Happy New Year! I'll save you the year-in-review clip show, I can't compete with Joan Rivers' commentary on celebrity marriages that lasted 42 seconds or who's hot and who's not. Nor can I compete with Yoga Dork's take on Bikram's propensity for suing everybody.
We celebrate the end of one cycle and the beginning of another today, but in truth, everyday, every SECOND starts a new year. Many make resolutions, and many more forget about those resolutions in 24 hours (I'll never drink again! I know, I've been there too).
Ancient wisdom tells us winter is an ideal time to begin a yoga practice. We have entered the light half of the year when energy is waxing. Ancient wisdom also tells us that the best time of day to start practice is Brahmamuhurta, literally the hour of God: 4 am. "Oh my God it's early!" is a prayer, not a negative exclamation! Swami Sivananda states over and over again in his writings "Brahmamuhurta is NOW!" meaning that we do not need to wait for the next arbitrary cycle to begin, nor lament and bag the idea of practicing if we have missed a prescribed starting time. We can start today, right now! We don't need to wait for a certain time or be in a certain place to practice. We have everything we need within ourselves, we need only to remember. And any attempt at practice will start the recollection of that memory. The perfect place to practice is where ever you currently are. Right here is Rishikesh, Vrindivan, the Himalayas, Jerusalem, St. Peter's, Mecca. All you need is you right here, right now.
I look forward to practicing with you this year, where ever you are.
For the first post of the new year, I leave you with 2 songs. The first, The Hanuman Chalisa--40 verses sung to remind Hanuman of his divine origin and abilities, and is being sung 108 times at Dharma Yoga Center in NYC as I type. The second is a blast from the past, demonstrating that inspiring music can be fast.
Be Well!
We celebrate the end of one cycle and the beginning of another today, but in truth, everyday, every SECOND starts a new year. Many make resolutions, and many more forget about those resolutions in 24 hours (I'll never drink again! I know, I've been there too).
Ancient wisdom tells us winter is an ideal time to begin a yoga practice. We have entered the light half of the year when energy is waxing. Ancient wisdom also tells us that the best time of day to start practice is Brahmamuhurta, literally the hour of God: 4 am. "Oh my God it's early!" is a prayer, not a negative exclamation! Swami Sivananda states over and over again in his writings "Brahmamuhurta is NOW!" meaning that we do not need to wait for the next arbitrary cycle to begin, nor lament and bag the idea of practicing if we have missed a prescribed starting time. We can start today, right now! We don't need to wait for a certain time or be in a certain place to practice. We have everything we need within ourselves, we need only to remember. And any attempt at practice will start the recollection of that memory. The perfect place to practice is where ever you currently are. Right here is Rishikesh, Vrindivan, the Himalayas, Jerusalem, St. Peter's, Mecca. All you need is you right here, right now.
I look forward to practicing with you this year, where ever you are.
For the first post of the new year, I leave you with 2 songs. The first, The Hanuman Chalisa--40 verses sung to remind Hanuman of his divine origin and abilities, and is being sung 108 times at Dharma Yoga Center in NYC as I type. The second is a blast from the past, demonstrating that inspiring music can be fast.
Be Well!
The Gorilla Biscuits "Start Today" NYHC Re-visited
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