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Liberation and Transformation

In your twenties, I always knew that there are lots of changes and transformation, but there has been A LOT of changes in my life. It’s all been good, but also challenging. Around this time last year, there was also a big change happening in my life. I was moving back home soon from Paris and life was about to transform. Here I am. Another year; another season. Change is in the air soon. I’ve got this anxious feeling flowing through me, but such a feeling of liberation too. This anxious feeling because I’m not sure where exactly my next step lies. Once again though, I always trust in the process. I trust the universe. Stay tuned for the changes that will be happening sooner than later. Thanks for reading. Love. 

[yoginikyler]

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA. During the month of May, our focus is Mantra. This mantra is fitting in my life for the moment as I️ try to continuously grow spiritually. In Hindu mythology, Shiva is the destroyer and transformer of life. But Shiva also symbolizes our inner-selves. I’ve chosen this mantra to grow spiritually in my inner-self. What I’ve realized is that when everything is gone in this exterior world, the only thing that remains intact is my inner-self. My intention is to get to know my inner-self a little more everyday so that when everything around me ends, the inner me can still remain all in one piece. I️ hope to be transparent so that all of the divine elements in this universe sits within me in full manifestation. Om Namah Shivaya.

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Presence and Outcome

I think I remember why I started practicing yoga...I think. Someone told me how it was going to change my life. They told me how I’d feel better in my body and how the outcome of myself would be different. I’m not sure if that meant better, but I assumed so. I find this funny because for so long, this is what I thought yoga was. It’s like a happily-ever-after story where you practice yoga and then you come to this stage where all is good emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally. HAHA. I’d love to see someone tell me that their life is perfect and they have reached this perfect outcome. :) I’d laugh because this is not at all how life goes! It is true that we can feel better in our minds and bodies with a yoga practice, but for a long time, I was attached to this. I was seeking this result without enjoying my practice. So why are we always so attached to outcome? I read the other day a quote that said, “In between goals, there is this thing called life that has to be lived and enjoyed.” This quote resonated with me because it’s such the freaking truth. I think it is wonderful to have goals to be reached. Often times, however, we forget to live in the present. The beautiful thing about the yoga practice is that presence is such a key factor. Showing up. Staying present. My challenge is to seek less about the outcome of our yoga practice as well as the outcome of our lives. We often live our lives with the intent of seeking. We want things to be better in life and if we know that we could potentially make the outcome better, we are vulnerable. But by looking so far ahead in the future, we lose the present moment. This present moment is so very special and we may miss something if our energy is only about seeking to get somewhere. This seeking causes expectations. Often times these outcomes and expectations don't come to be what we thought they were. My intent is to practice each pose and really take our time to feel the pose with each moment. Maybe we are already at the end thinking of how we will feel after the class is over. But staying present, breathing and feeling each pose. Try not to attach yourselves to the outcome. I urge you to try this as you also go throughout your day. It seems as if we are trying to get to that finish line and then life will be better. Don't miss these present moments in life. They are distinctive. Throw that outcome in the trash. Expect nothing. Just be present.

[yoginikyler]

Dharma

I am currently in a yoga teacher training and one of my homework assignments is to create a dharma talk about what I learned this past weekend or something that resonated with me at the Southeast yoga conference. Maybe one day I will go more in depth about what I hope I can get out of this training and what I hope to become one day. I know that our lives are never what we plan or expect, but I have some big dreams and I hope to fulfill those dreams. So maybe in another post I will do that. I used to write on here, but I don’t anymore. So hopefully I can start writing again. Mind you, these are simply thoughts. This is no formal writing blog. It’s for me. And maybe for you too!

To begin, what’s a dharma? We haven’t really talked a lot about dharma yet in the teacher training, but I’ll tell you all that I know. In the sanskrit language, the root word mean “to keep, hold, maintain.” We don’t really have a good translation for this word is the western languages. Other translations that people have come up with relate to law, order, duty, model, and quality. This word holds importance in many religions such as hinduism and buddhism. With this being said, we know it’s a key concept in religions, and it signifies behaviors that align with the order that makes life possible. It’s like a right way of living so to speak. Keep in mind that the yoga practice is in no way a religion. Many people brought the yoga practice into their religion because they felt that it helped them cope and live up their dharmas. Side note: Yoga has been around longer than buddhism and hinduism. 

This past weekend, we talked a lot about how our yoga practice is not an escape. If our yoga practice was an escape, we could compare this to drugs or alcohol. What happens when you are high on drugs or drunk? You aren’t fully conscious of your body, your actions, and your feelings. It’s literally an escape from your body and mind because you aren’t firmly aware of what’s going on. So why do so many people say, “Oh I love yoga so much. It’s like my escape!” I don’t know what kind of practice you have, but in a yoga class, we aren’t running around in la la land. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. We are very aware. We practice our breath to bring the mind and the body on the same page. As we experience each shape or posture, we can relate all of the experiences of these shapes and postures to our lives. Some poses really hurt. Some poses bring a lot of emotion. Some connections from one pose to the other or some flows bring up a lot of feelings. We practice so that we can understand ourselves better. We practice to understand the world and our surroundings better. We may have these light bulb moments that come to our minds during our practice. And these light bulb moments of understanding can be applied off of our mat and into ourselves and out into the world. 

So a life of detachment is the life where we have a stressful day, and we binge eat and drink a whole lot of wine, yet, we don’t really care. Maybe we feel it later with our bodies when we feel like crap, but our mind and our body is obviously not on the same page if we are living like this. This is called the escape. The life of detachment. The life where you have no awareness of your mind and your body. On the contrary, practicing yoga with non-attachment is to understand that we practice the postures to simply give us these experiences. We aren’t attached to the poses. We say, fuck it if we can’t get into a pose. Getting into a physical posture doesn't really provide us with any real self fulfillment. We don’t cling to asanas if we have a non-attached practice. Be aware of the differences between detachment and non-attachment. 

To wrap this all up, our awareness is at a pretty high level when we practice yoga. Yes I know that it’s nice to come into a yoga class after a long day of work with quietness, soft movement, and stillness. It’s soothing. It seems like an escape, but it’s not at all. You’re working towards a better you. You are learning to become conscious of all of these things. If you are practicing yoga with the intentions to improve the outcome of your physical appearance, then you aren’t practicing yoga. You’re doing movement like any other fitness class. That’s not what yoga was meant for. No disrespect to those only doing yoga for the physical purposes, but I encourage you to look at yoga as much more. It helps us with our daily lives. Let it help you. Don’t restrict your practice by making it only about the physical. Yoga is a lifestyle. It’s a way to live. I encourage you to practice with awareness. Practicing with non attachment to the physical practice. 

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[yoginikyler]

“What you have, lots of people can have. What you are, no one can ever be.”

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Podcasts in French for Intermediate & Advanced learners

Basically when you’re at that point in learning a language when you’ve covered all the basics and common points of grammar, can understand people pretty well, and have no real problem with getting by. 

I decided to post some French podcasts I listen to (and a few I just found) for working on my listening comprehension, when I’m bored or just multitasking.

Les Gens Bons - “C’est un Podcast Québécois où trois amis discutent de tout et de rien sans aucune censure.” 

 Les Chemins de la philosophie - “Une rencontre quotidienne entre philosophie et monde contemporain”

Studio404 - “L’émission de société numérique” - tech stuff

C’est Cool C’est Quoi - “Nekoto vous invite à plonger dans les univers de passionnés sous forme de débats articulés autour de questions humaines, culturelles, sociales, techniques ou pratiques.”

La Marche de L’histoire - “Le rendez-vous d’histoire de France Inter” - Jean talks about a historical event or person for a good 30 minutes.

Ça peut pas faire de mal - “Une heure de lecture, de lectures” - A guy named Guillaume just reads some literature every week.

Les P’tits Bateaux - “Les enfants posent des questions, des spécialistes leur répondent”

Sur les épaules de Darwin - “Science et éthique: des relations toujours nouvelles”

If anyone knows more, feel free to add them !

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Jae | @itsjae_liketheletter.

[yoginikyler]

hello everyone! i tried to keep the advice as original as possible (sometimes failing terribly). hope you can get something out of it! 🌱

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