For The Love Of An Animal

I'm Back!!!!  Its been a few months of challenges, transformation and transitions....But once again I have emerged a stronger person then I once was.  Traveling down a path to enlightenment isn't always the easiest.  It isn't always the most rewarding and many of times it is difficult to see where the light shinning will guide you when you are blinded by the pain within your heart.  We try our best to be the spiritual beings that we seek to become.  Without fault we find fault within our seeking and learn a new course altogether.  With love and passion we seek to do phenomenal things with us defining what phenomenal is.  Rather it be holding the door open for a stranger or buying groceries for the less fortunate.  Or perhaps in my particular case phenomenal concludes saving a dog from her end at the shelter and her being my armor of courage.  We wish for fairytale endings and forever interludes.  However, sometimes, some of us end up with "for the time being".  Short periods in which we learn something grand from remarkable beings about ourselves and what are limits are.  Sometimes these beings dispel our fears and allow us to see what really lies within our hearts.  Thanks to my beloved fur babies I have found the courage to love the many faceted sides of me and to truly see how much motherhood lies within my own heart.  As much as I would love to keep some of them by my side always, they too have a journey of their own and a purpose in their hearts.  As I learn to let go, release attachment and move forward without judgement I further grow as an enlightened being one step closer to my own truth.         

Trusting That Which Isn't Seen

Before I started out blazing my own trail into the spiritual west I used to equate everything with logic.  The term "Miracles" happen to other people who categorized them as such but were in actuality, simply put...events where all the pieces lined up.  If  I couldn't see it, touch it, breathe it, then it didn't exist to me.  As I ponder this naive way of coexisting I realize that the truth I was born with was a fable, rather a .....childhood myth one might say.  The truth I was born with was quickly swept beneath the floor boards and the new realism I redeemed became one in which helped me fit in with the peers around me at that time.  I abandoned myself for the ability to blend in and became throughout the years vanilla in expression.  Only until I shook out that which didn't belong to me did I find the exquisite gold hue peanut left behind which was mine.  Today I say with pride that the peanut is now the size of a grapefruit and still expanding.  That fable has become my foundation for truth.  My realism doesn't rely on the surmount of materialism I own to define me.  My qualifications aren't noticed through my degrees, certifications and licensing to determine if I am capable to achieve.  They are measured by my compassionate heart which one can not physically see, my generosity and my capacity of determination.  As I embark on yet another year ahead of me I realize that I now know me.  I am acquainted with this remarkable person who trust that when the little voice mutters go right I need to make a sharp turn right.  Even though I may not see who the voice is coming from I have learned well enough that if I choose to venture left it is going to be a dry and desolate journey.  One that in the end will deliver me back to right, feeling lethargic, broken and perhaps blocked.  Countless times I hear from my clients how they know they should be doing etc but choose to achieve the opposite instead.  Why is it "ourselves" who block our own path to deliverance?  Why do we feel the need to change the game that is already pathed and given to us?  Why do we trust that which produce hardships but shy away from that which makes our existence just a little easier?  As I approach my magical 33 I have come to realize that forging in the turbulent waters is not for me.  I welcome placid shores, tepid water, and all the support that comes my way.  It's not that I am beyond the point of struggles it is however, that I am able to take the moment needed to rise above just for a second and notice the dip in the road.  Seeing the dip is enough to allow me to brace myself for the pain that may be coming upon impact.  By putting on the seat belt I can engage with it and allow it to pass through me.  This way perhaps allowing none of its painful memories to stick within but allowing the lessons to produce further wisdom.  As you journey through life continue to play.  Listen to your own dual voice.  Love yourself for who you are.  The attributes, the beautiful flaws that show up as attributes in given circumstances and embrace the whole.  As we further venture back into the truth of childhood, we learn that we were born with all the answers to all the questions we will ever need to know.  Yes......My friends it is that EASY!!  All one needs to do is let it be.
~Monique   

Through Yoga I Bid Farewell To Fear

 The moment my feet press into the mat I bestow thanks and honor to my body.  I take the time to connect to the divine and become aware of my heightened senses.  Focusing on my breath, my body, my intentions, I become intune with each asana I create.  I raise the vibration within through a rapid Kundalini breath and allow myself to sink even farther into warrior.  Feeling the energy race throughout my entire spine, I allow for concentration, dedication and openness to what lies in the next breath.  At this moment I am a student, a teacher, a novice, a warrior, a healer and pure love.   

Looking back on my life I remember a few years back occupying this world griped in fear.  It was an existence full of what if's, constant wanting and cowardly discord.  It was a life that not only limited me but kept me from being who I wanted to become.  Now, this is not to say that "fear" doesn't try to have its hold on me today.  It is only to imply, that my life path isn't driven by fear any longer.  Through my constant devotion to meditation and yoga throughout those years, I learned to conclude that I had a choice in how I wanted to live.  I could honor my heart and live out a life I truly yearned for.  Or I could listen to my thoughts with their constant demanding uncertainty and limiting beliefs.  A fabrication of truth railed by fear and what might happen next.  A year ago I fully devoted myself to My Beliefs and chose to live a life through my heart.  For the first time in my 30 something years alive I felt the desire for adventure.  I felt the need for uncertainty and the love for what could be around the corner.  I found myself saying yes to life!!!  I surrendered my need for perfection and I allowed the imperfection that entered to teach me a thing or two about myself.  I embraced the world with my arms wide open in the "Victory pose" and I arched my back in acceptance.  It was a true releasing of it's time.  I accredit so much of that release to my yoga practice.  Meeting my Guru last summer was the blessing of a life time.  I had been doing yoga for years but never truly finding the connection I was searching for.  I soon developed a mindset that my search would have to take me to India in order to find this divine understanding I craved.  But before a trip could be coordinated the universe blessed me with the impossible.....India came to me.  The connection was so powerful upon that first meeting that I bowed my head in the lap of my Guru and wept.  Stroking my hair with a loving hand I knew at that precise moment I came home.  My prayers had been answered and my life would never be the same again.  It was finally my time to move forward and move forward I did.  Soaking up as much knowledge as I could, I thirst for the wisdom this individual possessed.  Without selfishness but a deep love, my age old wounds begin to heal and what came with was a deeper understanding.  I came to understand I understood nothing, I knew nothing and I needed nothing.  Learning that melted the misconception for perfection.  I accepted my fate and stepped onto the mat for the first time this year as teacher.  Speaking the words of my Guru as well as some of my own I understand now that we are all teachers.  We are all learning, sharing, giving and receiving. If we constantly remind ourselves of this beauty then there is never a need to fear fore we are surrounded by generosity at all times.  What could ever be more beautiful then that?                

Falling In Love With LIFE

Just because one teaches doesn't always mean one makes the best disciplined student.  It has taken me getting sick these past weeks to slow down and listen to my own teachings.  Week after week I find myself teaching meditation but lacking the discipline to practice it.  Week after week I discover myself assisting my clients through the mud but lacking patience to truly acknowledge my own.  With a calmer spirit and a much more open heart i've slowed down the pace.  I took the time for myself and "Fell In Love" with life once more this past week.  I have discovered even though we have a tumultuous love affair going on between us, these ups and downs are significant to my continuous transformation.  This last bout of wills has instilled me with a much greater sense of achievement.  I've taken the plunge and with coughing fit for an elephant my voice has open up to a much softer sound.  In every moment we possess the opportunity to be, create and achieve who it is we want to be.  Each moment we hold the power to live life closer to what our true self expression is.  This moment I have learned that although I love what I do, I love myself equally as much.  Which translates into me taking the desired amount of time to assist my needs, wants and affirmations.  Since making the choice to live a life closure to my true self my lessons have become easier, more enriched and the sense of peace has been profound.  In order to maintain this sense of inner order I must first maintain the spiritual order within me.  Although I have shun discipline this year I have come to see a new vision materializing before me benefiting from the use of it.  Thank you universe for your constant reminder that we are ever growing, changing, evolving beings.
~Monique

"We can't direct the wind but we can adjust our sails"  -Unknown

Meditative Dance

For years civilization has been celebrating its way through life via dance.  Used as an artful expression of the human soul, dance has represented many things in past and present culture.  In native tribes dance has been proven successful, shown in conjunction with circles.  A place where within one would dance from their heart pleading to the Gods that miracles would be bestowed upon them and their tribe.  Pop culture has used it as a form of expression and a modern day mating call.  This week I chose to use it in my Intro to Meditation class as a means to simulate trance like effects when meditating.  The objective was to allow the student the freedom of expression through dance.  To enable their spirit the room to grow, unflutter its wings and unharness the energy kept within.  The result was breathtaking.  As we gathered in a circle, each student with their eyes closed moved their body to their own interpretation of the music playing.  The room dark, lite by none other then candles, allowed for a space open and non-judgmental.  No two people moved the same but each received the healing and the imagery meant for them during the process.  Each heard the music in reference to their own true self.  Each released cellular memories stored within their body and each learned to release a bit of fear.  This is an extremely useful practice when looking for grounding as well as chakra releasing/cleansing.  Especially from but not limited to the first chakra, also known as the root chakra.  In some dance meditations Kundalini energy is brought in to create forceful dynamic change within the body as well.  If done effectively the results can be copacetic.
~Monique

To dance then, is to pray, to meditate, to enter into communion with the larger dance, which is the universe.
-- Jean Houston

With Parting Leaves....Patience Can Be Achieved

As a small girl I remember fondly being taught the importance of gardening by my Grandfather.  A avid farmer turned gardener in his later years, he taught me the ways to patience.  How to water the plants with a slow trickle of water instead of a gush.  How to speak to the plants in order to know what it was they needed.  How to spend hours under the canopied leafed trees enjoying the fruits of ones labors.  My Grandfather perched on a green metal military container (once belonging to my Great Grandfather) and myself planted on his lap.  Later on in years when I was able to purchase my first home I wasn't as fortunate to have a beautiful garden.  What came with was a vision of soil and rocks.  I planted my heart and seven years later, what popped up is nothing short of a secret garden.  Lush, green and magical.  With Mother Natures help the jasmin is in full bloom growing outside my office window.  The scent of it's dainty white flowers bellow throughout the air reminding the neighbors and myself included that Spring is upon us.  The purple wisteria lay haven to the bees and butterflies giving me inspiration for my meditations.  The cape code living fences do make for good neighbors!! They not only provide privacy for my Spring and Summer meditation groups hosted, but offer nectar to the multiplies of hummingbirds occupying the garden.  The flower bulbs lucky enough to survive the ravaging of the winter raccoons have bloomed into candy scented beauties.  Just enough for me to create thank you bouquets for my friends.  The jacaranda trees have yet to bless me with a bountiful of purple flowers, but they have instilled a pillar of pride within.  Growing from just seeds they now tower 9 feet high, lending shade to the enriched backyard.  Thanks to mother nature, plant swaps, discount bin plants and my two hands I have created a vision my Grandfather would be proud of.  Oh and that green metal military container.....Now holds its own in my garden giving me a seat to teach my students from.  Even though I have yet to have a small child of my own rest upon my lap, I look forward with the sincerest of heart for the day I can duplicate my memories with him/her.
~Monique

Upon Closing My Eyes I Allow Myself To Fully See That Within Me

I have been actively participating in meditation and yoga for years.  Although my teaching it is a fairly recent endeavor, it has taken me to levels I have only dreamed of arriving at.  One in particular has to do with the Ajna (third eye) located in ones forehead between the brows, positioned at the top of the spine in the madulla oblongata.  The third eye is linked with the pineal gland located near the center of the brain, between two hemispheres tucked in between a groove, where the two rounded thalamic bodies join.  Since its location is deep within the brain it symbolizes an intimate importance.  One which is believed to see beyond space and time.  Said to be activated by light, it works with the hypothalamus which dictates the bodies thirst, hunger, sexual desire and biological clock.  The third eye has always been associated with the origin of higher consciousness.  Also known as the sixth chakra (Anja) translates to the meaning "To Command".  It is represented by the color indigo, a dark bluish/purple hue.  In order to activate the third eye one must raise their frequency and move into a higher state of consciousness.  Meditation and yoga allows one to be able to see that which lies beyond the physical body.  The more one practices, the more frequent the information begins to flow.  Allowing one to decipher between random images and dream-time messages, negative self-talk and mindful interpretations.  Kundalini yoga is known to awaken the senses through the formulation of breath by first awakening the serpent who sleeps at the base of the spine (root chakra) and slowly drawing the energy upward.  Allowing this energy to ascend towards the head center after awakening via breath vibrations.  This technique provides light to the pineal gland which in return provides divine thought.  The sixth chakra (third eye) is also referred to as the "Guru Chakra" since its activation is known to connect one with their "Inner Guru".  Thus bringing one into a higher state of meditation and wisdom.  Each chakra is known to resonate with a different sound used to raise the vibration through activation, this is why "Om" (Aum) is chanted for the third eye.  Chanting consecutively three times is said to do the most good. 

"I close my eyes so I may see"......Referring to the third eye it is a phrase that is used as a gentle reminder to shift consciousness/focus to a level where one can experience life without struggle.  A hardship for most within itself.  Through this new state of consciousness one learns a state of being, instead of a state of doing.  Shifting oneself out of the mentality of outside stimuli and instead turning within in order to refocus oneself.  As this art is practiced more and more one learns to create balance within their own lives.  When this is practiced  in Pranayama yoga it enables one to go deep within themselves in order to get a true sense of energy and life.  As one seeks, feels and acknowledges from within.  One is then able to harness that energy and allow it to resonate outward.  May your third eye through practice take you where you wish to go and see what it is you crave to answer.
~Monique