Fear

We cannot experience fear if we live in the present moment. Fear is always about the future, and the future does not exist. Only this moment exists. Everything else is made up in our imaginations! Right? False Experience Appearing Real! (FEAR)

"The true person sees what the eye sees and does not add to it something that is not there."~Chuang Tzu

If we shine the light on the darkness and ignorance, all that imagined fear shrivels up and dies. So be with the fear, look carefully at it, recognize it is not real, then begin to experience freedom from it! Fear not!

A New Year...A New You??

I don't believe the statement which is the title of this blog post today. It should read A New Year...The Real You...The Original You...The Forgotten You. On the path called life, we eventually will find we have come full circle, back to the divine, beautiful, perfect self. We all already possess everything we need. We've just forgotten or been brainwashed by the constant chatter (chitta vrita) in our minds.

One of my focuses of late has been to be the "observer," the "witness," of my thoughts. I've noticed that I don't even believe the old tape recordings that I continue to play over and over in my mind. We all become so programmed, tuned out, shut down to these thoughts. I've started noticing, hitting the stop button, then the erase button, and letting go and moving on. I'm not hard on myself so much anymore.

Do you still need to worry? Live in doubt? Fear? Can you trust? Do you believe? When is the last time you revisited these questions honestly, presently?

"Only I am responsible for what I think. It is at this leve that I exercise choice."

Presence

"Can we make what lies ahead of us a better place to be?"~Sarah McLachlan

Yes, by being in the present moment, fully, deeply, soulfully, uninhibited.

Yoga...off the mat

I've consciously been trying to live my life like I live my yoga; centered, present, focused, nonjudgmental, forgiving, free, peaceful, compassionate, non-resistant. This is challenging to say the least. But I am reminded of the benefits every single time I step into the yoga studio and onto my mat. I'm reminded of the complete and utter acceptance of self, others, and life! Why do I have to make it so hard once I'm back in my car, in traffic, on the ice, faced with a challenging person, situation, etc.? If I just remind myself to slow down, breathe, have a sense of humor, lighten up, and just enjoy the present moment, it's pure magic that unfolds.

Bountiful am I...Blissful am I...Beautiful am I.

The Present Moment

"People look upon the present moment as either marred by something that has happened and shouldn't have or as deficient because of something that has not happened but should have." ~Eckhart Tolle

THINK ABOUT IT! ROLL IT AROUND IN YOUR HEAD FOR A WHILE!

On Being Present

Can you be present, in the moment, without judgment, critique, a story line? In the NOW without projecting, regretting, wishing, wanting?

Try sitting down quietly with your thoughts and just letting them pass by, like clouds across a clear blue sky. Just notice them. Don't judge them or fight them. Just notice them. Take 5 minutes to start. The process gets easier and easier. You'll feel freer and freer (from the bondage of your mind, the self-imposed prison walls).

When we are in the present moment, nothing else exists. How can it? This, my friends, is who you really are: peace, contentment, awareness, oneness with all that is.