TreasureinAZ.com

Laundry was my Yoga

Treasure — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:20:51 +0000

I have to start out by explaining the title because I’m sure that is slightly confusing. Most people consider yoga strictly a physical practice, especially here in the West, however yoga is a 8 limb scientific system for living life. So with that very elementary explanation of what yoga is to me, I awoke one morning last week and experienced laundry as my yoga.

I normally get up earlier than the rest of the house for my “quiet” time. There are many different things I may choose to do with that time but it always has to do with me. Usually it is meditation, writing or some sort of physical exercise.

This morning though I awoke to a very real “need to be done” for my household. I had family in town while the kids were on spring break and in addition to having an additional 3 kids in my house I just didn’t do much laundry (any laundry!). For those of you that have a family like mine you know how much laundry a family of 5 can create. So…after days of washing all the sheets and towels first, I started washing the clothes. What I hadn’t done yet was the folding or the putting away…this always seems to be the hardest part for me.

So, back to my morning. I awoke prepared for a nice asana practice (that’s the actual physical practice of yoga) and some meditation. As I walked out of my bedroom though I was immediately faced with 4 mounds of unfolding laundry. Hmmmm…what to do? I have to say I sat for just a moment, however after I accessed my schedule for the next 2 days I really didn’t know when I would have time to take care of this until Sunday. I’m not sure about you but it would be very unsettling for me to look at that for another 2 days.

So, I did what any good yogi would do…I turned the act of folding the laundry into my yoga practice. I turned the actual folding into a meditation. Now, normally I really despise folding laundry, if I’m being honest I really despise most household chores. I would be ok with never folding another stack of laundry again. Being that I realize how much I dislike this chore, I have working on changing my thought process of actually doing it.

I’m happy to report that in the hour that I folded all that laundry I was happy! I actually felt joyful. When the house finally did begin to awake I had a smile on my face just as if I had done an hour of sitting with my eyes closed. It was really incredible!!

I tell people all the time that meditation isn’t simply about sitting in a cross legged position and clearing your mind, it really is more about how you can utilize the practice into the areas of your life that may create resistance.

It does take practice to have the awareness to remember to use it though! It would have been very easy to slip right into my disdain for laundry and moan and groan the entire time I was folding.

This is the habit that most of us fall into each day. We simply forget how and who we want to be…who we really are and we fall into a daily routine that isn’t serving us to live a joyful life. The big secret is that joy is just as available in the mundane as the miraculous. It all depends on how we face it.

I hope in some small way this helps you to remember the next time you find yourself in what may seem like an unpleasant situation. We certainly cannot control the things that happen outside of ourselves, but we can ALWAYS control what happens inside.

Make it a great day!!

Treasure

Laundry was my Yoga

Opposite Day

Treasure — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 03:51:17 +0000

One of my favorite teachers brought back into my awareness a teaching that in recent weeks was operating as a distant memory. To experience big changes in your life…simply do the opposite. Our minds have a tendancy to easily slip back into the deep dark habits that we have been carrying for a lifetime (dare I say many lifetimes). Even when you feel as though you have begun to make big strides, without dedication and focus it is dangerously simple to slip back and find yourself lost and frustrated once again.

The path of self discovery (which is ultimately joy) is not an easy path, it is not a simple fix and it is not for the weak of heart. I know that we are always looking for the quick fix, you only have to look to the prescription dependence to understand that, the path to joy (enlightenment) is long and rocky. Let me be clear here because I certainly don’t want the backlash of that comment. It is possible to choose joy at any point and completely change the world around you, the challenge arises when attempting to maintain that joy.

Life gets in the way. For most deep, conditioned belief and thought patterns get in the way. This is the long and rocky part. This is the part that requires focus and dedication to the path that you have chosen. I, along with you, am on that path. There are days when I understand wholly and completely the statement, “ignorance is bliss”. However my deep belief is that statement is false…”knowing is bliss” is the statement I prefer to live by.

To walk around and over the pitfalls of the journey we look to many different tools and techniques to help us. One such tool is pratipaksha bhavanam as outlined in the Yoga Sutras. Simply taking a thought or a habit that is no longer serving you and doing the opposite. How can you effectively move through and alter quickly, easily and joyfully? Have fun! Recognize the thought or the behavior immediately (it’s all about awareness my friends) and do the opporsite!

For example (I credit this to my teacher), when we are doing something mundane such as doing the laundry instead of using the time to complain or groan about the task at hand…cheer! I mean really cheer (think of your kid getting a touchdown, how would you react). Really get into it. No one is looking, no one is judging. Yeah! Laundry! Yea Baby!

Try it, see what happens. You will experience and immediate shift in your entire energy field. It is amazing and this little amazing shift will open up and remind you for the more serious habits and thoughts that may be bringing suffering into your life.

It’s hard to admit for all of us, we create this world that we are experiencing everyday. Once you can claim this as truth your power is ignited and everything can and will change for good!

You are amazing! I know that to be true! My certainty overcomes your doubt

With love and light,

Treasure

Opposite Day

Goals v. Intentions

Treasure — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 03:42:36 +0000

Like a bolt of lightening it hit me and I felt a tremor through the body and tears came to my eyes. For the last 6 years I feel as though I have been learning and teaching an idea that is flawed. How did I miss this? This is exactly why the feeling of lack would continue to rise up. There simply is, in my mind and for my life, a flaw with the whole notion of setting a goal.

A goal at the core is coming from a place stating that where you are or what you have is not enough. The majority of the coaches and the self-help gurus have put all of the emphasis on learning how to BE more, HAVE more, DO more all of which say back to us we are not enough. This thought process will always lead us back to the place of lack which creates sadness and fear.

We ARE enough exactly as we are. We do HAVE enough. We DO enough in our daily lives. The truth is we HAVE more than any civilization that has come before us yet we still yearn for more. We are busier and more alone DOING than any other time in history.

And we actually are becoming a more awakened version of ourselves than ever before.

You don’t have to BE, DO and HAVE more! The key is happiness and the gratitude for what is. Here is the caveat, if your bank account is empty and you would really love to have the money to travel this is a DESIRE you would like to fulfill. There is absolutely nothing wrong with our desires. The question arises with what is producing the desire. Is it an actual desire for an experience to help us to learn and to grow or is it coming from an egoic space of comparison, judgment, or loss?

The goal as it is currently presented to most of us automatically produces from the space of lack…an intention however comes from the place of creation. An intention is held from a space of growth. If I find myself 20 lbs overweight the question I have to ask myself is, “Does this work for me?” For some people the answer is yes, for most the answer is no. I don’t feel well, I don’t have good energy, I am unhappy when I look in the mirror.

A goal would look something like this, “I am going to lose 20 lbs by July 1, 2012.” There are a lot of people that are at least aware enough to turn that goal into a positive, now statement. “I am so happy and grateful that I have lost 20 lbs by July 1, 2012. I would like to say here and now this was my coaching method for many years.

An intention would look more like, “I am healthy, strong and energetic.” Can you FEEL the difference? You will ultimately get to the same place however the intention is a major shift in your paradigm.

I would say I am emarrassed to say this settled on me so strongly today. I had given up setting goals the traditional way over a year ago but it didn’t really hit me why it didn’t feel right any more. Today I understood. The feeling will never fail you, the mind will. I give honor and love to all the people that are coaching and teaching from that space and I do believe that it is a step in the right direction, it is certainly better than never striving for anything in your life. The lesson I learned today is that it is simply a step and the next evolutionary step FEELS way better!

Sending you love and light!

Goals v. Intentions

Upcoming Meditation Workshop

Treasure — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 03:16:43 +0000

Join me at Yoga Breeze in Cave Creek for Exploring Meditation. A 4 week workshop designed to get you meditating! Click here for more information.

Upcoming Meditation Workshop

What Kind of Harm Are You Causing?

Treasure — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:47:06 +0000

I am really good at beating myself up. Even after all of these years and tons of work on becoming the master of my thoughts, I still “at times” (when I am especially challenged) turn on myself. I beat myself up! It happens in an instant and sometimes I will get fairly deep into the assault before I realize what I have just done.

I’m not exactly sure why I continue to struggle in this area, but it is something that I am acutely aware of. Maybe I shouldn’t share this with you, I’m sure there are some who would say I shouldn’t, but I feel like we are brothers and sisters and we all on some level experience the same kind of struggles and fears. If I am not vulnerable and completely authentic, then you may think that I don’t struggle. You may then find yourself wondering why you aren’t able to do the same. We all have struggles and we all have our own sh*t to work on.

So, why do I bring this up today? I had some pretty heavy stuff come up yesterday and I found myself slipping down a slope of self-loathing. Now, I used to be REALLY good at this sort of thing, I could punish myself for days. Thank God, that is behind me and now it usually only lasts a few moments.

Not yesterday though. Yesterday, I was pretty tough on myself. I even had remnants of it left over today.

One of the ancient principles that you will be learning with me is a Yama called Ahimsa. Ahimsa basically means “no harm”. This can be translated in a multitude of ways but mainly it is seen as no harm to another being. Expanding that concept into people, animals, nature in your thoughts and your actions.

Today, it occurred to me that we spend a lot of time concerning ourselves with the harm that we may place upon another, but what about the harm that we cause ourselves? I think that most people cause far greater harm to themselves than they ever will another. Most people would be described as good, loving, kind people by their neighbors; but what is happening in your own mind with your own thoughts about yourself?

Is this where you may be causing the greatest harm? In the recesses of your own mind? The sad and dangerous part of this prescription is that this is the harm that causes the most damage.

Your thoughts create your reality. I know that is a tough one for some to grasp, but this is an absolute truth of our universe. Even if you “think” you are a positive person and you believe in your own success and happiness, the moments, like I experienced yesterday are the most telling for us and the most useful.

We can look at these moments and we can dwell in them and judge ourselves and our journey or we can look upon them with gratitude for revealing a piece of ourselves that is lying dormant and may be causing more harm than we could ever imagine.

With the gift of a breakdown, investigate for yourself, how to release these thoughts these feelings, these beliefs that you may still hold about yourself. What I continue to discover is that which is causing us harm usually lies within the past or the future of our thought processes and if we keep ourselves in the present moment we will never find this issue arising again…that’s what I hope anyway

This moment is the experience and I for one am not going to let it slip away.

Namaste!

What Kind of Harm Are You Causing?

How Easy It Is To Forget…

Treasure — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:31:20 +0000

Even when you reach the place of so-called expert it is interesting to see that the journey is just beginning in so many ways. You may feel as though you have taken 100 steps forward and still continue to take a few steps back. It is this particular dance that will either bring you to your knees or give you the strength you need to persevere. Whichever you choose is the destiny you will create for you own life.

I have a saying that I like to repeat to myself…”remember to remember”.

Remember to remember who you really are…remember to remember what you want to do in this life…remember to remember what is necessary each day to keep in alignment with that journey. I say this to myself and make it a central focus of my coaching because it is simply so easy to forget.

It’s easy because we have a host of conditioned thoughts, habits, circumstances and quite frankly people that want us to forget. Forgetting keeps us comfortable, forgetting keeps us part of the 98% of people that sleep walk through life unaware of the power that is lying asleep just below the surface.

Remembering shakes you awake and sends you on a journey that has the power to change not only yourself but to make an impression upon the world around you. Remembering creates, it inspires, it motivates, it sparks life within you that you may have never been introduced to before.

It is the knowing that moves you towards success. The good news is that once you wake up even for a moment there is a nagging that will set in upon you until you wake up again, the more you awaken the more this nagging persists.

The even better news is that it is simply never, ever too late to wake up. When you are awakened you can expect miracles as a daily occurrence. This is when your life operates from a simple place of ease. Imagine if just a little nudge each day to just remember could create an avalanche of good in your life that is impossible to slow down.

Hmmmm…how does that sound? You know it’s possible, you wouldn’t desire that ease unless it was. The steps are simple and the payoff is HUGE my friend. You CAN be, do and have anything you want and it won’t take a lifetime or a million setbacks to get you there. Refreshing, huh?

Simply remember!

How Easy It Is To Forget…

What’s The Point Anyway? [Video]

Treasure — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:19:44 +0000

I had an awesome epiphany while I was driving home from Flagstaff. Listen as I talk about my struggles this summer with the kids and what I realized. It made me stop in my tracks

What’s The Point Anyway? [Video]

The Traffic Light Lesson [Video]

Treasure — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:56:28 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

The messages are all around us when we are aware and awake enough to notice.

Listen to an interesting and quick lesson I learned on my way to yoga class.

Sending Love and Light Your Way!

The Traffic Light Lesson [Video]

Make A Quick Change [Video]

Treasure — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:48:31 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

What can you do when you notice that you are ALLOWING circumstances and people to dictate your day. You can make a quick change!

Nice to know we run things huh?

You can make it your best day!

Make A Quick Change [Video]

What Are We Afraid Of?

Treasure — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:22:34 +0000

According to several polls, as many as 92% of the population believes in a higher power yet we hide and we separate our business lives from our spiritual lives. Everyone knows it is the ultimate no-no to discuss beliefs in business because it is such a touchy subject and is a personal matter.

Why do we agree to operate this way? When we take God out of the equation and allow other factors (money, prestige, power) to drive our businesses, we find ourselves disconnected and further away from our path. To live a prosperous, purposeful life we must allow the divine that is within to be seen and heard. There is nothing to be afraid of if you are coming from a place of love and authenticity.

Now, with that said, I wouldn’t get into the discussion of religion all that often, it seems this is the place that feathers begin to get ruffled. The good thing is that I’m not talking about religion. It doesn’t matter where you personally worship or what exactly you believe. I don’t even care what exactly you call this power that you believe in; God, Divine, Universe, Mother Earth, Spirit…whatever. When you strip away all of the dogma, you are left with universal truths that all religions are based upon. The truth is, they are all the same at the core, so there is no need to argue

So, if you can remove the fear associated with bringing God into the equation you are free to let your life, which is also your business, be divinely guided. You are able to surrender to the success that you are supposed to enjoy. It doesn’t have to be hard, it doesn’t have to be a struggle. However, if you are continually pushing against your natural instinct, which is to be connected to spirit, you will always come back to a place of feeling disconnected and discontented.

You don’t have to bring God into the conversation of your everyday business operations. It isn’t necessary to stop a meeting, close your eyes, and say, “let’s see what God has to say about it?”. It’s about removing the fear associated with the connection of spirit in your business. If you take the handcuffs off of your spiritual self every day, not just Sundays, your heart and your spirit will thank you for it.

You can be one of those people that everything just seems to work out for. You can be one of those people that just seems to be in the right place at the right time…all the time. You simply have to get out of the way and ALLOW the good that you desire to flow to you.

Easier said than done? It all starts with awareness; which starts with quieting the modifications of the mind. When you are able to quiet the mind you are able to experience and understand your own divinity. When you connect to this part of yourself…watch out! Nothing and no one can disrupt the flow of good things that you will bring into your life.

That’s what you want, right?

You sure are awesome!!

What Are We Afraid Of?