We need to understand it as a sign of respect; an equality that puts no one above or below anyone else. It involves seeing with spirit; that your spirit recognizes my spirit and bows to the common source of each.  Our minds see race and religion, class and creed, which ultimately divides and establishes assumed hierarchy.  That’s why we must cultivate the ability to see with our spirit all of the world around us that we may experience the spirit within all things.

I have a recent interpretation that I’ve been using in class that is in line with the Circle Philosophy that I teach.   We sit in a circle and face inward at the center.  We are like spokes on a wheel joined by the hub.  The hub is what we have in common and what holds us together.  This center is Namaste.  

Namaste………  Given, received, and deserved

Now is it really fair to just walk away?

And if you truly care and yet cannot convey

Can you at least be there at the end of the day?

How do you love what your bred to hate?

Have you ever wondered to create your fate?

So much of our time is lost in debate

But we can change cause it’s not too late

Change ain’t much for changin’

We ain’t much for change.

Game ain’t much for playin’

Prayin’ this game is gonna change

How do you give what you want to take?

Tell me do you mend what’s about to break?

We all have so much at stake.

Turn around and look what’s in our wake.

Change ain’t much for changin’

We ain’t much for change

Game ain’t much for  playin’

Prayin’ this game is gonna change

Now do you see what once was blind?

Bow on your knees with your bliss in mind

Cause we are not the last of our earthly kind

If we so seek we will find divine.

I’m calling all people, expand and contract

Your mind, now it breathes, it’s fine and intact

Act with you body it’s a natural fact

That when you move to the rhythm your brain relax

And then you get into the feeling and the right relapse

To a time and place when we were fine with space

We had the shine and grace and a clear mind to face

The attack, onslaught of the mutant race

With our complacent disgrace for how the paid get paid

Adjacent is haste I say we seize the day

And lay waste and run ruin in the name of what’s right

And even sacrifice every single delight for the Circle of Light.

It’s perfect tonight, there’s no reason to fight

One true look at yourself and you could hurt no one else.

We excited alright on best behavior dispite

Being sold on a shelf into a poisonous hell

So get pissed and yell, they form a fist and shell

As they insist to sell all of our bliss to hell

Take it back! But not so you can keep it with pride

Let it eat you inside until your brain gets fried

We got to try, to get this world unified

On top of earth under sky, our birth is no by

If we wait to much longer we can all say goodbye to our

Circle on High

But it’s the collective consciousness that becomes the norm and known.  If enough people believe it, it establishes the accepted limitation.  For miracles and magic to happen, a person must break free from the binds of blind belief and tap into the God consciousness.  God is the realm of infinite possibility and creative potential.  This realm is within every one of us.  The magic and miracles of art, music, poetry, bravery,laughter, reproduction, love, alchemy, mountains, raging rivers, rainbows; these have become common place and rarely recognized as magic.  Yet they all have an ability to express themselves in unlimited ways, refusing to be kept to a standard mold.  When something can be exactly replicated, it is beginning to lose its magic.

Step off the assembly line and you will begin to live again in the wonder and awe of the miraculous.  Tap into the God consciousness that makes every snowflake a little different, where even the rare occurrence  of a twin becomes a miracle in and of itself.  We are sold and smitten with what already is; comfortable with the known, we have let our souls grow complacent.  Our minds have a direct link to the abundance of potential the lies in the vastness of God itself.  Magic and miracles already exist everywhere; they’re just waiting on you………  Maybe the next great magic trick will be the ability to see through the walls of what was, clear to what could be.

peace is a miracle awaiting full realization from all beings

peace be with you

sf @ tyc

Two of our own teachers have been certified through Asheville Yoga Center and Stephanie Keach.  This is an amazing opportunity for personal growth and self-realization right in your own backyard.  If it’s your time, it’s your time.

Now back in the day, our view point was so linear that we thought the world flat with a hard edge to fall from into an unknown abyss.  We have discovered of course, from common sense if not from science, that the world is round and gravity holds us on it.  Further exploration of the microcosm has revealed that our cells and atoms also exist as spheres.  More observation of our natural world reveals circles everywhere; our seasons, the sun and moon, our moods, trends, history, the wheels of time.  The most transformative invention was the wheel and off we went into a malay of trade and urban development.  We somehow took a liking to building straight lines, squares, and hard edges that contrasted if not contradicted the natural/original environment.  No coincidence that we live above and outside of nature like an abnormal growth …..  but to the point.

There’s a philosophy here.  Allow your vision to be 360 degrees.  That straight line tunnel vision is keeping you stuck when it comes to understanding the big picture.  The big picture of course is a circle, like our world or a universe.  So picture this circle and place yourself smack dab in the middle of it.  This is the center point.  It has gravity, stability, and it’s movement is slow and minimal if at all.  The circumference of the circle, or the fringe, moves very fast representing the raging storms of our life; the swirling of past and future, the collisions of so many lives, the allure and illusion of possession and identity.  Our life exploded from this center point like a big bang, and will soon return to it.  We are travelers, much of the time disconnected or suffering from spiritual amnesia, and spend so much of our lives drifting in the electron clouds of our cell.  When we cross over the center whether by luck or magnetic draw we experience a moment or a memory of enlightenment.  In yoga, we would call this samahdi or absorption.

Put this idea to work in your life.  All it takes in an awareness of it.  You don’t have to stop traveling, you just need to be in touch with your center.  This would establish the radius of your circle.  You would no longer be a random over-cooked carrot floating in the vast soup of your universe.  You would be the head chef tasting your creation for flavor.

Hang in there a little longer and picture this:  when outside our center we are vulnerable to the afore mentioned collisions of so many lives ripe with opinion and sway; someone else’s gravity pulling us like a black hole into oblivion.  The world looks so different from out here and many angles of observation are cut off.  From the center, our vantage point is 360, whole and complete.  From anywhere else, it will be limited and therefore personal truth will be skewed.  The further out you go, the tougher it becomes to get back.  The centrifugal force begins to overwhelm the gravity of the center.

Moral of the story:  Know where you come from and stay close to the home in your mind.  Travel with a lifeline and an awareness of the edges of your universe.  Take your straight lines and the polar opposites these lines create, and bend them with your raw strength into a circle.  Connect the two ends and watch the sparks fly as the positive and negative energy unify to reveal the ultimate oneness of all things.  These apparent contradictions live side by side when you see yourself as a circle.

Within the circle at least,

Stephen

She became a certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor during her college years. Jennifer graduated from The University of Alabama at Birmingham with a BA in communication studies and a minor in Spanish. With a desire to try something different Jennifer began practicing Bikram and Ashtanga yoga in 2000.

She was drawn to yoga instantly because it offered a great workout but also offered something more meaningful, a chance to connect with the mind, body, and spirit. In 2001 Jennifer began teaching a vinyasa style yoga class at Spa Moksha and has been teaching yoga ever since. She is certified in Ashtanga yoga by David Swenson. Some of her favorite yogis are Baron Baptiste, Bryan Kest, and Sean Tebor.

Jennifer is married with 3 children. She is also an artist working in acrylic and oil and loves to paint anything that inspires her from people to landscapes. In addition to yoga and art, she enjoys running and weight training.

Expect to get an intense workout (she loves working the core) but also a chance to relax and refresh the mind and body.

Stephen Fletcher, Director and Principal Teacher, graduated Bikram’s 9-week teacher training course in Los Angeles in November, 2002, and has been teaching yoga ever since. He recently attended a 200 hour Kundalini teacher training in Asheville, NC. Stephen has a love for all styles of yoga and encourages students to be aware that they are all connected. He has practiced and studied with Akasha Ellis, Sean Tabor, Shiva Rea, Rodney Yee, and Brian Kest.

Stephen’s class is inevitably spiritual in nature and pulls from every yoga and discipline that exists. He will help you see the inherent oneness of all things as his physical instructions emerge as a philosophy. Stephen will emphasize that good yoga lies in perception and reception. His background is in music and massage, both of which help expand his view of the body and mind and their ultimate union.

Your Yoga philosophy:
Make room for all the paradox. Everything is symbiotic and ultimately one, so follow no set path as a living truth is always changing.

Style of yoga:
Hot, Kundalini

Favorite Yoga Quote right now:
Nothing need define you, only shape you.
Favorite Yoga Pose right now:
5 min Plank Pose