Do you have chronic pain? I’ve gone through various phases with it. During childhood, I had daily migraines. (Turns out that’s because I have PTSD from early childhood trauma!) I’ve had some pretty deep healing phases, including an 18 month ACL replacement that took two surgeries to figure out. I don’t know if I know what your pain is like, but here’s what my pain was like: Exhausting Sharp Aching Distracting Isolating This meditation is not going to cure your chronic pain. But it will change your relationship to it. Pain is a message, not a punishment. Pain is your nervous system telling your brain, “Something’s off. We need to do something different.” In your wisdom, you get to decide what that something different is. Maybe it’s paying the close attention to the pain that seems unbearable, that we will do anything to escape. Give it a try. Let me know how it goes.

As Buddhist monk and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh, puts it, “We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.”Amy Jahn, certified Mutual Awakening Practice teacher in her upcoming course, will guide you each step of the way through the history of and science behind the Mutual Awakening practice, how the practice came into being and where it emerged from, what you will experience when you engage it, and exactly how to engage the Mutual Awakening Practice so you become fully empowered to practice it with the partner (or partners) of your choice. This course will provide everything you need to know and do (including practice partners) to practice Mutual Awakening and reliably engage real Shared Unity Consciousness.  This two person, open eyed, verbal meditation practice is perfect for anyone across all ages, and lifestyles. It's for anyone who has yearned for something more meaningful in their own lives and for humanity.  

I hope this brings you peace. Have a seat. Repeat after me.

Let's chat with intuitive coach Melissa Corter about why it is exactly that you are stressed about money. Because you are, aren't you? Telling yourself how little money you have? Getting yourself all worked up about it? We talk about why that might be, and how to resolve it. Have a listen.

Let's do some affirmations to align yourself with wealth and success. Have a seat. Repeat after me.

The Yoga Sutras demand cleanliness in order for an optimum human experience. Not just a clean house, though that’s certainly part of it. Go make your bed. Go do the dishs. Listen to this while you’re doing it. You’ll be done before the recording is done. Then we can work on cleaning your human suffering off your divine self. Let’s do it.

This is what it feels like to be human: scary bored grateful joyful All of it is worthy. All of it is the experience of being human. This is what it feels like to have a body. This is what it feels like to breathe. This is what it feels like to be human. This is what you do to make it easier to be human.

Pema Chödrön tells us that hopelessness is the solution to fear. We are in a period of losing our footing. Things that felt familiar and secure …aren’t. Everything you knew to be true …isn’t. This is a beautiful time to liberate yourself from anything that doesn’t serve you. This is a beautiful time to practice gratitude for what you have. Because we’re about to learn just how little we can live with. We may as well be grateful for it. It makes it easier. Promise.

Y’all, we are in a PANDEMIC! Here’s what I love about it: The whole world, en masse, is being asked to heal. You’ve seen the stories of dolphins and swans exploring the Venice canals for the first time. Polluted parts of China are clearing up and seeing sunlight. That’s what we’re going to bring in today. This is a meditation for creating healing, protective energy. If you’re stuck at home and realizing that your choices have not brought you closer to your heart, this will help. If you’re stuck at home and feeling the effects of a virus ravaging your system, this will help. If you’re out in the world helping each other, this will help. This is the meditation I give my lightworkers who are walking into hospitals and orphanages and disaster zones, places where disease flourish. Do the common sense things: wash your hands. Stay home. Touch each other’s souls, not each other’s hands. Protect yourself while you’re doing it. Be well, friends.

Aparigraha means non-hoarding, non-attachment, non-grasping - all sorts of things. It refers to living a simple life. But simple is as simple does. Your level of simplicity , in the details, is going to be different than mine. In its simplest form, gratitude for what you have overcomes any sense of attachment, including envy. Here’s a simple mudra (hand gesture) to encourage that flowing gratitude. Join us here: www.facebook.com/groups/splendidyoga

This one is to focus your eyes. Nice if you’re studying a bunch (hi, students!). Relaxing if your eyes are tired. This is a grounding, breathing exercise because you need to calm tf down. Try this one before your day begins.

Lay on your back, with your legs up the wall, if that’s comfortable for you. This is a grounding, breathing exercise because you need to calm tf down. Try this one before your day begins.

Ever take a trip into the future? Ever lose a night’s sleep wondering what’s going to happen? Ever flip out over all the terrifying, terrible things that might happen? Ever get so excited about something that’s going to happen that the reality of it is a letdown? I’ve got some news for you, friend: The future is none of your business. The infinitude of the present moment is your business. Here’s how to manage future-tripping thoughts: It used to be that, to practice yoga, you needed to be celibate. That means no sexual experiences of any kind, including self-pleasure. The idea is, sexuality is purely a form of humanity. To transcend sexuality, and therefore your humanity, is to attain enlightenment. That’s not always relevant in this day and age. Not all of us can be celibate; humanity would cease to exist. Nowadays, it’s interpreted a bit more loosely. So what does it mean to practice sexual purity? Take a listen:

The Yoga Sutras insist upon sexual purity, but its meaning has changed over the millennia. It used to be that, to practice yoga, you needed to be celibate. That means no sexual experiences of any kind, including self-pleasure. The idea is, sexuality is purely a form of humanity. To transcend sexuality, and therefore your humanity, is to attain enlightenment. That’s not always relevant in this day and age. Not all of us can be celibate; humanity would cease to exist. Nowadays, it’s interpreted a bit more loosely. So what does it mean to practice sexual purity? Take a listen:

This is a simple breathing meditation. Breathe in for 5. Hold for 6. Exhale for 7. Focus. These are long seconds. Nothing fancy. You’ve just gotta sit there and breathe. Let’s do it.

This is a simple breathing meditation. Just a few minutes to bring some sweet energy into your day. Nothing fancy. You’ve just gotta sit there and breathe. Let’s do it.

You'll want to be laying down for this one.  Are you having a difficult time letting go of something, or someone, from your past? This will help. This is an energetic cord cutting for releasing your attachment to something that isn't serving you. It's nice to do all year round, but it's significant to do on new years of all cultures and full moons.

Y’all, Taylor Lancaster is one of my best friends and Buddhist and vegan mentors. Find him on insta @tenderliving He was awarded the congressional Medal of Honor for his protest against GMOs, traveled on his bike for 2 years, and just finished the PCT. He was also molested as a kid, raped, and beaten up for his queerness. He lives life on his own terms, which is why he inspires me. We chat in Maui about his sobriety, how that affects his queerness and his internalized homophobia, and whether any of this is real.

Asteya means non-stealing. Basically, we’re all kleptomaniacs. “Stealing is to take or use other people’s property without their permission, which includes sneaking phone calls at work; dirtying up the city that we all pay for with our taxes; or ruining the earth for the coming generations.” — The Essential Yoga Sutra: Ancient Wisdom for Your Yoga by Geshe Michael Roach, Lama Christie McNally Wanting what you don’t have, the desire of which will lead to stealing, is rooted in attachment. You define yourself by what you perceive to own. But you don’t own anything. The clothes, the car, the home you’ve purchased with money: you don’t own any of them any more than you would own the clothes, the car, the home in a video game. You’re just borrowing them for your ultimate purpose. I remodeled my bathroom last year. I knew it would be an expensive project that would take way longer to finish that I could imagine. Still, I suffered greatly. After a mighty whinge-fest, a friend told me, “You’re really defining yourself by your home.” It hit me hard, the reason I was having such a difficult time, the reason I was suffering so hard: it wasn’t because of the bureaucratic nightmare caused by my HOA or the stress of couchsurfing for three months. It was because I thought I needed my home to be myself. I don’t need it. I want it. Life feels safer with it. But I know that I am myself with or without that home. That’s when I knew I had to move. I was scared to move. I still am. But I’m doing it anyway. I was super attached to the idea of a homeowner, of having my own space. I was stealing from myself. I was stealing the joy the next journey would bring me. I was robbing myself of the gratitude for all the sweet memories and friends I made living in that home. What really clinched it for me was, I was stealing from someone else the opportunity to live in a sacred home with kind neighbors. We steal from each other all day long. It’s painful, when you realize how much energy it takes to take what you don’t need from someone who does need it. It makes life harder. Here’s how to make life softer.