Headin' South

Great night in Harpursville NY last night.  Sorry no time to write more, but today we head "down south" -- all the way to New Jersey.

Much love.

Dharmashakti

Ithaca and the power of abundance

We're in Ithaca today and enjoyed a great Kirtan last night.  Sorry, no pictures -- the one at left is another one from Massachusetts.

Honestly, I was in a funny place when we arrived in Ithaca because, due to a lot of stuff that life just brings, the studio had forgotten that we were coming.  We made a check-in call during the morning and that's when the light bulb went off, "Boom!  OMIGOSH... today's the day that they're coming!"  Apparently, the afternoon was a frenzy of calls, emails and texts prior to our arriving -- and I'll admit that I got here with a little bit of a chip on my shoulder.

You know how our bodies get when we feel discouraged, they really are a reflection of what's happening inside, no matter how hard you try.  So, I was feeling a little discouraged and low, and my body was a complete manifestation of that.  No matter how hard I tried, poor Christian had to do all of the effort to get us ready last night.  But, as a final touch, I added the fabulous purple fabric given to me at Putnam Barn Yoga in Danvers, Mass -- it turned my bolster into this wonderful Disney-like purple poof cloud and that was enough to establish my pratyahara (sense withdrawal) and transport me from discouragement to a place of being ready to receive.  See, it's important to make your practice space a little special and removed from the day-to-day -- you never know where it can take you!

In spite of the last minute rush to get the word out, we had a really nice group of chanters and new chanters come for Kirtan -- a real tribute to the studio and the sangha leader.  As we began singing, this group just totally filled the room with sound.  The first Rama Jaya had such power and resonance that I also felt inspired by the human divine being celebrated through the chant.  We moved on through a conversation (somewhat like Danvers) and chanting on Saraswati (have you ever started your day by acknowledging yourself as being divine clarity, wisdom and creativty?), Christian's new Ganapati chant, three sutras on OM, finally finishing with a celebration of Lakshmi and our own power to be the manifestor of abundance in our own lives.  As we chanted the last song on Lakshmi, I suddenly GOT how I had been the generator of my own poverty during the afternoon -- and that I could instead choose to view each moment as blessed, even if it contains pain.  I began to tear up during the final strains and enjoyed my own beautiful release, which had been building throughout the Kirtan, but finally bubbled over with the abundance from the kindness and good company of everyone who came to be with us last night.

So, continue the lessons for yourself.  BE the abundance you seek in your life.  SEE the abundance in the world you already inhabit.  MANIFEST the energy to meet all that you truly need in life.  CREATE the space for your life to be truly full with peace, joy, love and light.

Om shanti, Om peace.

Dharmashakti

Quick note post Kirtan in Webster, MA

OM OM... just a quick note to add to today's earlier post.  We finished Kirtan tonight at a lovely home-based studio in Webster, Massachusetts named De-Stress With Yoga.  The studio owner, Mimi, invited us just this past Thursday when she heard we had an opening in the schedule.  With just 4 days of effort, she brought nearly 20 chanters to the studio to celebrate Mother's Day and the 4th Anniversary of her studio.  The people who came ranged in age and experiences, including a UCC minister! -- but we all had a great time contemplating motherhood and the things we bring into life in the world through our attitudes and presence.  Jai!  Here's a photo of some of us after the chanting -- notice the happy smiles.  We all said, "Svaha!" Peace and love.

Catching my breath in Danvers

Greetings and salutations!  How's that for a beginning?

So much to tell from last week (has it really been since Monday?).  First off, photos... here's a link to my Flickr photostream for the tour - CLICK HERE!

Kelly (Kamala) from the studio in Danvers took me out yesterday with her amazing camera for some new photos.  People have been curious to see that I've gone from hair, to bald, to hair with beard -- it's very confusing, but a little fun for me to practice non-attachment to any one way of looking.

Monday night we drove to New Hampshire and the DRAGONFLY YOGA BARN in North Sandwich.  There Katie, Declan and their kids (Finnean and Bridey) made us feel right at home in their new retreat center.  Christian and I had our choice of 14 beds and all the floor space we could image.  They've done such an amazing job with restoring this 200 year old barn to a new purpose in life.  Katie also greeted us with some of the best homemade cookies I'd tasted in a long time.  We got a day of rest and recovery and then set up for Kirtan on Tuesday, first spending the day collecting daffodils to make the space even more beautiful and fragrant.  The kirtan was amazing with such great offerings brought to the SVAHA sonic fire.  Afterwards we sat up talking and laughing with Katie and Declan until 1am sharing stories and perspectives.  The next morning (Wednesday), Declan prepared a fantastic Irish breakfast for us and sent us off to Kripalu with full hears and full bellies.

We arrived at Kripalu just in time to set up (I HAD to stop for a haircut and a beard trim).  The staff met us joyfully and gave us the best of everything.  The Kirtan was probably our largest yet with something like 70 people coming to chant.  We've been slowly integrating a new Lakshmi chant that really took off full-force here.  The next day, we helped ourselves to food, yoga classes and I even got a dip in the whirlpool.  We took a long walk on the grounds before driving off again, this time heading to Shelburne Falls.

The studio in Shelburne Falls is run by this great guy named Lindel Hart.  He met us with his son, Hugh, and they helped us get organized.  I have the cutest pictures of Hugh playing the harmonium with me -- I'll try to get those for the blog soon.  We had a terrific experience.  The group was small but their voices were big.  The event of the night was Christian leading his new chant "Om Ganapatiye" all alone, in preparation for our retreat in Pennsylvania later this month.  It was a hit!  Jai, Christian!

Friday night was our first East Coast return engagement, at Soni Yoga in Cambridge.  The space was as beautiful as we remembered and we had a batch of 20 chanters, all of whom were meeting us for the first time.  We also had a nice visit with some fellows from an ashram farther north (no names, please) who joined us for Kirtan, although they seemed a little unnerved because of our unorthodoxy.  During the prassad afterward, one really engaged me about how we needed to meet his guru and study the true yoga.  It was especially fascinating because we had just chanted the Locks & Keys, including the lesson about just having a peaceful delight in the righteousness of others, even if it's not your own path.  One of the fellows was especially strident and I felt a sense of sadness that we had this "block" between us that made it hard to truly be in yoga with each other; however, I also really appreciated his devotion to his path and to his teacher.  I hope they were able to have peace as they left, in spite of our non-traditional way of being -- I embraced them as my brothers and thanked them for being with us in love.

Saturday morning, we headed into Boston and had a truly amazing Chinese lunch in Chinatown.  Wow!  Christian went to the New England Conservatory for his undergrad so he had me marching up and down the streets of Boston as we revisited his old haunts.  He wore me out!  I don't even remember the drive to Danvers for Saturday night's Kirtan -- I was passed out in the passenger's seat!

Saturday night's kirtan was really something special.  The studio was concerned because not many people had signed up, but we all decided to have Kirtan anyway, no matter what.  In the end, there were only 5 of us in the room, but WOW -- what a great time.  Instead of doing our usual big set up, we only brought out the harmonium, some shakers and a few lights.  Everyone sat close and we sang the first chant, "Hari OM" -- this led to a lovely discussion about the meaning of "Hari" and "OM" -- and we really had dharshan on the teachings of truly finding the divine in all things.  It just continued as we chanted to Ganesh, Saraswati and Lakshimi -- great conversations and questions from everyone about applying teaching to life.  This was a great eye-opener for and definitely something I'd like to continue with other studios, perhaps this summer after my trip to Yogaville in July.

Now, it's Sunday -- Mother's Day.  We started today with me teaching an Integral Yoga hatha class in Danvers.   We had an opening in our schedule and De-Stress with Yoga Studio invited us to come to Webster tonight for Kirtan in celebration of their 1st anniversary.  Mimi (the owner) is so excited since she was with us in Sharron MA a few days ago and we're thrilled to be joining in her energy and meeting her Sangha.  In honor of the holiday, we're planning a night of all Devi chants for the creative mother.  Jai Ambe!

Sending everyone love and blessings.  I invite you to spend sometime today reflecting on your own mother and to the idea that you come from someplace, that there is a source that precedes you and follows from you.  And, whether you are a man or a woman, whether you have children or not, we are all the creative mother of the energies we send out into the world.  Happy Mother's Day.

Peace, joy, love & light.

Dharmashakti

Greetings and catching up..

So much news to share today.  After Peoria, we spent a great Kirtan with the folks at OneTree Yoga in Cleveland.  They are in a beautiful old school currently being used as a Cultural Center, but the City is trying to tear the building down to replace it with something new.  We almost didn't get to have this event, but at the last minute, there was (another) reprieve for the structure and Kirtan was on!  We had to get out of the space early due to City rules, so everyone pitched in an we completed the Kirtan, gave everyone hugs AND packed the car in a record 28 minutes!

After that, we moved on to Breathe Joy Yoga in Sharon, Massachusetts -- a beautiful space in the suburban woods.  The Kirtan was full of the studio's teacher trainees and their friends & family, plus other guests.  What a treat it is to be a part of bringing these beautiful new teachers into the world for good work.  This was Friday night and after packing up, we immediately drove to Warren, Rhode Island -- all in all this was a very long day in a very long, blissed out weekend.

After our 11 hour drive, plus Kirtan, plus drive to Rhode Island, we work up early on Saturday so I could teach Hatha and lead a Deepening Your Practice workshop at The Yoga Loft in Warren.  It was an intimate and intense weekend of Hatha, Raja, Jnana, Japa, Karma and Bhakti -- including a Kirtan on Saturday night -- but totally uplifting and inspiring.  Pictures follow this post and on Sunday, some of the attendees offered some testimonials for us.  Here's the video:

Enjoying a walk to and from our Karma service.

"Yoga is SOOOO serious!"

Sending much love from the road.  Peace, peace and more peace.

Dharmashakti

Fantastic night at Heading OM Yoga in Peoria.  We debuted a new Lakshmi chant and it was very well received.  A great group of chanters really raised the roof and we had a special guest guitarist, Jason Moll, tore it up!

There was laughing, singing, clapping and fresh made brownies afterwards.

More news later...  it's late and I must sleep.... yawn...

OMMMMM

Greetings from the Tour

Hello, everyone and greetings from Omaha, our "unofficial" 2nd stop on the Spring tour.

We left Albuquerque yesterday morning (see the picture of me being happy in the car)  ...and headed to Denver for a great event at Karuna Yoga & Wellness and their great studio -- thanks Carina and Chandri for being such lovely hosts and thanks John for putting us up for the night.  Look below for a nice snapshot of us with the ladies of Karuna.

We had a little crisis just before the Kirtan when Christian discovered that many of his computer files were missing!  But he sprang into action and rebuilt many of the percussion sounds in the nick of time before Kirtan started - whew!  We had a great time here and introduced a new Saraswati chant.  The Rama Jaya was especially powerful to me as everyone reflected on their own humanity as an expression of the divine.

Today we drove to Omaha just in time to catch a special Hatha class by the amazing Wah! at the OM Center.  Wah! was so gentle and kind and funny -- it was a lesson for me to remember to take care of myself during this tour by starting with morning Hatha and a short sit -- Wah! also really reminded us to find time to care for our bodies, minds and spirits so that we could be ready to serve.  Jai, Wah!

Tomorrow, we're off to Peoria and Heading OM Yoga.

Dharmashakti