Is it me or does it seem that our modern world has adopted a kind of ‘hustle culture’ that now reigns supreme? Look around, people everywhere are obsessed with their phones, optimizing productivity, net worth, status and social media streams. Hey, I’m guilty of it, too and we wonder why we are overwhelmed, unhappy, stressed out, anxious, and depressed.

Now, don’t get me wrong, hustle is good but when we’re just hustling and bustling here and there with no real intention, attention, aim or purpose, life becomes unbalanced; a blur of meaningless tasks that one HAS to do versus wants to do.

Of course for many, the hustle is a way of ‘being’ in order to meet life’s demands, raise children, and make a living with little to no time for self care and reflection. As this goes on, days become weeks, weeks become months and as the years pass, we grow more and more disconnected from ourselves, from nature, the earth’s rhythm and the cycles of life. This steals our joy.

One of the most interesting areas of current research is the impact of nature on our general well-being. A recent study done by Mind found that 95% of people who were interviewed said their moods improved after spending time in nature, changing from depressed, stressed, and anxious to more calm and balanced. Peaceful.

Another series of field studies done at the Human-Environment Research Lab found that spending time in nature connects us back to ourselves, to each other and the world at large. Nature brings us right into the moment, enhancing our lives in diverse ways, encompassing physical health, mental well-being, emotional balance, creativity, social connections and flow. Yep. Flow.

Living in the flow, or simply put, aligning our lives with a sense of ease, purpose, and natural harmony, contributes to peace and happiness, not to mention lowering stress, fear, monotony and resistance.

By incorporating regular contact with the natural world, whether you’re on a mountain, in a forest or inside, face to face with your favorite house plant, we can all lead a richer and more fulfilling existence, when we tune in and experience the pulse of life itself.

How do we step into this flow?

Get Still.

I know, I know, it may seem like an oxymoron or a Koan from the Tao Te Ching, but it really ALL comes down to stillness. Every contemplative path will tell you this. Cultivating stillness provides the fertile ground that allows us to check in, listen to our soul and gather intel about our life path.

Stillness is the first step.

Mother Nature offers so many beautiful ways to practice stillness. When we come to the forefront of the moment and completely present as a silent witness, one can’t help but feel the perfection, magic and awe of the natural world.

Other ways to practice stillness include yoga, meditation, a mindfulness practice, or all of the above. With these practices, we come to know ourselves better, and understand what we really want from life. We also learn to separate our true Self from our thoughts, most of which are pre-programmed, recurring, and negative; leading to actions (and reactions) that keep our lives in a dystopian status quo.

Get Real.

Secondly, we must understand and come to terms with the fact that we are co-creators with the universe. This isn’t just frivolous, new age B.S., it’s science, folks, specifically the branch of science called Quantum Physics; the study of matter and energy at the most fundamental level. We don’t have to do life all by ourselves!

Research confirms that we are made from the very substance that the Universe is made up of…Energy. With this principle in mind, we can learn to work with our own energy and magnetism to guide our lives in the direction of our dreams.

Get Ready.

Another way to work with the universe is by asking for messages or guidance with tools for divination – like Runes, the Tarot or this new Oracle deck: The Chinese Five Elements Oracle. With this particular deck, nature and messages from the Universe come to you, through the 60 pillars of the five elements in Chinese Metaphysics: Water (Flow), Fire (Joy), Metal (Strategy), Wood (Expansion) and Earth (Centered). These five elements are believed to be the fundamental elements of everything in the universe between which interactions occur.

Vicki Iskandar photo by Denise Leitner

The deck was conceived by noted Feng Shui expert Vicki Iskandar, who has extensively studied and consulted on several Chinese spiritual modalities, including BaZi/Four Pillars of Destiny (a form of Chinese astrology), the I-Ching, Qigong, and the ancient art of war of Qi Men Dun Jia. The deck is also grounded in traditional theories and Taoist wisdom, channeled through a modern perspective and very easy to use.

Pulling a card and divining its meaning is as simple as reading the guidebook entry for that card or as profound as one’s understanding of Chinese Metaphysics and everywhere in between.

Each card provides insights into the past, present, and future and can help one get clear about a question, situation or next step. The layers of symbolism and meaning embedded in each one, beautifully illustrated by artist Candice Soon, allows users to understand the messages whether they are a novice or advanced in their knowledge of oracle cards, the five elements, or energy work.

Get Present.

Essentially this Oracle deck is a tool to connect and communicate with the Divine and to help users gain a deeper understanding of themselves, as well as the secrets and mysteries of the Universe as we walk our paths. Working with the deck requires tuning into the moment and focusing your energy before you ask a question and draw a card. Cards can be drawn for specific occasions or as a daily practice to guide and inform the day.

Shift Happens.

Can you feel change in the air? The Feng Shui concept of “ages” refers to a twenty year cycle known as a “Flying Star” period, where energy patterns associated with each of the nine numbers from 1 to 9 influence the energy of a particular space, timeframe or direction. We have been and are now leaving age 8 (2004-2023) and entering age 9 (2024-2044), a transition that signifies a significant shift in energy patterns.

Age 8 typically represents a period of slower, more stable energy, ruled by power and masculine energy. Age 9 introduces a fresh, new cycle with different influences including the rise of the feminine as an archetype and in our world at large.

Vicki will be showing how to do readings, talking about this upcoming transition, and the year 2024 (Year of the Wood Dragon) as well as launching her oracle deck at Santa Monica’s Mystic Journey Bookstore on Sunday, October 15th at 4:00 pm. The popular metaphysical retailer is at 2923 Main Street in Santa Monica, CA 90405. The event is free, but RSVPs are requested here.

Published by Hay House/Penguin Random House, The Chinese Five Elements Oracle, released on October 10, just in time for Halloween merriment, holiday gift-giving, and Lunar New Year divination. But most of all, it’s time to reconnect with ourselves, level up, and attune to the healing power of nature through flow and stillness, the five elements and the infinite possibilities of the Tao. It is by harnessing messages and using this divine wisdom to guide us, that we can live happy and more balanced lives.

About Vicki Iskandar

Vicki Iskandar is a Chinese metaphysics consultant, strategic coach, and writer. She has been mentoring clients on BaZi/Four Pillars of Destiny (a form of Chinese astrology), Feng Shui, the I-Ching, and the ancient art of war of Qi Men Dun Jia since 2012 while serving as a digital marketing consultant for a variety of brands in the LOHAS (Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability) space.

In 2017, she founded Functional Feng Shui to help others manifest their personal and professional visions, using a balanced, holistic approach that combines her knowledge of Chinese metaphysics with her background in business strategies, expertise in health and wellness, and a unique energetic understanding of the body informed by Qigong.

Her oracle deck on Chinese astrology, The Chinese Five Elements Oracle, is set to be released by Hay House on October 10, 2023. The deck features the sixty possible combinations of the ten Heavenly Stems that represent the Yin or Yang qualities of the five elements and the twelve Earthly Branches, more popularly known as the animal signs of Chinese astrology. Each stunningly designed card offers a modern interpretation of the sixty pillars, grounded in traditional Chinese metaphysics theories and the Tao’s wisdom.

Born in Indonesia to parents of Chinese heritage, Vicki grew up in a culturally diverse setting rich in spiritual traditions and ancient customs. She started her metaphysics studies with Western astrology in 2000 after getting her graduate degree in business. Not until Vicki answered her ancestors’ calls to go deeper into Taoism, Qigong, and Chinese metaphysics a few years later did she realize how profoundly applicable, strategic, and healing these ancient arts can be as a mindfulness tool in today’s busy lifestyle.

Vicki has contributed to print and digital publications as a writer since she completed her MBA in Marketing from New York University. Not a stranger to luxury and design, she started writing professionally in 2001, editing the pages of global fashion magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar Singapore.

Readers can view her in-depth monthly insights on Feng Shui and the Chinese five elements on her website at vickiiskandar.com. Her daily astrological insights, a unique blend of Chinese and Western astrology, can be found on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at @5elementsoracle.

The post The Tools of the Chinese Five Elements Oracle for Our Lives Today appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Rhythmic drumbeats open and anchor “Through the Ages,” the first track on Opium Moon’s third album Where We Are Gathered. Lush, layered percussive elements combined with melodic strings rising and falling in rhythm showcase what this award-winning supergroup is known for creating. It feels fitting that we begin the musical journey of Opium Moon in “Through the Ages,” with a dance between rhythm and melody made up of sounds both ancient and contemporary; it shines with the timeless nature

The 10 tracks on Where We Are Gathered include powerful instrumentals, evocative lyrical compositions, and collaborations with other artists. We could call this world music, but that would only tell part of the story. This genre-defying music is the inspirational work of art we need right now….it allows not only our hearts but our souls to sing.

Timeless Global Music

Representing a truly global outlook in their background and artistry, Grammy Winning Opium Moon’s members all shine here. They feature: Iranian santoor master Hamid Saeidi, Israeli bassist Itai Disraeli, American percussionist M.B. Gordy, and Canadian-American violinist Lili Haydn. Their collaborations on We Are Gathered include Hengameh, Wouter Kellerman, Supreme Beings of Leisure, and Benjy Wertheimer.

This is an album that begs for us to savor it as accompaniment to the sacred journeys that are our lives. Its power allows for it to be the soundtrack to practice, to meditation, to prayer and contemplation, to the shamanic journey of the written word, to fill a home with the sacred. My first listen was with headphones on, immersed in the sonic stereo created by the layered recording. I listened alone, in a mood and space of recovery, and do not find it trivial to say that these songs are truly healing, hypnotic, and offer both hope and the possibility of whatever redemption we may be seeking.

“Metta Prayer Invocation” and “Metta Prayer” drop the listener into the spaces of the sacred, wherever the person listening may be. You don’t need to understand the words of the 2,600 year-old Buddhist prayer sung by Benjy Wertheimer in the ancient Indian language of Pali to feel the vibrations shared here.

There are moments in the flow of the album when to get up an dance feels like the perfect response, like in “The Mystery.” Supreme Beings of Leisure collaborate with Opium Moon on this track for a sensual journey. In “Love and Understanding,” we hear Lili Haydn’s vocalization of the central message, “There is no problem in the world that can’t be solved by more love and understanding.” We needed no proof before of her eclectic and multidimensional virtuosity, but we experience it here again.

Photo of Opium Moon by Dorit Theis

We Are Gathered

For many reasons, this album was recorded literally in layers. The artists describe how they began by layering the thematic percussive elements by Itai Disraeli and M.B. Gordy and then Lili Haydn and Hamid Saeidi improvised together upon this base. They evoked the thought that “where two of us are gathered,” they are still Opium Moon, giving the name for the album.

It is something we can all remember, wherever we are, however we are gathered, that through music, through song, through rhythm and harmonies, we are gathered. We are connected across time and space, across boundaries and barriers, across language and limitations. We can experience the sacred amidst the ordinary and we can feel the freedom within the song of our own heart.

This is an album that is meant to be owned, to be brought home, to be enjoyed as a sacred journey, to be listened to again and again.

Learn More About Opium Moon and We Are Gathered

Learn more about Opium Moon and buy the album on the band’s website. https://www.opiummoon.com 

Woman Life Freedom with Opium Moon and Hengameh

The post Opium Moon: Where We Are Gathered appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Some years later from the back of his tour bus, Michael Franti explains, “My Lord is a song of letting go to whatever is going to come next. There’s so many times in my life where I’ve gripped onto plans that I felt were going to bring me joy, or get me to the next place, or thought were the answer…. And then when I let go, and it was like, ‘Wow, I’ve just learned something about myself and about the world that’s fulfilling me in ways that I had never imagined.’ So that song is about keeping your mind, your heart, your imagination open to things that might not be what you originally set out to do.”

Yes I Will

Michael Franti was attending the University of San Francisco on a basketball scholarship when a teacher encouraged him to pay attention to the world around him. He bought a pawn-shop bass, and penned thought-provoking poems. In the late 80’s Michael formed the Bay Area band, The Beatnigs. They threw parties in abandoned warehouses and banged on African drums. Franti became half of the hip-hop duo The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy. Their Gil Scott Heron-esque single, “Television the Drug of a Nation” was an acclaimed underground hit but in the 90’s radio still ruled.

There was a corporate machine in place, that largely mandated who could play what, when. No one knew how to categorize Michael Franti. Was he a rapper, a rocker, a reggae singer?  Was he against the system, for the people? An anarchist, a peacekeeper….? Couldn’t yet tell. Being an anomaly is part of Michael Franti’s karmic condition. He explains, “My mom had three kids of her own with my adopted father, and then they adopted myself and another African American son. I have one sister who’s a lesbian, and one brother who’s a police officer. And I grew up in this really mixed melting pot of a household.”

The Franti Family

Michael continues, “My mom always had a wisdom to her, that people should be their unique self. And she would always tell me, ‘Don’t try to be what other kids tell you to be, or to try to fit in, just be who you are, be your authentic self.’ And that’s something that I’ve really tried to carry in my music.”

Stay Human

Franti and some friends leaned into the musical lexicon that most influenced them. The result was Spearhead; a band so unique rock writers of the day had to come up with new words to describe them, “alternative hip hop”, “neo-soul,” “reggae fusion.” One of their debut songs was selected for MTV’s Buzz Bin and won a Clio Award.

Spearhead

A little like putting the medicine inside a spoonful of sugar, they wrapped socio-political messages inside sweet-sounding songs.  In the February, 1995, issue of URB Magazine, Michael clarified, “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to make statements anymore…. But when I was a kid, I got into the music first, and then later, after I’d listened to the songs for a while, I started hearing what the artists had to say. And that’s what I wanted to do.”

And I Sing, Power To The Peaceful

“I used to work in a hospital, and to make my shift, I’d have to leave at 4am,” Anita Akhavan states. “In the car I would blast a Spearhead song, the lyrics are, ‘We can bomb the world into pieces, but we can’t bomb it into peace.’ When I moved to San Francisco, Guerrilla Management was one of the first places I hit up to do volunteer work, because Michael has consistently been an artist who has used his platform to say something. He speaks to current issues, he does not shy away from them, but he also doesn’t shame people either. He facilitates dialogue.”

Anita became a member of Michael’s team and part of the production staff that put on the annual “911 Power To The Peaceful” Festival in San Francisco. The Franti-fronted gathering began in 1998 to bring awareness to the imprisonment of Mumia Abu Jamal. It was held on 9/11 each year to illuminate the death row inmate’s urgency. “September 11th, 2001 happened and everything changed” remembers Akhavan.

While many were directly impacted by the events of that day, millions more were relying on network news for information. Politicians and the reporters that covered them, repeated words like “terror,” and “mass destruction” subtly invoking Islamophobia, paranoia, and division. But in Dolores Park, people were coming together to talk about peace. “We already had it scheduled for that weekend” Akhavan explains.  “We opened it up to hundreds of social justice organizations from around the country to speak on issues that were taking place. And the intention of this was to be in community, sharing info, having conversations and learning.”

Revolution Never Comes With A Warning – Michael Franti Rocking PTTP c. PTTP FB

The potency of that inclusive act deeply affected those who were in attendance, as well as the 80,000 more who would join in the 11 years that followed. The festival moved to Golden Gate Park where no one was turned away for lack of funds. The largely volunteer staff coordinated yoga and movement, with social justice, environmental activists, and spiritual speakers, with an eclectic musical line-up that empowered a humanitarian movement.

Many years after the last PTTP Festival, Anita reflects, “Michael has always sang or spoken about what’s important I feel; and today I think his music reflects that we need to be kind to one another, we need to love one another, and be compassionate to one another, because we are all doing the best that we can with the tools that we have.”

Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong

“I went to Iraq in June of 2004, and it was 11 months after the war had started there,” Michael explains. “I played music on the street for Iraqi civilians in the daytime, and I played for U.S soldiers at night. And then after that, I went to Israel and Palestine, and I played for music for people on the street in both those places. I talked to soldiers, I talked to people who had lost family members in each of those conflicts.”

Franti continues, “I was passionately against war and I still am. But when I came back, I realized that I’m not on the side of Americans or Iraqis or Israelis or Palestinians; I’m on the side of the peacemakers. And I met people from all sides who were willing to go to incredible lengths to achieve peace, and to try to resolve conflict and bring about safety and understanding for as many people as possible.”

One of Michael’s first stops when he returned stateside was Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He visited with soldiers who were recovering from catastrophic combat injuries. The singer explains, “I was listening to their stories and understanding why they had made these decisions to go to Iraq. And I just developed this new understanding of it. And that’s when I started writing the song Nobody Right, Nobody Wrong.” The tune that many believe should be nominated for a Peace Prize invites the listener to let go of their fixed point of view, and recognize we’re all much more alike than not.

“One of the things that I learned on that trip was that there’s no one that you wouldn’t love if you knew their story. And to be able to understand people’s stories is what I feel is one of the most important things that is needed in the world right now. And the way that you have to do it is you have to step back from the judgment saying this person’s wrong, and I’m right and that’s what that song’s about.”

11:59

“Michael told me we were going to be doing this on a ship but I had no sense what that was going to be like until we actually showed up,” esteemed yoga teacher Seane Corn shares. “I remember walking out onto the main deck and there are massive canons attached to the boat pointing outward directly to where we would be playing and I would be teaching. The knowledge of where this boat has been, the impact it had on lives was visible to us. It was this real interesting juxtaposition between wanting to hold the space for unity, interdependence, and peace under the shadow of these weapons designed for the opposite.”

Worship Is Greater Then…

The USS North Carolina is the most decorated US Battleship of World War II. It participated in the Battles of Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and every major naval offense in the Pacific. It’s officially credited with 24 aircraft kills, the bombardment of nine Japanese strongholds, a merchantman vessel, and more. Some of its’ combat crew perished when it was struck by a torpedo. The Soulshine Tour held a sold-out yoga class with live music there. It was a first for all. As colorful yogis unrolled their mats onto the grey deck, a phrase entered Corn’s consciousness, “Worship is greater than Warship.” A mantra that powered her through the intense experience.

“It’s very easy for people to think about peace love truth and unity in the safety of their own yoga school.” Corn says. “They light the candles, they have the deities but it’s often devoid of the harsh realities of existence. So what the opportunity was that day was to hold both the shadow and light in peace there.” Between warrior poses, she asked the class, “When we say we want peace, what are willing to sacrifice?” Seane reflects, “It was complex for sure, but it was ultimately one of the most powerful yoga teaching experiences I ever had.”

Pray In Action Brett Mazurek / 3rdi

Seane pauses thoughtfully and continues, “Working with Michael, I always appreciate not just his artistry and his depth but his genuine commitment to raising awareness in a way that doesn’t alienate the myriad of beliefs that are out there. He is strong and he’s steady, he’s purposeful in his intention and masterful in capacity not just to hold space but to hold space for love. I have been blessed to bear witness to how skillfully he brings people together, in a way that is both provocative and uplifting and it’s a rare artist, I believe, who can do both and have everyone walking away feeling hopeful inspired and activated from within. And Michael is that kind of artist to me.”

Pray For Grace

“In the early 2000’s my brother was sent to Iraq as an infantryman to avoid a felony. I disagreed with that war so much.” Drew McManus, lead singer of Satsang, explains, “I absolutely loved Underground Hip Hop and message heavy punk rock, but I also exclusively played acoustic guitar. When I first heard Franti it kind of all clicked for me that I didn’t have to pick a genre.”

Drew escaped an abusive household, sold drugs to survive, and spent time in rehab. Soon after he had the opportunity to trek through Nepal where he received the message he was meant to dedicate himself to music. McManus pledged to help others who had experienced similar, but as anyone in the industry will tell you, the road to success can be a long, hard climb. Drew’s band Satsang played an open-air venue in Florida with an unusual set-up. The green rooms are on an upstairs balcony that overlook the stage.  There’s really no quiet, or privacy, but it can create some cosmic conditions.

A few months later the promoter for the venue asked if Satsang would like to open the upcoming Spearhead Show. Drew remembers, “I kinda freaked. I have been a Franti fan since about 2003. I thought, ‘We have to get to this show. Franti will watch our set and want to take us on the road.’ Drew did the math. Flights to Florida, plus gear, plus rental car would leave them $37 in profits divided by 3, but it was the chance of lifetime.

Michael did watch the Satsang set. Afterwards Drew said “If you want me to spit a verse on something I’m here for it” McManus remembers, The next day at sound check he had his engineer give me a mic. We did the collab the next 2 nights.”

Drew McManus and Michael Franti onstage c. Greyson Christian Plate

A few weeks later Drew got the call inviting Satsang to join Spearhead on the road for their summer dates. Drew reflects, “Seeing Michael’s rate of hustle, work, and output changed the way I approached my career for sure. I’m forever grateful to him for that boost and his council during that year. He continues to inspire me… the dude has been at it for decades and is still evolving as an artist and growing his audience. His stage presence and energy puts dudes half his age to shame! Him taking us on tour that year put so many eyes on us. There is absolutely no telling where we would be without his support. So grateful for Michael.”

Do It For The Love

“I first met Steve and Hope Dezember on Twitter” Michael mentions, “Hope started saying to me my husband has ALS and he’d really like to come to one of your shows as he may be dying soon.”

When Steve was first diagnosed he and Hope had only been dating for a few months. He told her, “I understand if you want to go away, but if you don’t will you marry me?” She immediately said yes. Not only did the loving couple endure, but Hope became Steve’s main caregiver.

Life Is Better with You Michael, Hope and Steve

Michael remembers, “The next day we met them and saw Steve in a wheelchair, he was almost completely paralyzed. He could barely speak in whispers but his positivity shined through so much. I invited them to watch the show from the side of the stage, and I introduced them as I was singing the song, ‘Life is better with you.’ And they both came on stage and at one point I look over and Steve whsipers to Hope, “I want to get up out of my chair.” And Hope lifted Steve up out of the chair and started to dance in front of 20,000 people and there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

Hope Dezember shares, “It was such a moving moment to have Michael care about us so much, and then to have so many people receive us and care about us so much and it literally changed our lives.”

Overwhelmed by the emotional experience, Franti and his girlfriend ER nurse Sara Agah had an idea. What if they facilitated similar experience for others in need of a reprieve…? They created “Do It For The Love” a non-profit, wish-granting foundation that brings people with life threatening illnesses to have one on one experience with their favorite musical artist at a live concert. This year they are celebrating their tenth anniversary, having granted 3,5000 music-related wishes to an estimated 12,000 recipients.

And I Know One Thing, That I Love You – Michael with the Craig Family in Cape Cod

One of them was The Craig Family in Cape Cod. Mom Rebecca emotes, “My son Sawyer’s Do It For The Love wish was to meet Michael Franti. He had Sawyer sing, “Say Hey” on stage, and included our other son Jackson too. At that point Sawyer was about a year into his treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia. So many of our friends were there, who took video. It still brings me to tears every time I watch it. Michael gave me one of the best hugs I’ve ever received in my entire life. Our family believes that music heals and our evening with Michael filled us with love, hope, and positivity.”

Life Is Better With You

“You know how Michael introduces the song on stage?” Sara Agah Franti blushes, “He tells the story about how we had this amazing Valentine’s Day, on the beach, we went snorkeling at sunset, we had donuts on the boat, and it was so magical. And the next morning, we got into the biggest argument.”

The couple met at a music festival, became friends and after some years, it developed into something more. Much of their courtship was spent surrounded by the band and crew on tour buses. They took off to the other side of the world for some time alone, and Sara remembers, “We’re in Bali, and it’s supposed to be like the best day Valentine’s Day ever, and we’re sitting here processing for four hours,” She laughs, “We worked through it and he picked up his guitar and he started writing ‘Life is Better With You’, right there, it had come to him.”

Some Days Are Better Than Other Day  c. Angga Vandi

“Life is Better With You” became a commercial success. It’s in rotation on the radio, has been streamed more than 19 million times on Spotify, and was even in a Blue Cross Blue Shield commercial (internet forums abuzz asking “What is that song? I love it”). In the decade since it’s been released, hundreds have approached Michael and Sara sharing their stories, “It was our wedding song!” “He proposed to me by playing that on the guitar!” “Our family sings it in the car, even our two-year-old can sound out the words!” Sara jokes, “And this was before we were even engaged!”

Yes, Michael played it for Sara at their wedding, and the song continues to have deep meaning, not only to the couple but to the thousands who sing it as an anthem of sorts. Sara laughs, “Michael always gets this great pass, because if we have an argument on tour, then he’ll just go on stage and play the song to me and I’m like, ‘Aaaahhhh fiiiine, I forgive you’.”

Never Too Late

“The funniest thing is Taj will be playing with blocks, and he’ll start singing, Vibe check one two, one two Michael’s newest song,” Sara says.

In 2018 the Frantis added an addition to their family, Taj who is now almost five years old. Sara observes,” There was another time recently he was playing with dinosaurs and Legos and was singing “I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive.’ I’m like how do you even know the words of these songs? It’s the sweetest thing to see where his interests lie.”

Just To Say I Love You; Michael and Sara Agah Franti

Michael’s oldest son Cappy is now 36, his middle son Ade is 24. “Yesterday, I had lunch with my mom, “Michael says,” I was showing her a video of my four-year-old Taj, and he was being really rambunctious my mom was like [he imitates her shaking her head] yes, just like you.”

Michael lets that sink in, and says, “Being a dad, I guess the main thing is knowing which things are really serious and which things aren’t. What are the things that you should be very concerned about, and what are the things you need to just be more patient or flexible about. So, I feel more happy than ever today because of having that wisdom. It makes it a lot more enjoyable to be around a toddler who is as crazy as I was at that age.”

We’ve Got Room For Everybody

“People had been contacting me saying Kenny Chesney is using your song, “Say Hey (I Love You)” as the walkout song for his band on tour.” Michael remembers, “At first, I was like, “Who is Kenny Chesney?’ ”

The country music superstar Kenny Chesney is known for singing about topics like tractors, beer, and his hometown. His largely Southern and patriotic audience orients to America in a way that’s probably different than the social justice organizations in Golden Gate Park. But if you listen to Kenny’s lyrics closely, you may discover there is a message of unity just underneath. Michael explains, “I got to meet him at a festival that we both played at, and we just really hit it off. We became friends right away, and although his music is known as being in the country music genre. I consider him to be a musician of optimism, as I am.”

We All Friends Here; Michael Franti and Kenny Chesney

To me, optimism is actually one of the highest forms of courage.

Michael continues, “To me, optimism isn’t just like you wake up and go today is going to be a great day, no bad vibes and I got this. Optimism is when you can wake up and go ‘You know what, I know today is going to be challenging, and every day in fact might be. And there’s going to be things along the way that come up. And I have the wisdom, the tenacity, the love, the joy, the appreciation, the gratitude that will get me through these challenging moments’.  And to me, optimism is actually one of the highest forms of courage, and not just being naive about the world. And that’s what I love about his music.”

The two had been friends for about seven years when Michael got a call. He retells, “Kenny’s like, ‘Let’s go do this tour.’ And the first show is supposed to be at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium, 90,000 tickets were sold. And then we get this call, the first 30 days of the tour are going to be postponed due to this little thing called COVID. And I remember thinking ‘A whole month, the tour is not going to happen for a whole month?’ And then three years later, here we are. So yes, so it didn’t happen, but so many other things have happened.”

The Sound Of Sunshine

“Michael is adopted. I’m a child of refugee parents, our parents had to fight and survive,” Agah Franti states. Like most everyone, the Frantis many activities halted during the pandemic. No concerts, no nonprofit wishes, no in-person public speaking, and no guests at their Soulshine Bali Eco-Resort and Retreat.

Sara remembers, “One morning, it was in August of 2020, Michael woke up and he looked at me, he’s like ‘We’re not just going to survive the pandemic, we’re going to thrive and we’re going to fight. And so we committed as a couple to build.”

Soulshine Bali c. Ary LeCir

Despite no bookings, the Frantis kept their staff on at the Soulshine Sound Retreat in Bali that they co-own. Agah Franti says, “ We just created this place where people can come and just be themselves, find the space to reconnect with themselves and  just have fun. We have an adult water slide, a jumping plank, three restaurants now, a spa. We put vinyl record players in the rooms.” The property features a walking path along the perimeter next to the river, and many native nooks for alone time. Vacationers and retreatants can enjoy cocktails and mocktails in the massive pool, practice yoga with some of their favorite teachers, and if desired, make new friends. Sara exclaims, “We love when people who don’t know each other can share experiences and make these connections.”

The Franti Family at Soulshine

Jennifer Carmel was recovering from her father’s passing, when she decided to do something different. She booked a SoulRocker Retreat lead by Gina Caputo to lift her spirits and try something new. “Soulshine is an absolutely magical spot. You can feel the energy immediately once you set foot inside the grounds” she states. The organic chef accredits the retreat with reconnecting her to her yoga practice, her breath, her body, her soul. We made friends for life on that trip.” Jenny exclaims, “We are all still connected, we have a group, and we plan trips and Michael Franti concerts together.”

Say Hey (I Love You)

“Michael Franti is one of the greatest performers on the planet!!” implores Native Wayne Jobson, lauded musicologist and DJ.  “His shows are transcendental. He is in the same league as Springsteen, Bono, Jagger, and Bob Marley. He becomes one with his audience who identify with him as a friend and brother rather than an untouchable celebrity. As a human, he is remains as humble as when I first met him 25 years ago.”

Over the last four decades Michael Franti and Spearhead have defied categorization. They have continued to evolve to meet the moment, inspiring millions of fans along the way In a film about his life Michael states, “The reason I started playing music is that I thought it could change the world…for decades I’ve traveled the world playing a mix of socially conscious, politically charged, rap, reggae and acoustic music I’ve played in night clubs and festivals and stadiums, and street corners. I’ve played for prisoners in Folsom and San Quentin, I’ve played in protests and in war zones. In 2004 I went to Iraq and played in the streets of Baghdad for US soldiers and for Iraqi civilians alike. I spent over 20 years on the road before I ever had a song in the top 20, and together with my band spearhead we’ve sold millions of records.”

Big Big Love; Spearhead Summer Tour

Michael Franti states, “The very best part of what I do is I get to meet tons of people every single day. Who are trying to survive in an incredibly challenging world. It’s hard, it’s really, really hard sometimes just to get by. And to hold onto your humanity, your dignity your pride, your heart, your soul and to feel like you have a sense of purpose in this world.”

Take Me To The Place I Need To Go

It’s a sold out show at the Hollywood Bowl, Spearhead is on stage rocking the place. A spotlight follows Michael Franti into the audience. Fans scream in excitement, snap selfies, and sing along. Two vets in the front row give him the peace sign, as a “Do It For The Love” family watches from the side of the stage.

Backstage a group of friends are gathered; music industry execs, radio DJs, TV stars, and such. In line to talk to the troubadour are bold environmentalists, publishing mavens, yoga stars, and striving musicians. There are social justice activists he has helped empower along the way. Michael walks in barefoot, guitar still strapped to his chest. He sings the acoustic, acapella version. ““My Lord, My Lord, My Lord, show me all the things I need to know” the group sings back in repsonse, “My Lord, My Lord, My Lord, take me to the place I need go….”

Michael keeps singing,

“We all get the time we’re given
Mine ain’t over so I’ll keep on livin’
We all get the life we’re livin’
Mine ain’t over so I’ll keep on givin’
‘Til the day I die,
My Lord, My Lord, My Lord,
Take me to the place I need to go…”

See Michael Franti at Bhakti Fest This Weekend

Joshua Tree Lake & Campground
Sept. 15-17, 2023
2780 Sunfair Road, Joshua Tree, CA 92252
More info here.

Join Bhakti Fest Presents Krishna Das, Nina Rao and friends for “Bhakti in Bali” at Soulshine

November 11-18, 2023.
More info here 

The post Michael Franti; Take Me To The Place I Need To Go appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Sometimes life’s most challenging moments gift us insight into how our spiritual practices hold and heal us when we need them most. At a time when world-renowned, Grammy-nominated devotional singer, touring musician, and teacher Snatam Kaur is creatively flourishing, she is also helping to care for her father, Sat Santokh, as he copes with cancer. Snatam’s lifelong Kirtan practice — both private and publicly, at concerts and classes — has proven to be a poignant comfort to her in this difficult time.

A New Single, a New Album

August 18 marked the debut of “Bani Guru,” the first single from Soul Bird, the upcoming album release (mid-October on Be Why Music) Snatam recorded with her mother, Prabhu Nam Kaur, and her 14-year-old daughter, Jap Preet Kaur. This first single is dedicated to Sat Santokh.

“Bani Guru” positions the three generations’ sweetly stirring vocals front and center against a delicately streamlined harmonium, guitar, and percussion arrangement. While sharing a tonal resemblance to one another, each of the women contributes a distinct quality to the song. Together, they project something special — transcendent and authentically devotional. Beauty and purity shine within the track.

“Bani Guru” and Soul Bird grew from an ambitious passion project Snatam and Prabhu Nam Kaur are pursuing together — cataloging and recording their family legacy of nearly 200 songs and chants from the Sikh tradition. This album is a part of that project, and for it, Snatam suggested to her mother that they share something with special meaning and pick whatever intuitively comes. Prabhu Nam Kaur turned inward, and “Bani Guru,” a Shabad or sacred poem that is sung from the Sikh tradition, came up.

“The words of this Shabad, ‘Bani Guru Bani Hai Bani,’ mean, ‘The song of God is the Guru, and then the Guru — the teacher and the wisdom — is the song of God,’” said Snatam, on the eve of the single’s release while simultaneously helping care for her father and prepare for the U.S. portion of her Light of Sacred Chant Tour. “The mantra is about going to the song of God for that connection. It’s profound because that’s the practice my mom taught me—that if you want to access the wisdom, sing, and it will come.” The next line of ‘Bani Guru’ translates to, ‘One who serves this energy of the song of God, who serves this energy of wisdom, then that wisdom or Guru manifests on the earth plane and in our lives.’

“At this time, with my father dealing with cancer, ‘Bani Guru’ is just the medicine we need to keep chanting and connecting to — praying for that energy of Guru to come through in our lives in a very real physical way with community support and all the little miracles needed day by day when dealing with cancer,” she said. “I feel the Guru come to our aid through life itself, through our own hearts, our family, our friends, and even the challenges we face.”

The Wisdom of a Committed Kirtan Practice

Snatam’s music career is deeply rooted in the Kirtan practice she was taught by her mother. “Two of the things I learned from her,” she said, “is, first, to go to Kirtan in times of trouble and need. Lean on Kirtan to find the good energy and ideas and a sense of relief. The second is to find a way to really open my heart to the Kirtan practice so that it becomes something that is alive for me — awake, juicy, and passionate. It takes a lot of cultivation of a daily Kirtan practice to find that space. It takes a desire to find that internal passion or connection with the heart, but once you do, it’s totally worth it because you find the capacity within as you are singing to open like a flower in the Sun.

“So that’s what I look for in my Kirtan practice, in the songs we record and those we choose to play on tour. I try to find a way to be in my heart space and connect to the flow of God and Guru with passion, love, and joy. It’s not always easy, or even possible for me, but this is what I strive for and what I feel my mother has mastered.”

Light of Sacred Chant Tour / L.A. Concert September 17 with Special Guest Jahnavi Harrison

That loving, celebrative sense of juicy, passionate awake-ness is palpable in Snatam’s live performances. From September 10 to 29 (with a show in Los Angeles on September 17 at the Wilshire Ebell Theater), she’ll tour the U.S. for the final stint of her Light of Sacred Chant Tour. This will be Snatam’s first Los Angeles concert since 2019, and she invites people to gather and honor the profound changes everyone has experienced and to chant in community, cultivating a renewed sense of love and joy while healing divisiveness with one another and within ourselves.

Performing with Snatam are her band members Ram Dass (piano and vocals), Grecco Buratto (guitar and vocals), and Sukhmani Rayat (percussion, tabla, and vocals). For Snatam’s Los Angeles show, she will be joined by special guest and popular chant artist Jahnavi Harrison, who will be sharing one of her chants, along with another chant that she and Snatam are collaborating on for an upcoming recording.

Healing as We Chant Together

“We’ve toured Europe and Latin America this past year, and I’m looking forward to really connecting to the flow of what’s happening within the concerts at home in the States,” said Snatam. “I feel the chanting itself is healing medicine, and I believe we can heal ourselves through collective chanting—that there are a lot of miracles available to us. I know how much transformation this energy has brought into my life. I feel blessed and honored to be a part of these group experiences, especially after not being in North America and connecting with many of our sacred chant communities for so long. Connecting through chant is one of the most powerful ways to build community, and I’m really looking forward to sharing that opportunity again.”

The Light of Sacred Chant concerts begin in a very meditative, heart-opening way and move into a lot of celebration and joy. “We’ve incorporated some fun pieces into the set, and the audience participation has grown to a new level,” she said. “With many of our songs, we’re doing traditional chanting back and forth. But then, there are some really engaging vocal collaborations with the audience that create a beautiful, jubilant experience. As a band, we’ve come to a really strong place where together we can tune into the audience and serve through the music and chanting.”

Snatam and the band are also completing a new studio album scheduled for release in early 2024. “I’m really excited to share some of the new music my band and I have been working on for the album at the concerts. We’re coming to a new level of trust and love with each other musically, and it’s given us room for improvisation in our live show.”

Click for Light of Sacred Chant concert tickets, and listen to “Bani Guru” (released by Be Why Music) here. Explore classes with Snatam, her husband Sopurkh, and other teachers at Kirtan and Kundalini, their online sacred music and yoga school, dedicated to supporting the spiritual journey of as many practitioners as possible. Find these and other resources on Snatam’s Linktree.

The post Music and Mantra as Medicine – The Healing Joy of Snatam Kaur’s New Songs and U.S. Tour Dates appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Venerable Thubten Chodron is a pioneering American Buddhist nun, and founder of Sravasti Abbey. She has been working on The Library of Wisdom and Compassion book series with His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet now available through Wisdom Publications.

LA YOGA was lucky to get an early look at this extraordinary undertaking, and an audience with the beloved Bodhisattva behind it.

Each Heart

Cheryl Greene grew up outside of Los Angeles, during the Vietnam War. Like many confronted with the mortality of youth, she questioned the purpose of life (and death). “I couldn’t find any answers really in any of the theistic religions, and so, I figured it must have something to do with helping people,” she explains. The seeker became a teacher and got married. The couple returned their weddings gifts to travel through Europe, North Africa and Asia.

Back at home, the newlywed saw a flyer for a Buddhist course. The Tibetan lamas advised students, “You don’t have to believe anything we say. Think about it, if it makes sense to you, accept it. If it doesn’t, leave it aside.” The revered scholar reflects, “What they said really touched my heart.” She started meditating, became Buddhist and realized,  “I wanted to become a nun…I thought oh, I really want to devote my life to this.”

The aspirant studied in Nepal, and India, landing in Dharmsala. In 1977, she was given permission to be ordained, and took the novice precepts. In the years since she has studied, taught and started dharma centers in Italy, Singapore, France and the US. She has become known to many as Venerable Thubten Chodron, respectfully referred to in the familiar as “Venerable.”

But First

In 1979, Thubten started attending talks by His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet. She would have appointments to ask him dharma questions, “So that kind of established a personal relationship,“ she says. In the early 90s, there was a conference of Western Buddhist teachers. Chodron recalls, “I had the idea that because we’ve been receiving teachings from Tibetan lamas who didn’t know about Western culture, and yet his Holiness did. And so I thought ‘Gee, it would be really nice if his Holiness wrote a very short text that the Tibetan lamas could use as a root text to teach the Dharma.’ Because Westerners, there’s a lot of Buddhist ideas that we need to become acquainted with.”

Venerable Thubten Chodron and His Holiness The XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet

Chodron continues, “So I went to his Holiness and requested that he write that, and he said ‘Oh, very good, but first, we have to write the long version’. And so, he sent me away with a transcript of a teaching he had given, I edited it, that was the start of the book.”

Venerable would collect questions from Westerners, transcribe talks, and be sent off to monasteries and libraries, for years at a time. “So the manuscript kept getting bigger and bigger” she laughs, “by this time it was 2,000 pages.”

The original idea of a “small book” has sprawled into ten large ones now known as The Library of Wisdom and Compassion book series. It’s a compendium of Buddhist teachings, the ninth volume entitled Appearing and Empty  released this week.

Known for her depth, quick wit, and wide smile, Ven summarized each of the books for us.

1. Approaching The Buddhist Path

“When his Holiness starts teaching in the West, he goes on two planes. One plane is compassion and teaching everybody about the kind heart. The other plane that he gives to people in the West, because he says these are educated, intelligent people– is he starts talking about a cause and effect, and what we call the two truths; the conventional truth, the ultimate truth.

So in this first volume, we have a combination of talking about compassion, and service to society, how to help people here and now. So that’s volume one.”

2. The Foundation Of Buddhist Practice

“The Foundation Of Buddhist Practice talks more about rebirth, what is mind, the continuity of mind. It has a nice section about how to select spiritual teachers, the qualities to look for, and how to relate to spiritual teachers, because there’s been a lot of scandals. Here’s where His Holiness’s mind is so practical about; you have to check out people, you’re the one who determines if somebody’s one of your teachers or not. You have to look; do they have good ethical conduct? Do they have meditation experience? Do they teach the regular Buddhist path? Or are they making something up? How are they with their teachers? With their students?
Do they ask for a lot of donations? Or are they sincerely interested in their student’s path and helping them to attain awakening?

Then there’s a whole section also about karma, because Westerners are very interested, what is karma? How does it operate? And this whole thing about the idea of God who creates the world, and then either rewards them or punishes sentient beings, and how Buddhism is very different from that. So that’s the second volume.”

3. Samsara, Nirvana And Buddha Nature

“The third is Samsara, Nirvana and Buddha Nature. So there we go into more depth about what is our present situation as beings who are afflicted by distorted concepts, and by unrealistic and disturbing emotions, and how does that create rebirth. Is taking one rebirth after the other really a happy occasion or not?

So here are the four truths; our present situation, what causes it, and then, the path, and what the result is the true cessation. It talks about Buddha nature because we all have the potential, we have incredible potential to really practice and get out of samsara. So that’s volume three.”

4. Following In The Buddha’s Footsteps

“Volume four is Following In The Buddha’s Footsteps. The first part is talking about refuge in the Buddha, dharma and sangha. What is the Buddha? Are there many Buddhas? What is the dharma? What are the sangha?

Second part of the book is going into the three higher trainings. So ethical conduct, how to develop concentration, and then wisdom. Okay, so that’s volume four.”

5. In Praise Of Great Compassion

“Volume five is one of my favorite volumes. I mean, the whole thing I love all the topics, but this one especially, it’s called In Praise of Great Compassion talks about what is compassion from a Buddhist perspective. So again, this is very different than secular compassion. Secular compassion, you feel sorry for somebody. Buddhist compassion, you don’t feel sorry for them. You want to help them alleviate their pain and their misery, but it isn’t oh, you poor little baby, let me save you, okay? Because in Buddhism, you can’t save anybody people have to practice and create the causes themselves.

Then it talks about how compassion is spoken of different traditions, it talks about how to develop compassion and so on, and it’s a beautiful book.”

6. Courageous Compassion

“Volume six is called Courageous Compassion. This is talking about once you’ve generated compassion, once you’ve generated Bodhicitta, the aspiration to become a Buddha in order to benefit other living beings, then what do you practice? So here it explains generosity, ethical conduct, a fortitude, as many people call that patience, I call it fortitude, because it means you have to have inner strength, yea..? Then joyous effort. So to have effort, you need to have joy. Then meditative stability, so your meditation practice and then wisdom.

The second part of the book talks about the paths and stages that bodhisattva’s practice. Bodhisattvas are those who are aspiring to become Buddhists for the benefit of all beings and have a certain level of realization of compassion and Bodhicitta. And how the path is for them, what kind of realizations they get at different levels of the path.

And it can be really inspiring if you have a sense of your Buddha nature and you think oh, if I keep practicing, not expecting to be Buddha by next Tuesday, or even 10 years from Tuesday. But if I have a long view and it’s going to take many lifetimes, I can actually attain these amazing states where I can, I have the compassion, the wisdom, the skillful means, the power to benefit others as much as I am capable of. So it talks about those stages of development.

So that’s volume six.”

7. Searching For The Self

“Volume seven is called Searching For The Self, and volume seven, eight and nine are all about the nature of reality, emptiness, the lack of inherent existence. And how the ultimate nature and the conventional nature both exist. And you need to be able to posit both.

So Searching For The Self is a kind of like an introduction to emptiness. It talks about some of the different philosophical views of what selflessness or no self means, what emptiness means. Because there’s different views, Buddha taught different things to different people because it was his way of being skillful and teaching people according to their own level. It talks about that, and it talks about yes, just the realizations that they gain along the path.

So volume seven gives a lot of that introductory material. What is emptiness? What are the different philosophical views? Why do we study different views? How do they help us really realize the point of it? And how it doesn’t mean that nothing exists, and still exists.”

8. Realizing The Profound View

“Volume eight carries on from that, and it goes into a lot of the, what goes into the prominent arguments that are used to refute inherent existence. Because emptiness isn’t just close your eyes and empty your mind. If it would just get rid of all thoughts and empty your mind, then a cow would be enlightened. Because it doesn’t have a lot of conceptual thought. Maybe that’s why they say holy cow, I don’t know.

Realizing the nature of reality isn’t just blank-minded meditation, it’s not stopping our thoughts. It’s generating a very astute focused mind, that can really say here’s how I think things exist, can they actually exist in the way that I think they do?

So volume eight really gets into that, and really makes you look at well, how do I think things exist? And then, it also talks a lot about dependent arising, because we say on the ultimate level, which is analyzing how things exist, they lack any inherent nature. They are empty of inherent existence.

The more you understand emptiness and selflessness, the more you understand dependent nature. And this is like super profound. So that’s volume eight, and that’s the second of my favorite, most fun.“

9. Appearing And Empty

“Then volume nine, it continues on about emptiness. But here, we’re talking about what’s called the two truths. Okay, so the ultimate truth that things are empty of inherent existence, and the conventional truth or another way of saying it the veiled truth. Truth for somebody whose mind is ignorant, in other words, our minds. It doesn’t mean people who vote for the opposite.

All of our minds, even on the conventional level, we don’t perceive things accurately. We perceive them with the degree of accurateness and the sense that we can tell a car from a table, and we know if you plant carrot seeds, you get carrots.

So we can identify the things in our environment, we can work on a conventional level and have court cases, and all this kind of thing, but we don’t really, so that’s on the level of appearances. So that’s the first part of the title, appearing. But all these appearances that appear to exist out there from their own side, actually, are empty even here in existence.

In other word, they exist in relationship to our mind. They don’t have their own nature that makes them what they are. They depend on how we cognize them, and how we designate them. So that’s volume nine.”

The tenth and final volume will likely release next year.

Dharma In Action

When asked the benefits of this series for lay people, spiritual seekers and practiced Buddhists alike, Venerable responded, “What all this does is it softens our mind up, and it opens our mind up. So instead of wanting to put everything in a category, give it a label and then think we know everything about it. It’s calling us to be much more flexible, much more open-minded, much more realizing that every single person is a combination of well, every single organism I should say, is a combination of contradictory thoughts and contradictory emotions. So they’re all basically alike. So who’s the enemy? And who’s the friend?” A topic she regards as timely, as our country once again contends with the division and upheavel of her youth.

Venerable teaches at a Buddhist Center

Convictional Faith

These days, Venerable and her community are celebrating 20 years of Sravasti Abbey an American Buddhist monastic community on a 300-acre property in Washington State. Founded by Venerable (and her two cats) in 2003, Sravasti Abbey is now home to twenty-eight monastics who engage in dharma, community and service daily.

During a recent Q+A there someone asked about the concept of “faith,” Venerable responded; “In the West, when we use the word ‘faith’, we usually think ‘blind faith’. In Buddhism, faith means trust, confidence. And this convictional faith is really important because it’s through thinking about things, and coming to your own conclusion that then you say, ‘Oh, that makes sense, that’s how I’m going to act.”

The Library of Wisdom and Compassion

Appearing and Empty was released this week, and is now available through Wisdom Publications here.

The Library of Wisdom and Compassion book series is available through Wisdom Publications here.

To learn more about Venerable Thubten Chodron click here.

To learn more about Sravasti Abbey click here.

The post His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama of Tibet and Venerable Thubten Chodron; Two Truths appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

The Tradition of SongKeepers Around the World

Ceremony and Song

Understanding the Art of Alchemy

The Energy Exchange with the Earth

SongKeepers Around the World

SongKeepers come from many different cultures from around the world…

The role of a human being, then, is to be a conduit of creation itself.

Mantra As Self-Generated Sound Healing

Sound as Communication

We are all part of planetary consciousness.

Remembering the Songs of our Ancestors

This is the recipe for SongKeeping

You can be a SongKeeper too!

The Voices of the SongKeeper School

The Inner Worlds of The SongKeeper School

The post SongKeepers are Guardians of the Earth and Vibration appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Who is Yogiraj Siddhanath SatGurunath?

My Miracle Summer of 2022

The post  Yogiraj Siddhanath SatGurunath:  My Guru and My Miracle appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Meeting of the Spirits to Create Yoga Soundtracks

Singing yoga teacher and festival favorite Johanna Beekman first met Grammy-nominated producer and multi-instrumentalist Ben Leinbach a decade ago when they were introduced by fellow yogic musician Benjy Wertheimer. Each with a passion for integrating multicultural influences, the pair developed an artistic synergy that enriches their collaborations with a distinct, light-filled energy.

The seven tracks on their new album, Yoga Soundtracks Volume 2, released July 14, 2023, by Be Why Music, project a lavish aural landscape, ideal for yoga and meditation practitioners or whenever soul-nurturing calm is the intention.

The project is a follow-up to Ben’s 2015 Yoga Soundtracks Volume 1, which featured various Kirtan vocalists. Yoga Soundtracks Volume 2, however, is a true partnership with Johanna. The album gleans previously produced tracks from her catalog— some of which they worked on together and others that Johanna produced independently—and reimagines them. Lush mixes enhanced with additional instrumental and vocals tracks imbue the recordings with new breadth.

Most notably, while Ben and Johanna have each released a lot of inspiring devotional music in sacred languages like Sanskrit, the language of yoga, this project replaces Sanskrit mantras from several original recordings with layers of soulful English lyrics and rich vocal beds that utilize Johanna’s voice as an instrument within the arrangements of global instrumentation. Ben has long been drawn to creating fusions of world music and elegantly intertwines its diverse tones and rhythms here. Matched with Johanna’s meld of gospel, Kirtan, and soft pop, the result is a unique yet familiar take on yoga music—soothing, deeply aspirational, and prayerful.

Exploring Lyrical Familiarity

“I really wanted to universalize the language,” Johanna recently told us while on the road in Portland, Oregon. “My goal was to create a yoga soundtrack for an intentional, mindful practice, where we could weave the poetry of Rumi into the lyrics at times. Ben and I decided to use these existing luscious soundscapes as a basis for something that could reach a larger audience, serve people’s practices, and help them access a different part of the brain and nervous system.”

They also created “mash-ups” of multiple songs of Johanna’s. The first track, “Love Lives,” a dreamy, soulful welcome to the album, combines three of her originals. “We completely changed the lyrical content on that one,” Johanna said. “It starts with an intro from one song, changes keys into another, and finally opens up into this epic torch song. Together, they feel fully merged.”

Elaborating on the project’s genesis from his recording studio in San Anselmo, California, Ben added, “Hans Christian, a very talented multi-instrumentalist and producer based in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, who has worked with Johanna, was listening to some tracks she and I produced through the years and said, ‘You know, you’ve got a lot of great music here, a lot of great instrumental tracks backing the vocals. Why don’t you put together an instrumental album out of them?’ Johanna and I thought that was an interesting idea.”

From Instrumental to Incorporating Vocals

“Yoga Soundtracks Volume 2 started as an instrumental project, which was succeeding,” said Ben, “but Johanna’s such a great singer, we soon came around to wanting to feature her vocals. The idea was to create music that you could do yoga to, that was chill and relaxing, had cool hypnotic grooves, and little tidbits of English mantra. Words of spiritual wisdom are thrown in with reminders about compassion and love that can move you back into your heart space. We wanted to see if we could incorporate English into this type of album without it distracting or taking the focus away from practicing yoga or the general listening experience.”

It was a fruitful effort, with “Rise,” the album’s second track, for instance, built on the foundations of the Buddhist mantra Om Tare on Johanna’s Beyond Love album. “Rise” tunes into the energy of the Green Tara, Mother to all Buddhas and endless compassion, with English lyrics tenderly invoking that compassion. “In compassion, we arise, into magnificence…” The track features Indian-American singer and flutist Sheela Bringi.

Similarly, “May the Whole World Know” originally appeared on Johanna’s Heart Beats One album as Om Shanti. With added instruments, including Benjy Wertheimer on esraj and tabla, and Johanna’s English lyrics, the original transforms into a floating yearning prayer — “May the whole world know peace.”

Johanna’s Journey

Johanna was born into a spiritually engaged family, with music and yoga central to her upbringing. Her parents, George and Susan Grace Beekman came from the Midwest Bible Belt and moved to Oregon with the intention of raising their children to believe what they choose to believe. They still practice yoga daily, and Johanna’s father worked with Krishna Das and Ram Dass. Auspiciously, Ram Dass blessed her while she was still in her mother’s womb.

Says Johanna, “I landed pretty close to the tree and found it’s my dharma to lead a deep, spiritual, prayerful life where I weave all of the elements that have been really powerful to me.

“I’ve been singing since I could speak and writing songs about love since I was eight or nine. My first song was called ‘Just a Little More Love.’ It was about love being what the world needs to heal. I grew up singing interfaith gospel, and that’s also really one of my dharmas, to bring the gospel of the East to meet the gospel of the West,” she said.

Since then, Johanna has released seven albums of her own. She is a 500 RYT yoga instructor and brings her gospel-inspired Kirtan to festivals and workshops along with her signature Lullaby Yoga™, a restorative class accompanied by her soothing, heart-opening music.

Ben’s Journey

Ben didn’t fall far from the tree either. His parents were both musical. His father played piano and flute, and his mother dabbled in drums. “She was also a pretty good dancer and had good rhythm. I think that’s where most of my rhythm thing came from,” he said.

“Early on, I found that hearing music allowed me to feel at a deeper level. That really drew me in.” After taking drum lessons, playing in rock bands in high school, and exploring jazz, Ben attended Berklee College of Music before finishing up at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

He moved to the Bay Area, performed in jazz and rock ‘n’ roll clubs, and soon got a job at Spark, a (now defunct) recording studio in Oakland, where he moved into recording engineering. Honing his studio skills, working on everything from hip-hop and rap to jazz, Latin jazz, and rock, Ben eventually started recording and producing other artists and his own music.  One day, in the early 90s, Grammy-nominated sacred music artist, Jai Uttal, showed up at the studio to record his classic “Beggars and Saints” album. The project opened the door for Ben to work in East meets West yogic music, and Ben and Jai developed a long-term partnership. This also led Ben to record and produce Kirtan projects with Johanna, Deva Premal and Miten, Snatam Kaur, Donna De Lory, Jaya Lakshmi, David Newman, Mike Cohen, Brenda McMorrow, Katie Wise, Rob and Melissa, and others.

Weighing the intersection of music and yoga, Ben said, “I think music can be a direct path to the transcendence, the spiritual or the emotional realm —so direct that it doesn’t even need language to get there. Music seems to fit right in with anyone on a spiritual path trying to deepen their experience.

“And that’s not just the good stuff. That’s feeling the joy, the bliss, and the excitement, but also the melancholy, the suffering, sadness, and despair. You need to be able to tap into the experience and the full spectrum to have a rich life. That’s an important part of the spiritual path. These are the common elements that all human beings experience. I like to create music that allows everyone—or whoever hears it — to feel the commonality we all share, the same emotional experience. Hopefully, that leads to more love and more peace in the world.

“To me, that’s part of the spiritual and yoga path—to find more peace, love, and compassion—feeling you’re part of this life experience and connected to it.” Check out Yoga Soundtracks Volume 2 . For information on Be Why Music, please visit https://bewhymusic.com/.

The post Yoga Soundtracks Volume 2, a Lushly Uplifting New Album from Johanna Beekman and Ben Leinbach appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Ah, modern dating! Where technology, desire, love and emotions whirl together leaving us dazed, confused, occasionally exhilarated, ghosted, catfished, soft launched, cobwebbed or all of the above and more. To say that dating and the quest for connection has changed in today’s modern world, is an understatement. I mean, c’mon, it’s got its own vernacular.

From the historical, societal and cultural roles that men and women play, to the ways we connect and interact with potential partners, dating has undergone a major shift due to changing gender roles, the rise of the feminine, and technology. And, even though we are more connected than ever, are we making any real connections?

Connection is digital.

Dating apps have revolutionized the dating game by providing a convenient platform for people to connect and meet potential partners. They have expanded the dating pool worldwide and made it easier to find compatible matches, breaking geographical and social barriers — but not without consequence and a few kicks to your limbic system; the part of your brain that regulates emotion.

In the age of Bumble, Tinder, Hinge et al, it’s as simple as swiping left or right; or is it? Swiping through profile after profile (after profile) can feel like a never-ending buffet line; where you’re hoping to find that rare delicacy and taking a little bit of everything as you move through. But where does it end?

Is it any surprise that dating apps have actually altered the dynamics of human connection?

They have introduced new norms and behavior by encouraging a more superficial approach to dating; where initial judgments are often based on appearance and limited information. The focus seems more on physical attractiveness rather than compatibility, shared interests and similar intentions, like someone looking for casual sex versus an LTR, friends with benefits, etc… Does anyone even read these profiles before swiping right?

In our pixelated universe, intimacy has also taken on a whole new meaning.

Before even meeting a match in person, we find ourselves baring our souls (and other things) to virtual strangers, exchanging electronic sentiments, instead of whispering them into the warm ear of someone we’ve met and KNOW we want to connect with.

So, what IS human connection anyway?

On a rudimentary level, connection is chemical; the intricate play of biology and physiology that pretty much acts like a drug inside of us. Hormones such as oxytocin, known as the “bonding hormone,” play a crucial role in forming feelings of trust, intimacy, and attachment. We get a dose of oxytocin when we give or get good hugs! Neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine activate and influence our mood and reward systems, curating experiences of pleasure, and social bonding.

Connection also consists of emotional and psychological bonds that form between people that results in mutual understanding, empathy, and shared experiences, creating closeness, intimacy and eventually, love.

In doing research on the phenomenon of connection, I came across a book called, The Evolved Masculine by Destin Gerek, a relationship coach, certified sexologist, and founder of his company by the same name. The book’s tagline is: Be the Man the World Needs and the One She Craves?. I was intrigued.

As a woman on a spiritual path that has only deepened throughout the years, I am only interested in connecting with a man who fully embraces his evolved masculine self, his highest potential. A strong, self realized, self actualized man who is in the right relationship to his power and has the ability (and desire) for deep and sacred exchange. Needless to say, I was curious AF about this book.

In general, women seek emotional connection as a means of deepening relationships, weaving intricate tapestries of support and empathy. Men have historically faced societal expectations to suppress feelings and emotions and we’re seeing just how this plays out on the world stage.

Destin Gerek, who is dedicated to redefining and evolving masculinity for the 21st century says, “Our broken world does not need less masculine power, we need more men in the right relationship to their masculine power.” Amen.

While generalizations can never capture the full complexity of individuals, there are some distinct patterns that emerge in how men and women approach and experience connection.

With gender norms evolving and the growing Women’s Empowerment Movement, we have witnessed the rise of the feminine and the #MeToo movement, advocating against sexual harassment and assault, and promoting gender equality. More men are now embracing their emotional depth and authenticity, connecting with their inner worlds, tapping into their full presence, and the highest version of themselves.

Shift happens.

But, let’s face it, we can only connect with others as deeply as we connect to ourselves. We must embark on a journey of self-discovery and self-awareness so we can truly understand our own desires, values, and boundaries. Delving into our own depths, we cultivate a sense of authenticity, self-love, self-acceptance, self-confidence and emotional intelligence, but it takes work. Time. Discipline and maybe, therapy.

Know thyself.

But, how can we begin to connect with ourselves deeply and authentically?

There are many ways. These include, but are not limited to:

• Meditation.
• Contemplation.
• Reflection.
• Silence.
• Yoga.
• Ecstatic dance.
• Prayer.
• Therapy.
• Breath work.
• Chanting.

These practices introduce so many physical and mental benefits, lowering stress, raising self awareness, and allowing for higher states of consciousness and connection to unfold.

Gerek has some ideas of his own.

Mindfulness.

He invites us to explore the realms of sensual embodiment, meaning ‘of the senses’, urging us to put down our Smartphones and step into the physical world of our five senses. The present moment. Now, where our deepest presence lies.

“Being present means not being in your mind chatter, not being in anxiety, fear, or fantasy. Presence means not worrying about the past or what has happened before, or being concerned about what might happen next.” Gerek writes.

“Being present is being IN your body and connected to your sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. When you are in your five senses, you are not in your mind. You are present in the moment, and women are incredibly attuned to this presence, even though many wouldn’t necessarily be able to articulate it.” Hmmmmmmmm…

Here’s where Gerek’s book really got me. He authored this text for men, to teach and inspire men to BE and become their best, most evolved selves yet as a woman reading it, these teachings revealed so much to me about the vast and lush psyche of a woman.

More intrigue.

Gerek knows and understands the entire spectrum of masculine energy. I actually felt a little voyeuristic peeking directly into this complex circuitry of man but it was Gerek’s understanding of FEMININE energy that spoke to something primordial in me.

Gerek states that, “women are primal huntresses for masculine presence.” I never knew how to verbalize this innate, archetypal dynamic, but he just did. He says that as a man, if you want to “open a woman into the fullness of her desire—wet, hot, hungry and coming back for more (and not just for sex but for you and your heart, as well)—you need to build your capacity for presence. Women want and crave a man who is willing to invest in himself on all levels so that his very presence and beingness invites her to unfold into her most alive and exalted expression. She wants her own actualization to blossom into the fullness of who she is capable of becoming.”

Now that’s connection.

See, in her highest expression, the evolved feminine embodies a depth of qualities that transcend societal expectations. Embracing her sensuality, she celebrates her body as a vessel of joy and creativity. She is a catalyst for change, using her voice and her unique perspective to create a more compassionate and equitable world. She embraces her nurturing nature for others, also honoring her own well-being. She is in touch with her emotions and embraces vulnerability as a source of strength.

The evolved feminine values connection and collaboration, fostering inclusive and supportive relationships. The evolved masculine embodies a range of qualities that extend beyond traditional stereotypes. He embraces his strength, and emotional resilience, cultivating presence, self-awareness and introspection. This allows him to understand and navigate his own emotions and those of others with empathy and compassion.

The evolved masculine balances assertiveness with receptivity, knowing when to take action and when to listen. He values integrity and authenticity, choosing honesty and transparency in his interactions, respecting boundaries and creating a safe space for others to express themselves, especially women.

These archetypal aspects of feminine and masculine energy, the very universal laws that move the stars and the planets, the Yin and Yang of it all that ensures all things in the universe remain in constant harmony and motion, elicit the perfect landscape for true intimacy and exchange.

Connection is a choice.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love technology and dating apps serve their purpose, but in a world where someone new is a just swipe away and grass is proverbially greener on the other side, the plethora of options contributes to the paradox of choice, making it harder for individuals to commit and invest in a single person.

With a seemingly infinite pool of potential partners at our fingertips, we can become trapped in an endless loop of “What if?” and “Could there be someone better out there?” diminishing our abilities to connect with anyone at all.

Gerek teaches that commitment and choice are not enemies. It’s about knowing yourself and finding that rare person who makes you want to hide or delete your dating profile and take a leap into something deeper, more profound.

Connection is a gift.

One that could last a moment, a night or a lifetime. You could be on the other side of the world at a conference and meet a beautiful soul that changes your life, serving as a mirror and a catalyst for transformation: A Twin Flame…But, that’s a whole other article.

Ultimately, connection is an inside job, because the best relationship you could ever have is the one with yourself. As we learn to navigate and evolve our own emotional intimacy, we can live our best lives, our highest expression and share it with others for the good of all. Our world needs this. And so it is…

The post Beyond the Screen: Dating and Connecting in the Digital Age appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

When I think back to my teen years and early twenties, it boggles my mind that I was able to maintain the lifestyle I did. I moved fast, stayed up late, worked a high-intensity job in the film industry, lived on caffeine and cigarettes, and partied a lot. I was young and didn’t have kids. I was still a kid myself in a lot of ways, but when I got an ulcer, I knew it was time to make some adjustments. Or more accurately, my older sister told me I needed to.

Late one night, in a steamy room in Santa Monica, my sister, Jennifer, took me to my first power yoga class. I had done asana many times up to that point, but it was mostly on video at home or in gym settings. I had never done fast-paced and strong yoga like this. Sweat was pouring out of me from my first Downward-Facing Dog, and even though it was ten at night when class got out, I was buzzing. It was the best I had felt in years, and after just a few weeks of attending classes almost every day, I quickly became aware of the discordances between my old life and my desired new one.

Naturally, as someone with an addictive personality, I overcorrected at first. Rather than going out drinking five nights a week and chain-smoking all day, I discovered Ashtanga yoga and centered my entire life around it to the point that I had no room for anything or anyone else. Instead of living on microwaveable meals, I became so austere about my food choices that I decided I should be vegan and gluten free (even though I’ve never been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance). Also, it is worth noting that I am naturally anemic; multiple providers have begged me to eat meat. Not to mention that I was still actively bulimic during this period, so despite my strict “healthy” diet Monday to Friday, when Saturday or Sunday would roll around, I continued to binge and purge, which many times included over-exercising like doubling up on super strong movement classes.

I managed to get away with this “healthy” lifestyle for years, but as I began assisting and eventually leading teacher trainings, I started educating myself more deeply on the study of Ayurveda and I realized that just because my choices appeared good on paper or worked for others did not mean they were the right choices for me or my body. The clearest indicators that things were amiss were my high anxiety, insomnia, extraordinarily dry skin and hair, my quick-to-anger impulses (particularly on Los Angeles’s freeways), and my absentmindedness and lightning speed, which led to multiple car accidents on those same aforementioned freeways.

It also included my constantly upset tummy and hypersensitivity to everything around me. Oh, and let’s not forget to mention the fact that I hadn’t had a menstrual cycle in years.

As I sat in a lecture on Ayurveda one training, the master teacher listed off these very traits. She said that people who experience this are likely “vata types” and that when these traits were active, it was actually an indicator that the person was off balance. She spoke of the fact that many of us are attracted to the very things that send us off balance (hence my love for Ashtanga yoga and caffeine), but that in the Ayurveda system, opposites are what heal.

Over time, with the help of friends who intensively study Ayurveda and many, many books on the matter, I started to course correct. I adjusted my eating, adding in way more fats and oils and reintroducing meat. (Please note, I’m not advocating that you eat similarly. These were just the changes I needed to make at that point in time.) I adjusted my asana, favoring a much more grounded and slower pace to my obsessive and austere Ashtanga yoga habit. I started to let in a little more pleasure, including dating.

Fatefully, my menstrual cycle returned right before I met my husband (like, literally weeks before), and I was able to get pregnant and give birth to two healthy boys. I am no expert on the subject of Ayurveda, but even the little that I practice has helped me find the balance I have been seeking my entire life.
Ayurveda is an incredibly rich and extensive subject that people dedicate their entire lives to following and understanding. I have barely scraped the surface’s surface in my studies thus far, but it has given me a lens through which I can understand myself more deeply.

Something as simple as paying attention to when I should stop consuming caffeine during the daytime so I don’t disrupt my sleep can have a tremendous effect on my overall well-being and my relationship with my kids.

My practices of Ayurveda and yoga have helped me be a better parent, because when I feel my best, I parent my best.

The Yoga of Parenting

From The Yoga of Parenting by Sarah Ezrin © 2023. Reprinted in arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Inc. Boulder, CO. www.shambhala.com

The post Thoughts on Practice: an Excerpt from The Yoga of Parenting appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

You Can Do It! Remove these 5 Obstacles to Your Fitness Goals!

As we head into 2023 and set our goals for a healthier new year, we all know within a few months those well-thought-out plans may not get the continuous attention they need to reach our goals. You may need some support to remove and move through the obstacles to your fitness goals.

If you’ve ever struggled to keep up a diet or fitness routine for more than a few weeks, you already know that staying motivated and having mental strength can be the hardest part of sticking with it.

Trust me, I get it! When I was a teenager, everyone said girls needed to be skinny to be happy, but even though I was thin, I was miserable. When I discovered strength training in my 20s, I realized that feeling strong and capable is what actually made me feel great.

But then I got pregnant with my first baby and my body changed drastically. I was so worried I’d never feel strong or fit as I had been – it was completely new territory for me.

Many years and two beautiful kids later, and I’m now stronger, fitter, and healthier than ever. I know my body can handle any challenge and transformation life throws at it, and I want other women to know they can too!

The right mindset is so important to reach your goals.

So here are 5 tips to keep in mind as your set out in 2023.

Don’t let these five mental challenges and obstacles to your fitness goals hold you back.

1. Dwelling on Negatives and Mistakes

Replaying embarrassing or negative things in your head, over-analysing every situation and focusing on things you do wrong (instead of right), it’s NOT helpful. This toxic behavior will hold you back and will stop you from achieving happiness and success.

So I beg you: Let go of the past, focus on the future and start envisioning everything you want and CAN achieve. When you feel that negative thought spiral starting, cut it off straight away.

2. Not Believing you Can Do It

You’re only as successful as you believe you can be. However, you’re worthy and capable of ANYTHING – you’ve just got to believe in yourself. As soon as I stopped doubting myself and allowed myself to get uncomfortable, I started achieving my goals and turning dreams into reality. It takes work and practice, but you’ve got to look at what you’ve got and how that can help you move forward. It’s time to call out your inner critic, stop comparing yourself to others and embrace the fear. I promise, you are worth it.

Believe in yourself!

3. Not Rewarding Yourself

Maybe you think you need the ‘tough love’ approach to get things done, or you punish yourself for slip-ups. Instead, reward yourself for the things you do right. Smashed a week of workouts? Get a facial! Meal prepped like a champ? Spend a bit of that extra time catching up on your fave TV series or read a book instead.

4. Thinking you don’t Deserve it

Firstly, you do! And if you need people to remind you, let my Facebook community support and encourage you. It’s made up of strong, loyal and inspiring members.

Self-worth is so important to both your mental health and your ability to achieve great things.

Honestly, self-confidence and motivation go hand in hand. As soon as you believe in yourself, you’re gonna smash every workout and reach your fitness goals – which will have its own extra positive effect.

5. Not Valuing your own Time

• A lot of time-wasting and procrastination actually comes down to not seeing your time as a valuable resource. That’s why you scroll mindlessly through social media or binge on Netflix for hours.
• Time-wasting can make tasks take longer than they need to be, and the longer something drags out, the more you lose motivation to get it done. (Sound familiar?)
• Moving forward, start setting timers for tasks and even your social media use until it becomes habitual. It’s time to take back control and get things done!

You have it in you, so why not just do it!

Check out the Emily Skye FIT App for more Inspo!

If you’re interested in working out alongside me, now’s the time to try out my Emily Skye FIT app. From December 23-January 31 I’m offering an extended 1-month trial of my app, it’s normally only a 7-day trial! I’m also offering 50% off a 12-month plan so you can keep your fitness momentum going – that means the ESF app is only $10 a month! Start 2023 strong with a free month of workouts that build strength in confidence both at home and in the gym (I also offer workout programs for your entire pregnancy and post-pregnancy journey). Emily Skye FIT also includes specialized programs, recipes, meditations, tips, and more!

The post Remove These 5 Obstacles to Your Fitness Goals appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Today Rick Rubin’s Book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being releases through Penguin Random House.

The exquisite 432 page hardbound may finally answer some of the questions hungry musicians, aspiring record execs, and spiritual seekers have been asking the enigma for years. Questions like, “How can I make it in the industry…?” “What exactly do you do…?” And most recently, “How do you listen to a feeling…?”

And then again, it may not.

The Daoist presenting prose ensures readers that the answers are both inside of them, and from the cosmos…and that it’s possible to create the causes and conditions for the two to meet. It is an infinitely wide view refined over 40 years of mythologized creative and commercial success.

Gotta Serve Somebody; Rick Rubin’s Shangri-La Recording Studio, Malibu. Courtesy of Showtime

A Way of Being

Rick Rubin famously launched Def Jam recordings from his Weinstein Hall dorm room at NYU. He learned messaging from wrestling villains like the Four Horsemen and used the technique to design The Beastie Boys’ epic explosion onto MTV.

In the decades since then, the legendary producer has become known for creating a sacred space, connecting to the collective unconscious, and inspiring an artists’ most distilled work. Lucky Angelenos have reported receiving pith instructions from the American Recordings founder while milling around the local farmers market, standing in line for a smoothie at SunLife Organics, and by posting up in the old Bodhi Tree Bookstore on Melrose.

Of course, for yogis Rick provided a portal into another world by producing the Krishna Das classic, Door of Faith.

In The Creative Act, Rick Rubin invites the artistic adventurer on a journey within.

From The Creative Act: A Way of Being, by Rick Rubin;

On Receptivity-

 “Creativity is not a rare ability. It not difficult to access.
Creativity is a fundamental aspect of being human.
It’s our birthright. And it’s for all of us.”
-Rick Rubin

On Accepting The Assignment

I Need A Beat; Rick Rubin at the Def Jam Office (1133 Broadway, NYC) – Dharma Mittra’s 908 Yoga Posture poster behind 1986 c. Rick McGinnis

“If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life,
it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker.
This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea,
but because the idea’s time has come.”
-Rick Rubin

On Gestation 

It’s The New Style; The Beastie Boys, Run DMC, Slayer +  Rick Rubin 80s. Source; Unknown

“At this point in time, it’s helpful to think of the work as bigger than us.
To cultivate a sense of awe and wonder at what’s possible,
and recognize that this productivity is not generated by our hand alone. “
-Rick Rubin

On Manifestation

It’s Yours;  Rick Meditative. Courtesy of Showtime

“Talent is the ability to let ideas
manifest themselves through you.”
-Rick Rubin

On Timing

The Great Surrender; Public Enemy signs with Rick + Def Jam Records 80s. Source; unknown

“Patience is required for crafting a work that
resonates and contains all that we have to offer.”
-Rick Rubin

On Doing

Whoooo’s Hoooouuussseee….?; Rick as himself in the feature film  Krush Groove 1985. Courtesy of Warner Brothers

“Do what you can with what you have. Nothing more is needed.”
-Rick Rubin

On Synchronicity

Legend Has It; Rick + Run The Jewels source; Broken Record Podcast

“When you’re working on a project, you may notice apparent
coincidences appearing more often than randomness allows—
almost as if there is another hand guiding yours in a certain directions.
As if there is an inner knowing gently informing your movements.
Faith allows you to trust the direction without needing to understand it.”
-Rick Rubin

On Support

Walk This Way; Rick Rubin and his partner Mourielle Herrera arrive at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party c. Getty

“When the clues present themselves,
it can sometimes feel like the delicate mechanism of a clock at work.
As if the universe is nudging you with little reminders that its’
on your side and wants to provide everything you need to complete your mission.”
-Rick Rubin

On Habits 

By The Way;  Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers + Rick talk of their 30+ year friendship in the Showtime Series Shangri-La.  Courtesy of Showtime

“If you make the choice of reading classic literature
everyday for a year,
rather than reading the news,
by the end of that time period
you’ll have more honed sensitivity
for recognizing greatness from books than from the media.

This applies to every choice we make.
Not just with art, but with the friends we chose,
the conversations we have, even the thoughts we reflect on.
All of these aspects affect our ability
to distinguish good from very good, very good from great.
They help us determine what’s worthy of our time and attention.”
-Rick Rubin

On Intuition

Takin’ The Long Way Around;  The Dixie Chicks, David Lynch + Rick  c. Getty

“It’s not always easy to follow
the subtle energetic information the universe broadcasts,
especially when your friends, family, coworkers,
or those with a business interest
in your creativity are offering seemingly
rational advice that challenges your intuitive knowing.
To the best of my ability,
I’ve followed my intuition to make career turns,
and been recommended against doing so every time.
It helps to realize that it’s better to
follow the universe than those around you.”
-Rick Rubin

On Deep Listening

Everyone I Know Goes Away In The End; Rick with Johnny Cash c. Getty

“Our work embodies a higher purpose.
Whether we know it or not, we’re a conduit for the universe.
Material is allowed through us.
If we are a clear channel,
our intention reflects the intention in the cosmos.

Most creators think of themselves as the conductor of the orchestra.
If we zoom out of our small view of reality,
we function more as an instrumentalist
in a much larger symphony the universe is orchestrating.”
-Rick Rubin

On Intention

The Last Waltz; Rick reflects             courtesy Showtime

“With the objective of simply doing great work,
a ripple effect occurs. A bar is set for everything you do,
which may not only lift your work to new heights,
but raise the vibrations of your entire life.
It may even inspire others to do their best work.
Greatness begets greatness. It’s infectious.”
-Rick Rubin

On Trust

Rolling In the Deep; Adele wins 7 Grammys for her “21” album produced By Rick at Shangri-La c. Getty

“In an abundant world,
we have a greater capacity to complete
and release our work. When there are so many ideas
available and so much great art to make,
we are compelled to engage, let go, and move forward.”
-Rick Rubin

On Eternity

It’s Time To Move On; Tom Petty + Rick in the studio on “Wildflowers” c. Robert Sebree

“As human beings, we come and go quickly,
and we get to make works that stand
as monuments to our time here.”
-Rick Rubin

The post Rick Rubin; Sacred Spacekeeper appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Exploring Food Trends and Meeting Entrepreneurial Innovators

Foundermade Discovery Show is a bi-annual summit held in Los Angeles and New York City featuring brands across the beauty, beverage, food, and wellness sectors. With brands launching products, services, and delicious foods and beverages, here are a few innovative trend-setters I recommend you discover yourself!

Fabalish

BYOB (Bring Your Own Falafel Burger that is) Fabalish does everything around the chickpea. From the chickpea water, Aquafaba, they make the sauces and from the Chickpeas, they make organic and gluten-free baked falafels. Try saying Aquafaba three times, this will make for some great fodder around the grill. Mayo lovers take heed as their Vegan Organic Mayo is a limited release item.

Heritage Kulfi

Not into bringing booze to your next BBQ or potluck, no problem! Heritage Kulfi is a nod to founder, Mansoor Ahmed’s South Asian background, and love of an Indian style of ice cream called kulfi, which is best known for its creamy, velvety, and dense texture. Flavors include Alphonso Mango, Early Grey, Saffron, Rosewater and much more.

Modern Picnic

Whether you are living that hybrid work life or simply want to take your meal outdoors, Modern Picnic’s  chic styles have you covered. With an array of collections to choose from, these Vegan leather bags are functional, sustainable, and practical.

Female Sexual Wellness

At the helm of Vella Bioscience is chief scientific officer, Dr. Harin Padma Nathan who led the research and development of Viagra. Together with Dr. Michael Frid, they both lead on the intersection of science and sexual wellness with Vella’s Women’s Pleasure Serum.

Beia Beauty is a cross between luxury skincare and sexual wellness founded by Brittany Lo whose mission is to shatter the taboo of indulging in oneself.

Generational Wellness

It was refreshing to see brands that were mindful of the next generation of skincare for the youth and college-bound market with the likes of Bette Green ,  Blume, Good For You Girls ,  and Higher Education Skincare.

On-the-Go Wellness

Flight Fud was created by former flight attendant Kaeli Bauman and business and leisure travel enthusiasts, Sarah Peterson and Jamie Renney to address the six effects of flying: impaired circulation and inflammation, fatigue & jetlag, dehydration, suppressed immune system, exposure to radiation and bloating & indigestion. Quench your flying woes with this all-natural travel aid.

Kroma Wellness

Backed by a stellar wellness advisory team, Kroma Wellness founder Lisa Odenweller is most known for founding Beaming Organic Superfood Café’s, known as one of the most respected wellness bars in the country. Their line of products include ethically sourced superfoods, herbs, smoothies, teas and supplements, elixirs, bundle packages, broths, and much more. Check out their recipe for superfood truffles using their products.

Celebrity-Backed Brands

Barcode is a line of functional better-for-you beverages designed for athletes and regular Joes likes us. Founded by NBA star Kyle Kuzma and Mubarak Malik, former Head of Performance for The New York Knicks. Flavors come in Lemon-Lime, Watermelon, and Pinot Noir.

Homecourt is a line of products for the home, created and designed by wait for it… actress Courteney Cox. The products come in four different scents: Cipres Mint, Neroli Leaf, Steeped Rose, and Cece. If you are a lover of all things Rose like I am, the Steeped Rose is a must-have.

East Coast Spotlights

Who doesn’t love a good founder story?

REAL Cookies Connecticut-based longtime friends, Marla Felton and Lauren Berger recently launched their better-for-you cookie brand- REAL Cookies. At first glance, I was attracted to those sweet Yoga Bears on the cookie pack. Lauren, a Yogi and Yoga instructor, explained the bears represent the possibility of balance—the healthy and the delicious—in our everyday lives. Cookies are made with only clean, real and thoughtfully sourced ingredients such as almond and coconut flour, pure maple syrup, vanilla, real fruit and dark chocolate.

They are gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, vegan, kosher, and paleo-friendly, and come in a variety of mouth-watering flavors, including: classic chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip, and fresh lemon blueberry. I’m not the only one who thinks their cookies are something special – their Lemon Blueberry cookies recently won a Good Housekeeping Healthy Snack Award for “Best Grain Free Cookie.”

My Dad’s Sauce

I don’t know about you, but pasta and pizza night are year-round. New Jersey-based Calabrian restauranteur, Pat Turano, opened his first pizzeria at the age of 18 and with over 30 years in the industry, his three children decided to bottle the magic sauce they grew up on. We all know that New York City and New Jersey are the holy grail for the best Italian food in the country and even better when the ingredients are nutritious, containing no artificial flavors, preservatives, no sugar added, and gluten-free and vegan-free. You can purchase My Dad’s Sauce through their website or from select retailers throughout New Jersey and New York City.

The post Discovering Food Trends and Entrepreneurial Innovations at Foundermade appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

“People wait for the big moment, the great event, and forget that happiness comes from building steadily on the small daily things of life.
People wait for that special moment to express love and forget that love springs from thoughtfulness practiced every day.
People wait, but waiting is future and NOW is always the time.”

-Meher Baba

Gurumayi Chidvilasananda

“Recognize that you have the courage within you to fulfill the purpose of your birth.
Summon forth the power of your inner courage and live the life of your dreams.”

-Gurumayi Chidvilasananda

Swami Satchidananda

“The light is within.
It is already there.
Take your time to see it.”

-Swami Satchidananda

Paramanhansa Yogananda

“You must not let your life run in the ordinary way;
do something that nobody else has done,
something that will dazzle the world.
Show that God’s creative principle works in you.”

-Paramahansa Yogananda

Yogi Bhajan

“When you understand who and what you are,
your radiance and everything around you
becomes creative and full of opportunity.”

– Yogi Bhajan

Mahatma Gandhi

“Keep your thoughts positive because your thought become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.”

-Mahatma Gandhi

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
The mind is everything.
What we think, we become.”

-Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Swami Sivananda

“Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts.
This is the secret of success.”

-Swami Sivananda

Swami Vivekananda

“Never say no, never say, ‘I cannot’, for you are infinite.
All the power is within you.
You can do anything.”

-Swami Vivekananda

Sri Ramakrishna

“The winds of grace are always blowing,
but you have to raise the sail.”

-Sri Ramakrishna

Sri Sarada Devi

“Even the impossible becomes possible through devotion.”

-Sri Sarada Devi

Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi

“Don’t give up! Your miracle is on the way!”

– Sri Sai Baba of Shirdi

The post New Years Actualization; Inspirations + Encouragements For The Year Ahead appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Anandamayi Ma

“Having been born as human beings, we must not waste this opportunity.
At least for a few seconds every day, we must enquire as to who we are.
It is no use taking a return ticket over and over again.
From birth to death, and death to birth is samsara.
But really we have no birth and death.
We must realize that.”

-Anandamayi Ma

Swami Muktananda

“We exist in Consciousness, and we merge back into it.
We are that consciousness.
This is called sadhana.”

– Swami Muktananda

Amma

“Death is not complete annihilation.
It is a pause.
It is like pressing the pause button on a tape recorder.”

-Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma)

Ramana Maharishi

“The body dies, but the spirit transcends
it cannot be touched by death.”

-Ramana Maharishi

Meher Baba

“Neither seek death nor fear it,
and when death comes to you it is converted
into a stepping stone to the higher life.”

-Meher Baba

Sri Aurobindo

“Death is but changing of our robes
to wait in wedding garments
at the Eternal’s gate.”

— Sri Aurobindo

Guru Nanak

“Death would not be called bad,
O people, if one knew how to truly die.”

-Guru Nanak

Thich Nhat Hanh

“Our greatest fear is that when we die we will become nothing.
Many of us believe that our entire existence is only a life span beginning the moment we are born or conceived and ending the moment we die.
We believe that we are born from nothing and when we die we become nothing.
And so we are filled with fear of annihilation….

“The Buddha has a very different understanding of our existence. It is the understanding that birth and death are notions.
They are not real. The fact that we think they are true makes a powerful illusion that causes our suffering.
The Buddha taught that there is no birth; there is no death; there is no coming; there is no going; there is no same; there is no different; there is no permanent self; there is no annihilation.
We only think there is. When we understand that we cannot be destroyed, we are liberated from fear. It is a great relief.
We can enjoy life and appreciate it in a new way.”

– Thich Nhat Hanh

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

“When death finally comes you will welcome it like an old friend,
being aware of how dreamlike and impermanent
the phenomenal world really is.”

– Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Jiddu Krishnamurti

“Tell your friend that in his death,
a part of you dies and goes with him.
Wherever he goes,
you also go.
He will not be alone.”

– Jiddu Krishnamurti

Jalal al-Din Rumi

“Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes.
Because for those who love with heart and soul
there is no such thing as separation.”

– Jalal al-Din Rumi 

The post Ascending Into The Light; Words Of Wisdom On Death, Transition + New Life appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

John Densmore stands at the edge of the ocean. As the sky changes color, blue to yellow to crimson gold, he rhythmically taps a hand drum, and recites his own spoken word poetry, “And the Sun God Ra….!”

The cold waves rage closer towards his feet until he’s finally forced to move. He keeps the beat, as he treads backwards, casually mentioning, “Ya know this is where we wrote Moonlight Drive” He half-hums, half-sings the tune, “Let’s swim to the moon, let’s climb thru the tide…” The seagulls interpret this as a cue to take flight. A single feather floats down past his face. He lifts one eyebrow, giving a  “Hm…what do you think that means?” look.

In the weeks prior Densmore inducted friends, The Jefferson Airplane, into the Hollywood Walk of Fame and played with Ringo Starr at Olivia Harrison’s LA book launch. But you wouldn’t hear it from him. No, he’s effortlessly weaving in and out of Harry Belafonte lyrics, political theory, environmental ethics, indigenous prayers and polite conversation, beating his drum all the while.

I ask if it’s true his childhood home was paved over to build part of the 405 highway. He laughs, “Yea, that’s good Amy, and I think [The Beach Boys’] Brian Wilson’s did too. Now wait a minute, let’s get metaphoric. My roots are a freeway on-ramp. That’s very LA, wouldn’t you say?” I nod in agreement.

God This Is The Stuff

In the Los Angeles suburb of Westwood, there’s a sign that says “San Diego Freeway North,” where the Densmore home once stood. A few blocks away is a still thriving Catholic parish. John’s mother would drag him and his sister to St. Timothy’s Church every Sunday morning. The septuagenarian recalls, “I went up to the balcony because I didn’t like the smell of frankincense. The mass was in Latin, so it was like, ‘What is this mumbling?’ and the drunken Irish organ player is just slamming away on the thing. I’m sitting alone up there, 10 benches, nobody but me, but the bench is rattling, it’s vibrating, it’s so loud. And for an eight-year-old, that was like acid. It was like heaven. It was like, ‘Wow, vibration!’ and it’s shaking my psyche and it plants music in my head. I’m like, ‘God, this is the stuff.’ So, all my young life, I was completely in love with music.”

Cool In Training  Source; John Densmore

At around eight-and-a-half John’s parents rented him an upright piano. His pet parakeet Bill would practice with him, sitting or strutting on the keys, sometimes even singing along. Mrs. Densmore made sure John worked on what was assigned, and not just he and Bill’s arpeggio interpretations. He reflects “Even as a kid I knew that what made the difference between a great musician and an ok one was what was between the notes. Ya know, the feeling you give the silences and the sounds.”

The Densmores’ orthodontist advised against the clarinet, so the junior high band director suggested drums. Learning the nine rudiments on a rubber pad was borderline torture, but John loved the powerful feeling of sitting behind a kit. In the high school marching band the teen made his way through the bass, the cymbal and finally the snare. “It was so far back that being in a band wasn’t cool yet” he grimaces, “Being a jock was cool.”

Chasin’ The Trane

The marching band drummer gigged at local Catholic school dances, but bars and frat parties paid more. To appear of age, Densmore and his friend scored fake IDs in Tijuana. They used them to sneak into jazz clubs like the Lighthouse and Shelley’s Manne Hole. Densmore states proudly, “Kerouac and Cassidy saw Charlie Parker. We saw John Coltrane.”

Jazz Machine Elvin Jones Source Getty Jones

The iconic jazz saxophonist John Coltrane was known for bringing listeners on a journey, transcending planes of consciousness, and seemingly changing the atomic structure of the air. John and Grant sat transfixed during a 30 minute rendition of “Chasin’ the Trane” in which Coltrane, and his drummer Elvin Jones were in telepathic conversation, making musical alchemy.

After one such set the underagers slinked backstage. John smirks, “We heard Coltrane say ‘Hotel’ to Elvin, and for the next few days all we could say to each other was ‘Hotel, hotel.”

Waiting For The Sun

The jazz freak attended Santa Monica City College and Cal State Northridge (then San Fernando Valley State College). “I loved music but never thought I could make a living at it.” He remarks, “I was a music major, got A’s, but then I changed to business because I wanted to make money. But I got D’s in business. That was trying to tell me something there.”

To keep up with the cats they jammed with, John and Grant tried LSD. Grant got caught in a Charles Mingus album cover while Densmore watched an Acacia Tree breathe. “Yea and acid was legal then,” he remarks, “Before I smoked any pot, I took acid. I had terror for the first five minutes. I was in the void or whatever, and then I saw God in every leaf for eight hours straight. Afterward nothing had changed and yet everything had.”

A few weeks later the duo reconnected with a buddy from high school days. Robby Krieger had been kicked out of private school and was living up in the Pacific Palisades at his parents’ place. He was a guitar player influenced by Robert [Crossroads] Johnson, and Jimmy Reed. Krieger turned them on to Dylan. They turned him on to LSD. Soon they all formed a band called “The Psychedelic Rangers” who dosed far more than they gigged.

Let My Love Open The Door

“The acid was shattering to the nervous system,” John recalls, “The silent guru, the one Peter Townsend likes, Meher Baba once wrote on his chalkboard ‘If drugs open the door, and leads disciples to me, that’s fine. They should close it after that.’ The meditation, the chanting, it’s a lower-slung longer journey, but it’s a sustainable one.”

Robby had heard of a Transcendental Meditation class being taught at the old Masonic Temple, off Santa Monica Boulevard in West LA. The group received their preliminary instruction from a TM teacher before being initiated by its founder the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. John recalls, “This is a year or so before The Beatles discovered him. So we go to this little room, 40 people, and, oh my God, the love vibe is palpable. There’s this little guy in white with the beard and robes, and it was the antithesis of the vibe I got from a priest at Catholic school, with black outfits and the tight collar, and [he wags his finger] ‘You’re a sinner’ and oh, it just blew my mind. So, we started meditating.”

Maharishi Was Our Booking Agent

One day a self-assured UCLA grad student named Ray Manzarek and his girlfriend Dorothy attended the program. John retells, “And Ray kept saying, ‘No bliss, no bliss,’ because he was comparing it to acid, which is like, bam. And meditation, like chanting, it’s a long discipline. Ray comes up to me, “I hear you’re a drummer, you want to come down to my parents’ garage and jam?”

John was already in a few other bands but made his way to the Manzarek’s Manhattan Beach pad. He retells, “And Jim’s there and he’s so shy, it’s ridiculous. I think to myself, ‘This is not the next Mick Jagger,’ but then I get these words handed to me on a piece of paper, ‘Day destroys the night, night divides the day.’ Whoa, break on through to the other side, it was like hearing drum beats when I read them. And so that was the beginning.”

Ray’s brothers quit the band, and John brought Robby to a rehearsal. The two made a pact to let go of all their other projects and commit to this one. Densmore jokes, “I don’t think Maharishi knew it, but he was our booking agent. He put the band together.”

Stoned Immaculate

Jim Morrison was a UCLA film student, living on a Venice Beach rooftop, taking LSD and writing lyrics for a rock concert he saw in his head. Morrison wasn’t a musician. He was an introverted artist finding his voice literally and figuratively. The only band of the era to opt out of a bass player created a safe space for the singer to explore his sound. John remembers, “He would bring in these crumpled pieces of papers, coffee-stained napkins, and notebooks with incredible lyrics. He was talking about a connection to the void, the words were trying to tell us that there is something else.”

A couple miles East in the Densmore house, John placed a picture of the Hindu God Krishna, a candle, and a copy of Paramahansa Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi on his bedside table.  His new friends came over for a spaghetti dinner. To John’s relief, they were on their best behavior when Mr. Densmore asked if the boys had a name for their band.

The Doors From Venice (L to R Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Jim Morrison, Robby Krieger) c. Henry Diltz

Ray, John and Jim cruised South on the 405. Morrison shoeless in the passenger seat lit a joint and asked, “What do you think of the name ‘The Doors’?” Ray explained that Jim had gotten it from the Aldous Huxley book The Doors of Perception and Jim explained that Huxley got it from a William Blake poem that read, “If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” Mr. Densmore responded, “The Doors’ is the worst name I ever heard for a band,” John boasted, “I told him that his reaction meant we were on the right track!” Soon after a marquee on the sunset strip changed its letters to read, ‘The Doors – The Band From Venice.”

I Guess I Like It Fine, So Far…

The Doors played the London Fog Club five hours a night, four nights a week. With about 30 songs developing including drafts and covers they had to find a way to fill the time. John thought to the unhurried improvisations of Coltrane and Jones. Ray thought to a Ravi Shankar album, of which his friend had designed the cover. Densmore exclaims, “Oh my God, it’s just so mystical long ragas. Which gave us the idea to break the three-minute [radio play] barrier, to do “Light My Fire” for seven minutes, “The End” for 10 minutes, and “When The Music’s Over” 11 minutes. So that came from ragas.” Years later John and Robby attended the Kinnara School of Music where they learned from the maestro, “Ravi was telling us, not literally, ‘You guys in America want to orgasm too quick. Take a long foreplay and you’ll have a bigger payoff.”

Best Seat In The Chateau Marmot Source; Unknown

The payoff came just hours before The Doors got fired from The Fog, when booker Ronnie Haran saw their set. She convinced her boss to make The Doors the house band at The Whiskey-A-Go-Go where they opened for popular acts including The Animals, The Rascals, The Turtles, Buffalo Springfield, Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and even the Van Morrison fronted, Them.

Elektra offered The Doors a deal. Company president Jac Holzman bought a billboard on the Sunset Strip to announce their first album’s release, and by July of 1967 The Doors’ “Light My Fire” was #1 in the nation. John Densmore reflects, “Yea, I hoped to pay the rent for a decade. And as you can see, my hair is white and I’m still talking about it 50 years later. It was some kind of blessing. Something came through bigger than the four of us, and we needed this sort of, stable mattress of me and Ray and Robby to be the foundation for Jim to be on top of psychically and sonically.”

We Got The Numbers

Between 1966 and 1971, The Doors played more than 350 shows in the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe. This included iconic venues such as Ondine’s Discoteque, The Fillmore East and West, The Avalon and Winterland Ballrooms, The Hollywood Bowl, Madison Square Garden, and the Isle Wight Festival in East Afton Farm, England. Six Consecutive albums; The Doors, Strange Days, Waiting for the Sun, The Soft Parade, and Morrison Hotel went certified platinum (and sometimes multi-platinum) in the United States and platinum, gold and silver internationally.

The Doors’ massive popularity was likened to a Dionysian Feast. The once-cautious lead-singer’s anti-authoritarian, freedom-at-all-costs ethos were fully expressed when he didn’t change lyrics for a network television censor, and when he became the first rock performer to be arrested on stage. Charges required multiple venues to cancel already scheduled shows. Frenzied fans protested.  The band braced for impact. The self-proclaimed “Lizard King” questioned the honor of the American judicial system and the sanctity of the first amendment.

Riders On The Storm In Europe Source; Unknown

John admits, “So yeah. It was hard. Jim was not easy, let me tell you. I lobbied for a year to stop playing live, because it was so great, and then it got not great due to his self-destruction. We knew there was a big elephant in the room, we didn’t know he had a disease, alcoholism.”

Everything Would Appear To Man As It Is, Infinite

As a birthday gift a friend bought Morrison  time at the Village Recorder. A studio built in the old Masonic Temple off Santa Monica Boulevard, where John and Robby first met Ray at the TM training. Jim recorded his spoken-word poems, from An American Prayer. He reads, “We live, we die and death not ends it…”

Eight months later a report came in from Paris that Morrison had slipped off into the infinite. Forever 27.

John reflects, “So yeah, I was on a rocket ship. It was exciting. I’m proud of it, but I’m glad that meditation and yoga, Robert Bly men’s work and whatever other stuff helped the rocket ship landing not be so bumpy. Because at the downside of that peak, some folks died. Well, many.”

The Other Side

On the Santa Monica sands, the winter winds whip. The 78-year-old continues to tap his hand drum while he extolls, “Carl Jung said that the first half of your life you’re out there doing a lot of stuff and the second half of your life you’re analyzing what the hell did it all that mean?”

I ask if he’s talking about the Jung quote, “The first half of life is devoted to forming a healthy ego, the second half is going inward and letting go of it.” He grins, still drumming and says, “Yea, that’s the one.”

Bloody Red Sun Of Fantastic LA  c. Amy V. Dewhurst

John’s ability to translate deep teachings and dark meanings is in-part what has always made his artistic expressions so captivating. His first post-Doors memoir Riders on the Storm was a New York Times Bestseller and source material for the Oliver Stone cult-classic film, The Doors. His second work The Doors Unhinged has become required reading for music business majors in universities across the country.

The Seekers

John Densmore’s latest offering, The Seekers, is a special kind of book. A trojan horse of spirituality in which he layers ancient wisdom, lessons learned and thought-provoking prose inside entertaining rockstar stories. Inspired by Gurdjieff’s 1927 classic Meetings with Remarkable Men and insisted upon by friends and family, the easy-read is nothing short of magnificent.

Within it John thanks teachers like Robert Bly, Peggy Feury, Fred Katz and even his junior high band leader, Mr. Armour. He pays homage to great instrumentalists like Ravi Shankar and Emil Richards. He tells legendary Laurel Canyon tales like Van Morrison working out the words to his seminal album, Astral Weeks. He talks about the time he got kicked out of a Jamaican recording studio by a then-unknown Jimmy Cliff and weeping when he read Laurie Anderson’s good-bye letter to her husband Lou Reed. Densmore somehow segues from jazz drummer Elvin Jones to beloved Pushti Marg scholar Shyamdas in the same sentence. And oh yeah, there was that time he smoked a joint with Willie Nelson. Naturally.

‘Til The Stars Fall From The Sky… c. Amy V. Dewhurst

Fan favorite passages include musician Tom Petty’s reflection on Jim Morrison’s well-lived life; “Tom said, ‘Some artists, the very very great ones, come along with the flame turned all the way up. And the flame is all the way up and you use a lot of fuel fast. And you’ve just got to get the heat that comes off of it.”.

John’s appreciation for the godmother of punk, Patti Smith giving it all up to raise her family, “[Patti] became a mother and a housewife. What? The woman who wrote ‘Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine,’ had settled down in the Midwest?! At first it seemed unthinkable, but it was a heroic move.”

And the last moments with his mother on the Earth plane, “They had obviously told her I was on my way because she was lying in her bed, all decked out with turquoise earring, a turquoise necklace, and slightly smeared lipstick. A ninety-four-year-old woman still wanting to look good for her son is an image that will stay with me forever.”

Amongst the Hafiz quotes, Gita passages, Ram Dass moments, and Neil De Grassi Tyson data Densmore assures the reader,“I have had the opportunity to meet and interact with some extraordinary people. To be a member of The Doors and have the unusual access I have been afforded is one of the greatest blessings of my life. But what I’ve learned is that anyone can access magical moments these gifted artists live in.”

Back on the beach in Santa Monica he shares, “I play hand drums and read poetry at small events, and some nights it’s so powerful because the audience and I are so connected. It’s as exciting as Madison Square Garden.”

What You Seek Is Seeking You

The sun takes its time syncing into the Pacific.

John Densmore pauses for a moment, breathes in the crisp cool air. He rat-a-tat-tats out a few final beats, turns to me and says, “Ya know Joseph Campbell said, ‘The goal in life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe.’”

I think to myself, “Seems like you have that one figured out…”

As though he heard the thought he shrugs.
I smile.

At the same time we both start humming “Let’s swim to the moon, let’s climb thru the tide…”

Heartbeat of the Universe,  John Densmore  c. Amy V. Dewhurst

Join John Densmore at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena

The Seekers Book Reading  + Signing
Friday December 16, 2022
7pm
For tickets click here

The Seekers is now available where all books are sold

Click here to purchase.
Click here to learn more at Hachette Books.

To keep up with John Densmore

Check out his website, JohnDensmore.Com
Follow John on Social; Facebook , Instagram.

The post The Doors’ John Densmore; The Other Side appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Give Gifts with Intention!

Giving and receiving gifts can be a spiritual practice when we apply the principles of gift giving with intention. We use tools for practice that help us tune into ourselves and show up powerfully in the world in which we live. We can find gifts that help someone ignite their inner fire and find enjoyment on a daily basis. Check out some of the gifts, including tangible items and services, to support ongoing practice in the world we live in today.

Chakra Balancing Set

Chakra Balancing is a form of energy healing that focuses on channeling energy into the seven chakras. When we talk about treating chakras we are referring to treating your energetic body. The body is not only made up of the physical body, we have an energy that extends beyond our physical well-being.

This Chakra Set includes:

• Chakra Balancing Necklace
• Chakra Balancing Earrings
• Amethyst Heart Shaped Gemstone

If knowledge about the chakras—which are referenced in India’s traditional medical system, Ayurveda—were taught in a classroom setting, lesson one would likely be a breakdown of the seven main energy centers in the body and their meanings. “Each of the chakras point to one of these energy centers in our nervous systems.”

Learn More about the Chakra Balancing Set

Inner Reflections 2023 Engagement Calendar

A simple yet elegant gift that lasts all year! This award-winning desk calendar celebrates the divine beauty found in nature. Fifty-three photos are artfully matched with inspiring insights from the writings of yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, offering a stunning selection of truly awesome photography from some of the world’s top nature photographers. The dazzling images alone make this calendar a wonderful experience. Each page provides a visually refreshing personal getaway and mini meditation retreat –- an uplifting gift for yourself or others! Printed on high quality paper, with ample room for daily notes, as well as monthly planning calendars in the back section.

View Previews and Shop

The post Practice Gift Giving with Intention: Holiday Gift Guide 2022 appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

How to Build Your Digestive Fire using Ayurvedic Techniques

How does Ayurveda define our body’s digestive fire?

Agni is responsible for the following.

• Skin health
• Digestion
• Temperature
• Vision
• Blood health
• Confidence
• Courage
• Joy
• Laughter
• Cheerfulness
• Mental clarity
• Intellect

Ayurveda advises us that the health of our agni is directly related to the following.

• Overall strength and vitality
• Our disease resistance
• Longevity
• Our very existence of life

Without a balanced agni, how could we possess the vital energy needed to lead a life of purpose?

Increasing Qualities of Agni

• Light
• Hot
• Dry
• Penetrating/Sharp

Decreasing Qualities of Agni

• Heavy
• Cold
• Wet
• Bland/Dull

Simple Ways you can Build your Digestive Fire

How do I know if my digestive fire is functioning well?

How do I regulate and build my digestive fire?

Eat all three meals at the same time each day.

What if I intermittently fast or skip meals?

What can I do to improve my digestive fire?

• You can drink a warm 8 ounce glass of water upon waking up with a squeeze of lemon to activate your digestive system for the day ahead.
• You can also put 1/3 tsp of each seed (cumin, coriander, and fennel) in 8 ounce hot water and drink this tea 30 minutes before each meal to stimulate digestion.
• Eat your food well seasoned with spices like pepper, ginger, cardamom, coriander, fennel, turmeric, nutmeg, clove, celery seed, cumin. These herbs have specific properties that not only increase digestive fire, but also mineral absorption. Using spices also helps stimulate your appetite.

What foods should I be eating to build my digestive fire?

• It is best to stick with easy-to-digest foods that are warm, moist, well-seasoned, freshly prepared, and produce that is in season.
• Raw vegetables are difficult for your body to digest and can actually decrease your digestive fire if eating in excess. According to the Ayurvedic teachings around digestion,  it is often best to eat vegetables that are lightly steamed or sauteed.

What should I avoid eating?

Different foods have different rates of breakdown, and therefore it is not recommended to eat fruits with any other food items. This is also why melons should be eaten solo and not accompanied by even other fruits. Some incompatible foods are dairy with meat, fruits, or sour foods. In fact, meat is best eaten with only steamed or sauteed vegetables, avoid eating with rice, other proteins, and starches as they are difficult to digest.

How should I be eating my food?

• Proper digestion relies on having the space within your stomach to go through the transformation process.
• Eat until you are half full, one quarter filled with room temperature water, and one quarter empty.
• Avoid eating and drinking cold items at meals, as this will reduce the agnis ability to digest your meal.
• About one of your hands made into a fist represents ½ of your stomach size and the approximate amount that will sustain our body.
• Eat your meals in a silent space with no distractions.
• Be sure that you are sitting for the duration of your meal.
• Make your meal time a ritual that gives the highest respect to the foods you are nourishing with and your intention behind eating those foods.
• After meals, avoid immediate activity and create a least 20 minutes of intentional rest so that your body can focus all its energy on digesting the meal you just consumed.

There are endless ways to cultivate, maintain, and embody an optimal internal fire.

When your digestive system is thriving, you will have the power and drive you need to show up as your highest self.

Leading a successful life starts with a strong physical fire.

Embrace your inner fire one meal at a time.

Are you ready to build your internal fire through empowered living?

The post You Can Build Your Digestive Fire: Ayurvedic Practices for Better Health appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Polish your mind to deflect the negative influence of ill wishes

Today, we live in a very stressful society. To add to the stress of everyday life, the world has become increasingly unstable due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Russo-Ukrainian war, and inflation, to name a few. It seems as if problems and troubles constantly appear, assailing us with worries, fear, and doubts. Although life’s events seem to befall us randomly, everything that happens in this world is subject to the law of cause and effect.

Because there is a cause for everything that happens in this world, we may be able to stop a negative circumstance from doing harm to us if we can discover its cause. Believe it or not, a lot of the pains, sufferings, and misfortunes that we encounter in life are actually caused by curses. A curse is a wish to bring other people unhappiness. Curses are everywhere around us, and we may not only be on the receiving end, but also be cursing someone without realizing it. How then, can we protect ourselves from these negative influences called curses?

Protect Yourself from Curses by Realizing that Like Attracts Like

The law of the mind we should be aware of when considering curses is that we attract those who are on the same spiritual wavelengths. Humans are like magnets; our thoughts attract spirits with similar vibrations. So, if you feel that you are being cursed–in other words, if you feel that other people have negative thoughts or feelings about you- you may want to check to see if you have any thoughts that are attracting them. Only when you know the cause, can you discover the solution. Once you know what is attracting the negative thoughts and emotion aimed at you, you will be able to find a way to repel them and protect yourself from harm and misfortune.

Polish the Mirror of Your Mind

What should we do if we feel that we are influenced by curses? Buddhism teaches that we can repel curses and protect ourselves by polishing our mind. Your mind works like a mirror reflecting the world and people around you. When your mind is like a clear and clean mirror, you can see the thoughts and feelings of other people just as they are. Those with negative or ugly thoughts would hate to have their honest thoughts come to light. By having a clear and clean mind like a polished mirror, not only can you tell what others are really thinking, you can also deflect any negative thoughts that are targeted at you.

But you won’t be able to repel them if the mirror of your mind is dirty. To maintain a clear and clean mind, take time to examine the state of your mind every day and wipe out any dirt or dust that may be sullying the mirror of your mind.

Removing Three Poisons of the Mind

Buddhism teaches that Three Poisons of the Mind, namely, greed, anger, and ignorance, stain our mind. To maintain a clean and clear mind, check to see if any of your thoughts and deeds arise out of these poisons, and remove them.

1. Greed

The first poison is greed. Greed is an insatiable desire for more than we deserve- status, fame, beauty, money, or reputation, for example- even at the cost of other people’s unhappiness. Greedy people usually do not realize they are being greedy, while it is quite obvious to other people. So if you want to know if greed is poisoning your mind, try to see yourself objectively by observing the words and reactions of the people around you.

To remove the poison of greed from our mind, we need to learn how to be content. When you are greedy, you tend to focus on what you don’t have. Try instead to focus on your gifts, be grateful for what you have, and find positive meaning in your life. Next, nurture a generous spirit by thinking about how you can give to the people around you and the world. This will help you get rid of attachments or cravings.

2. Anger

The second poison is anger. Anger is an animal instinct wanting to protect us from harm. When you fly into a rage, you lose control in the turmoil. The flame of anger hurts others, destroys relationships, and taints your own divine nature. When anger arises, take a deep breath. Try to find goodness in the person you are upset with and think objectively about whether there is anything you could have done or can do to improve the current situation. Restoring peace of mind is the key to curbing anger.

The world is full of people who don’t agree with us or listen to us, but we need to try to patiently cultivate understanding for those who criticize us. It is the spirit of patience, tolerance, and kindness that can help us understand each other. We can take the first step by aiming to cultivate a peaceful mind. If everybody were to find peace within, this world would naturally become a peaceful and beautiful place.

3. Ignorance

The third poison is ignorance, or lack of knowledge and understanding of the spiritual truths. Even those who are known to be keenly intelligent in the fields of science and technology cannot scientifically answer life’s basic questions, such as ‘Where do we come from before birth?’ and ‘Where do we go after death?’

Without a spiritual perspective, it becomes difficult to find the purpose and meaning of life.

One of the most important truths we should understand is that human beings were created by God and that we are born into this world to learn lessons and to cultivate our souls. Try to see your life from this perspective and see if you are making the right decisions every day in that regard. Practicing self-reflection, meditation, and prayer is the key to changing knowledge to wisdom, which removes foolishness from our mind.

Cultivating Peace and Clarity of Mind

We may not be able to completely avoid misfortunes, difficulties, and hardships in life. But if we take care to constantly polish our minds and fill our hearts with good thoughts toward others, our minds will tune with heavenly spirits, receive the light from God, and deflect the negative spiritual energy of others’ curses. By protecting ourselves from curses in this manner, we will bring more peace and happiness to ourselves and others.

Dramatization of the Release of Curses in The Divine Protector: Master Salt Begins

Mia Tomikawa is a consultant on The Divine Protector: Master Salt Begins, a new film from Japan about the Divine Protector, Master Salt, who is summoned by three young high school students to help them decipher the mysterious incidents that have plagued them recently. Master Salt expels the curse laid on one of the students by a jealous schoolmate, and the trio call her back to protect the other people in their lives who have been afflicted by others’ poisonous thoughts. Learn more about The Divine Protector:Master Salt Begins https://mastersaltmovie.com 

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Deep Dive Offers Meditations for the Flow of Life with Shiva Rea and Rara Avis

Created by Shiva Rea, world-renowned yoga/movement facilitator and creator of Prana Vinyasa Flow and Rara Avis, CEO/Co-Founder of YogiTunes, Deep Dive is a multi-faceted experiential movement mediation offered in the spirit of Sahaja, the natural, spontaneous flow of life force that exists within us all. Rather than asking us to create, to perform or to “do” something with our breath, Deep Dive invites us to take a step back and for the breath, itself, to breathe us. In doing so, we are invited into a Sahajic state of bliss, one which arrives from within, through a re-awakening of the spontaneous rhythm and flow of breath.

Deep Dive offers two formats of experience. One incudes five separate shorter journeys, each with its distinct elemental pattern, as well as a holistic, unified experience of 30 minutes of breath-centered, gentle movement instrumental meditation, akin to the typical length of a Yoga Nidra session.

LA Yoga Magazine caught up with Shiva Rea while she was on an airplane, heading to Diwali for the Festival of Lights. We laughed and shared a lovely interview while Shiva was strapped into her airline seat. In many ways, the context of the interview itself parallels Shiva’s ability and willingness to dive into the flow of each moment. No moment is “perfect” if viewed through an external lens, and yet, every moment is perfect when we exist within the present, one breath at a time.

Deep Dive – the Collaboration

Rara Avis and Shiva Rea have collaborated for nearly twenty years, offering yoga-movement-meditation experiences. Their partnership began back in the early 2000s, when Shiva taught at Sacred Movement in Venice Beach.

Shiva was one of the first yoga teachers to offer a fusion of yoga and dance movement meditation. Her classes were often filled with live accompaniment – drums, sitar, vocals and DJs. The music served as a gentle pulse during the yoga portion of class, and expanded into more encompassing rhythms during the free-flowing, tribal dance portion of class. The experiences were brand new for us at the time, a fusion of the Sahajic state that yoga brings along with the ecstatic state of dance, resulting in a blissful movement meditation. Rara was a frequent collaborator in these organic rhythmic offerings.

By the time it came to collaborating on Deep Dive, “We had a very natural foundation,” remarks Shiva. “Rara had just taken our teacher training in Costa Rica, and though we’d prefer to be in the same space, he’s in Canada, and when I did the voice over, I was in the English countryside while in quarantine last summer, surrounded by sheep.”

“Rara’s music is a testament to the power and the epic experience of the breath as a journey. Rara’s rhythms give people an opportunity to move with the breath, wherever they are, which is a powerful Sadahana.”

Deep Dive as an offering reminds us that “ breath is the the first mantra. Our heartbeat,” explains Shiva. Our pathway to feel what we are living lies in each breath.

Rara Avis adds to the conversation, “A conscious, connected breath practice is perhaps one of the most understated, powerful tools we have at our disposal. It links our autonomic nervous system to our conscious waking minds and helps us tap into the limitless potential we have as human beings to build resilience, strength, compassion and awareness.”

Deep Dive – the Experience

begins with an invitation to enter that sacred space of Self. Shiva’s voice prompts us to root into the earth, to feel that wave of the breath in us, to allow our pelvis to rock back and forth. She prompts us to look into the field of our body and release tension by exhaling from the crown of our head, descending out of our body like a sacred waterfall.

Deep Dive offers a primal experience of movement meditation. It is incredibly basic in its beauty and simplicity, inviting us to experience nature as within us all, a realization often glossed over in our quick-paced, hyper-focused life. The act of unwinding oneself in this first meditative offering aligns us with a fluid, watery presence within. Shiva’s voice is soft and nurturing. Rara’s accompaniment is in perfect sync and harmony. The collaboration itself is one of unity and deeply-held connectedness.

In the introduction, Shiva’s voice prompts us to use our arms, if we so desire, and sweep them overhead, gathering energy in a natural way, to open our inner ear and listen, and to connect with our heart in gratitude and refuge.

The first guided breath cycle is a Solar cycle, one in which we inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth with the solar mantra of the sun: “HA.” This cycle is good for cleansing and releasing.

The second guided breath cycle is a Lunar breath, a softer inhaling, drawing in golden light and pausing on the exhale, diving it into three parts. This cycle dramatically calms and eases the nervous system, inviting a spaciousness within.

The third guided cycle is akin to the practice of Nadhi Shodhana, an invitation into a unified Solar-Lunar breath. Shiva invites us to breathe into the right side of our body (with or without the use of physical, hands-on breath retention) and complete one half of this breath cycle by exhaling out of the left side of our body: in doing so, we offer the sun to the moon. The breath pattern balances itself as we breathe into the left side of our body and exhale out the right side of our body, offering the moon back to the sun.

Shiva’s voice completes the experience by reminding us that we have 21,600 breaths a day every day. Can we experience a sense of awareness in just 100 of those breaths, perhaps? Can we remember our sense of purpose in just a fraction of our daily breath cycle? We are invited to remain in this space of ease for as long as we wish.

Shiva Rea Shares Meditations on Deep Dive

Deep Dive as an Energetic Offering of Sahaja

When asked to comment on the energetic tone of the piece, Shiva explains, “Every breath we take travels through our bloodstream into every cell of our body. It touches all of us, like a droplet of water in an immersive sea.”

Most breathwork is integrated into asana, remarks Shiva, “and doesn’t give people permission to feel that sea of breath.” Whereas most yogic breath forms are rooted in classic rules, which may appear to feel rigid and constrictive to some, the state of Sahaja is the opposite: a space of flow, diving into the natural movements of life, a rising and pulsing of energy. Sahaja is anything but rigid or controlled.

Whether Deep Dive is experienced as separate practices or as one complete offering, it accomplishes this invitation to awaken into Sahaja, and in our post-pandemic world, this invitation is truly one of sacred medicine. Deep Dive offers invites us to reunite with our inner Truth through a journey into the depths of the unknown, the sublime and the sacred within us all.

When asked about how Deep Dive is a healing practice, one to soften the edges of the rigidness and deeply held fear state that many were forced into during the last few years, Shiva acknowledges that Fear is useful in a primal sense. But too much of it leads to contraction. It restricts our movement. “Sometimes, we feel ashamed when we begin a pranayama practice. It’s so hard to breathe! we might think. That’s the exit of cortisol, or fear in our nervous system. We are overstimulated,”

Shiva continues,”If we lovingly ask the breath to help us and to take refuge in it, even just for a short while, we experience each breath as life. And if we just love our breath, invite the breath to meet us, to love us, to move us, and to inspire us, we can transform the mental and emotional stress we are in.”

This invitation to experience each breath as innate intelligence, unfolding slowly and without judgment, draws us deeper into ourselves. Breath by breath, wave by wave: through this process, we release the rigidity of fear embodied within.

Rara Avis shares meditation music on Deep Dive

Bhavana and Sahaja

As with many artistic offerings rooted in the spirit of Divine Expansion, words don’t do Deep Dive justice because Bhavana– the meditative experience itself– is necessary to cultivate the feeling of Sahaja, expansion or bliss.

Deep Dive draws us in with its rawness, an indescribable truth and honesty, deeply felt on a visceral level, and within the very essence of our being. On one hand, Deep Dive is an invitation to trust the Breath as the source of intelligence, to allow the breath to breathe us as opposed to feeling that we have to control and create a specific breath pattern to achieve a prescribed result. On the other hand, Deep Dive is an invitation to expand into the unknown, a space of creation and possibility that unites us all in Love.

Listen to Deep Dive

Deep Dive is released on Six Degrees Records and currently available on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.

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What Exercises Are Actually Safe During Pregnancy?

Isn’t it funny how when you’re pregnant, everyone’s suddenly an expert? “Sign your kid up for a good school now.” “You should never eat cheese.” “You can’t run when you’re pregnant!” Yup, people love to dish out advice, and that leads to a lot of conflicting information and outright myths.

To keep you moving safely and with confidence during your pregnancy, I’ve rounded up the most common pregnancy fitness myths that need busting – now!

Myth #1: You shouldn’t exercise at all

Pregnancy is not an illness. For most women, continuing to exercise is completely safe.

The pregnancy programs in my app, Emily Skye FIT, follow recommendations laid out by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RANZCOG), who recommend that pregnant women do 150-300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week.

Not only is it safe to exercise during pregnancy, doing so has so many benefits for you and your baby. These include  helping you get better sleep, keeping you strong for labor, and preventing hypertension.

Myth #2: You can’t lift weights

When it comes to women lifting weights in general, wow, people have opinions. Add pregnancy to the mix and it can get even more heated – I received many comments and DMs during both my pregnancies from people who were shocked that I was still lifting weights while pregnant and told me it was dangerous.

But you know what? As an experienced lifter and qualified personal trainer who worked with women’s health experts to develop my FIT Pregnancy program, I knew that strength training within my limits was actually a good thing. And in fact, strength training is a recommended part of the ideal 150-300 minutes of exercise per week.

Want to keep lifting to stay strong? Take a look at my guide to lifting weights during pregnancy.

Myth #3: Don’t start exercising now

This one can be a little confusing because there are some forms of exercise that you shouldn’t attempt for the first time during pregnancy. For instance, if you haven’t regularly lifted weights in the past, now is not the time to grab the dumbbells.

However, if your pregnancy (or perhaps even the process of getting pregnant) has made you question your inactivity and overall health, you shouldn’t be afraid to begin introducing regular, moderate exercise to your life.

If you’re currently inactive but want to start moving during pregnancy, RANZCOG recommends starting with 15 to 20 minutes of light exercise at a time, and slowly building up to 30 minutes per session.

If you are inactive, I don’t recommend starting with FIT Pregnancy, as this program is designed for already active women to maintain fitness and strength. You might want to try brisk walking, riding an exercise bike or swimming. Just remember to warm up and cool down, and stop if anything doesn’t feel right.

Myth #4: You shouldn’t raise your heart rate

Love to run? You don’t have to stop! Back in the olden days, the advice given to pregnant women was to not raise your heart rate above 140 bpm – but that is no longer the case. These days, the experts now point to the Borg Rate of Perceived Exertion and suggest you reach a 12-14 on the scale when exercising – that means your breathing is at the point where you can still talk to someone, but you’re too out of puff to sing.

Before you start any exercise, familiarize yourself with the warning signs you should stop exercising when pregnant.

Good nutrition is never more important than when you’re pregnant. What you eat doesn’t just support the development of your baby, it fuels your increasing energy needs, too. But while you’re upping your calories to keep up with your growing bub, you also need to make sure that the foods you consume are nutrient-dense, well-prepared and safe for the both of you.

Try my Honey Lime Salmon dish for a healthy and tasty dinner option from the FIT Pregnancy meal plan.

Important: Always consult your healthcare professional before beginning any new exercise program, as there are some situations where exercise may not be advised. This information should be used as a guide only and should not replace the advice of your medical practitioner.

Learn More About Fitness

Check out the Emily Skye FIT app and emilyskyefit.com for more information and to start your 7-day free trial of the programs.

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Seasonal Ayurveda: Fall Energetics and Healthy Habits

Did you know that Autumn is a great time of transition? In fact, we move from summer’s expansive energy to winter’s contractile energy without even knowing it. This is the time to incorporate healthy Ayurvedic hacks for seasonal wellness.

From my advanced studies in Ayurveda (the 5,000-year-old ancient holistic science that originated in India) to experience as an Intuitive Health & Life Coach, I incorporate Ayurveda Fall Energetics to better position my clients, and myself, to thrive during seasonal changes.

In Ayurveda, every season is associated with an element. During Autumn, air and ether become the strongest elements in our environment. In principle, air and ether are inherently cold, dry, mobile, and light. Picture the leaves falling in the wind. The autumnal yellows, oranges and reds momentarily painting the crisp blue sky and then settling onto the earth below. Imagine the wind in your hair, blowing across your face and brushing up against your skin.

Ayurvedic Hacks for Autumn Health

From the ancient Ayurveda teachings, we learn that Autumn is the time to reset your body as well as your boundaries. I suggest that clients create a strong and self-loving container for themselves. As you may know, boundaries solidify and strengthen what is within. By setting healthy boundaries and daily structure, we are able to better contain the mobile air and ether energy that otherwise would drive us crazy. Using the following Ayurvedic hacks for better health are key to thriving this season and throughout the year.

7 Ayurveda Tips for the Fall Season

1. Favor Warm Foods

Substantive, oily, nourishing foods that are high in protein, high in fat, brought to life with warming, stimulating spices, and served hot, will go a long way toward maintaining your internal reserves of moisture and keeping you grounded through the season.

Some of the best warming food choices include the following.

• Sweet, sour, and salty tastes.
• Cooked grains, steamed vegetables, hearty grains, soups, and stews are grounding and moisturizing.
• Dairy products and all nuts and seeds are also beneficial for adding healthy fats.

2. Change Your Exercise Routine

While seasonally-appropriate exercise isn’t really a concept in the US, Ayurveda recommends that you adjust your workouts according to nature. In fall, your strength may be a little lower so our capacity to exercise could be decreased. During fall, slower and more gentle exercise is best for the body. Fast and intense workouts or any kind of erratic physical movement could be scaled back at this time. One of the best workouts for this season is yoga, especially a grounding yin yoga or hatha practices.

3. Make Time For Yourself.

While the well-known Italian quote “ Il dolce far nulla” (the art of doing nothing) isn’t really embodied in the American culture, in Ayurveda too much activity or stimulation during fall season can derange the energy known as vata. It is important to slow down and take more time to bask in the sun, meditate, practice pranayama, or take a short walk outside can keep your vata in check.

4. Oil Up

Massage your skin with warm, organic sesame oil or with herbal oil. This will help you calm your nervous system, awaken your tissues, and ground your energy by massaging your skin. Follow this practice with a warm, relaxing shower, leaving a coat of oil on the skin to absorb throughout the day. Steam baths and humidifiers can help preserve internal moisture as well.

5. Dress For The Season

An essential Ayurvedic hack is to dress for the season. Wear autumn colors when appropriate — reds, yellows, oranges, and whites — and wear enough clothes that you stay warm throughout the day. When you step out into the elements, cover your head and ears to protect them from the biting wind and cold.

6. Maintain Consistency

While many of us rebel at the idea of routine, the body craves and needs routine and rhythm. You don’t need to restrict yourself to the same exact pattern day in and day out, but try to do the same things (wake up, exercise, eat meals, go to bed, etc.) at roughly the same times each day. Set the tone for your day by rising early, taking full advantage of the silence, stillness, and peace that are intrinsic to the early morning hours — somewhere along the lines of 10:00 p.m. — 6:00 a.m. This kind of regularity tames vata so that your nervous system is relaxed, your digestion is strong, and your energy is stable.

7. Perform A Cleanse

The transition of the season to fall signals “rejuvenation” in Ayurveda. Not only is rejuvenation beneficial for mitigating current imbalances, it also helps prevent future illness. Ayurvedic rejuvenation involves gentle cleansing and restorative actions, including a combination of dietary guidelines, herbal formulations and supplements.

More Holistic Living Tips

If you want to learn more, find me TikTok, Instagram, or my website,
LoveHolisticLiving.com.

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Mohonk Mountain House: A Wellness Destination in the Hudson Valley

Located in the Hudson Valley just 90 minutes north of New York City and surrounded by thousands of acres of woodlands and miles of hiking trails, Mohonk Mountain House is a Victoria Castel resort that has been owned by the Smiley family for 150 plus years.

We spoke with Nina Smiley, Director of Mindfulness Programming to find out more about what this famous and unique resort offers and how she works elements of wellness into her own life.

How long have you been with Mohonk Mountain House, and what do you do with this property?

I have been with Mohonk Mountain House for 32 years, and I am the Director of Mindfulness Programming. Mindfulness Meditation at Mohonk Mountain House is all about sharing “modern mindfulness” with guests, coaching them in how to bring the benefits of a meditation practice into real-life.

Our classes at Mohonk are based on a book I wrote, The Three Minute Meditator, and which teaches guests how to work with mindfulness so that it will be available in real-time, as needed. I teach classes, private sessions, and lead weekend programs several times each year.

Our mindful eating program, Never Diet Again, is an immersion into a new relationship to food.

In a recent addition to our offerings, I lead “Forest Bathing” walks where I integrate mindfulness with nature in our inspirational setting. These forest bathing experiences are a guided opportunity to be fully present in the moment exploring the nuances of sensory awareness on trails that lead us through the woods alongside timeless cliffs around a pristine mountain lake.

Classes on Mindfulness and Relationships are offered at our Couples Weekends for an experience where partners can learn and share a new perspective.

There are so many hotels, resorts, retreats and tour operators offering wellness programs and packages – tell us a bit about Mohonk Mountain House, and what are the main points of distinction?

Mohonk Mountain House is a Victorian Castle Resort that combines the charm of an old-world aesthetic with modern amenities. It has been family-owned and operated by the Smiley family for 153 years, and we greet guests with a warm “Welcome to our House.”

Our mission has always been to offer re-creation and renewal of body, mind, and spirit in a beautiful natural setting. Mohonk is set on 40,000 acres of woodland in the Shawangunk Mountains with 85 miles of hiking trails on our doorstep. The setting is an invitation to step outdoors and be nurtured by nature. A main point of distinction is the way Mohonk uses the outdoors for well-being, offering complimentary walks with our naturalist, guided hikes, and a spa that delights in wellness-without-walls.

Our award-winning spa just opened the Lakeview Summerhouse where guests enjoy treatments outdoors overlooking the lake in a cliff-top area where mindfulness and massage services invite guests to relax into the moment in a very special way. A new outdoor Lakeside Immersion fall activity features contrast therapy: a cold plunge into Lake Mohonk to invigorate, followed by yoga nestled in a warm room.

Another point of distinction is that our rates are inclusive of meals and complimentary activities where guests can create their own well-being “sampler” experience.

What pandemic-inspired policies and procedures has (Mohonk) implemented to keep travelers healthy and safe?

Our protocols for cleanliness have always been at the highest level and remain at the highest level as we keep our travelers healthy and safe in these challenging times.

What does Mohonk offer that might attract a potential visitor like the readers of LA Yoga?

Mohonk Mountain House is an iconic Hudson Valley resort, where there are so many things to do. We have daily classes that include yoga, meditation, singing bowls, and fitness modalities.

Our yoga and mindfulness weekends are full immersion. As rates include meals, many of the daily activities, and evening entertainment, guests are able to relax without having to think about the details that go into planning the logistics of a vacation. It’s a seamless integration of wonderful, healthy food prepared by award-winning chefs, a wide range of activities that include seasonal lake swimming, boating, archery, tomahawk throwing, disc golf and tennis, with horseback riding, golf and the full-service newly refreshed 30,000-square foot spa.

Winter features 35 miles of groomed cross-country ski trails, ice-skating and snowshoeing. Many of our rooms have wood-burning fireplaces perfect for snuggling on a winter night.

We like to say that Mohonk is about “options” and that you can be as busy or relaxed as you want to be. This means enjoying a sense of spaciousness where you can relax, renew, and refresh in your own way in your own time.

How do you incorporate wellness into your own daily life?

I go outdoors to be in nature as often as I can and I call upon my senses one at a time.

I begin by closing my eyes and experiencing the sense of touch as I notice the fresh air on my skin. Then I become aware of the sense of smell, and take in the sounds that surround me. When I open my eyes, I invite myself to “see with new eyes”, without a filter of thought. I notice the colors, shapes, and textures of the natural world and it’s almost as if the channel has changed and colors are brighter, shapes are more distinct, textures are more visible.

This process of deepening awareness takes me outside of myself as I connect with the natural world in a deeper way. I feel a sense of spaciousness that nurtures me.

What are some of the top wellness trends you are seeing at Mohonk Mountain House?

People are very interested in being outdoors and are increasingly understanding the value of being nurtured by nature. There’s also an interest in learning more about things that can be brought home and practiced, including yoga, mindfulness and tips from our massage therapists and fitness instructors. There’s a trend towards understanding the value of self-care and a commitment to practicing it.

Do you feel technology is important as it pertains to wellness, and if yes, how and why?

I think technology can be helpful as an entry point to wellness. I also think that it’s not the whole story because technology can be a distraction from the actual practicing of wellness activities. I would prefer to see tech as an opportunity for a beginning, that then becomes an opportunity to customize well-being for oneself and take “self-care” wherever it needs to go.

Wellness is an ongoing process that needs to be dynamic based on changing needs, changing circumstances, changing seasons. Learning to tune in to one’s own body is nuanced, and it’s important to remember that you are the expert on yourself, without relying overly on technology.

Do you and, if yes, how do you incorporate the local community or culture into the programming at Mohonk?

We work with local farms and incorporate farm-to-table best practices into our cuisine. We have an active relationship with our local art community and hold artists’ events and programming at the Mountain House throughout the year. On property, we have remarkable gardens and invite local colleges to have their students work on sculptures that go into our gardens to incorporate young people’s excitement and creativity for our guests to enjoy.

We host an annual Gingerbread Competition during the holiday season and donate proceeds from this event to our local food bank.

What is your final note of advice for living your best life?

It’s very simple. Remember to breathe! We get so busy at times that we forget the calmness and joy that can come with a full gentle breath in, and a full gentle breath out. Also, remember to recognize and enjoy small moments of happiness and nurture this awareness. Creating an inclusive sense of satisfaction and well-being within the fabric of life is an on-going opportunity for self-care, rather than waiting for “something big” to feel good about.

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Jahnavi Harrison Shares Bhakti Yoga through Sacred Music

Sacred music artist Jahnavi Harrison is currently touring the US for her Into the Forest Tour, named for her most recent sacred music album. Join her on Thursday, November 3, at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, at 7:00 PM.

Jahnavi evokes the environmentalist John Muir saying, “Into the forest I go to lose my mind and find my soul.” which gave inspiration for name of both the album Into the Forest and the tour. Whether we are in nature or a theatre, in the city, or in the forest, we can connect to the art of devotion to find our souls.

She’s sharing her clarity of voice, purity of purpose, and a direct line to the essence of bhakti. Bhakti is the Sanskrit word for devotion. This refers to the practice that allows us to experience our connection to the divine within us as well as the divine aspects of the world around us. It is more than chant, music, or song.

Bhakti Yoga is the path that allows us to open our hearts. It is available to each and every one of us. There are so many methods we can use to connect into this path of practice. Those of us who live in Los Angeles are fortunate to be able to have the experience to not only sit and experience sacred musician Jahnavi’s devotion, but to sing with her and to sing in community with each other on Thursday, November 3, 2022. (Use the discount code SINGVIP50 for a limited time offer of 50% off tickets.

A Path of Practice

Each and every time Jahnavi shares her approach to Bhakti Yoga, she draws upon the legacy of her upbringing. She grew up at Bhaktivedanta Manor in England, a spiritual sanctuary famously donated by late Beatle George Harrison as part of his own practice of Bhakti Yoga.

Her immersion in sacred song includes a number of album releases, including the album, Like a River to the Sea.

Jahnavi has garnered a long list of supporters who share their love of her work. Willow Smith has recorded music with Jahnavi and calls her, “One of my favorite artists of all time.” Famous chant artist Krishna Das says, “When Jahnavi sings and plays one feels that one is eavesdropping on the music of the Gods. One only has to have ears to hear her and know immediately that we are in the presence of grace.”

She has appeared on Russell Brand’s podcast. He says the following about her, “This woman is amazing. I’ve seen her perform, it’s holy and sacred.”

Sing with Jahnavi Harrison in Los Angeles

Thursday, November 3 at 7:00 PM. A Night of Mantra Music with Jahnavi Harrison.  Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 West 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90005 For 50% off tickets, use the discount code:  SINGVIP50  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jahnavi-harrison-an-evening-of-mantra-music-meditation-tickets-391173950817

The post Into the Forest: Sing with Sacred Music Artist Jahnavi Harrison appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.