I Saw Tammy Faye Doing Yoga

Recently a TV program that I had recorded on my dvr ended and suddenly Tammy Faye's smiling face was in front of me, larger than life. I must say that I've always had a lot of respect for Tammy Faye, she was an amazing woman who radiated love and acceptance. And though I generally try to avoid wacky reality TV, I've found myself lingering on her televised escapades from time to time. She always seemed to me to be a lovely, kind and wonderfully kooky soul. (She passed away on July 20th, 2007. You go girl!) Anyway, I digress... a lot. The program was about the various ways that Tammy Faye was trying to heal herself. In the ten or fifteen minutes that I watched she had some acupressure done and she went to a yoga teacher to learn meditation. Her daughter Tammy Sue had suggested the yoga teacher. The last thing that I saw was Tammy Faye saying that, if nothing else, the yoga and meditation had definitely made the chemo easier for her to handle.

The next day, after my own yoga practice, I was meditating on the grass. Just as I was emerging my beagle, Duda, started barking wildly and went tearing off to the fence where a precious Puggle and the couple who were walking him stood. I looked back at them and the man smiled and gave a friendly wave so I waved back, got up and strolled over to say hello. The young couple, Dave and Sharon, were finishing up college in Long Island and they were up here, in the Catskills, visiting Dave's grandmother. We started conversing about rescues because both of my pups were rescues and Fleck was too. We discussed organic dog food and I was so pleased to hear of more dog owners who put a good deal of consideration into their dog's diet. After all, dogs deserve to enjoy their food and maintain good health too, we all agreed.

After awhile I invited them to bring Fleck into the yard to play with Duda for a bit. They did and we conversed awhile longer. We spoke about buying dog food from small company's which led to a discussion about corporation's which led to me telling them about the film The Corporation. Finally we talked about how amazing it is that people are really becoming more and more aware and awake. We all felt that the world around us really is changing in a positive way. Then I asked if they had seen The Secret. Sharon smiled and said that she had the book and she'd been lent a copy of the dvd by Dave's grandmother. Dave said that he hadn't watched it because he felt that he already believed these things and didn't need confirmation. I laughed and told Dave that I had a spiritual teacher since I was eleven and that I watched The Secret every day for over a month after seeing it for the first time. I explained the reason I loved it so much was not because it was new information to me, it really wasn't. The reason that I enjoyed it so much is that it confirms, for me, everything that I know in my heart to be true. It's really just a bunch of phenomenal teachers speaking from their heart and offering their knowledge from the work that they have done on themselves. The light in each of them is evident and when you put them all together in The Secret, the light is blinding. The reason that I watched it every day for over a month was because changing habits takes repetition, and I wanted to change some old habits! Thirty dollars is a bargain for a tool to help me with that, if you ask me.

A friend of mine told me that he had heard someone claim that The Secret was brainwashing. Well, sugar, I can't speak for anyone but myself but I will say this... Wash My Brain. Clean away the negative self talk, the low self esteem, the reveling in resentment and anger and the creepy desires to feel superior or inferior or whatever bizarre silliness my brain comes up with next. Bring on the brainwashing machine and wash away! I am ready to feel strong, empowered and joyful. And as a very pragmatic friend of mine said on the subject of The Secret, "Even if you don't end up getting everything that you are asking for, well, you just feel better about your life. What's to lose?" Yup, it's pretty much a win/win.

I warned you about my digressive tendencies! Back to Sharon and Dave and our conversation. Dave became excited to watch The Secret and said that he would do so that very evening. Our conversation turned again to how things are changing and people are growing and ideas are flowing. I mentioned that I had seen Tammy Faye getting acupressure and doing yoga and we discussed how wild that was. Also the popularity of The Secret and other such films. Not to mention the popularity of yoga, meditation and (so called) alternative therapies. I mentioned that I design t-shirts with the intention to inspire and bring joy. Sharon chimed in that my t-shirts would be great for Dave's grandmother to wear at her yoga class. lol

I can only speak from my perceptions and experience. In my 39 years I have watched public perceptions of yoga, meditation, (so called) alternative medicines and (so called) alternative lifestyles metamorphose from feared to tolerated to accepted to embraced. And I saw Tammy Faye doing yoga, baby! Rock on, Tammy Faye, wherever you are. Change is here and change is now and I want to express my gratitude to every person that intended this and every person who manifested this and continues to do so, including myself! We are on our way gang! Keep up the good work!

Allowing... Accepting with Love

The other day when I was just beginning my hatha yoga practice on the soft grass in my neighbors back yard one of our resident eagles flew over. My neighbors have granted me access to their property which is quite lovely and brimming with magical loving energy. True. Their family were the only people to own the property (since Native Americans didn't claim ownership to land.) They are a wonderful, loving and accepting family and the land radiates with their energy. I paused my practice and sat down to enjoy the breathtaking sight of an eagle in flight. For me it literally takes my breath away to watch an eagle soaring majestically through the sky.

The eagle stuck around for longer than usual and was circling the lake when another eagle showed up and I watched mesmerized as they danced in the air like angels swooping, circling and swooping by each other. Wah! I felt such peace and joy to watch the beautiful couple playing amongst the clouds. As I sat in awe it occurred to me that the eagles flight appeared effortless. I examined the way they allowed the wind to do most of the work while they simply rode the currents. Then I started thinking about the past year and how many times I had seen images of birds in the clouds and actual birds and eagles had appeared at the most strategic moments. I suddenly realized that the message I was being given was a message of allowing.

I have tendencies towards pushing against things that I do not want. My mom was a huge activist and did get a lot that she set out to do accomplished. She is warm and loving as well as strong and intense and I love very much. However I watched her and other activists push against the world to little avail. I have not become a grand activist like my mother but I do still have the tendency in me to think in this manner. I see things I do not like and I want to scream and yell. Sometimes I have, it hasn't been terribly effective. lol Sometimes I look around and I am furious with the things that have manifested in this world. Normally rage turned to despair and I was wracked with pain over things that I could not fix.

So as I watched the eagles dance above the lake I decided that allowing was my new game. It isn't really new, per se, just newly renovated. It is almost the same as self effort and grace (funny I just realized that my design for that of course is a heart with large multi-colored wings) but allowing is even more. I frequently become agitated when people drive past my house very quickly and recklessly. I live on a small country road and there are many creatures and people walking on the road. Now whenever someone drives by in this manner I focus my energy and think to myself that I am a peace bomb. I watch the peaceful energy radiate from me like a nuclear blast and I watch it roll over the car. It is so much nicer than becoming agitated. I don't know if people are driving any more reasonably but I will say that I now see police cars driving by more often and for sure that will help! Yay for the peace bomb!

Another experience I had was when I was driving and in a hurry one day. I was becoming quite irritated with the cars around me and it did not feel good. So I decided to try something new. I started chanting "Vitthale, Vitthale, Vitthale, Vitthale, Jai Jai Vitthale!" which is one of my favorite chants. It is lively, fun and it fills me with joy. As I chanted I thought to myself how much better I felt in only moments and I realized that my hurrying was completely unnecessary. I felt so powerful at that moment. I do not have to be controlled by my emotions. I can allow the world around me to just be okay the way it is right now and I can allow myself to be happy and okay. I can do that.

I do not mean to say that I want to walk through this life blind to the things that I am not wanting. I still am striving to be the change that I want to see in the world. I am just doing it in a much more happy and relaxed state of being! Jai Jai Vitthale!