~photo by Mario Covic~

When I contemplate on the phrase, “Ignite the Center”, it can mean many things and is certainly open for each individuals own interpretation as it feels right.

Ignite the Center in the case of John Friend and the growing Anusara Yoga community, the meaning is multi-fold.

Teachers and students gathered with John Friend for a 3 day practice last week in Encinitas, California to kickoff John Friend’s 2012 global tour and to “Ignite The Center”  by blessing the physical space and the unified intention of the Kula.

~photo by Mario Covic~

“The Center” , set to open during the summer of 2012, will be a place where we can all come together as teachers, artists and students alike, to grow, create, inspire and share as a global yoga community.

The highest vision of The Center is to be a model of what it means to live and co-create together as a global community.

He has chosen Encinitas California as the home of “The Center” a beautiful and magical place where Paramahansa Yogananda’s Fellowship and Gardens sit a top the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

Myself, along with over 100 yoga practitioners and teachers practiced 100 poses a day that took us about 4 hours each session with 4 five minute meditations between sets/series of poses. We did not stop for breaks during those 4 hour practices. We just flowed. Held by the shakti (energy) of our hearts and each other and the charismatic and inspiring way John leads us through each and every moment and breath.

~photo by Mario Covic~

The theme that John brought for day one of our time together was “Reside in Your Center.” It was an invitation to draw inside. To pull your energy, your attention first to the inside. To connect with your center and rest there. Be there. Live there.

Day Two was about ‘Akasha’ which means space. The space inside and outside. What we allow into our inner space and how we enter and move through space. He talked extensively about how all of this counts. All of this makes a difference and an impact in the energetic field in which we all live and inevitably create.

John said, “We are capable of making patterns in this energetic field.”

John Friend made a recent visit to CERN, the most well known physics laboratory in Switzerland and spoke with some of the scientists there.

One of the most exciting things about his visit to me was this:

He said the scientists are actually using the word ‘Akasha’ in their vocabulary. What we as a spiritual community have always known and felt as ‘oneness’ or ‘interconnectedness’ science is now adopting into their theories.

In the Anusara yoga practice, there is a sequence: A sequence of Universal Priniciples of Alignment and in this 3 day practice with John, there was also a well thought out sequence of 100 poses that we practiced each day.

John says, “The benefit of a sequence is it makes a trench in the field of Akasha. That is Sadhana. You have to do the work.”

John emphasized that to do this work, to be able to do it over and over again, takes passion. It’s the juice that we need to keep going.

He said, “When you do things, you can do it like another chore or you can do it like a prayer. If you do it over and over again and with your heart, you can change the world. One person. You make a positive trench in the field.”

John shared a powerful quote from Paramahansa Yogananda.

“Your environment can over-ride your willpower.”

This spoke very loudly and clearly to me about who and what we chose to surround ourselves with: That even with a strong will, what we chose to allow into our field, will be what we ultimately become.

Day Three was about shining out from our center.

After the first 2 days of igniting our center, cultivating a deeper practice in connection to the center of our own light, hearts and space, by day 3 it was time to move from there.

~photo by Mario Covic~

He emphasized moving, breathing, being, from the inner body as opposed to from the outer body. Let everything arise from inside and move from there: Our poses, the way we worked the Universal Prinicples of Alignment in each pose all the way to how we walked into a room, interacted with other each other and how we navigated through space.

The inner body is a place for the outer body to rest upon. And the brighter we make our inner body, it naturally gives the outer body permission, if you will, to rest over that light. The outer body then becomes and expression of our inner form.

In Savasana, when we were resting (and after 4 hour intensive practices, very well deserving) John asked us to keep our inner body bright and full. This allowed for a deeper settling of the outer body.

All in all, it was an incredible experience to be in such a beautiful place, surrounded by such radiant hearts, and to practice so intensely for so long in the presence of a great teacher, to ignite The Center in Encinitas, and most profoundly continue to ignite the the center of my own heart and practice.

I am truly grateful.

Pranams to my teacher John Friend and to all those who have walked before who have laid the path for us to continue to light the path with heart.

Namaste,

Daniella Cotreau, Anusara-Inspired Yoga Instructor~

Immediately after an incredible week of expansive and inspirational yoga bliss in Lake Tahoe with the Anusara Inspired Gathering and Wanderlust Yoga and Music Festival did John Friend make another auspicious and inspirational visit to Evolve Los Altos in Silicon Valley.

We were so soon blessed once again to have John visit with us bringing the power, shakti and fire of his inspirational teachings to this well deserved area of Northern California.

This time he spoke on the theme of cycles and riding the sky and taught on the cross quarter day between the Summer Solstice and the Autumn Equinox. A day that is generally not given much attention yet is equally deserving of such.

“It is always about the Light” John says.

It is a time in our seasonal cycle where the energy begins to move toward the Fall on this day where we have 6 more weeks before we are officially in the realm of Autumn.

We call this day Lamas. “It is a day, says John Friend, where we can feel abundant. Where we can celebrate the fullness of Light. We can set a positive attention for our future, for what is ahead and place it in a positive light.”

John brought our attention to how everything moves in a cyclical nature. All cycles have no beginning nor end. And every cycle begins in the dark and ends in the dark. And yet always within the dark, there is a spark of light. Both are seen as an embodiment of the Supreme.

Everything moves in cycles: Our body, our breath, our lives and nature itself.

And as we move through any cycle, John’s inspiration came in the form of riding the sky.

“Life is Art” John proclaimed, “To be a beginner is opening to Grace. Start out every practice, every moment with wonder as if experiencing it for the first time. Listen and open your mind like the sky. The sky is vast and vibrating. Be open, listen, open to the newness of life, and Ride the Sky.”

John pointed out how we start out each cycle of life in total wonder but as we age, we become more serious.

He kept encouraging all of us to keep ourselves in that wondrous state of mind. It is called Adbuta in Sanskrit.

Adbuta is a quality/ a flavor of the heart where we are in wonder, in awe and amazement of what is.

John often made reference to a woman named Nana that he visited at a local retirement home. He talked about how she had the vision of a child. She saw everything anew and with total wonder and awe: She had come full cycle. Nana reminds and teaches us that we begin and end our lives in a state of wonder and awe of life.

And yet with that, John invited us to STAY youthful in our view of life. To practice staying in a state of wonder and awe of the newness and freshness of life all the time.

“Close your eyes and you will see clearly.

Be still in the hub of the wheel and you will flow with freedom.

Be open and humble and you will receive Life in sparkling resplendence.”

John Friend~

In our asana practice with John, he encouraged us to set the foundation of each pose as if it was the very first time. To look at our feet as if we were looking at them for the first time and anew.

And within a cyclical nature, all poses turn to Savasana. We begin our practice in the dark with eyes closed, turning inside and we end our practice in the dark with eyes closed resting in awareness.

John also made reference to one of his greatest teachers, Bhagawan Nityananada. He was from South India. He did not talk very much as a Guru but rather taught more from his presence, his energy. His oral teachings were few. The gain was in being in his presence.

John Friend’s practice is to take Bhagawan Nityananda’s image and meditate on it. John said, in the Anusara method, “inner body bright” actually comes from his meditations of Bhagawan Nityanadana.

John said he had the best shoulder alignment ever seen. He had an energy that was so full, so bright inside that his alignment of his head and shoulders was impeccable.

Riding the Sky is about opening. Being vast, spacious and bright like the sky. To keep ourselves in a state of Adbuta, of total awe and wonder in the resplendence of life.

Maintain a youthfulness of heart and be fully aware of how precious our lives are and how blessed we truly are.  And as we journey through every cycle, keeping our inner bodies bright with Adbuta, wonder and awe.

To the newness and freshness of each moment…

We bow…

Namaste,

Daniella Cotreau, Anusara-Inspired Yoga Instructor~

He put on a 3 day workshop series at Evolve Los Altos, where Certified Anusara Yoga Insructor Samantha Shakti Brown and Anusara-Inspired yoga instructor Kelly Blaser co-direct the Anusara Yoga program.

Each day consisted of a particular theme to enhance, inspire and provoke our individual and collective yoga practices to be the best they could be.

Although each day included a potent and beautiful theme, there was one over-arching larger theme that permeated the entire experience of which I chose to write about here as it’s attributes call all of us to something larger than ourselves.

It was a grander calling to our collective contribution and collaboration as yogins and yoga teachers alike.

This over-arching theme John taught was called ‘Via Positiva’: The path of the positive. I found it to be the over-arching theme of his entire visit as it is the great vision of Anusara yoga and it’s John Friend’s view and philosophy on life.

It is about looking for the good first in any situation, experience, circumstance, person or thing before anything else. This is one of the major attitudinal premises that Anusara yoga embodies and teaches and what makes Anusara yoga stand out from the rest. Looking through the lens of the positive. Maintaining a positive outlook on life with all it’s twists and turns. It is how Anusara yoga teachers are taught to teach: We always look for the beauty in each student first.

For example, when working with a student, instead of looking for “what’s wrong” when making an adjustment or refinement of the students pose, it is always coming from the intention of looking for what is already beautiful within their pose and making the adjustment to enhance more of their inherent beauty.

One of the many myriad of things I have personally learned from practicing and teaching Anusara yoga, is that it always promises MORE. There is always more. There is no finish line. No end point. Just an endless and infinite path to more and more beauty.

Now, this is not to say that John Friend nor Anusara encourage us to only look at the positive living in a bubble ignoring the obvious unbalances and discrepancies on our planet.

On the contrary, John encourages all of us to educate ourselves in regards to what is going on in the world, to keep ourselves in the know. And with that, marry that knowledge and awareness with not only looking for the positive but going out into the world and actively make a positive shift in our communities.

John says “We are a thin strada at the top in terms of the rest of the planet. We are privileged. Living in California, we can get caught up in the bliss here. It is our dharma to use our privileges here in this area and ask ourselves how can we serve? We get to choose our habit of mind. Can you find the positive in the difficulty?”

So instead of using the negative in the world as an excuse to run away and hide, use it as fuel for the fire and make positive change in the world with our knowledge, our gifts and the sharing of our light.

“Living in the heart of the Silicon Valley, we are privileged. It’s a place where cutting edge technology and the working minds behind it are unprecedented and some of the most brilliant and intelligent people on the planet reside.” ~John Friend

This is one of the biggest reasons why John Friend is drawn to this area: To meet with the big technological minds and assist the merging of science and spirit and help bring it into the main stream.

“We’ve been trained to look at the negative”, reminds John. “Watch your Matrika. Matrika is a Sanskrit term for the words you say whether in your mind or voice out loud. Rain will always go to the ditch, to the lowest point. Watch where your thoughts go. Work at it. Watch yourself. We create a vibratory pattern with our words in one’s field. It’s called Akasha. It can be intense work at times to open to something new but this is how we take it to a new level. Play the edge of your fear and have faith in the good alignment and go for it!”

John also pointed out that it goes beyond just watching your thoughts because that can lead you to a place of neutrality and lack of interest. Instead he suggests we watch our thoughts with wonder and a more positive attitude instead.

John says, “Scientists here in the Silicon Valley have now taken the concept of Akasha into their theories. Science is now able to back up that there are non-linear, non-sequential experiences that are happening at the same time. That’s positive!”

John gave an example of Baba Muktananda embodying and living ‘Via Positiva’.

Baba specifically and intentionally chose the worst neighborhoods of Oakland, California to set up his ashram. He put something so powerful right in the heart of some of the most difficult neighborhoods in the Bay area and turn it into the positive. John said Baba would sit outside with a basket and people would come and throw their syringes, alcohol bottles etc into the basket. Baba treated everyone there as beautiful rather than ‘damaged’ and this had a profoundly positive effect.

‘Via Positiva’ is not only the vision of Anusara Yoga, it is also embedded in Anusara’s opening invocation that is chanted at the beginning of every Anusara yoga class and it one that John Friend has been chanting since he was 13 years old.

The first line of the invocation is ‘Om Namah Shivaya Gurave’.

Om Namah Shivaya in simplest terms means goodness. Or bowing in honor of the inherent goodness in each of us.

When John was a young boy, his mom gave him a yoga book and inside this book was the line ‘”Om Namah Shivaya Gurave” which is the first line in the Anusara Invocation.

John humorously added, “That means, I’m a good boy”.

“The first line of the invocation is an invitation to take a sunny disposition” John says.

Especially in our world today with so much intense challenges going on and being at the pivotal point of great change. “We have a serious situation on our hands with our planet and our world right now. John proclaims, “It’s more important then ever to stay positive.”

In the word Gurave, we find the word Guru or teacher. “Gu” meaning darkness. And “Ru” meaning Light. “Guru” meaning to go from the Dark to the Light.  In this case, turning the negative into the positive.

John went on to share what the rest of the invocation meant in terms of “Via Positiva”.

“The second line of the invocation, Satchitananda Murtaye, essentially means to take the form of positive change.

The third line is Nishprapanchaya Shantaya. When you do your best, you have no regrets. You are at Peace.

And the last line is Niralambaya Tejase, Let us keep having Trust and Faith that there is some goodness to Life. There are no coincidences. Synchronicities abound. To the best part of yourself, you bow.”

“There is something inside all of us that wants to be free. That’s what we use to transform, to make the positive change.” ~John Friend

John is a perfect example of, when one person stands brighter and stronger, we all do.

Light spreads fast and the more of us that awaken and shine our brightest light, the more others do the same.

John Friend is not only a great teacher, he is also a great leader. Anusara yoga is the most  widely practiced style of yoga on the planet right now with over 200,000 people practicing in over 100 countries worldwide and continuing to grow like wild fire. Through this powerful practice of Anusara yoga, John Friend is leading people directly back into their hearts and living a life full of heart.

I am personally deeply honored to be standing on the front lines with John Friend, Anusara and the beautiful community of teachers and students as we move out of the old paradigm of fear and into the new paradigm of love. This is exactly the medicine humanity is ready for and what humanity has been starved for so it’s no surprise it is taking so well.

Let’s stand together. Powerfully together. Let’s step into our hearts, and with a positive attitude create positive change in our world, spread more light and shed the Light of Awareness for our collective awakening.

ONWARD TO THE NEXT LEVEL…

Daniella Cotreau, Anusara-inspired yoga instructor~

The truth is that every one of us, every being on this planet has a divine purpose: Something unique to contribute to the world.

John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga, made another spontaneous surprise visit to the Silicon Valley of Northern California bringing mountains of inspiration and wisdom to the steadily growing Anusara Kula.

Teachers and students alike came together with great anticipation as we sat with our teacher for 3 hours on Sunday to practice and hear John offer an inspirational talk on the subject of dharma.

John included and made reference to the Bhagavad Gita, which means, “the Song of the Blessed One” that tells us of the dilemma that Arjuna faces and his journey to fulfill his dharma through the guidance of Krishna.

Two disputing families are on the battle field about to go to war, and Arjuna, after recognizing his family members and teachers are on the other side, decides he just can’t go through with it. Krishna, disguised, appears and it is from that point that the Bhagavad Gita, for 18 chapters we hear the poetic unfolding of Dharma through the characters of Arjuna and Krishna.

So much about Anusara is about aligning with nature. When we align with nature, we are aligning with the divine. When we align with what is natural to us, grace naturally plays a part. It’s why, when we are on the yoga mat, and we work to align our bodies physically, it feels so good. That good feeling is inherently part of aligning ourselves to our truest nature.

The same is with Dharma. When we align with our gifts, our talents and offer them to the world, we feel joy, we feel happy because we are, in essence, offering the deepest part of ourselves and nothing could be more in alignment and more fulfilling than that.

One distinction that John made was when we align with nature, we are being dharmic, as we are going with what is natural. When we don’t align with nature, we are being Adharmic, as we are going against what is natural.

Every one one of us has something special to offer. Every one of us has things that we are naturally good at….that don’t take much effort…that come fairly or even very easily to us.

These are your clues.

Those natural talents are your God-given gifts specifically given to you to utilize and share as a divine offering bringing more goodness to our world.

We are all inherently good in nature. And it’s these gifts that we all have to bring out the goodness in each of us and share it with each other in total celebration of the heart.

John says, “Dharma always leads to harmony.”

If we are offering ourselves through our gifts and talents, we will be happy because we get to be ourselves.

John described what happens when we are being dharmic:

1.) the veil of illusion is removed

2.) You see that everything is connected

3.) You experience a freedom that is delight filled

4.) You look out into the world through different eyes and you see very clearly how much you have shifted when you are with a group of people who are not dharmic.

It would not be your dharma if you did something that was not in alignment with who you were.

One of John’s examples was if you are good at singing alto, then why would you sing soprano?

In other words, whatever you are naturally good at, go and do that.

That certainly takes the pressure off now doesn’t it?

Many people in our society go after jobs for the money rather than going after what they are naturally good at and letting those gifts guide them. As a result, they are miserable at their jobs and their overall energy, enthusiasm, creativity and even health is diminished.

John described the 4 main aims or desires from the Rig Veda, the oldest of the Vedas.

1.) Dharma

2.) Artha ~ includes all of the things your need to live out your dharma.

3.) Kama ~ is the pleasure you experience when sharing your god-given gifts. (This does not include indulgence. Indulgence is not life-enhancing.)

4.) Moksha ~ It’s all for Freedom! To be Free.

Artha, Kama and Moksha all connect back to dharma. And they don’t necessarily need to be in that order. John highly recommended applying these 4 main aims to any part of your life….job, relationship… and go through them. For example, does your job provide you with all the things you to need to live out your dharma? Does it provide you with pleasure? Do you feel creatively free to be yourself in your work?

These are not the latest new age processes to apply to a self help process. These teachings are at least 3500 years old.

Life doesn’t have to be hard. Life is what we make of it.

Yes, Life has its challenges inherently built into it but it does not have suffering inherently built in. That is an option. The suffering comes from how we unconsciously choose to react to what happens rather than consciously respond.

“Dharma is about responding.” says John, “The ability to RESPOND is Dharma.”

In choosing your response, these questions were recommended by John to ask yourself:

“Will this enhance Life? For myself and others?”

John says, “Never make rigid answers. Our dharma is to contribute to the world.

To make more beauty.

To create Freedom.”

John also made the distinction between Dharma and Swa Dharma.

Swa Dharma meaning, you were born to have a purpose in your life. It is your soul’s destiny.

It relates to your talent (s). Everyone has a specific talent. The honoring of that talent is your dharma.

“You know what your talent is. Do that. Don’t worry about anything else. That’s your dharma and you will be happy.” ~John Friend

For people in the Silicon Valley, there are many who are privileged. John asked, “What is our dharma when we are privileged? There is a dharmic way to relate to every part of ourselves. That is yoga. Live yoga. Live yoga in a dharmic way.” ~ John Friend

The Bhagavad Gita was written around 200 BCE, 400 years after Buddha. The Gita was not written from a tantric point of view. Anusara translated it through the eyes of Tantric Philosophy.

John recommends reading the Gita attempting to not take it so literally, but rather apply it to modern day.

Meditate on the symbology of the Gita.

John also recommends the Gita as translated by William Buck.

Through the Gita we learn that the bottom line of dharma is:

“Learn to respond to whatever is happening to you. It’s not good luck or bad luck. Just do the best you can.” ~John Friend

When John was 13, his mother gave him money for his birthday and he went down to the book store and the 1^st book he bought was the Bhagavad Gita.

Ch. 6 in the Gita is on Meditation. John says, “If you can bring your mind into centeredness with so much love for the Supreme, a place where there is no wind, that is the gateway of being in relationship with everything.”

John lead the group into a meditation:

“Light a flame inside your minds eye, a white bright light. That light is your own divinity. Your own beauty. So perfectly steady. Move into the flame inside your head. Go inside the flame itself. Enveloped in light.

Nature is Chit- Pure Awake. Ananda- Pure Bliss. Spanda- pulse. That pulse is completely free, independent-Swatantria. Completely full- Purna.

That is your highest. That is I AM”

Shivo Hum

I am the Supreme.

Pulsate that. Fix it in your mind….a one pointed focus.

Krishna says to Arjuna in the Gita, “Fix your mind on me.”

This is the highest verse of the Gita.

Bathe your heart in this light. Let it pervade every cell of your body. All sides of you. Becoming awake.

“To awaken is your highest dharma. To be in your heart is your highest dharma.”

~John Friend

John said “Love is the secret of the Gita.

The battle in the Gita is symbolic of the battle of our inside. 2011 is not going to slow down or get better. This is the Gita playing itself out 21^st Century style.” John says, “The highest spiritual practice is always relationship.”

It becomes our dharma, as priests and priestesses of light to go out and share with everyone what we know and what we have learned.

We all have our dharma to fulfill. Every one of us. Each one of our lives has deep meaning. We all have enormous creative potency inside us. We all have special talents. Our dharma is to share those talents with the world. What we say and do has incredible energetic rippling effects around the world.

Let’s cultivate response-ability.

Let’s make an energetic web of love and delight.

Make more beauty and do it with your gifts.

Meditate.

Make everything you do an offering of Love.

Saprema,

Daniella Cotreau~

It all began Friday evening, Feb. 18th 2011, in San Francisco with John’s Friend’s Talk Experience. It is called a talk experience because it is so much more than just a talk. It truly IS an experience. A theatrical performance experience filled with visual delight and inspiration for the mind and soul. The performance included laser light starlight twinkling around the room as powerfully spoken poetic word, beautiful hoop dancers, mesmerizing shadow dancers, soaring acro-yogis and talented live musicians, all told a story through movement and dance as John spoke of this year’s tour theme, Dancing with the Divine.

The Divine is dancing within all of us. The Divine is dancing all around us. We are not separate from the divine. It is everything we do, hear, feel, see, taste, touch, and experience.

We are never separate from it.

It IS us.

The Dance of the Divine is the infinite, never-ending, spiraling, pulsating (Spanda) creative energy flow of the Universe. And in every moment, we are free to align with this flow.

“In every moment, we are free to dance with the Divine with the intention to make more beauty, love and harmony in the world.” John Friend~

This is exactly what is being asked of us at this time in our human evolution.

We, as a race, as humans, in 2011, are at the 11th hour.

With such immense and radical changes on our planet earth and the shifting of collective consciousness that is simultaneously coming to a crucial and pivotal point, we need to dance with the divine more than humanity’s ever seen before.

John began his talk with the poignant words,

“If we were to learn to dance with each other, this would be the year.”

If we are the divine and we are being asked to dance with the divine with a deeper awareness, with a reverential remembrance, then learning how to dance with each other in harmony, love, support, and boundless creativity is the big piece we need to implement in this year, 2011.

The Dance of the Divine is depicted by 3 Hindu Goddesses all representing the 3 Cycles of Creative Energy. They are Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Kali.

First, out of the vast, deep and dark potential of Being, arises the dance of creative energy flow of the Divine, as represented by Saraswati.

Next, we move from simpler steps to more refined, complex and beautiful expressions, as represented by Lakshmi.

Finally, all creative cycles dissolve, transforming our outer expression back into the inner source of creativity, as represented by Kali.

These 3 Goddesses or Cycles of Creative Energy dance between 2 archetypal aspects of the divine that we all have inside of us and are also all around us.

These two aspects are Shiva and Shakti.

Shiva, being the masculine archetype and Shakti being the feminine archetype.

Shiva means Consciousness, Auspiciousness, Goodness, Steadfast Awareness.

Shakti is the creative power of Consciousness, the creative dynamic flow of creativity.

In each of us, there is a steady place of focus (Shiva) while at the same time there is a creative flow of energy (Shakti).

There is a pulsation (Spanda), a dance of energy exploding/expanding out and then coming back in.

It is the opening and then the closing, it is the separation and the reunion, the concealing and the revealing, the contraction and the expansion, the forgetting and remembering.

There are 6 attributes or characteristics of divine Consciousness.

1.)  Self-awareness- Consciousness is aware of itself.
2.)  Ananda ~intrinsic bliss, the highest joy you can imagine.
3.)  Spanda~ It pulsates
4.) Svatantria ~ It isunbounded, unlimited
5.) Purna~ Lacks nothing.

6.)  Intrinsic Goodness/Auspiciousness/Shri ~ Goodness beyond a relative good/bad. Absolute Benevolence, deep sacredness.

The Pure Absolute arises into the Relative (space/time).

We call this Shiva/Shakti. They (Shiva/Shakti) appear as if in duality but they are actually one and the same. They cannot be separate from one another.

They are not mutually exclusive.

They are One.

It is like the Sun (Shiva) and the rays of the Sun (Shakti).

You cannot separate the two.

It is a dynamic balance between creative power (Shakti) and stillness. (Shiva)

This Dance of the Divine is exquisitely portrayed in the often seen murti (statue) of Nataraja, who is Shiva as the divine dancer.

Nataraja dances in a ring of fire, represented as the power of consciousness, scintillating in every particle in the Universe. The ring of fire bursts out from his heart in his ecstatic dance.

The Nataraja beautifully demonstrates the two aspects of Shiva/Shakti. There is the wild ecstatic dance, with Shiva’s dreadlocks flying everywhere, his whole body dancing with creative dynamism (Shakti) and yet at the same time his eyes are steady and level. (Shiva)

This illustrates the dynamic balance between power and stillness. The dynamic freedom out of a singular point. (Bindu)

We see this dynamic relationship between these two energies all throughout this murti of Nataraja. One of his upper left arms is crossed in front of his heart representing concealment. Yet the hand of the arm of concealment is pointing down to Shiva’s upraised leg, which is the power of Revelation/Grace.

In one of Shiva’s right arms is Abaya Mudra. This mudra asks us to “Be at Peace”.

Be supported knowing that, Life, it is all just a dance.

In our asana practice, which is something I have been teaching all week since my time with John, we can experience this as the balance between the Alignment principles of Muscle Energy (Steady Energy or Shiva) and Organic Energy (Radiant Energy or Shakti). We use Stability (muscle energy) and Freedom (organic energy) in harmony for our essence to be revealed.

In any given pose, there will be one part that is steady (Shiva) while another part that is free (Shakti). To perform an advanced pose, you have to break it down into into these two parts.

John also talked about how there is a deep order to everything.

That there is always a sequence (Krama).

When we look to nature and study the growth of a tree or tree branch, the branching is always done in sequence and it grows in a spiral. This has been proven mathematically and measured as such as the Fibonacci sequence.

We see the same thing in our bodies. Every part, every point in our bodies grows in a spiral and can be measured as the ratio of 1 to 1.618.

Rain hitting the rooftop does so in a perfect pattern.

That which appears to be random is not really random at all.

That this dance of the divine is in everything and it dances in perfect sequence.

Anusara’s Universal Principles of Alignment are a matrix of order too. They are the blueprint of perfect order. That is why they are UNIVERSAL principles of alignment. They work for everyone, every body.

The Dance of the Divine also includes the dance of  relationship. We are all in relationship with each other in some way. Do you have a relationship rubbing you the wrong way?

The Dance of the Divine is about learning how to dance harmoniously with each other. In our Kula (community) of yogins, it is our practice to achieve this amongst each other, for if our yoga community can’t do it, then who can?

“Most all of us can agree that we don’t want pain in our hearts. And more often than not, if we have pain in our hearts, it is a relationship issue of some kind.” says John Friend.

John spoke of 4 types of Relationships:

1.)  The Lead Dancer- someone we really respect and look up to

2.)  Student/Child –someone who looks up to us

3.)  Someone who is at the same level as us

4.)  The difficult person- a person who tries to attack you, puts out negative energy toward you.

The 4th example is where our practice is.

Particularly, the practice of Forgiveness (Kshama).

Dancing with the Divine is about learning to stay open in our hearts especially when in relationship to the difficult person. Instead of closing your heart, stay open, forgive.

This is not easy. But with practice, certainly possible.

Forgiving that person does not mean you need to let them back into your life or necessarily be friends with them again.

It simply means that you are no longer harboring negative energy like hatred or resentment, in your own body, heart and mind. We forgive, but we do not forget. To let someone whom you feel has done you wrong in some way, back into your life, they would have to go through a series of steps to prove their trustworthiness to be close to you again.

You can forgive each person, even send them positive blessings and as John would say, “But they are not invited over for dinner.”

One practice we can do, and it is one that John practices himself is to put a picture of the difficult person on your altar, practicing forgiving them, sending them positive light, clearing the negative energy out of your system.

Every thought and action has a wave form.

When you see a certain way, you are creating a vibration. For example, when you feel good, the world outside you looks good. Conversely, when you feel bad, the world outside you looks bad.

When we look to the news or educate ourselves with what is going on currently in the world, it is easy to become angry at what we see and hear. And rightfully so. We should get mad. BUT,  then use that anger to create the change we wish to see.

There are some schools of thought that tell you to beat a pillow to get the anger out as that is better than suppressing it. But when you beat that pillow, you are putting the vibration of anger out into the world. You just deepened that anger within yourself by enacting it.

There are even some philosophies of yoga that tell you anger/fear etc. are bad.

In Anusara’s Shiva-Shakti Tantric Philosophy, anger itself is not seen as bad. It is a God-given emotion that in a positive light can be a very self-empowering emotion.

The question is not whether anger is good or bad.

The question is how skillfully you use your anger.

In other words, when you feel anger, instead of letting that anger get the best of you,  and potentially cause damage to things or other people/relationships, channel your anger into positive action.

Remember that Yoga is skill in action.

Use your anger skillfully to create positive change.

Ask yourself, “Can I use my energy to change the vibration of energy that is potentially damaging?”

Learn how to use the fire of anger appropriately.

You can’t change the past. But you CAN change your response to it. And you can certainly influence the future.

“This takes practice. This takes training. Look for the good. Stay positive. Open to the possibility that you can shift in one lifetime.” John Friend~

Dancing with the Divine is learning how to dance with Grace.

“Grace is revelatory order. Grace is deep order that is Shri. If you open to the idea that there is a

deep order to life, you will see magic everywhere you go.

You can increase synchronicity in your life by learning how to align with life.”

John Friend~

“This dance of the Divine is a pure steadiness that shines out and bounces back like a feedback loop. It goes out with knowing and there is always something that is referencing back. That is why it is a dance.”

John Friend~

It is like the hummingbird, steady (Shiva) and yet its wings dancing faster than we can perceive. (Shakti)

Lastly, John also spoke of MahaShivaratri, one of the most holy nights in the vedic traditions, dedicated to Lord Shiva and is popularly known as the night of Shiva. This year in 2011, it falls on March 3rd.  It is the night where there is just but a sliver of the moon in the sky…just before it goes completely dark. And at this moment, something in the fabric of space/time opens.

This is a very powerful time to do prayer.

John himself will stay up all night and pray.

When you know the cycles and you align with them, they are so much more powerful to create what it is you want to see in the world.

On the night of March 3rd, keep holding your vision clear.

Eventually, those with the same vibration will be drawn to you. You will find each other and make manifest those visions.

MahaShivaratri is also the wedding night of Shiva and Shakti. When there is the merging of both, the moon goes dark.

Fully absorbed in LOVE.

John graciously gifted every one of the weekend’s participants with a seed ball individually wrapped in organic coffee filters (very creative). These seed balls had been individually rolled with love and care and he gave each and every student one to take home with them and plant it somewhere special. And this is not just about planting another tree. It is about planting with powerful intention. Planting a seed of freedom: freedom from fear, freedom from suffering, freedom to breathe clean air.

For all beings on this planet.

Plant your seeds for freedom.

Pray.

Listen.

Open your Hearts.

And Listen.

Dance.

Dance the Dance of the Divine.

And flow with that dance.

“May 2011 be a year in which the Divine Dancer reveals the luminous Auspiciousness within everyone.”

John Friend~

Ever-expanding, Eternally dancing,

Daniella~

Last night was a spectacular night. John Friend made a surprise visit to Yoga of Los Altos and showered our growing Anusara Kula with waves of inspiration and delight.

He spoke of many many things but here is the overall bigger picture….bigger message of what he shared that struck me the most…and after sitting with this since last night, have put into my own words/interpretation.

We are in this together. And we ARE moving out of an old paradigm and into a new one. No question.

What we DO want to question IS the old paradigm and look to see what had been tried, done or experimented with…that has not worked…or has caused changes to occur that are not serving humanity, ourselves or our planet.

And as we move into the new paradigm coming together in community is more important than ever.

John spoke on the Eve of Imbolc or Saint Brigids Day, the Irish Festival marking the first day of Spring that falls halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Imbolc is one of the 4 cross quarter days in Irish Mythology. The other 3 being Beltane, Lughnasadh, and Samhain.

It originally being a Pagan festival associated with the Goddess Brigid.

Imbolc is a transition time.

It is a time to plant our seeds of intention for the Spring…and as John practices himself and recommends….plant seeds for not only the Spring but for the whole of this next year.

Brigid is an archetype that lives in all of us. Today, Feb. 1st, is Imbolc. Today is Brigid’s day.

She was born ON the threshold therefore she is associated with initiations.

She is the patron saint of healing. Goddess of Fire. Creating a cauldron for ritual.

Pour your intentions for our collective future, HOW YOU WISH TO SEE THE WORLD, pour that into the cauldron, see it in your minds eye and pour it back out as an offering.

John spoke strongly of thinking out into the future beyond…just weekly, monthly, seasonally or even yearly. Many people are living paycheck to paycheck right now so thinking beyond that would seem like a luxury.

But in order for us to create the change we want to see we have to think way out into the future….as far as 2030! (and that’s actually not that far off)

Where do we want to see ourselves, our world by then? And then take the steps NOW in order to create that. So in other words, the action steps we take now are completely based on the future we want to see and experience.

“I’m not going to be driving a car that uses gas”

So then….what am I going to drive?

Start asking these kinds of questions, doing the research, taking the steps in that particular kind of direction.

Normally we have taken action out of fear (old paradigm).

Create the new paradigm based on our future vision! yes!

Our task now is to get our visions clear.

When in transitions, there comes a point where something “breaks”. Something gives. Everything moves in the dance of Shakti. The wave of Shakti. The beginning of the wave is where you get triggered, or something gets triggered. Then you hit the chaos point, you hit a critical point.

It is at this point where you are free (svatantria) to chose which way you want to go. We have a moment of choice. The bottom line is…

How is it we are going to RESPOND.

How are you going to respond?

Chose Love.

Love.

Love.

Love.

And the Soul will be fulfilled.

Chose Life!

Life wants to happen and it wants to happen through you.

Imbolc is also a time to clear. To Renew. Light a flame on your altar and make sure this flame will be one that will transform. Use this time to practice Forgiveness. Ask yourself, where have I been unskillful with my words and actions?

Yoga is skill in action.

This is the highest definition of the practice.

As yoga practitioners and teachers we must be models for this new paradigm. We need to model how to change the paradigm of society. If the Yoga community can’t get along, then how can we really expect to change the world?

We truly ARE the ones we have been waiting for.

So the old paradigms of right and wrong, competition,  hierarchy, good and bad, does not support where we are headed in our human evolution nor does it accurately represent our true divine nature.

We are not separate from anything, anyone.

This new paradigm is not just about remembering our ONENESS but LIVING IT.

That it is all SPIRIT.

We are SPIRIT.

We can handle anything. We have the tools inside us.

When someone asked John what “Open to Grace” meant to him, this is what he said (or at least what I was able to write down fast enough!

“Open to the Power that reveals your beauty. the goodness of your heart. See the connections beyond the outside boundaries. See we are all connected. Grace is the power that reveals. Synchronicities are the jokes from the Universe that everything is connected. Keep Looking for the Highest.” ~John Friend

So plant your seeds, light your candles, see in your mind the world you want, and take the steps now to make it so…

Align with the wave of Shakti. Align with her. And that which you wish to see will come to you.

Let’s align and ride this wave together….Let’s do it with LOVE….Let’s do it NOW.

Saprema, (with divine love)

daniella~

In this writing I will expand a bit more on Adikara from a previous post. Adikara is a Sanskirt word and in the world of Anusara Yoga it is translated to mean “Studentship”. To break this down further ‘Adi’ means “with respect to” and ‘kara’ means ” to do” or “Karma”.  So, Adikara means “with respect to doing”.

We all have gifts. We all have something unique and special to offer the world in this lifetime. No one is excluded from this. We have been gifted with embodiment. Our work is to discover and receive our unique gifts and bring our efforts, our studentship to them.

Ask yourself:

What is your heart’s desire?

What is your aspiration? What do you aspire to?

These questions bring us in connection with our inherent greatness. We manifest our greatness to the degree that we chose to. We manifest a graceful navigation through challenging yoga poses and challenging parts of life to the degree that it carries meaning for us. Therefore Adikara becomes Aspiration plus Commitment.

What you aspire to in your personal yoga practice and in your practice of life, is going to take commitment, is going to take effort, is going to take studentship. We were born with everything we need for our own fulfillment. How important this is to you, will ultimately influence your level of commitment.

Why do you practice? What does it mean for you?
What are you willing to do to achieve your aspirations?

You have to become, fully embody that greatness that you already are inside.

Instead of becoming a victim to your life, your circumstances, you let every experience in life empower you to be more of who you truly are. Allow each challenge to inspire you to embody more of your greatness. Then everyone wins because the people around you get to benefit from receiving your gifts and your offering and you get to be more of you.

Notice what role you possess with your family, your friends, your co-workers. Not the ones you’ve been given title to, but the ones that naturally occur. What gift do you possess that you can give? And give it more freely, more fully and more bravely.

It’s not about doing what you can’t realistically do…in a yoga pose or in life. It’s about aspiring to the greatest possibility of what you CAN do.

Namaste~
Daniella Cotreau

The arrival of Fall brings so much to our lives that sometimes in the busy-ness of life we can easily overlook. I keep hearing from so many people that this time of year is their favorite: with the milder and perfect temperatures, the softer rays of Sun and the beginning of the turning of the leaves. This time of year is also one of the most noticable transitions as we quickly change from hot indian summer days to cooler days and nights. We change from being very outward in our expression, energy and creativity to starting the process of slowing down and turning into the cave of the heart as winter’s hibernation time is just on our heels. We must remember that we are a part of nature and the changes that come with it. We are not separate from these seasonal changes. The more we either resist or deny this fact the more difficult this transition can be and as a result feel more irritability, less patience, ungroundedness and a lowered immune system. To best support ourselves during this seasonal change is to simpy honor the change. Give your body more rest when it wants it. Start eating more warm cooked foods and herbal teas and less raw food and cold drinks. Start building your immune system for winter to avoid colds and flu. Vit C, Wellness Formula and Astragalas root tincture are some of my favorite immune tonics to avoid becoming sick during winter. You can find them at your local Whole Foods Market.
I love this time of year as it is a time of self-nurturing and contemplation. I truly value the times of year when we can slow down and take care of your body, heart and soul. It is a wonderful time to study, read and journal. To attend to the things at home you did not have a chance to from the active outward summer days. It is the perfect time to decide what seeds you wish to plant for yourself, in your life, that will be percolating over the winter months and ready to birth into being come spring again.
Your yoga practice should also reflect these changes. Maintaing regularity is a given and even the intensity can remain the same and yet allowing the intensity to take a different form.
In other words, instead of going for the full-powered sweaty workout, let the intensity shift to what you are focused on while in each and every pose. Send your attention into deeper refinement of a pose and take a pose you already know to the next level. As a result, a new opening will occur in your body.
Try practicing in this way over the next few months, focusing the intensity of the practice to finding a softer, more spacious, more open self. And when the fiery months of summer come back around again, you will find that getting into those more challenging poses is with greater enjoyment and ease because of the inner work you did over the months of turning inside.
And if we can do it on the mat, we can do it in Life. When we traverse a challenging pose with more grace, we can traverse a more challenging situation with that same grace as well.
Anusara Yoga is about aligning with Nature. When we are in alignment with the natural cycles of life, what is natural to being human, we are happy and free. And when we are not, there is suffering.
We can learn so much from nature.
Just like the trees so effortlessly let go of all their leaves, they remind us to let go of our attachments…the things that we are so hard pressed to get, have or experience…and relax more into simply Being.

May our hearts continue to blossom in this time of self-reflection and slowing down.

Blessings of Autumn to you…
Daniella Cotreau~

Most of us have heard of the Hindu Deity called Ganesh. He is the round bellied elephant headed boy who rides atop a mouse and is often referred to as the “remover of obstacles.” He is often placed at the entry way to any home, temple, or space in which we want to keep safe from harm. This hindu deity, like all the hindu deities, is a powerful symbol in our personal human evolution and spiritual growth. Hindu deities are also reflections of aspects of ourselves or the Universe. Ganesh has 4 hands/arms and in each he is holding something symbolic.

There are many moments in our lives where we find ourselves attached to having a particular outcome of a situation or our life looking a certain way. It is in these moments where we have the opportunity to practice anugraha. Anugraha in Sanskrit means non-grasping. It is when we grasp onto our desires, when we attach to having something happen or look the way we want is when we find the most suffering.

We often get bound by our own desires without them being heightened by a higher light, a higher intent.
In other words, an intent that serves more than just ourselves.

A great question to ask yourself when in any situation or moment of decision making or discernment is:

“Is it life enhancing?”

Sometimes our desires can be ones that are not life enhancing and rather ones that bind us.
They create stuck-ness in our selves and in our lives.

In Ganesh’s right upper hand is an Ax. This ax symbolizes the Power of discernment or discrimination. The power or capability to discern or discriminate whether something or someone is actually life-enhancing or not.

This quality is a powerful quality to cultivate in ourselves as it can guide us along the path that serves us best as we journey through life.

On the other hand, when we open to Grace more consistently in our lives, we can find ourselves being held and supported by the Universe. In essence, the Universe will hold you, “grasp” you, until you have an opening.

So continue to do your practices, even when your mind tells you that you have regressed. Your diligence and commitment will be held by something greater and will continue to hold you until you have the opening you need to move to the next level.

Ganesh is not only the remover of obstacles, but he is also the creator. Sometimes obstacles will be put on your path in order for you to have the awakening you need to move forward. Ganesh won’t let you go to the next level unless you have strong Adikara. Adikara is Sanskrit for Studentship. You will be tested. “Are you in the flow?” And if you are not, an obstacle may appear as an opportunity to propel you forward, remembering grace, remembering to let go, to practice anugraha.

Remember, it is always for the highest.

“Close your eyes and you’ll see clearly
Cease to listen and you’ll hear truth
Empty out and you’ll be free.”

Be like the Sky ~ Humble and open
and the Earth ~ Committed with Conviction

“Embody every pose you practice on your mat with humility and openness, commitment and conviction and you will start to see the changes in how you engage your life. Your life will start to reflect back to you the change you have made within.”

Daniella Cotreau~

As things are speeding up more and more and this evolutionary shift of collective consciousness continues to do it’s work, I am finding it is becoming increasingly important for us, maybe more than ever before, to take care of ourselves, nurture our bodies, minds, hearts and souls so as to move through all these changes, both individually and universally, with as much grace as possible.

I have also found that with the increase of technology consistently on the rise, and with maybe no end, it is becoming more and more essential that remind ourselves of one of the most crucial and biggest connections we have and that is our connection to nature.

It is bigger than we realize and with all that our lives are inundated with, easy to forget.

When we align with nature….when we align with what is natural, we align with our truest self. We align with the Divine part of ourselves…our souls, our hearts.

As much as I appreciate the conveniences of the technology world, nothing comes close in comparison to the magnitude of positive support and my appreciation and gratitude to the natural world.

My intention for this retreat was to be a reminder of our inherent connection to nature, to celebrate and nurture that connection, thereby, nurturing ourselves. To offer a day where we merged the healing powers of yoga with live music in the venue of nature…. Big Basin, California, one of the most majestic and beautiful places in the US.

And the addition of the live music came from a very particular instrument called the Hang. Hang means “hand” in Swiss/German. It is made by hand and is played by hand and offers the most beautiful and ethereal sounds to the ears and heart and was the perfect assist to our experience. It coaxed us gently and sweetly into letting go of all the layers, all the days and weeks and months of the past and landed us safely in the present moment.

We connected to our bodies with care and precision by beginning our day with a heart-opening Anusara-Inspired yoga practice with the theme of connecting to our natural state. Then a break for lunch outside in nature with a healthy array of natural and organic home prepared food, and then a walk/hike through the hills and mountains of Big Basin.

The morning yoga class and our hike were accompanied by Matt Venuti, our hang player from San Francisco. During our hike we would stop at sacred power spots, sit and meditate in silence as well as to the music of the hang.

We were blessed to have Matt offer a hang vibrational healing to each one of us. We would lay down on the earth, with the Hang placed on our bellies and he would play whatever song came through that was inspired by each person’s energy.

It was amazing the hear the beauty and diversity and each person’s song!

Everyone felt so nurtured and restored after such an amazing day. Nature abounds with magic and it is exemplified with such powerful heart intention.

We returned back to the Yoga Shala after our hike, to seal the day with an afternoon 2 hour restorative yoga class which was also accompanied by Matt and the poetry of Mary Oliver.

My biggest heart-felt gratitude to all who came, your presence was a gift and added so much to our experience.

Big blessings of light to our first Mother, our Mother Earth, for her unconditional love and abundance!

Saprema, (with divine love)

Daniella~

And for us to really get this, to really embody this, we are tested. Yes, it is fairly easy to intellectually accept this theme for the year. But then to apply it to your life, to live it,  is a whole other story. So the Universe playfully pulls the rug out from underneath us. And we have our opportunity to really practice the art of surrender and complete trust in the Greater Universe.

That everything will go most likely…not as planned…and you have the opportunity to learn how to flow, how to go with the flow, how to flow with the changes. How to be Anusara.

So today is dedicated to the 1st prinicple of Anusara yoga. It is first because we cannot have an awakening without it.

It is Open to Grace.

It means to soften, to be sensitive, to breathe knowing that something greater than yourself breathes you, to allow your heart to melt…to open yourself to the guidance of something greater…

When you are connected to your heart, you invite Grace into your Life.

Saprema,

Daniella Cotreau~