Dig this…..

Real Change

A change is possible only from the known to the unknown, not from the known to the known. Do please think this over with me. In the change from the known to the known, there is authority, there is hierarchical outlook of life ‘You know, I do not know. Therefore, I worship you, I create a system, I go after a guru, I follow you because you are giving me what I want to know, you are giving me a certainty of conduct that will produce the result, the success and the result.’ Success is the known. I know what it is to be successful. That is what I want. So we proceed from the known to the known, in which authority must exist -the authority of sanction, the authority of the leader, the guru, the hierarchy, the one who knows and the other who does not know- and the one who knows must guarantee me the success, the success in my endeavor, in change, so that I will be happy, I will have what I want. Is that not the motive for most of us to change? Do please observe your own thinking, and you will see the ways of your own life and conduct. When you look at it, is that change? Change, revolution, is something from the known to the unknown, in which there is no authority, in which there may be total failure. But if you are assured that you will achieve, you will succeed, you will be happy, you will have everlasting life, then there is no problem. Then you pursue the well-known course of action, which is, yourself being always at the center of things. – Krishnamurti, J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life

updates….

  • Registration for Zooming in the Lens course will open up on Monday! GIve us two 1/2 weeks to pair the group for the first one! Im so excited we can offer this first one for free to everyone!
  • Zooming in the Lens-Podcast was submitted today for release on iTunes! Stay tuned to details! In the meantime, episode one “Getting to know the girls” is available here on the blog and on the podcast page!
  • Functional Yoga Online.com will soon have an email mailing list for all the general updates!

Stay tuned for more updates and subscribe to this blog via your RSS feed!

Thank you!

Ep. 1 “Get to know the girls”

Katrina and Sass talk about their lives in the music industry, and briefly about the path that lead them here. Revealing yourself through music IS surrendering into the heart; two humbling adventures they share. But its wasn’t in the plan to switch gears, at least not from the model of who they thought they were. These two tackle episodes-one topics with the humor, love, the real and down-to-earth energy their friendship is known for. If you are interested in spirituality, yet haven’t been able to resonate with the mainstream approach, get to know Katrina and Sass here in the raw for Episode One.

Zooming in the Lens
Zooming in the Lens
Ep. 1 "Get to know the girls"
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Registration will open in the next 48 hours! and guess what? The first of the series of these new personalized group courses will be FREE! Check it out at www.functionalyogaonline.com

“Zooming in the Lens” a new personalized online course for those who desire down-to-earth access of the profound spiritual teachings of many wise beings.

“In my mind being honest with oneself and having the courage for self-reflection are the foundations for any potential evolvement of a human being. Katrina, through her work with Ram Dass and other esteemed teachers really does represent these spiritual values. This enables her to share these teachings in a very personal, practical and mindful way. And through this caring style her students have really been able to transform their lives.” – Raghu Markus, Executive Director of Ram Dass’ Love Serve Remember Foundation

Like sports, athletes, and… tao?

Mindfulness seems like a pop phrase these days. Yet, it is great when you hear bits of the Buddha coming from the world of sports. I am anxious to hear what Kobe has to say tonight on Showtime for this documentary airing. Does anyone know if Phil Jackson has rubbed off on him?

Zenster coach,  Phil Jackson proved that  breath practice & athletes work. Jackson has more rings that anyone I hear. Speaking of coaches, I found myself quoting John Wooden, coach for UCLA B-ball, with students of mine who are sports fans. Practicing an eastern concept using the example of  Wooden’s approach, is kind of mind-blowing at times. I like his (forgive me if this is not word-for-word) “… to address the whole person and not just the athlete”. That sort of reminds me of the Carl Jung- collective consciousness, in a way.

There is also another coach who sounds like he is bringing a little eastern philosophy to competitive sports – Red Wings coach, Mike Babcock. Babcock is teaching his players to approach each play as a moment- ‘THE’ moment. Then when the next moment arrives, take on just THAT moment, and so on. Until every moment is seamlessly strung together without having the mind dip into the future along with it. Prescence. Focus. Mindfulness. Being In the now (Ram Dass- you know I have to throw him in there too).

Im under no illusion that competitive sports would or should adopt the teaching…”he who see’s inaction as action, and action in inaction” (ch.4, Bhagavad Gita-Hindu scripture). Plus, most who love, and play sports, might say that takes the ‘G’ from game adding an ‘L’ for Lame if translated to mean no competition. Perhaps. I sure don’t claim to know.

What I am saying is that yogic principals are not as far out as some may think, and I am happy to see the integration by coaches. Below you can check out a few lines from a translation of the Chinese teachings ‘tao te ching’, that mention athletes particularly. For us to start, its not so much about thinking ‘I’ll be in the now’ – as much as it is practicing arriving in the moment with any current action we take in a day. Once you get out there (life, court, field, rink)… try out what Babock said above. Meet every moment, then meet the next as it arrives.

Love to hear any thoughts from those who watch the Kobe Doc tonight!

-tao the ching ….A good athlete can enter a state of body awareness in which the right stroke or the right movement happens by itself, effortlessly, without any interference of the conscious will. This is a paradigm for non-action: the purest and most effective form of action. The game plays the game; the poem writes the poem; we can’t tell the dancer from the dance.

“Less and less do you need to force things,

until finally you arrive at non-action.

When nothing is done,

nothing is left un-done.” -Tao Te Ching, Lao tzu (551-479 B.C.E.)

Nothing is done because the doer has wholeheartedly vanished into the deed; the fuel has been completely transformed into the flame. This “nothing” is, in fact, everything. In the same way that an athlete or a dancer trusts the superior intelligence of the body…”

– Translation by Stephen Mitchell