Posted on

Trading Privilege for Faith

I used to have an insanely lucrative job – and I was miserable.

Three years later, at 61, I’m searching through online ads for yoga instructors, it’s far from obvious we’ll be able to keep the house, vacations are a distant memory, our cupboards and clothes reflect my long-term unemployed status – and I’m happy. [Though admittedly, my joy and bliss isn’t always shared by those I love.]

The greatest irony in all this is that I have something priceless – that for the life of me, I can’t give away let alone sell. No matter how hard I try, trying to get someone else to see through my eyes isn’t possible – says my TCM master. Wish he’d told me that three years ago!

It’s beyond frustrating. I literally see the same thing others do, but from an entirely different paradigm – through rose-colored glasses if you will – because I see the miracle behind what I’m looking at.

Aside from the fact that without consciousness we’d have no idea what our body and mind were doing (!), consider that literally everything that has ever happened since the beginning of time, had to happen EXACTLY as it did in order for this moment to manifest. Ask a statistician what those odds are!

Every dinosaur fart? Every musket shot? Every love letter? Every song? Every death? Yeah.

Life is miraculous. Appreciate the ride, because in your current form you only go around once. ❤️

What I have that can’t be gifted or sold is the realization of the world of difference between my thoughts (evidence of my mind), and my awareness OF those thoughts (evidence of my indomitable, divine consciousness – my awareness – my soul – my spirit – my essence). 🙏

Patanjali’s Raja Yoga is a path to faith….

….and FAITH engenders serenity, courage and wisdom to overcome our worst intangible desires and fears. 🕉

God bless, Allan❤️🙏🕉

Posted on

ARE YOU A ROOSTER OR A DRAGON?

You know those Chinese restaurant menus with the animal-years? There are 12 of them:

  1.   Cat
  2.   Dog
  3.   Dragon
  4.   Goat
  5.   Horse
  6.   Monkey
  7.   Ox
  8.   Pig
  9.   Rat
  10.   Rooster
  11.   Snake
  12.   Tiger

Here’s the totally bananas–crazy thing for this old white guy who was raised in Vermont: 

it’s friggin’ REAL!

 

Does it change my life to “know” that?! Kinda – at least on one level: the fact that I am a readily identifiable “type” makes it easier/possible for traditional Chinese medical (TCM) doctors to help me – and more importantly, if I become a TCM “doctor” or Master, I can more readily and effectively help others. 😊

That’s a LOT more information than Patanjali’s outline of Raja Yoga covers. [I suspect much of the ancient Indian science has been lost over the millennia given TCM’s recognition of the significance of the contribution made by early Indian Masters.] 🙏

Almost three years ago I devoted whatever time I have left here to promoting and teaching Patanjali’s simple message: “part of you is divine – and you can prove it to yourself”.

It WILL change you.

While Patanjali documented a mental practice to achieve awareness of the world beyond the mundane, TCM took it to a place I can’t even see from where I am.

I’m truly humbled and awe-struck.

 

I will fulfill my commitment to Patanjali, but TCM, WOW.

Apparently, it takes about ten years (fewer with more devotion and commitment) to accumulate the experience to be a first degree “black belt” or Medical QiGong Master. I have a running start because I’ve devoted the last 15 years to Patanjali’s similar yet much simpler discipline.

Here’s one thing Patanjali didn’t tell me: according to TCM, which also looks at life on three levels (form, energy, mind):

I’m the human equivalent of a rooster: in form, energetically, and sub-consciously.

 

[Never mind the fact that I’ve always thought of myself as a dragon! Shucks!]

Getting our three discernable “parts” to act in unison – to resonate in harmony with our unique “inborn voice” – not only reduces suffering, it helps us become what we were always naturally meant to be!

Can you guess which of the three pictures above represents:

  • my physical form, and…
  • the energy that naturally links it to…
  • ….my non-physical, sub-conscious mind

It gets better: there are at least five distinct sub-types of rooster [I’m a fire-rooster]!

 

[Which means – relative to other farm animal types – I’m relatively trustworthy, especially at work. And here I’ve always attributed that to my small business owner, grandfather beating it into me!! Love you Pops!!]

The supporting data comes from thousands of years of astrological charting. It’s scientific; mathematical – like Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras! <3 <3 <3

Intuitively, it makes sense: certain types of trees, fruits and flowers bloom at different times each year – there’s a natural cyclicality to life. Measure it closely enough, long enough and it turns out that the regular rotation of our planet, and it’s routine movement through our universe causes it/us to be exposed to a dozen different types of energy.

How do I “know” I’m channeling some serious natural “rooster” energy – simply based on the time and place I was born?

First of all, I’ve lived between these two ears for over 60 years, and right off the top of my head these jump to mind:

  • My ego is the size of this planet – always has been. I’ve always felt like “the cock of the walk”. I shrunk from it for most of my life, but a couple months ago, I offered to pose virtually naked in class so the teacher could draw the 12 TCM meridiens on my body! [Frankly, I just wanted to know where they are in me – damn the consequences!!] Ironically, on some deep sub-conscious level, I’ve also always known I’m a big chicken with an over-inflated ego. Can’t tell you how many real fights I’ve run away from, though it never seems to deminish that rooster energy!

 

  • I “cock-a-doodle-do” a LOT (almost daily). I’ve been posting insights into Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras for almost 16 years – and my job for over 20 years was generating quarterly reports for investors. Yeah; hard to get the damned rooster to shut up!

 

  • Speaking of which, crowing and strutting tend to alienate people – especially other guys, though thankfully it seems to have the opposite effect on the fairer sex. For my entire adult life I’ve blamed my inability to bond in any meaningful way with another male on my father. Guess what dad – you’re still a prick, but I forgive you a little. Apparently, part of that inability is literally in-born.

 

  • Oh yeah, and I “preen” a lot. Sue will tell you that for a guy I spend an inordinate amount of time in the bathroom [little does she know I’m in there doing yoga or qigong the entire time!]

Blessings & hugs, Skipper-doodle-do!

❤️😊🕉

Posted on

HOLISTIC ADULT YOGA CLASSES

Want a physical, mental, energetic, spiritual, emotional boost?

Want to recharge, refresh – maybe relax?

Pamper yourself from the inside out!

Raja Yoga Classes

WHILE THE KIDS ARE AT SCHOOL – Mondays 10AM (for everyone)

DAD TIME (for those who identify primarily as masculine) – Thursdays 7:30PM

Learn how your body & mind work – and “drive” through life avoiding more potholes!

 

Beverly – #174 Cabot St. – The Village Oasis

private lessons by appointment

Posted on

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

Here’s a link to a post about our three invisible parts:

“Find your three invisible parts”

This is NOT theoretical. That’s the problem: people teach it as if it were!!

Witness it for yourself. You can distinguish between your invisible parts the same way you distinguish between your elbows & knees!

Practice.  Practice.  Practice.

 

Here’s a starting exercise:

Remember, Conscious Mind (the part you hear) – for all her power, can literally only “do” one thing at a time. She “thinks” thoughts the way your lungs and heart breathe and beat: singularly! Therein lies the key to bliss.

The next time you’re doing something you’ve done a thousand times (e.g., dishes, laundry, showering) occupy your Conscious Mind by reciting the alphabet (a string of 26 individual conscious “thoughts”) – relax and observe. EVERY thing else your body is doing (other than focusing on the alphabet) is evidence of your Sub-Conscious Mind at work.

When it “clicks” it’ll freak you out. Your body will seem to be moving all by itself!!

The answers to all your questions will come once you can discern between these invisible parts of yourself – and begin to identify with the subtlest aspect of yourself: your Inborn Voice*.

That’s Patanjali’s promise – and mine, as long as you adhere to his discipline!

Continue listening for and honoring your inborn voice; it’s lead you to teach yoga! You KNOW “she” has “your” best interest in mind!!

May you see life from your unique, essential vantage point always, and may you know the distinction between your mind and your essentially divine awareness.

Thank you for listening – and inspiring this post. Hugs, Skip

 

* my teacher, Milena Origgi’s expression for our “human fingerprint”: our subtlest, tangible personally-unique human essence

Posted on

CALLING FRIENDS OF THE BIBLE

Is meditation consistent with your understanding of God?

Judge for yourself:

Here’s how I “meditated” this glorious Sunday morning, I:

  • …sat in my favorite spot with purpose and humility [aside: my personal intent is to better understand and serve God]; I smiled and relaxed

  • …bowed my eyes (not closed) and allowed my outer body (arms/legs) to settle

  • …allowed my breathing settle into a soft, subtle rhythm, calming my internal bodily systems

  • …recited the Lord’s Prayer – mindfully – a dozen times, without “thinking”; rather, I simply “observed” the sensations and mental images that arose [ideally, the only words you want to hear in your mind are those of the prayer]. [fyi – this is a “concentration” exercise; at this point, I’ve left my physical body behind]❤️😊🕉

Up to this point, I’d been settling my physical body and conscious “busy” mind, preparing to witness to my unique and otherwise sub-conscious sensations, images, and insights – cultivating my intuition, and a deep sense of “connectedness” or “union”.

  • …let go and simply listened/observed (like fishing: patiently waiting) to what my otherwise sub-conscious mind wanted to bring up [fyi – this is a “meditation” exercise; at this point, I’ve left my “busy” conscious mind behind]❤️😊🕉

 

So what great insights arose? It strikes me that the Lord’s Prayer is comprised of three parts:

Invoking:

our Father,

Which art in heaven

hallowed be Thy name,

Thy will be done

in earth, as it is in heaven

[“Establishing the day by reaffirming that God is all-powerful, loving and caring.” – my most yogic friend ❤️]

Beseeching:

give us this day

our daily bread

and forgive us our debts

as we forgive our debtors

and lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil

[“Re-establishing our relationship to God and what we can rely on God for.” – my most yogic friend ❤️]

Venerating:

for Thine is the kingdom

and the power

and the glory

forever

[“Knowing this is true, not just for ourselves, but for all who seek to know God.” – my most yogic friend ❤️]

Take prayer to another level. Meditate!

 

God bless, Skip

Posted on

BIO FOR LOCAL YOGA STUDIO

ALLAN (SKIP) DOWDS

In 2015, at 58 Skip retired from an accounting career to teach and promote Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (Raja Yoga) the classic holistic discipline he’s practiced since 2003.

In 2011, he received a 500hr yoga teaching certification from a student of BKS Iyengar, the 20th century master of classical yoga postures.

Raja Yoga includes a physical component but is largely a mental training that relieves symptoms of a distracted mind, including:

>  carelessness >  indecision
>  confusion >  inefficiency
>  craving >  laziness
>  distraction >  negligence
>  doubt >  procrastination
>  dullness >  sensuality
>  idleness >  uncertainty

If you suffer from any of these, Skip can guide you through Patanjali’s mindfulness exercises to holistically relieve your own suffering!

Skip says, “I suffered from an unwarranted lack of self confidence bordering on anxiety until a few years ago. Ironically, it drove me to become a successful accountant – but it came at great personal cost, mentally and emotionally. Physical exercise helps but nothing beats Patanjali’s mindfulness practice for lowering stress and fostering faith in oneself. Nothing. I’d be honored to share what I’ve learned with you.”

Posted on

SHARDS OF A MIRROR

My teacher reminded me that Truth is like a shattered mirror: finding one shard hardly reveals the entire story – and opinions are like assholes: everyone has one.

So why should anyone listen to my opinion? [grinning as I type this]

 

Here’s the thing, I would love the opportunity to introduce you to an aspect of YOURSELF that you’re naturally virtually unaware of:

YOUR consciousness

NEVER changes.

It’s eternal.

SEE FOR YOURSELF!!

 

It’s not a religious fairytale!! Find the essence of who and what YOU are and in the process, find the Fountain of Youth.

Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is a 200-line poem that captures the essence of life on earth. It’s an empirical proof – formulated as a personal challenge or discipline – of the underlying hypothesis that consciousness is different than everything else in the known universe: it alone is unaffected by the vagaries of time and space: it’s eternal.

The boy in me thinks of Patanjali’s poem as a treasure map to one of those old pirate treasures buried deep beneath a system of wood, water, and stone gates, traps and distractions…

…but this treasure wasn’t stolen from mankind, it was gifted TO us. It’s almost too clever, simple, accurate, insightful and provable to have been devised BY us!

It’s only 200 lines long, but outlines the science, practice, and benefits of a personal discipline for living in harmony with the world around us. Simple. Not easy.

When the puzzle begins to take shape for you, and I hope it does (I can help), I hope you’re sitting down and have a long life ahead of you – for everyone’s sake. This practice can be revolutionary.

 

See your life from the inside out; see the essence of who you are; it’ll blow your mind.

Meditate; it’s good for you.

Blessings, Skip

Posted on

DEATH CAME KNOCKING

The intent of a recent hospice training exercise was to better understand what happens as we die naturally.

 

  • The first part of the exercise was to list 24 things we love: people, places, things, foods, activities – anything – and then cut the list into 24 bits of paper. Obviously, everyone’s pieces were unique.

 

  • The narrator read a story written from the perspective of someone in the latter stages of dying (in our case, cancer was catching up with them).

 

  • There were several pauses during the story, one after each milestone: discovering the lump, the testing, the diagnosis, the prognosis, the treatments: a series of poignant experiences from which there is no recovery.

 

  • After each sad chapter, we were asked to give up one or more of the things we love [trying to comprehend never experiencing them again]. After awhile, we even lost the ability to choose and the narrator began arbitrarily taking them away.

 

EVERY breath is a gift. Don’t wait until the end of your life to realize it.

Blessings, Skip

Tap into the source. Meditate.❤😊🕉

Posted on

3 TYPES OF KARMA

We’re subject to three types of karma, or consequences:

  • Directly as a consequence of our own behavior;
  • Indirectly as a consequence of someone else’s behavior; and
  • Indirectly as a consequence of natural events (e.g., our DNA, tornados).

In other words, most of what happens to us is beyond our control; however, we CAN affect our own behavior (e.g., start new habits; break old ones) thus influencing our state of mind.

According to Patanjali, ignorance* gives rise to the fears and desires that fuel our thoughts and drive our behavior.

[* the inability to distinguish between mind and consciousness: thought and the awareness thereof.]

 

Patanjali’s Raja Yoga is sometimes referred to as Karma or Kriya (action) Yoga because it’s practiced to affect our own actions and reactions to the events of our lives – purposely to affect better outcomes for all.

Patanjali’s path to lasting universal peace:

  • Overcome ignorance to
  • Mitigate fear, desire and ego, to
  • Influence thoughts and behavior, to
  • Reduce universal suffering (ours, others, and environmental).

Influence what happens between your ears to affect the quality of your life and the world around you.

Meditate! Exercise for the inside of us.

Blessings, Skip (aka Allan)

Posted on

Meditation Relieves Suffering

Meditation relieves:

  • Dis-ease
  • Dullness
  • Doubt
  • Carelessness
  • Laziness
  • Sensuality
  • Misperception

But don’t take Patanjali’s word for it – Try It!

Bottom line: meditation takes your mind offline, giving it a much-appreciated chance to rest, relax, recharge, restore. The benefits will become self-evident in short order!

3 of Patanjali’s 196 Yoga Sutras:

1.51

Concluding line of Chapter 1 on the science behind meditation:

Patanajali: “tasya api nirodhe sarva nirodhat nirbijah samadhih”*

In a state of union with consciousness [nirbijah samadhih] no emotional triggers remain; it’s a state of ultimate serenity: the state of union or yoga.

2.1 & 2

First two lines of Chapter 2 on preparing to meditate:

Patanajali: “tapah svadhyaya ishvara-pranidhana kriya-yogah samadhi bhavana arthah klesha tanu karanarthah cha”*

Practice serenity, courage and wisdom to reduce self-inflicted suffering.

2.17 & 18

The gist of Patanjali’s Raja Yoga:

Patanajali: “drashtri drishyayoh samyogah heya hetuh prakasha kriya sthiti shilam bhuta indriya atmakam bhoga apavarga artham drishyam”*

Avoiding future pain is a matter of remaining aware of the distinction between matter and consciousness. The latter witnesses life through the former.

 

* “hardcopy” version of Patanjali’s phonetic (oral) Sanskrit

Want to get started? Sit still with your eyes closed and observe. That’s it. Simple – not easy.

Want help? It’s what I do. ❤😊🕉

God bless. Enjoy!

MEDITATION TIPS FOR BEGINNERS