relationship) to ourselves and from there will spill over into your other relationships. Lately yoga has gotten a lot of bad press. There have been books and articles written about the stress that yoga can put on our bodies, scandal within the yoga community exposing teachers' "dark sides."  First of all, How can Yoga wreck our body!? Yoga means relationship. Relationships can wreck us only if our intentions are not pure. Think again to that co-worker, when we try to change them and their actions we just strengthen that which is causing turmoil within us in the first place.  When we work on ourselves the co-worker doesn't change but our projections and needs for them to turn into someone else does.  Yoga is an internal practice and as a society growing in materialism, many of us have made it an external practice. We can't help ourselves, we're Americans! We have turned yoga teachers into rockstars and then we get mad at them for sleeping around! These things happen to wake us up, to get a conversation started, and to tear down our walls and expose our hearts(something that takes years of yoga practice to accomplish). Set the intention of love and kindness today, set the intention on your "inner guru" and intuition, and "Self-center" instead of being self-centered. Whatever we set our intention towards expands in our lives. When you come to your mat, set the intention for Ahimsa(non-harming), especially if you are a type A personality. Set the intention today to be kinder to yourself on your yoga mat, to listen to what your body, mind and Soul needs are, and to nurture your Self. These problems in the yoga community are not because of Yoga, it is because we are humans practicing yoga.  It is the reason we came to yoga in the first place!! As Bryan Kest says,"you can take what you learn on your mat and apply it to your life, or you can take what you do in life, and turn your yoga into shit!"  Turns out Bryan Kest and the Dharma master Fo Yin had a similar message. 

Ahimsa(non-violence/kindness) is the highest dharma(law). Ahimsa is the best tapas(austerity). Ahimsa is the greatest gift. Ahimsa is the highest self-control. Ahimsa is the highest sacrifice. Ahimsa is the highest power. Ahimsa is the highest friend. Ahimsa is the highest truth. Ahimsa is the highest teaching.--Mahabharata