This is Part 3 of a 4-part series on Yoga and Meditation for the Hero’s Journey.  To view part one first, click here.

The Divine within has revealed itself to you and you have been deeply moved by this experience; it is undeniable now as you begin to see the miracles and synchronicity affecting your life.  The knowing is deep and deeply tuned you move forward with eyes wide open to the beat of a different drum.  Actions are borne now from stillness and your practice becomes more and more important for your continued well-being.  Each day you resolve to wake up and put God first… and yet there comes a time where it all comes crashing down, yet again!

You have been opened to a deep and inner truth, a faint whisper of sensation bubbling up from the very core of your being, but the outer world experience is still showing you its multi-faceted illusion and it seems so real.  Surely, I must engage in this experience presented to me in such technicolor yawn and yet that still place where the inner voice resides begins to shrink again as these considerations take place.  It is now, my friends that you must remain steadfast in the knowing…

Never doubt, even for a second, that the very essence of life itself flows freely as a vibration all around us, always. Have faith that this Vibrational Reality exists in perpetuity and is the Source of All Creation, Love… God. Consciously tuned to this frequency our bodies and minds melt into Oneness. Thoughts, words and actions now align to our reason for being and the Universe responds in kind… Yoga provides an access point and it begins Now. Marc Titus

Source Energy, God, Consciousness, Love is infinite, omnipresent, omnipotent and a vibration.  This is the Life Force that animates our physicality and is within every animate and inanimate expression of God or Consciousness.  As you remain steadfast in your knowing, this understanding begins another round of deeper recognition of the vibrational nature of our experience.  We begin to see that Consciousness itself is the ever-present, its frequency is high and we feel it in our Human experience as Joy and Happiness.  This becomes our litmus, my friends!  When we are uplifted we feel it as a high vibration, as we are coming closer to God or Love itself… the Infinite.

Now things can shift again, can’t they.  The next time we find ourselves in that moment where it seems things are crashing down around us and we feel heavy all we need do is remember to steadily return to our lightness of being, the Infinite or highest vibration… and that feels GOOD to us.  As we navigate these tumultuous times before us, with these new key understandings we begin to make different choices with a heightened awareness to Source Energy and its vibration.  Decide now to make your choices based on this: Does this take me closer to God or Love(the Infinite and highest vibration) or does this take me further away from God or Love(darkness and density)?  Always choosing the lighter path will very rapidly reclaim your vibrational reality and most definitely bring greater happiness, joy and peace to your life experience.

As yogis, we know that the mat provides the sanctuary to create a higher vibrational experience and we know that our breath, or inspiration is an integral component of energy movement within our physicality.  So, the next time you are faced with a challenge in your outer world experience, manage it first by going within. Even if the mat is not available, you still have your breath; close your eyes, uplift you posture, give yourself one deep and conscious breath and things will begin to shift, you will remember again… you will become steadfast in that knowing as time and experience goes by and it will make all the difference.

“If God is infinite then surely God must also be in you. It cannot be infinite everywhere else except you. ”  Mooji

The Journey is profound, my friends and everything will be called into question.  But remember, you have felt the Infinite within; God has never left you.  You will make it through this underworld Journey and come out the other side… You will find peace; you will come home.

To say it is an inner voice is only partially correct… One must fathom a sensation first, coming completely into a state of inner calm it gets much easier to listen.  And listen you must, deeply and intuitively you feel for it, as it is so very subtle when it comes.  This inner awareness begins to burble up from the depths of your being and something begins to shift.  There is a knowing of it…

And then it comes, that voice we hear, the subtle interpretation of these sensations borne from stillness.  It has always been there, uninhibited once, but now very clearly covered or encased at times with layer upon layer of resistance.  Hardness and rigidity to the natural order of things: to God, the Infinite, Energy, Source, Creator, the Great Mystery, Prana, Chi, Tao, the list does go on.  We forgot, most of us, this very subtle Truth and it has shifted humanity away from the divine.  We lost our way…

Until now, right now it can shift as you cultivate your ability to listen.  The deeper you is trying to get out of that shell now and it’s stirring within has roused your interest in these new sensations.  What do they mean?  Are they trying to tell me something?  How do I create an environment to feel these more?

Layer upon layer must be removed or the shell shattered to allow the energy to flow again, often perceived as not an easy task!  Often, I have written that “the Journey is arduous” and it has been.  This is the Hero’s Journey into the underworld.  Darkness is faced here.  The wilderness of the shadow self, those aspects of ourselves that have remained hidden, yet affected every part of our lives as they wreaked unconscious havoc and turmoil where none was necessary.  This Dark Night of the Soul the Hero must face if he is to find that which lies within.

On the mat we explore these energies as we clear the channels that animate our physicality and feel the energy/body interface.  Breath and movement combined to create stillness in motion and stillness brings about a greater awareness of how the body moves from a vibrational or energetic perspective.  Feeling deeply this way reacquaints us to what we have known for centuries, if not millennia and we begin to refamiliarize ourselves with the way it works.  An inner peace begins as the ego/mind/thought patterns are brought to the surface and released as untruths.  A deep knowing begins to watch for those experiences and it becomes easier to see them acting out the scripts, deep programming and conditioning we have received our entire lives.

And then it stops… or it least subsides more often than not and the knowings come while the listening grows stronger and the feelings deeper.  It is a knowing because you know the Source, in the stillness is the Divine, undenied.  Go.. See for yourself!  Create the stillness…   Yoga Begins Now.

And again, at this point comes the conundrum as we have tasted the essence of Love Divine within and yet, the outer world still beckons devilishly to come out to play.  So continues the Soul Journey to Consciousness as we begin to solidify our practice in the manifest world, yet walking in balance with a deeper, inner truth.  Outer discrepancy will appear as we navigate these new waters and while the Hero’s path does appear arduous s/he  is now guided by the Infinite and it is known… Beyond belief, it is known as we continue our Journey home.

Part 2 of a 4-part series on Yoga and Meditation for the Hero’s Journey.

The yoga mat provides the sanctity, twenty four inches by seventy two of pure safe space!  For what? you might ask…  Pratayahara, senses turned in, is the yogic terminology, meaning simply what it says and yet a guide post towards something much more profound.  By turning the gaze inward for 90 minutes we begin to uncover a vast array of inner experience previously unknown, always in yoga seeking to find the edge and move, sometimes ever so slightly even, past it.  It is a journey to be sure, often of epic proportions to begin with, we see the Hero and Heroine struggle to get to the mat everyday, don’t we?  And yet, on the yoga mat, lies the answers to the much more deeper inquiry that our Soul is so desperately crying out for.

So, therein lies the conundrum, doesn’t it?  We can have a far better life experience by practicing yoga and meditation everyday, it is absolutely proven!  And yet we resist!  What are the hurdles?  Are they real?  What does our mind(ego) and body concoct for us everyday that creates the disturbances and discomforts as we slip unawares into our conditioning?  What additional traumas do we create every time we continue our experience in an unconscious way?

I can relate!  It happens…  Until it does less frequently and at some point you will begin to have such a series of wakeful moments that you will begin to remark how differently you are experiencing life.  And, say how much more peaceful your experience is since you embarked on your yoga practice and journey.  A transformation is imminent and rest assured you will be forever changed.  Whether you go back to the Old Ways is up to you, but you will be able to recognize it and make your choice, knowing there is another way.  The Hero’s way…

 

Coined in English 1387, the word hero comes from the Greek “ἥρως” (heroes), “hero, warrior”, literally “protector” or “defender” the postulated original forms of these words being *ἥρϝως, hērwōs, and *ἭρFα,Hērwā, respectively. It is also thought to be a cognate of the Latin verb servo (original meaning: to preserve whole) and of the Avesta verb haurvaiti (to keep vigil over), although the original Proto-Indoeuropean root is unclear.  FROM WIKIPEDIA.

Four horses from the cave near Chauvet, France. Approximately 35,000 years old.

 To preserve whole… to keep vigil over… These, I think, allude to what is meant by the Modern Hero’s Journey, albeit at first it is surely a return to wholeness, then preserve and keep vigil over.  This archetypal journey has been meted out for eons all the way to the shamanic days of old some 25,000 years ago.  It is told in many forms, yet particularly vivid in the tarot it yields a road map of the human experience.  (See Laura Colvin Brown’s Healing with the Archetypes for more information…)  On the yoga mat, as the senses turn within, we are managing the latter half of the traditional tarot spread where the hero goes into the underworld to meet the devil (darkness), navigate the wilderness of the shadow self and ultimately have the awakening that lightens and integrates, becoming whole and returning, having come to know God and the secrets of the Universe.

The Hero returns home to share new knowledge, information and guide the way for those who become the next wave of consciousness to expand, as everyone who returns from this journey realizes their deepest truth; They come to know… and that makes all the difference.

Part 1 of a 4-part series on Yoga and Meditation for the Hero’s Journey.

This is it folks… This is the place, the time, the way.  It has been a wild ride, hasn’t it?  There has been…

And that is where I have to stop myself!  What has come before, really doesn’t hold any weight to what I am right now!  Sure and indeed, my past has made me, molded me and transformed me through the experience to this present moment, yet I must completely step out of that story if I am ever going to be what I know I am in this current and present breath… This moment.  All to often, I see around me brilliant light beings sitting in a dark cloud unable to truly feel the magnitude of the energy that is present within and around them.  To truly experience God, as the creative force of the Universe; indiscriminate in it’s Love.

And yet, most of humanity and certainly our western culture has been trained to discount the Source… the Sun still shines above the clouds, we know…  The rains will pass and the sky will reveal the rays of light that sustain us.  Ever-present, the Love is.  Yet, we have been conditioned to suffer and shun what is rightly available to All Creation.  It is here, right now and when we open ourselves to it we know, because we have always known.  It is the deep intrinsic drive that fuels our very existence and creates the life we are living.  The illusion of the darkened sky only perpetuates when we forget that the clouds will dissipate to reveal the brilliance of who we really are!

That is right, it is you that are brilliant my friends!  And it is you that has the power to transform your reality into something truly amazing.  The shadows cast are only temporal and in the moment of our choosing they part to bring about an experience of great change.  A whirlwind of energy comes into your being and uplifts with a force beyond conventional comprehension.  All of a sudden there is a different view and sensations come that perhaps have not been felt in a great while.  Ride them to your destiny, my friends!

Be the change you wish to see in the world… ghandi

We suffer, I think because we are living in untruth and not aligned to our Soul’s Purpose.  We suffer because we have not opened to the Divine Energy present around us.  We suffer because we have forgotten and the road to redemption is paved by ghandi’s words.  Well, no longer do any of us have to perpetuate all that has been done before, as we are in a time of great change and transition.  The shift in humanity’s consciousness is undeniable now and if the suffering we may feel is especially intense right now, it is resultant from this fact.

Humanity has been on a path of destruction for quite some time, fueled by a global model of lack and greed; the wealth and abundance held by few while the many struggle.  This is the dark cloud of our time and we are the ones to change it.  That’s right… US…  I AM the change.  I AM the shift.  I AM the global consciousness of a NEW experience where it is recognized that we are all God’s children and his Love IS available to us right now.  NO MATTER WHAT HAS COME BEFORE!  Indiscriminate, ever-present, all-abiding, true and pure it is right here and right now.  For ALL.  And so are you…

So, as we sit now in the knowing of this, realize that all that has come before is the gift that has brought us to this awareness and we are grateful, deeply for our life experience, however it serves us not to mire in it any longer.  We honor it and let it go.  I AM right now the sum of that and I know what to be now.  And so do you!

[God] is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures: he leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies: you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of [God] for ever.

Psalm 23

There is much to do my friends in this being!  Are you ready?  It is time to rise up like the Phoenix transformed and walk now in God’s Love.  There are places that the clouds are still thick but the rising sun of our light will burn off the fog and all will see the Way.  It will become clear for ALL.  There will be more challenges, I am sure, as turning the Titanic takes time.  But we will prevail and I AM comforted in the knowing that you are with me and that together we will transform the world…

Aho!  Mitakuye Oyasin (all are related).  And I am grateful

Love and Light,

Marc

The swan is a symbol of purity and transcendence in Vedantic teaching. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Divine is within…  Undeniable, I can report to you!  Absolutely true.  We are God‘s children, imbued with the essence of Creator within our very makeup.  Let the Love out; open your heart wide and stretch your wings my friends, as this is the life we are meant to live.  Yes, most of us forgot and our way has been clouded with all kinds of Maya, or illusion.  Rampant our societal experience is these days and rather unsupportive towards the stillness that is necessary to remember, but it IS possible!  And, it is worth it…

God is everywhere and in every breath consciousness can flow into our being and light the way, bringing the key to opening our heart and letting it all pour out.  All we need do is recall back to the time of our birth and early childhood to see the truth.  Or look into a little persons eyes and the knowing returns.  Let it!  Please dear friends, remember… It is time and we must seek the truth to rise up from the situations that our mass consciousness has created in error.  We were never meant to suffer, yet suffering is widespread.  We were never meant to hate or war, yet we see this energy everywhere we look!  We were never meant to reject God and yet we have been conditioned to do so…

Breathe, my friends… Right Now.  Inhale deeply the essence of the Divine, as it is ever-present and the healing balm to cure the ills of forgetfulness.  The breath is life and awakening, providing a retreat from the chaos that surrounds us now.  It is our salvation, when we go to it aware.  Without breath we would die, so we breathe, yet most are completely unaware of the deeper access point it provides. A deep conscious breath, steady and expansive will still the mind and provide a moment of relief.  A series of deep, conscious breaths can bring about a peaceful calm to any situation.  Check it out for yourself!  Don’t just believe me, without trying it…  And as you do, notice this…

Where is your mind right now?  Is it chaotic? Strained? Concerned? Fearful or worried?  Check your breath…  Very likely it is shallow and probably somewhat erratic.  Or perhaps you are peaceful now, your mind aligned with pleasantries or happy thoughts.  What is your breath doing?  Relaxed… Deep and full?  My teacher once told me this.  Where the mind goes, the breath follows.  If you are suffering or in pain, the breath is erratic and shallow…  But, he said the converse is true…

The next time you are suffering… in agony from whatever life has brought you.  Breathe… Deeply until it passes.  Breathe my friends and let God wash away the pain.  Close your eyes and just BREATHE!  Maybe it takes 5 minutes, maybe it takes 5 hours… stay with it.  Don’t stop, just focus on your breath.  Deep inhale… expansive exhale.  After awhile, you will notice your thoughts have stilled and your mind has been placated into a peaceful place.  This is the stillness your looking for my friends and it is from this place that you can begin to move to a higher vibration.  This is the foundation that brings remembrance.

Go for the stillness as often as possible now as the world has become a tumultuous place.  Rough and tumble it can be, by our own choices and yet it can change.  It did for me, and I am grateful.  I can tell you my friends… I found God and realize he was always with me… buried deep inside me.  Under the craziness that I accepted, created and allowed in my life.  It very nearly killed me… took my breath away, as it were and I am writing this right now because I am ALIVE and I prefer that!

Look around you now and see.  Everything is a miracle and Love is ever-present. The Divine is always present, wherever you are and whatever is happening, but it is up to us to allow ourselves to see it and experience it.  It is a choice within to realize that we are in Heaven right now… or the Garden of Eden… whatever belief of Nirvana you may hold.  It is here now…

Available, to All…  and when you feel it, dear brothers and sisters, you too will know and your life will transform and you will heal. Pain and suffering will no longer be your experience and you will behold the greatest experience of your life.  The Love will begin to pour out of you and the world around you will shift.  And you will be home… with Love.

Namaste.

Related articles

• How do I let go?(marctitus.com)

  ---

• Love finds the Way…(buffalodiaries.com)

  ---

• Modern Yoga in Sedona | Access the Divine Now(marctitus.com)

  ---

• Beyond Trauma Is Breath.(elephantjournal.com)

  ---

• Conscious Breathing(talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)

  ---

• Secrets Within Yoga: Invoke Our Gurus Through Yoga. ~ Tapasyogi Kalathi Adiyen Aadi Nandhi(elephantjournal.com)

  ---

• Don’t Give In…(buffalodiaries.com)

  ---

deep one (Photo credit: speedwaystar)

Just let it go…

Everyone says it, they all mean it and yet, How do I let go?  How do I forgive?  These are the quintessential questions, marking a rite of passage on the Hero’s Journey and many are asking for guidance now thus signaling a tremendous shift in human consciousness.  The collective experience we share is very much made up of our own personal challenges, victories of the battles that wage within and forgiving ourselves for past indiscretions and unconscious behaviors.  Suffering is optional, yet we seem to have been conditioned to do so.  As we come into higher consciousness and Soul awareness, we are supporting one another towards self-realization and an intrinsic knowing of how to let it go.

But, it isn’t so easy!  you may say and I wholeheartedly agree…  Letting go is one of the most difficult things we must do on the Hero’s Journey and the very fact that it is so challenging makes it the most important task before us.  When we let it go, something very powerful happens that is undeniable and profound.  We come into presence, stillness and a sense of being that is devoid of mind-chatter, uncertainty and fear.  When we stand in the fullness of our being, right here and right now, in all of our perfect imperfections with past, present and future blending into the Now moment, we can finally see the Truth. And in that, my dear friends is freedom…

The story goes like this…  every morning a couple walked along the foggy path cordially meeting others on their journey.  One particular morning, a rather astute being stopped the couple and said, “I couldn’t help but notice, as we pass each other everyday, saying trite good mornings, that you both are carrying 50 lb weights in each hand.  Why”  The couple looked at this light being, slightly confused, said their morning rituals and continued on their way.  Interestingly enough, on this day, everyone the couple passed made the same comment.  “Good morning to you, too… But, I couldn’t help but notice the 50 lb weights in your hands… Why are you carrying those?”

Each time the couple looked at each other, thinking that their personal burdens were, just that… personal, yet everyone seemed to be alluding to them by seeing these 50 lb weights.  And they began to question the experience.  The walk continued and they noticed a man meditating on a park bench.

LaGranja park bench (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Curiously they had never seen this man before and yet he appeared to be very at home on this particular park bench they walked by everyday.  They stopped as he gazed compassionately into their eyes and said, “why are you holding on?  Relax dear Ones, the energy of the Universe is available to all.  Just let go of those weights and a new experience can unfold for you…”  In an instant, he was gone and the couple now realized that they had become really tired and had sat down on the bench overlooking the foggy landscape.  They looked at one another, brightness behind their eyes and smiled.  Their breath became one merging with the cosmos and as the man on the bench rose up the fog began to lift…

As he began to walk home, he could feel in his clenched hands a weight that felt unnatural and heavy.  Looking down, he saw two dumbbells with 50 lbs etched into them, one in each hand.  Relax, the consciousness on the bench had said and so he did…  He took a deep breath, way into his belly and on exhaling he could feel it all letting go…  His hands opened up for the first time in his life and the dumbbells fell softly to the ground.

There was a brilliant flash of light and his heart-space opened releasing a cosmic emanation that dispelled the fog around him.  He looked all around, amazed at what he saw.  The beauty of the scene beheld was awe-inspiring and he lifted his hands in prayer to his third eye, then held them over his heart.  Thank you Creator, he spoke… I get it now.

Anahata chakra symbolizes the consciousness of love, empathy, selflessness and devotion. On the psychic level, this center of force inspires the human being to love, be compassionate, altruistic, devoted and to accept the things that happen in a divine way. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The ultimate aim of Yoga Science is relaxation and a yoga practice can provide an access point to the Divine.  Yogis of ancient times, facing their own inner demons and battlegrounds, realized that letting go was the way to God.  They understood that the conditioned experience affected the mind, harmed the body and cut-off connection to Spirit.  They recognized that without a dedicated practice that harmonized the human experience we would drift away from Source and get caught up in the senses of the mortal experience, thereby creating by our own devices, suffering.

You don’t have to suffer…  There are many access points to a Divine experience and you will find your way.  Like the man in the story, you are made up of masculine and feminine energies and are carrying your past with you for the world to see.  The people you meet everyday are reflections of your internal state of being; they are indicators, as you are to them of how balanced and relaxed you really are in any given moment.  If these reflections indicate you are carrying the weight of your previous experience, you will know.

But, how do I let go, you still ask?

Relax my friends, the answer lies in the Journey…

Related articles

• the Story…(marctitus.com)

  ---

• Yoga & Shamanism, Tools for the Modern Hero’s Journey(marctitus.com)

  ---

• The Modern Yogi returns to Sedona to Teach Yoga and Guide the Hero’s Journey(marctitus.com)

  ---

• A Breeze of Consciousness. ~ Dani Katz(elephantjournal.com)

  ---

What is your Story?

Yoga begins Now… The coming into a conscious state where we know God as the ever-present divine energy that surrounds and supports our very existence happens right now.  Many times I have been asked how can Yoga help me? and I respond that it is provides an access point to the divine.  The modern experience today is rife with conditions and challenges that bombard our mind, body and Spirit, often resulting in anxiety, depression, worry, fear, judgement, etc.  It is true and better admitted that this is happening, rather than sweeping under the proverbial rug.  Modern Yoga for the Hero’s Journey brings peace to this tumultuous experience and creates an inner sanctum of tranquility, balance and harmony, that when cultivated consistently brings about wonderful and miraculous shifts in consciousness.  This is what humanity is craving now and those on their own Soul Journey to Consciousness will align to the resources that assist in this epic transformation.  Yoga for a better life…

There comes a time on the Hero’s Journey when the coming to be becomes stronger than what has been.  All of our training and conditioning has set us up for a inner and outer conversation about the past; defining moments of our experience that explain how we got to this moment.  Herein lies a trap, dear friends…  That story will define you if you let it.  The telling of it, to yourself or others sets up the energetic conditions for perpetuation of said story.

Also, we must understand the nature of the story to truly adapt, let it go and move on.  For a moment, connect with a story you have been telling regarding your current situation.  Often, it involves others or another, perhaps even that “they” did something to you that affected your life experience or created your current situation. Take note right now of your story of how you got to this place…

Who are the characters?  What roles did they play?  Who was the protagonist and antagonist?  Where did the energy go and who was affected?  Do a little self-analysis to identify what part you play in this story you are telling yourself, others and your surroundings.  Begin to recognize how this story contributes to your energetic blueprint and how it may very likely be limiting your potential to become your heart’s desire.  The keys lie here…  Likely, you will find, as you identify the roles in your story that you are not the Hero.  Stories that lead to depressed energy states most often involve the dominance of another being within the story over you.  Notice now… it is just a story and change it.

Still the patterning of consciousness! The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali by Georg Feuerstein. Inner Traditions International, Rochester, Vermont, 1989. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You are the Hero of this Journey and as such, you can tell a different story.  You are the protagonist and it is time to deeply and intrinsically recognize this.  It will shift your entire reference point to reality and begin to markedly change the way you interact with the world today and in the future.  When you adopt any role in the story you tell other than the Hero, a dynamic gets set up whether we like it or not.  By the very nature of story-telling, we can see what happens when we don’t play the central role within the story of our lives.  Things happen to us, not because of us and often we can become adopt a victim mentality as a result.

This is a powerless state to be in, often the world around us seemingly bombarding our very existence with immense challenges that feel overwhelming and sometimes disastrous.  Well, there is a way out of this cycle perpetuated by our very own belief that we are insignificant within the divine plan.  This limiting belief is one that must go.  YOU ARE SIGNIFICANT… beyond words and meaning, the importance of your involvement towards the evolution of consciousness today results from the very fact that you are here right now…  Ultimately, whether you believe it or not, you chose to come here at this time to resolve within this discrepancy and expand into the higher consciousness.

This is where the Yoga comes in my friends…  Yoga, as Patanjali states, is the practice of quieting the mind.  If you rest now, for a moment into your awareness you may see just how active the mind/ego is and query, as I did, how can I stop this perceived force in my life.  How can I still such an active detractor to the amazing and beautiful life experience that is perpetually unfolding before my very own eyes.  How can I disconnect from the old story-teller and reclaim my authentic voice?  How can I begin to write a new story without the chatter of a mind/ego dominated experience?

Well, it begins Now, as stated above and with your intention to claim your experience, become the Hero of your Journey and expand beyond old-story limitations you will release yourself from that seemingly indomitable grip.  While it may sound cliche, the truth is… You are the key to unlocking the magnificence that this life experience is designed to provide.  You will become your heart’s desire, living out your wildest dreams when you let go of the story of old and step into your destiny… your greatness, dropping the limitations, accepting responsibility and designing your life anew… As the Hero.

Related articles

• Yoga: Owner’s Manual to Your Body and Mind(healthandwellnesswarrior.wordpress.com)

  ---

• The Royal Path to Union by Deepak Chopra(moonladyyoga.wordpress.com)

  ---

• Inner Science #4: The Patanjali’s Path towards Freedom(sarmoung.wordpress.com)

  ---

• Pratyahara: Mastery Over the Senses. ~ Paul Dallaghan(elephantjournal.com)

  ---

• Soul Questions by Deepak Chopra(moonladyyoga.wordpress.com)

  ---

• Yoga Unveiled: The Impersonal Witness. ~ Godfrey Devereux (elephantjournal.com)
• A Taste of the Yoga Sutras, Part 5. ~ Camella Nair (elephantjournal.com)
• The Mistaken Expectation of Joy in Yoga. ~ Tim Feldmann (elephantjournal.com)
• The Misperception of Yoga: We Are Missing the Point! ~ Adi Amar (elephantjournal.com)

Yesterday, I had one of those days…  The kind where everything goes “right”.  The effortless glide through the currents of today’s experience, a sweet reflection of the peace within me now.  The modern yoga & meditation for the Hero’s Journey has brought about a direct connection to Source, undeniable now, I see Creator’s Love in everyone and everything.  This Love is constant and available to all Creation. It transmutes all fear and bolsters the Spirit within to shine through these body clothes bright and strong.  For this key understanding, I am grateful…

Yoga for a better life, the eight limb path described by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras, brings about radical changes to those modern beings who choose to go this way.  You see, it marks a shift in consciousness from the old ways dictated by our current experience (external view) and emphasizes mindfulness and introspection, with the ultimate aim being self-realization and direct connection to Source or the Super-Consciousness.  Herein, lies the discrepancy that occurs as one begins the Hero’s Journey toward direct contact with God.  We, in the western world, have been trained in a way that precludes deep looks within, stilling the mind and allowing the ever-present life force that pervades everything to become a part of our being.  We have been taught wrongly when it comes to the Divine, often bastardizing our own version of a view given to us by society, religion, family or friends.  It becomes so difficult to function within our society that eventually we do succumb to the modern experience and forget the true nature of our time here on earth.

At some point, likely it becomes overwhelming and the first thing to go, after the inability to still our thoughts and mind, is our health and well-being.  The Soul, our energetic blueprint and individuated spark of the Divine, tries to communicate to us through our feelings and intuition.  Feelings of joy, happiness, abundance and Love are direct messages from Source, through Soul that we are on the right track.  This is alignment and our entire being feels it and thrives.  Feelings of fear, anger, depression and pain, too are messages communicated through the body that we are out of alignment and have lost our way.  Herein lies a trap, though, because as we have an opportunity to see the truth during these intense times of feeling, often if not always, we go with our current understanding and training, which usually results in some Western “medication” technique that again, takes us further away from our God-Source.

But, if you are reading this, you have begun to question all of that… and it is in this quest that the Hero’s Journey begins.

Patañjali as an incarnation of Adi Sesha

If you allow it, life can take on a quality and depth that is the essence of Divine.  If you choose, you can systematically unlearn all that you have learned and come into your knowing, your truth and your dharma, where your life path aligns to the cosmic order or the Divine Plan.  There are many who have come to Spirit on their knees in anguish, pain suffering and trauma, on the death bed or in the throes of some apparently inhumane experience, yet this epiphany is available right now, wherever you are on life’s journey.  The mere fact that those that have found God have done so is your empirical evidence.

Yoga provides an access point and it begins right now.  In the notice of your breath and the straightening of your spine… in the closing of your eyes and your relaxed breathing for the next five minutes, you have begun.  You can make contact with the Source Energy that is all around you right now and once your do, there is no denying it…  

Once felt… Once experienced directly, there is no going back…  Although you likely will, as I did, (and so did Jim) “suffering bouts of forgetting”, yet that is part of the Journey.  There is much to unlearn…  There is much to let go of… and there is much about you that has been buried beneath layer upon layer of experience, training and programming that you will soon uncover, illuminate and the darkness will dispel.

As I was shown yesterday… again, there is a better life available…  a higher vibration and consciousness in all moments, regardless of where we are on the Journey. Yoga begins Now, Patanjali says, meaning wherever we are on our life path we can accept and step into our Yoga practice… Right Now,  we can find more compassion, more Love, more kindness, more forgiveness and more release.  Right Now we can come closer to God… and that is why we are here.

Related articles

• The Mistaken Expectation of Joy in Yoga. ~ Tim Feldmann (elephantjournal.com)
• Have Faith the Path Unfolds… (buffalodiaries.com)
• A Beautiful Belly Means a Beautiful Mind: How Pranayama Works. ~ Eric Shaw (elephantjournal.com)
• Yoga Unveiled: The Impersonal Witness. ~ Godfrey Devereux (elephantjournal.com)
• Doing What My Body Wants? ~ Paul Dallaghan (elephantjournal.com)

Sedona Schnebly’s Light and Love

I walked away from it all in July 2007, leaving a life once lived and embarking on an epic adventure or Hero’s Journey. I don’t talk about it much, nor associate with the past hardly at all these days. Looking back is a slippery slope and I have found there is nothing for me there.  The memories, some I carry with me, but most I have let go.  Even the 5 years I lived and learned in Sedona no longer haunt me, now merely experiences transcribed in the notebook of my life and shelved.  I went to Sedona to become a yoga teacher and it is there that I gave up everything, the lessons hard won, in order to become what I have now become.

I am a Modern Yogi, a Shaman, an Author and Sage, a Photographer and Wildland Firefighter… but more importantly I dug deep into the darkness of my being and exposed the Truth.  I found me, buried under it all, my true and authentic self… my Soul.  The darkness still comes and goes but I know now who I really am and why I am here.  And it is time.  I left Sedona, somewhat lost, months ago and now another phase of the Journey is coming to completion. I am ready and Creator has asked me to return.  I am to teach yoga classes in Sedona, guide sacred journeys on the land and expand my communication to a larger audience. From my healing has come my life purpose and I am told to share my story and help others to heal.  And so it is…Yoga for a better life.

The doorways, once closed to me have opened and I find myself in a flurry of divine activity, calmly seated in the center.  I have found God to be everywhere and in all things.  This intelligent and vital force has not let me down and never will.  As I await the next instructions, I have filled my time with the last.  Purposefully carrying out my part in the big picture, sometimes not knowing how it will fit, I find myself in reverence of it all.  This past week, on February 29, Co-Director and Co-Founder, Leah Adams and I announced the First Annual Sedona Yoga Festival, culminating years of study, growth and spiritual development on both of our parts.  We are ready…

Hollywood has been good to me, albeit I was told to go deeper than I ever had, but I have come through, God never leaving my side.  It has not gone unnoticed and I will be departing here with new tools, contacts and connections that will further the mission and expand the consciousness and communication more far-reaching than before.  I am grateful and blessed, as many have touched my heart and I theirs.  There has been much expansion for my Soul family and together we will continue to bring consciousness to humanity.

Bell Rock up close… Sedona, AZ

I know Sedona’s warm and inviting embrace awaits and I will arrive from the Journey anew with gifts and blessings to share.  We will all rise up together and shine as the Sedona Yoga Community and Sedona Yoga Festival unite in cause and celebration to share with the world an event filled with Light and Love; the essence of Sedona herself will shine forth and ring the bells of freedom for all of humankind.

Aho Mitakuye Oyasin….All my relations. I honor you in this circle of life with me today. I am grateful for this opportunity to acknowledge you in my prayer….

Related articles

• Pigeon Makes Me cry (heroesofthenow.com)

Stillness in Motion

Yoga and Shamanism saved my life… No telling where I would be today, if it were not for these deeply spiritual practices that led me to self-realization.  I asked the questions everyone will eventually ask… What is the meaning of life?  Why am I here?  What is my Life Purpose?  What is meditation?  I came to realize that we all are on a Hero’s Journey, the Soul Journey to Consciousness, I call it and will all come to an understanding of life…eventually.  My opportunity came in my early 30’s and while at the time, it was hell, now I am profoundly grateful…

I have experienced in the 11 years that yoga has been a part of my life, Yoga as Unity and also as a pathway to Unity Consciousness. It has been a personal journey, one of many discoveries and profound insights; the mat has brought me to Spirit. In a world filled with negativity, stress, environmental toxins, and other energy sapping temptations, Yoga brings a lifestyle and practice that reconnects mind, body and Spirit. Rooted in traditions thousands of years old, Yoga Science is a proven and complete system of health and wellness, desperately needed by a disparate society who’s predominant nature is very self-destructive. Yoga has turned back the clock for me, a 42-year old male whose body began to fail him in his late 20’s and at 30 was told he may never walk again without a cane.

That stark reality I faced some 12 years ago and was eventually guided by Spirit to my first Yoga class. Little did I know that first class would change my entire life and lead me to the place of becoming a certified Yoga Instructor. Nor could I imagine that the Yoga System, of which that first class only taught the asanas or yoga postures, was in fact such a full and rich Science dedicated to leading the Yogi on a path to intuitive enlightenment or Samadhi. The Science provides the methodology to the proclaimed outcome, Truth, which can only be experienced when the mind releases to become still, allowing body and Spirit to unite in that stillness and become One with All that Is.

Image via Wikipedia

Coming off the mat, where yoga posture and breath are studied and specific techniques employed, or Hatha Yoga, brings clarity and awareness drawn from personal experience within the practice. It becomes a deep meditation that draws awareness into the body and breath, leaving the mind to still. As the asanas strengthen over time and the initial shock and subsequent cleansing of the entire body systems wears off, a deeper awareness begins. Insights are drawn from the stillness of a yoga pose, body understanding arises and every cell comes alive to the vibration of the Universe. One begins to sink into the infinitesimal vastness that comes from a still mind and one day, the elusive appears, total bliss, a fleeting moment but certain in your experience of it, the Journey begins…

There are many “categories” of Yoga, the aforementioned Hatha Yoga that supports the deeply healing and introspective Raja Yoga, or Union by mental mastery. Raja Yoga, is known as Royal Yoga, as one who masters this practice becomes the “ruler of the mind”. Could that possibly be of assistance in today’s day and age? When one is able to master thoughts and to still the mind at will then the energetically chaotic and physically draining world that many share as reality becomes an entirely different experience all together. WIth the ability to stop a thought and replace it with another comes radical shifts in the way one participates in the world. The benefits to all of humankind are enormous when the consideration is given to stilling the human mind enough to see that there is more to the picture than meets the eye.

The wonderful thing about a Yogic practice is that it is through direct personal experience that one comes to these understandings. Dove-tailing perfectly with my Shamanic training in Journey and Soul Retrieval, it has been an invaluable system to supplement my Shamanic Tools. It was Raja Yoga, meditation, that brought me to see non-ordinary reality and it was Hatha Yoga that brought me to meditation. A broken body and mind, combined with a life devoid of Spirit, brought me to the mat. The system does work!

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Meditation is a proven stress-buster, our purported #1 killer in the United States, working at subtle energetic levels upon the nervous system and other physiological processes to provide a lasting calm that stays with the practitioner for great lengths of time. One begins to experience the Loving Timeline as reality, when meditation is focused on Love, compassion and devotion to Spirit, or Bhakti Yoga. Cohistency, a consistent and cohesive experience of Conscious consciousness and compassion on the Loving Timeline, begins and Love spreads forth into this new enlightened understanding through thought, word and action. Meditation brings about a peaceful life experience, as the calming effects of the practice relax the entire being.

In the Shamanic Journey, meditation with intention to see the Highest Truth about a situation, one begins to see how the Universal Karmic Laws have affected them over the course of their energetic life. By taking total personal responsibility for all thoughts, words and actions one has ever created in any lifetime, dimension or state of consciousness one begins to heal and see the fruits borne of their actions. This can lead to the practice of Karma Yoga, selfless action and service without thought to outcome. Letting go into the very kindness of one’s actions is another blessing to humanity in these times of change.

Image via Wikipedia

The benefits of a meditation practice go far beyond the physical, as science is now beginning to reveal new understandings about the relationship between intentions, thoughts, words and actions and the reality that we see before our very senses. Knowing that I am participating in my reality, also personally experienced through Raja Yoga, has caused me to look at the deeper experiences that molded me into the person that comes to the mat to practice asanas each day. By incorporating Shamanic Soul Retrieval into my meditation I have been able to heal the past by calling back lost pieces of my energetic experience that fractured off as a result of some traumatic situation. The Royal Yoga was my entrance onto the path of Spiritual knowledge and wisdom, or Jnana Yoga and from the fount of Universal Knowledge came the experience of non-ordinary reality and the Cosmic connection to Source where I was finally able to pierce the veil of illusion and experience the Truth.

As I said, it all began with that first Hatha Yoga class all those years ago. I remember thinking that Yoga was just stretching and even when my Tai Chi Instructor suggested I try it to enhance my energy practice, I declined. It wasn’t until I had spent 6 months in agony, with a severely messed up back and the neurologist told me I would need 3 surgeries, minimum, the worst of which would require 9 months bed-rest to recover, that I decided to change my life and somehow, at that time, I knew that I created the problems and that I could heal it myself. That is when I went to my first Yoga class.

I remember distinctly the Teacher, John, was very peaceful and serene every time I saw him. He was kind and compassionate in a deeply comforting way. I was so out of touch with my body that I couldn’t even bend at the waist or touch my knees. I told him about my situation and he said, no problem, I will let you know which poses not to do and help you with the others if you need it. He taught the whole class right in front of me that day and I remember laughing so much at my inability to even approximate most of the poses that seemed to come so easily to the others in the class. But, I stuck with it and continued to go 3 times a week for about 6 months. Along with walking and reducing my beer consumption, these changes were the only ones I made in my life at that time.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Within 2 weeks the pain was reduced to a 4 when it was a 14 (10 point pain scale) and my mental health was much better as well. After 7 weeks, I was pain-free 90 percent of the time and my neurologist told me I was a medical miracle. “Keep it up,” he said… So, I did and 9 months later, I detailed onto a Helitack Wildland Fire Crew as a helicopter crewmember and performed at the arduous level required for such duty for a 2 week detail. I turned my life around and Hatha Yoga saved me from a life-altering series of surgeries. It works…

The yoga postures, asanas, and breath-work, pranayama, comprise the core of Hatha Yoga, albeit, difficult for the Western competitive sports trained mind to grasp that this is a practice to be worked towards, so anyone can come to the mat; as described in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Yoga begins Now, we come to the mat who and what we are in that moment and begin… working towards samadhi. The yoga postures are designed and have the effect of stilling the mind, as well as exercising, in a well-designed sequence, every part of the physical body, including organs, glands and the nervous system. It is a complete system of moving stillness and meditation as to bring tremendous calm on and off the mat. For the first timer, the best advice is to take it slow and steady, rest often, move fluidly without bouncing or jerking and don’t go into pain. If it hurts in the least, best to back off and ask your teacher. Also, as you look around the room or study a video, remember… Look to see how the posture works, but don’t succumb to the competitive urge.

Image via Wikipedia

The yoga poses also afford time and breath to go inside, looking into the depth of our being as the mind begins to still. And it will still, eventually, there will be quiet and you will hold a balance pose for the first time without teetering spastically and falling in a heap like I did the first time I tried Half-Moon Pose or Tree Pose. As your practice continues, you will begin to understand and hold a higher consciousness regarding your body and how it works. Your health and vitality will improve and you will experience greater joy in your life. Your mind, body and Spirit will unite and you will be far more resilient to the vagaries of life’s ebbs and flows. Yoga often becomes an integral part of life and as the deeper meaning begins to follow you from the mat there begins to be that peaceful experience that my first teacher exuded every time I saw him, regardless of where he was or what he was doing. That is what I was looking for and in Yoga I found it.

From this Yoga Journey, I now carry forth peaceful vibrations with me into my relationships, my career, my community, my family and friends. My unified identity, as a vibrational signature is far purer than ever before and I have turned back the clock on my physical fitness, health and wellness. Mental clarity and resiliency are the norm and the practice continues to take me ever-deeper into the experience of me. And in that, I find the greatest treasures of life’s experience, mined from the vast abundance that pervades the Loving TImeline. The System, experiential by design, works on so many levels and has inspired me to become a certified teacher with an understanding that I am a Modern Yogi, coach and guide, as those who have gone before me to lead the way, I dissolve from the experience as it becomes yours and you make of it what you will. I am only with you for a time, the rest is up to you…

Love and Kindness on your Journey.

Related articles

• Respecting the Limbs of Raja Yoga. ~ Brittany Jade Trubridge (elephantjournal.com)
• Why Yoga Has Gone from The Sane to The Bizarre. (elephantjournal.com)
• Yoga and Meditation – An Ancient Answer to Modern Day Stress (everydayhealth.com)
• Yoga Asana Championships? Say What? (elephantjournal.com)
• Defining Hatha Yoga (fitu.me)