Yoga is not a means to get SOMEWHERE....

its becoming more and more enjoyable debating my religious friends on this simple subject.

Right where we are- God is.

It is already Given to us.

So stop feeling guilty and start enjoying IT.

'Yoga is not a means to get SOMEWHERE as if you were not SOMEWHERE already. It is your direct and intimate participation with Life.'
Mark Whitwell

Mark and Me in India. the night of the Kumbha Mela

Doing my Yoga has already...

Doing my yoga everyday has already helped my...
aches and pains
mind chatter
breathing
relationships with others
appetite
weight loss
and sense of my self

Its been about a month that I have been doing my yoga everyday now...sometimes for 7 minutes and sometimes for 30 minutes. It starts to feel so good that I do not want to stop.

My routine:
Basically I start standing up, eyes closed, hands down by the thighs.
Inhale my hands up above my head gently touching fingertips and look up at hands
Exhale hands down to touch thighs.
Continue this for at least 3 or 4 breaths...up to as many as you feel.
Really hear the inhale and exhale...to the point that the throat is open and mouth is closed.
Ujjayi Breath

The with the exhale fold down, fingers touching the floor
Inhale all the way back up fingers touching the tips and look up
continue with the breath for as long as you like

Then
Extend one leg forward about 2.5 feet, hips width apart
and inhale your hands to the sky and exhale all the way down so they finger tips are touching the floor
tilt your chin to your chest for Jalandhara Bandha

change legs

rest in childs pose

try this for a few days

It seems that my body is being naturally stretched so that the soreness is released, easily. BC every day and night that I do my yoga, I feel looser and leaner. I have not gone to the gym or eaten more or less. But my body is responding to this deep, conscious breathing..and my heart is responding to this time I am putting in for me.

You try.

From Mark Whitwell:
"The ancient wisdom of yoga teaches that Life is already given to you, you are completely loved, you are here now. It teaches that we are not separate, cannot be separate from nature, which sustains us in a vast interdependence with everything. The universe comes perfectly, and is awesome in its integration and infinite existence. This union is our natural state, this union is Yoga."

In me As me

"Nurturing source reality is appearing in you as you" -Mark Whitwell http://thepromise.com/


Since I have been taking out a few minutes in the morning, evening and night to do my yoga...I have found this quote to be true.


It might be too deep or even too trivial to explain. All I know is that since I have been choosing to take time out of my days to spend in my own breath, touching my feet and belly, closing my eyes and listening to the sound of nothingness while i flow in the strength receiving cycle of this yoga...I have been nurturing my Self...in me as me. 


So far so good

The Promise

From the day I met Mark Whitwell a few years ago in LA and having recently spent a few weeks in India with him...he continues to promise me that if I practice my yoga for 7 minutes a day for 3 months...my life will change for the better through creating intimacy with my Self. What does all of this mean?

I spent 2 weeks in India with some beautiful strangers, now friends...and our hearts were open to receive Mark's teachings. Though his teachings are quite simple..they are also complex. That is why I will be having some of the other students and teachers share their experiences on this blog as well. The day to day quests and questions of 'this Promise'...

Here we start.