monday moment of zen

oh please do forgive me. i was out of town and i missed my monday moment of zen post. so here it is, better late than never. :)

"if self-responsibility is not at the core of healing a person's situation, then the method being applied is just a bandage over the wound".
~ geoff gluckman

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monday moment of zen

it was one of those march days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.
~charles dickens

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monday moment of zen

"life lived for tomorrow will always be just a day away from being realized."
~ leo buscaglia

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meditation during negative times

the other day i had a comment on my blogging in waves post about how meditation is the last thing on your mind when you are in the thick of a negative situation or crisis.

do you, lovely readers, also feel this way and have any thoughts and/or suggestions as to how to get back into the groove of meditation when your mind doesn't seem to be in the right space?

merci in advance!!

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for a friend

hey all you fabulous people out there!!

one of my dear friends turned 39 last month and made a "39 things to do before turning 40" list. one of the things on her list is to receive 40 post cards by the time she turns 40.


well.... we can help her with that now can't we?!?!

please send a post card to:

"Carrie McCarthy"
1425 Cedar Lane
Green Lane, PA 18054

and hey, while you are at it, tell your friends. i'm sure we can surpass 40 before she turns 40!! :)

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blogging in waves

it seems as if i've had a lot to say recently. :)

sometimes my blogging comes in waves - a whole lot at once and then it goes down to a trickle (aka only monday moment of zen posts).

just like the moon has an impact on the ocean, it also has an impact on us as well.

last friday, march 4th was the new moon. with the new moon our energy can also be slower and we can be more reflective and pensive. the new moon is the perfect time to create new goals or dreams for yourself. it's also a time to give up anything that no longer serves you.


in my yoga classes last week i asked my students while they were lying on their sides, before coming back up to an easy seat to end class, to think of one thing that they want to get rid of. it could be anything from a negative relationship, to a job or project that they no longer want, to that last 5 pounds. i asked them to imagine that as they sat up that was left behind on the floor. to actually picture whatever was no longer serving them being left behind so that something newer and better could come in it's place.

i also showed them the shivalingam mudra.

the shivalingam mudra is an energizing and powerful mudra when your energy is down, when you feel as though you need more power over a specific situation or just in general, to help break negative thought patterns, and to help boost self-confidence and self-esteem. perfect for the new moon!!

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to always look on the bright side?

first off, i want to thank you guys SO much for reading and for all of your comments on the blog recently. you guys make my heart swell with joy & gratitude!!

secondly, happy fat tuesday everyone!!

and now onto the situation at hand...

blogging is a peculiar thing sometimes, isn't it?

it's as if sometimes we feel the need to only share or blog about the bright side of things. we don't want to let people know about the messy little situations that come up in our life for several reasons; you might be embarrassed about your situation, people will think you are complaining, people won't care cause they have their own shit to worry about, etc, etc, etc...

but indeed, we are human, we ALL have good days and we all have bad days and we all survive both!

just as there is no need to dwell on the negative, there is no need to only focus on the positive. that makes us seem less real. good or bad, i'm about as REAL as it gets.

:)

i try to find that middle ground.

i try to see both sides of the coin.

do you?

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foot in mouth, almost, but not quite

my "un-yogic" blog post caused quite a stir. i got a lot of comments on both the post itself and on my facebook page.

while i was writing this from a point of view of me being un-yogic some others feelings got hurt in the process.

this was not my intention - ever!!

when i started this blog (3 years ago the 16th of this month!!) i laid some very basic ground rules:

would i want people to read this if is published on the front of the new york times??

** yes - proceed ** no - definitely do not publish ** maybe? - still, do not publish**

and i still stand by this today.

when i re-read what i wrote for the umpteenth time i thought that maybe something that i had written might be taken wrong. but as always in the publishing world, it was too late...

so, i say this out of complete sincerity - i never meant to hurt anyone's feelings and since that i know i did, please know that i am very, very sorry!!


it's not about one specific person, incident, situation, etc. it's about the shifting of energy as a whole. i am reminded of the quote i put up a couple of monday's ago for the moment of zen.

"in the entire world, there is not one human being who is free from pain. even in favorable conditions, a person encounters struggle. the external form of struggle appears to be cruel. some describe it as a horrible demon, but its nature is not malicious. in fact, it is proper to welcome struggle, for its arrival is always auspicious. struggle keeps us from growing sluggish. it changes an animal into an ideal person. it transforms an ordinary human into a spiritually-awake person respected by the world... it is alright if we cannot receive struggle with love, but struggle should never be discarded. to discard struggle is to discard god's grace."
~ swami kripalu

although it may be hard to welcome struggle when you are in the midst of it, try to remind yourself that it is there for a reason. you will take away a lesson from it. for each time there is struggle there is also a shift of energy that helps us grow. and yes, i have to remind myself of this exact thing when i'm in the midst of struggle. :)

one of my favorite mantra's is lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu

which translates to "may all beings everywhere be happy and free. may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all."

with an emphasis on the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life being key.

so what about you guys, any mantra or quote that you go to when in the midst of struggle?

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introducing babaji bones

i've tried to keep this one under wraps but with only 1 week left i can't keep it secret any longer!!

i went with a dear friend to wheeling to check out the retired racing greyhounds because she was looking to adopt one. while i have always wanted to get a greyhound (one of the many dogs on the list of must-own before i die) i went not with the intention of bringing one home but just the opposite. i said to several people "i will not bring a dog home!!" HA!!!

i was saying that out loud to try to be strong. oh sure, i knew i was weak but i didn't realize how weak until one look at this face....

i sent ryan a photo text of this pup with "gotta be bold" as the title. that was his racing name however ryan told me i was getting weak as he thought i was the one that had to be bold. :)

and so, you know where the rest of this story goes...

next monday, one week from today, the lady from the greyhound rescue/adoption will make a home visit with him and if all goes well, he will get to stay!!

and so i know you are thinking to yourself 'why in the hell did she name that dog babaji bones?!'

well... babaji is a beloved yogi who is known as "the deathless avatar." he learned to overcome all physical limitations. and babaji was the one who encouraged paramahansa yogananda to teach yoga to the western world as a way to spread enlightenment. pretty cool, eh?

and... bones comes from a cute name i had picked out for a future adoption of a pit-bull (which is just a silly name). i thought, why wait?!

so there you have it - babaji bones. you can look forward to reading more about babaji in the future. :)

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monday moment of zen

"we all seek happiness and shun suffering, but as human beings we are distinguished from others by our intelligence. if we allow it to be controlled by negative emotions like hatred, the consequences are disastrous, but if we use it positively, we can not only recognize our predicament but also train our minds and ways of thinking, which enables us to transform ourselves into better, happier people."
~h.h. the dalai lama

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un-yogic

do i.....

cuss (sometimes like a sailor)???

occasionally eat meat???

speed thru yellow lights (or even occasionally run red lights)???

vent to my boyfriend about how frustrated i am over how un-yogic some things are at my yoga studio???

get angry or defensive over stupid shit???

have to have things my way???

be sarcastic so much so that sometimes it seems rude???

sometimes have a short temper???

get selfish and put myself first???

you betcha!!!

so tell me... what sort of un-yogic behaviors do you sometimes indulge in?

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thoughts

in a recent yoga class that i was lucky enough to attend focused the class on half asana and half meditation. the teacher (and a dear friend of mine) had us to set in a circle for the meditation portion of the class. as she was leading us to our find our stillness she said something to the effect of not letting other people put us in boxes that label what we are, that we are much more than that. while at the time it didn't really sink in until after the mediation was over and we shared any experiences we had and spent a little time talking. it was at that point another student said she really enjoyed what she had said about that. and i thought to myself, "yeah, exactly, why do we let other people dictate what we do or who we are?!"

sure we all have labels of what it is we do: mother, daughter, friend, lover, accountant, lawyer, landscaper, cat person, lover of frogs, francophile, and on & on. but those labels are just that... labels. they can describe us but they aren't who we really are. and why do we feel the need to fit into these labels or boxes that others put upon us? sure, we want people to like us but you can't make everyone happy all of the time. and if you try you will certainly go mad!

so why not be who you are and own it?! it will make things a lot easier in the end, don't you think??

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