Kirtan

Radhe Govinda ~ Rocky Mountain Kirtan Summit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFPNS-HK_C8

NY Rathayatra Kirtan with Acyuta Gopi dasi and Gaura Vani das:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sJlfi3iWp4&feature=related

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN71NGrdTbs&feature=related

Krishna Das:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq-1bxJc7F0

quote : Spirit

As space pervades a jar both in and out, similarly within and beyond this ever changing universe, there exists one Universal Spirit.
-Siva Samhita

Take a Yoga Hike

Any any given morning, when the morning mist still hangs over the lake, you will find Yogini Valarie Devi at Tribble Mill Park for a few Sun Salutations and a brisk hike.

Hiking, akin to walking, is an excellent exercise - when done mindfully. And according to the American Hiking Society, some 73 million people - about a 1/3 of the population - enjoys hiking.

So if you enjoy a good hike, then add a few Yoga poses before you begin to reduce your chance of injury; which comes mostly from ankle sprains and lower back stress. A good Yoga warm-up does more to prep the muscles, it helps us avoid injury, reduce aches, and quickly recuperate for the next hike.

Om Peace!

Five Things

1. Think before you speak and use a gentle voice.

2. Be kind and gentle in all your actions.

3. Be joyful, even when no one is looking.

4. Be sincere in all you do - its not all about self-gain.

5. Never let the sun set on your anger.

quote : Aim

"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well."
-Mahatma Gandhi

quote : Clouds

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky."
Rabindranath Tagore

Yoga and Meditation

Many students new to Yoga get stuck on all the Hindu gods.

Yoga is not about them .. its about you.

Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita, is an example of a Yogi.

Look to that example.

-Yogini Valarie Devi

I always tell my students that, "Yoga is more than the poses." The new students often ask, "What does that mean?"

Being a Yogi is more than taking a Yoga class. To be a Yogi you need to be in samadhi, which means "standing within one's Self". Samadhi is a way of thinking that becomes a state-of-being.

For example, when you are doing a Yoga pose you are not doing Yoga, but concentrating on doing a Yoga pose. Which is why I explain to my students that they need to "Stop doing Yoga! Become Yoga!" This means being in the moment, being in the 'now', this means that every Yoga pose is a meditation, a singular expression of beingness.

When the mind is perfectly still within a Yoga pose, not striving to do it any better, not thinking about how it should be done; and when the mind is simply there, breathing, relaxed, with no expectation or attachment to what that pose is or means, then that is Yoga.

A Yogini is someone who is wholly absorbed in Creation - in enstasy (samadhi).

Om Peace!
Yogini Valarie Devi