Ego says, "Be your own damn Guru"!

I can't help but think too many people look to others for answers to "life's" questions. Why is it so hard for people to trust their own intuition? Are we that disconnected? Unless you "live off the grid", media has done a great job at shaping people's way of thinking. Wear this, buy that, eat only raw, drive this car, worship this god...blah-blah-blah. The list goes on....
We are all guitly of it.
I have spent many years of my own life observing this "I can't-think-for-myself" pandemic. I was ill with it for many years and occasionally I get hit with a bug of it now and then. I am personally working on a vaccine for it...FYI.

So how can I remove myself from the horrors of this media driven society and still remain grounded, connected and compassionate?

Oh wait- by realizing it of course! Awareness is the key!
So what does this sleep deprived rant have to do with my Yoga Teacher Training journey? Well for starters, yoga = union. Union within ourselves and the world around us...

I have edited this blog post so many times because I kept prattling on about what it is and is not to be Yoga. I found myself lost in paragraphs of cynicism and decided that I will not be doing myself (or anyone that reads this) any good by writing about how lost society is. I am just one fish in the sea trying to find my own truth. What I am expereincing in my life right now is a great deal of self forgiveness. Years and years of self hate and destruction. It has taken a great deal of courage to let the skeletons out of the closet. And I am just getting started...

Purity

Life of my life, I shall ever try to keep my body pure, knowing

that thy living touch is upon all my limbs.

I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts, knowing

that thou art that truth which has kindled the light of reason in my mind.

I shall ever try to drive all evils away from my heart and keep my

love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat in the inmost shrine of my heart.

And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions, knowing it

is thy power gives me strength to act.

-Rabindranath Tagore

The lotus rises through the murky waters of ponds and lakes yet, when it blooms, it floats upon the surface, its petals shining and untainted by the mud from which it emerged. In the scriptural language and sacred poetry of Hinduism and Buddhism, the lotus perfectly embodies the soul, rising up through the murkiness of worldly experience until it reaches the surface of the spiritual realm and blooms, vibrant and pure, free from all taint and attachment.