SHINE. OM.

Reflections

shineom — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:51:13 +0000

Reflections

It came, it went, it conquered…..Ohm…

11 days of creating new habits.

We visited a space that we had never been before.

Body and Soul stuff.

Daily disciplines of healthy thinking and healthy feelings.

New faces and friendships; the sharing of our personal journeys.

Relaxing.

Chilling out.

Allowing Right brain activities to dominate our days: slowing life down.

Singing,

Meditating,

Yoga,

Laughter,

Sharing a meal together,

Massages, facials, pedicures, manicures, all the self loving treats,

Pool side siestas.

The time away together felt refreshing and brought with it inner milestones of growth.

I feel different but I can’t explain where, why or how?

Visiting a Balinese Orphanage to pass on some gifts was a crystallising moment; how easy it is to take our lives for granted.

A life without a mother or father, a life sharing your worldly possessions with the 8 kids who share your bedroom, from the ages of 2 to 19!

Just imagine that world for a moment. Can you? Yet my memories are of smiling faces and people proud of their home.

In the click of a finger the holiday was over.

A week back in my old world and I am clinging to the feelings that I had, Bali side.

Right now I am trying to slow things down and focus… on booking for next year.

James

Reaching the End

shineom — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:37:37 +0000

We reach the end.
Looking back on the all experience it turn out to be better than I ever expected.
Before I left I was envisioning and daydreaming about it all, but it has been truly a dream come true.
Not only for being at Desa Seni, which is the number one place in the world that I love the most at present; but really it is the people that shared this experience with me that made it magical.
The last night class we did with Donelle; we were all chanting in unison and I felt blessed to be part of this journey and share it with these 8 amazing people.
I want to thank Potts and Danelle, for their dedication and their teaching, I felt secure and care in every day of this journey.
See you on the mats back in Perth, sometimes I will be lost in thinking of the jade green gardens in Desa Seni knowing that next year, I will be here one more time again.
Namaste

Lessons from the past

shineom — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:24:14 +0000

Things we don’t often talk about……

Stories / Lessons we learn along the way….

A distinct memory for me was being a young adult and learning a savage lesson around the priniciple of ,“ though should not steal”.

I was a 20 year old who had been travelling in Greece for 3 months and I was on the move again.

I had asked the hotelier of where I was staying if I could buy a blanket, but they insisted this was not possible.

Knowing that where I was heading to would be much colder I was hell bent on getting a something warm for the next leg of my trip.

In accordance with my plans, in the wee small hours of the morning I threw a blanket from my bed out of a rear bedroom window and then proceeded to the reception where I settled my bill and headed off unassumingly to catch my boat ride.

On my way out I collected my small package in the back alley with plan “A” completed.

As I waited at the Ferry terminal I started to feel anxious.

I should not have stolen from this family, trying to make a simple living. Who did I think I was? Did I think I was better than these folk. Why couldn’t I have just taken No for an answer?

As Kama would have it my Ferry ran late.

With a sinking feeling and a tap on the shoulder the two oldest children, who were a few years older than me, looked me in the face and asked blankly for their possession. I immediately offered my stolen goods but there was a lesson to be taught.

They dragged me back to the “B+B” and had me ceremoniously return the blanket to their mother, the owner.

They then muscled me out of the door and down a back street where they beat the living crap out of me.

An hour later I lay on my back on the deck of my Ferry heading to Turkey. I had shat my pants, was sporting a black eye and bruised ribs and was probably lucky not get far worse.

As my mind performed a similar beating on my soul I swore to myself to never be as stupid again and learn never to steal….

…..well, if I ever did need to steal again, there had to be a serious reason as to why and I had better make sure that I never got caught or I deserved the consequences!

Kids at play

Holy Days

shineom — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:04:37 +0000

Retire occasionally to a pure and peaceful place for contemplation. This is the real meaning of “a holiday.”

- Hari Prasad Shastri

Self-Knowledge

shineom — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:59:40 +0000

They say India changes you forever. I think Bali is like that too.

The beautiful oasis that is Desa Seni – an amazing venue for a retreat; the great food and the great company, combined with the yoga we shared together.

This retreat has been filled with stories from inspiring people that I feel lucky to have met. It’s been very ‘yoganic’.

See you guys in Perth…. to end I’ll once again borrow from James and Cath -

OMMMMMMMMmmmmm ….. to infinity and beyond.

Thanks Potts and Dee!!

Love Veronica.

Eleven Days and Eleven Nights

shineom — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:53:35 +0000

Eleven days and eleven nights of Yoga is almost over.

What a great bunch of students.

A beautiful place.

How lucky are we?

Very.

Yours in Yoga

Potts

Mental Power

shineom — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:50:42 +0000

Fickleness is the very nature of the mind. But if it is endowed with indifference to worldly things and guided toward yogic discipline, it can be steadied in due course. The reason is that there is a power of the mind that , once it becomes interested in something, it quickly develops a fondness for it. Therefore you should coax your mind and create in it a liking for the bliss of the Self.

- Jnanadeva

Jnaneshvari

The Secret of Proper Discernment

shineom — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:46:21 +0000

Yoga never demands the sacrifice of our reason. It only bids us: use it a thousand times more. Yoga does not require us to give up our active lives. It says simply: act, but know how to act. Yoga does not by any means wish to push our understanding aside. It only tells us: discriminate correctly and act fearlessly. Yoga does not expect us to flee from the world and retire to the Himalayas. It assures us: the refuge you seek you will never find in the outside world. It is within you. Leave the stormy world of the senses behind you, raise your consciousness to the central point of your being, and realize that here alone is the force, here alone is the peace, and here alone the refuge you are seeking. Yoga teaches us: Do not condemn the world. Deify the world by your deeds, purify the world by your utterances, and noble the world by your presence.

- Selvarajan Yesudian

A Yoga Miscellany: A Collection of Class Lectures and Explanatory Texts for Students of Yoga.

Right View

shineom — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:33:39 +0000

Right view is vital to the intelligent pursuit of happiness. We are not talking about right view in terms of one person’s or group’s views being superior to another’s. Right view refers to the harmony of the knowing mind, with the nature of phenomena as they actually are. How we view the world, shapes how we act and feel in it. If we view the cosmos as personally hostile towards us, or disappointing, or meaningless, we are bound to be haunted by an anxiety which lurks in the dark recesses of our minds and periodically erupts into consciousness with disabling intensity. If we view existence as benevolent or harmless, it is easier for us to relax into it: we might be more tolerant, more graceful, more gracious, and less inclined to be thrown off balance into the pain of negative emotions.

- Ron Leifer

The Happiness Project

Be Careful What You Think

shineom — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:21:44 +0000

One day, and employee of a refrigeration company was accidentally locked up in the ice chamber of a freight train with a temperature of forty degrees below zero. No one heard his shouts for help. He was absolutley terrified and left a record of his of his suffering scribbled on the walls of the wagon. By the time the train arrived at its destination he had died. Significantly, his death was due not to exposure to subzero temperature but to sheer fright, because on that day the refrigeration was not switched on at all. Such is the fate of those who allow their thoughts to be imprisoned in a cold, dark chamber.

- Sri Ananda Acharya

Retold after Sri Andanda Acharya, Yoga of Conquest