In a recent blog article ("Freedom from Addictions to Television and to Anxieties"), I wrote about the importance of each of us working to lessen our personal anxieties because we are all connected in one continuous web of energy and vibration. We each affect everyone else. As the Collective Anxiety rises all around us, we can each do our small part to lessen the Collective Anxiety by first lessening our personal anxieties. As Gandhi-ji said, we first have to BE the change that we wish to see in the world.

While Mahatma Gandhi is best known for his non-violent political struggle that led India to gain independence from the British, he was also extremely committed to doing his own personal inner work. He valued meditation and other spiritual practices so highly that each day he led morning and evening interfaith prayer services. It was the calm inner strength that he gained through incredible self-discipline that enabled him to be so powerful in his work in the world.  We too can gain the same inner strength that he gained, if only we will sit still and go within. This is a challenging time in which to sit still, but we each have that inherent ability within us.

Meditation is an inherent physiological ability that we can learn and practice. Once we commit to a daily meditation practice, that commitment sets into motion a whole range of changes within us. Our inner being really wants our attention, so when we make the conscious decision to turn our attention inward, all of the deepest parts of ourselves jump up with excitement, saying "yes, look at us!" In our busy, modern world, our attention is so divided and so scattered outward in millions of little directions, and this contributes significantly to our anxiety levels. When, like Gandhi-ji, we commit to turning inward for a little time each day, we begin to calm ourselves from the inside out.

During meditation and during our daily lives, we can practice cultivating the witness, that part of ourselves that objectively watches everything that we are. To learn more about cultivating the witness and other spiritual practices, check out my new pocketbook, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living. (This book is at the printer now. Pre-orders are discounted on this website store through April 10th.)

As I said in the last blog about freeing ourselves from anxieties, two ways to lessen our anxiety levels are through affirmations and inspirations. I say positive affirmations out loud when I go out on my walks. Regular exercise is super important for reducing anxieties, and saying affirmations out loud while moving the body helps to re-pattern the brain. I can personally attest that this works, because I had been saying affirmations to build strength (on all levels - physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual) for the past couple of years, and just a few weeks ago I noticed that I don't need to say those particular affirmations anymore because all parts of my being now know that I am strong. 

In addition to saying affirmations, it is essential that we regularly find things that inspire us. Recently I explored a website that really inspired me (www.projectrestoration.com). I became a member and had to choose the two "clans" that I resonated with. I was really drawn to the Butterfly (lovers of life who celebrate) and the Wolf (rogues who awaken), but in the end I chose the Lion (artists who create and harmonize) as my secondary and the Raven (healers who heal) as my primary clan. That decision-making process allowed me to hone in on a vision of who I am now. As I delve deeper into the Reiki healing path, I am inspired to channel more and more healing energy through me, as my service to others.

Reiki, pronounced "Ray-key," is a gentle energy healing system that can be offered directly (hands-on, with clothing on), and also remotely through visualization and intention. In addition to giving Reiki healing sessions locally, I also send Reiki energy to Haiti (and other places that need healing), and to friends in other countries.

Recently I was talking on the phone with a dear girlfriend, and we were scheduling a time when I could give a Reiki healing session to her and to her nine-year-old daughter. While we were talking, suddenly about 25-30 crows landed on the street in front of my cottage. I wondered if the crows were somehow connected with the Reiki session we were planning, so  later in meditation I tuned in, and received guidance to purchase a little stuffed crow to give her daughter. The following week when we met, I gave them each a Reiki healing, and then I gave them each the level one attunement, a ritual that enables the receiver to channel the healing energies to heal themselves and others. I gave the stuffed bird to her daughter and told her that it would be her "Reiki crow," that she could use as her assistant when giving Reiki healing energy to others. She really liked that, and I was pleased to hear later that both mother and daughter are really enjoying the Reiki energy. I will be writing more about this ancient healing art in future blogs. As with all energy healing systems, when you receive the Reiki healing energy with openness, the energy relaxes your system.

Anything that relaxes our systems helps to free us from our unconscious addiction to anxious energies. Taking the time to be still each day helps us to identify the anxious energies. Once we witness the presence of anxieties, then we need to take actions to reduce them. When I witnessed the anxious energies passing through me last week, I patiently tried one thing after the next until they finally relaxed. I can't say for sure what caused the transformation, but after going for an invigorating walk in the pouring rain and hail with a close friend, I suddenly felt the anxious state pop, and I watched as I shifted back into a vibration of Trust. After watching the swirling anxieties that had been upsetting my body-mind for several days, I felt so much gratitude to be back in the calm, blissful state!

Now that I am once again centered in yogini bliss purpose, I intend to focus on sending healing energies out to reduce the Collective Anxiety. I am grateful for the inspiration to identify myself with the energy of the Raven Clan. After linking with Raven, I looked up Raven in a book called Medicine Cards: The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals, by Jamie Sams & David Carson. (Bear & Company, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1988), and I was delighted to read that Raven is the guardian of distance healing! How perfect.

Everything is happening in perfection. When we take the time to go within and get to know our inner beings, then we understand our innate perfection, and this understanding calms us so that instead of contributing to the Collective Anxiety, we send out healing energies that help lessen the Collective Anxiety. Let's all commit to doing this inner work, so we can be the change that we wish to see in the world.

With so much gratitude in my heart for the example that Gandhi-ji set for us...

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini


Raven photo by Larry Page, CC license

Comment (0)

Today I enjoyed a simple, yet very tasty vegan lunch. Whether or not you eat a vegan diet (a diet of vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, seeds, nuts... with no meat, no fish, no dairy, and no eggs), you might like this concoction:

Yesterday morning I cooked a pot of millet for breakfast. I had soaked the millet overnight, and in the morning I added sunflower seeds, raisins, cinnamon, cumin powder, and Himalayan krystal salt. Today for lunch I heated up some of that leftover millet with some raw cashews, and then I put the following toppings on it: nutritional yeast flakes, raw hemp seeds, and a bit more Himalayan krystal salt. Next to all of that, I placed some raw arugula leaves drizzled with organic flax seed oil and apple cider vinegar. On the side, I put a handful of crunchy roasted seaweed. Did you know that sea vegetables contain as much as ten times the amount of vitamins and minerals as land vegetables?

I was able to take the time to heat the leftover millet in a pan since I am working at home today, but when I was working in an office, I regularly took lunches like this one by simply putting all of the ingredients in a glass bowl the night before and then letting the bowl sit in the office all morning so I could eat my yummy lunch at room temperature. (I won't use microwave ovens, because I think that the radiation zaps all the nutrition out of the food.)

Please buy organic food whenever possible! It is better for your body and better for the environment.

For more vegan recipes, follow this Teja Blog and sign up for my monthly e-newsletter, The Tejaswini Playground Press.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of my vegan lunch today by Teja Shankara.

Comment (0)

Everything is connected. We are all linked in one continuous web of energy and vibration. We could put this oneness to great use by collectively choosing to raise the consciousness of the human species. As Gandhi-ji said, first we have to BE the change that we wish to see in the world. We each have to choose to raise our own vibrations.

A good place to begin is in working to free ourselves from all of our addictions. In my last post, I challenged people to give up alcohol, nicotine, ganja, and other substances. In addition to freeing our systems of those substances, we can also choose to free ourselves of addictive thought patterns, relationships, foods, anxieties, and activities such as watching too much television. In this blog entry, I will focus on freedom from the addictions to television and to anxieties.

I copy the following information on television from my website page “Tips from Tejaswini”:

During my grade school years I watched a lot of television, but in high school and college I was too busy with studies and parties. Then in my twenties I got hooked on Seinfeld and thoroughly enjoyed watching it every week, until that last disappointing episode. When Seinfeld ended, so did my television watching. Now I don’t even own a television.

While not owning a television seems completely normal and natural to me, I realize that there are a lot of people who really enjoy watching television. If you watch a lot of television, I invite you to consider reducing the amount of time you spend in front of the TV. Here’s why: regardless of the kind of program you are watching, the speed of the light changes happening on the screen puts your body-mind into a survival state in which your system has to choose between flight or fight. The trouble is, you can’t fight the television, nor can you flee it. You can’t flee it because the speed of the light changes freezes the attention of your survival state brain upon the television screen.

This is why people can’t very easily take their eyes away from a television that’s blaring in the room, even if they are trying to do something else. Advertising companies make good use of this phenomenon: they increase the speed of the light changes during commercials to make sure that they hook people’s attention. 

Watching television is one way to get into a meditative state, but the problem with this form of meditation is that it creates stress in the body-mind. Once the speed of the light changes on the screen puts you into the survival state, then the stress hormone cortisol gets released, and that hormone is responsible for a lot of health problems.

A healthy alternative to TV meditation is sitting in silent meditation. Many people think that they need the outside stimulation of the television to feel happily entertained, but once they try sitting in silence, they find so much relief in taking a break from all of the outer stimulation. To learn how to begin a regular daily meditation practice, check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.

Also,when you watch less television, you will have more time to pursue other interests... and those interests might bring you much joy.

When we pursue interests that we enjoy, we lessen the addictive anxieties that cycle around inside of us. Freedom from anxiety is not easy to achieve. We live in a time when anxiety is increasing all around us, and when we consider that we are all linked in one web of energy, then we understand that each person's anxiety affects everyone else.

I endeavor to lessen my personal anxieties so that I stay open to receive the guidance that the Universe is continually giving us. It is difficult to hear our inner voice of wisdom when we are blocked by anxious energies. This past week I witnessed a lot of anxieties in my system, and while I watched them I also took actions to reduce them. First I focused on trusting in my own ability to heal myself and to free myself from the anxieties.

Next I followed my intuition as to what herbs and scents might assist me. I chose a tincture called Lavender Spirits Compound (a liquid herbal extract by Herb Pharm, www.herb-pharm.com), which contains cinnamon bark, nutmeg seed, lavender flower, clove flower bud, and rosemary herb. (I am not a doctor, so please consult your healthcare practitioner before taking herbal remedies.) For aromatherapy, I enjoyed the scents of jasmine, sandalwood, patchouli, and ylang ylang.

Along with the herbal and floral medicines, I continued to sit still in my regular, daily meditation practice, and I watched the anxious energies move around in my system. I repeatedly brought my attention back to my breath to calm my body-mind, and I kept telling myself, “this too shall shift."

Each day I focused my attention on cultivating the witness. The witness consciousness is that part of ourselves that objectively watches everything that we are. We can cultivate the witness during sitting meditation practice and during our daily lives. This practice of watching ourselves gradually trains us to accept and allow all parts of ourselves, so that we can relax into the love in our hearts. Cultivating the witness is a gradual journey into the healing experience of true self-love. As we gradually forgive ourselves, we begin to love ourselves unconditionally.

Two other self-healing remedies are affirmations and inspirations. Saying positive affirmations out loud is a great way to calm ourselves while re-training our brains. Try saying this affirmation out loud three times: "I trust that everything is happening perfectly in each moment." How do you feel when you say that? If we say affirmations daily, over time they really do change our ways of thinking and feeling.

When we are serious about raising our vibrations, we also need to continually find things that inspire us. A friend recently referred me to a website that really inspired me, and I typed a section about that website for this blog , but for some reason I can't get that paragraph to upload. After spending a very frustrating hour on the computer just now, I am laughing at the irony in me posting a blog about reducing anxieties while I am watching my anxiety rise over this computer problem!

In my next blog I will write more about inspirations, healings, and exercises to reduce anxiety. For now, I'm off to take my lavender spirits remedy!

As we each commit to being the change that we wish to see in the world, may we each work steadily to free ourselves from our unhealthy addictions. May we heal ourselves so that we can help raise the consciousness of the human species.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini


Photo of blue flowers by Richard Broderick, CC license.

Comment (0)

Most people want to be happy and healthy, yet many people continue to make choices that lead to self-inflicted sorrows and diseases. Worldwide, one of the biggest causes of unhappiness is the epidemic of addictions to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs ~ primarily ganja (also called pot/weed/marijuana) ~ which I will collectively refer to in this blog as “substances.”

For those of you who are really longing for true health and happiness, please take a moment now to close your eyes, breathe, and open your mind. Once you feel openness in your mind, read the following information and see if it resonates for you.

All addictions to harmful substances stem from a lack of self-love. Once you really, truly begin to love yourself, you experience your whole being, including your physical body, as a temple for your soul. When you really love yourself, you will no longer choose to put harmful substances into your body. Alcohol, tobacco, ganja, and other substances harm the physical body.

In Kundalini: An Occult Experience, by G.S. Arundale, the author writes: “It is clear that nicotine and alcohol definitely act in some way upon Kundalini, the former (nicotine) interposing a barrier between the general force of Kundalini and its operation in the various vehicles of the individual concerned, while the latter (alcohol) seems to act as a direct stimulant, stirring the Force in wrong directions, or in some way wrongly intensifying it, and in any case doing these things in connection with an individual far from ready for Fire-development. All narcotics, drugs, stimulants clog the system and interpose a deadening miasma between the individual and all larger consciousness.” (Kundalini: An Occult Experience, by G.S. Arundale, The Theosophical Publishing House, Madras, India, 1974.)

(Kundalini is the serpent-like fire energy that lies coiled at the base of the spine until it rises up through the chakras (energy centers in the subtle body) in a process that awakens us to our connection with the Divine.)

It has been 2 ½ years since I quit drinking alcohol. I no longer even have a glass of wine with dinner, because I do not like how alcohol makes my energies feel so tweaked. Once I began doing regular, daily spiritual practices and I became more sensitive to energies, I began to really like how my own energies feel, without any alterations. I like how present I feel now that I no longer put mind-altering substances into my temple body. (If you would like to begin doing regular spiritual practices yourself, check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.)

Spiritual practices require effort and discipline, and the results are definitely worth the work. I like the way Bhagavan Das puts it in his book, It’s Here Now (Are You?): “In every culture people have always wanted to change their consciousness. And people will always find a way. You can’t stop them. You can try – you can put them in jail. Still, people will alter their consciousness in any way they can. Fortunately, there are many safer ways to raise your consciousness than experimenting with drugs, and most gurus in India prefer more conservative routes. Doing your meditation, japa, and hatha-yoga is a slower path, but the effects are more lasting, and you run less risk of frying your nervous system. Without a doubt, self-discipline pays for itself in the end.” (It’s Here Now (Are You?), by Bhagavan Das, Broadway Books, New York, 1997.)

Another positive aspect to giving up harmful substances is that you can use the money saved to buy yourself natural healing remedies and treatments, and you can give something to those less fortunate than yourself. My Guru Ammachi, the hugging saint, often encourages people to spend less on personal luxuries and to donate that extra money to help others. In Lead Us to Purity, a book of speeches given by Amma, she says the following to a crowd gathered around her in India: “Charity is essential in the life of a householder… The money we overspend on food and clothing would be enough to serve countless people. Think of how much money we are wasting now. Nowadays many people think they’re tough only if they smoke cigarettes, that smoking is a sign of masculinity. There are also those who think smoking is a sign of intelligence… True intellectuals are those who love others just as much as they love themselves. It is written on the cigarette package itself that smoking is hazardous to your health. If people smoke even after reading that, should they be called intellectual or idiotic? The money smokers spend in a month is enough to alleviate the poverty in India.”

Amma continues with this point in another speech: “Think of the torrential rain we’ve had in the recent months. There are thousands of people around us who have stayed awake under leaking roofs all through the rainy nights, wondering when their huts will collapse. When you raise your alcohol glasses, remember those people. With the money that we waste every month, we could get their roofs thatched. Then those people could sleep comfortably at night.” (Lead Us to Purity: A Selection of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi’s Speeches 1990-1999, Compiled by Swami Jnanamritananda, Mata Amritanandamayi Center, 2007.)

(Amma’s charitable organizations, now collectively called Embracing the World, have already constructed more than 40,000 homes across India. To donate to this and many other wonderful projects, go to www.amma.org.)

The thing is, alcohol, tobacco, and other substances interfere with spiritual purification and with the body’s natural healing processes. The way to free yourself from these addictive substances is to set the intention to really love yourself, and then choose the path that will lead you to that self-love. Once you dedicate yourself to really loving yourself, the way will open up for you.

Regular, daily spiritual practices help develop self-love. The spiritual practice that has helped me the most in loving myself more fully is cultivating the witness. The Witness Consciousness is that part of ourselves that objectively watches everything we are. Once we begin to witness, allow, and accept all parts of ourselves, then we begin to love ourselves unconditionally. (I describe the practice of cultivating the witness in my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.)

After doing regular, daily spiritual practices for a while, the readiness and the willingness to give up the substances will spontaneously arise. As a Reiki practitioner, I am ready and willing to send distance Reiki healings to support anyone who is ready and willing to quit alcohol, tobacco, and other harmful substances. Reiki is a gentle, hands-on energy healing system, but the healing energy can also be sent to people at a distance. (Reiki is pronounced “Ray-key.”)

So, when you are ready, consider taking the Teja Challenge: you give up alcohol, tobacco, ganja, and other harmful substances for a one-year period, and I will send you Reiki healing energy daily for that year. To begin the Teja Challenge, go to the Contact page of this website and send me an email saying that you are ready to take the Teja Challenge. I will reply with a letter of encouragement and natural healing ideas, and I will request that you email me back a photo of yourself. I will then send you the Reiki healing energy daily for that year, during which time we will correspond by email as needed. I am offering this Teja Challenge by donation. (There is a donate button on the Store page of this website, and 10% of every sale and donation on this website goes to Amma’s charitable organizations.) Please consider what it means to you, and then donate accordingly.

I have one last quote to share on this topic, from Essential Reiki, by Diane Stein: “Many healers believe, as I do, that a smoker or recreational drug-user can never be a fully clear channel for Reiki, nor can an abuser of alcohol. Never do healing when under the influence of alcohol or drugs. These states at any time invite in negative entities and attachments unwelcome in healing. They are wholly negative for the healer…. If you wish to quit smoking or break addictions to alcohol or drugs, Reiki… is a powerful self-healing tool. Remember that as a Reiki practitioner, you are a sacred channel for the life force energy…” (Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art, by Diane Stein, The Crossing Press, Inc., Freedom, CA, 1995.)

Cheers to good health and happiness for all! For those of you who are ready and willing to renounce addictive substances for a year, I look forward to meeting you on the Teja Challenge.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happpiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Sunlight on fabric photo by Teja Shankara.

Comment (7)

This is it. Three simple words, with so many layers of potential meanings behind them. This weekend my boys and I watched This Is It, the documentary film depicting Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for the absolutely amazing show that he was scheduled to open in London. At a press conference full of beloved fans (who could not stop screaming in excitement), he said, “This is it. This is the final curtain call. See you in July.” Sadly, Michael Jackson died two weeks before that first concert.

After a decade’s absence from the stage, Michael Jackson, a single parent, said that it was a good time to do his final tour because his kids were old enough to appreciate it, and he was still young enough to do it. At 50 years old, he sang and danced just like he did when I was in the eighth grade. As I listened to his great old songs, I was filled with nostalgia for what was, but I also saw him from a new perspective. Viewing him from my training as a raja yogini, I saw right into the heart of him as a spiritual being. My vision changed from seeing him as a famous pop star, to seeing him as a profound spiritual teacher. 

Like all great spiritual teachers, Michael Jackson’s message was Love, and he delivered it with such tenderness and kindness. Throughout the rehearsals, as he worked with the musicians and dancers, he spoke in a very gentle voice, often saying, “Do it with the love… with the love… L.O.V.E., Love…” Involved in every aspect of the production, from casting to directing to lighting to sound to design, his brilliance shined through, and the film shows a true genius at work. At one point, Michael Jackson stood in a circle with all the cast and crew, giving them sweet encouragement. He said that they were all family and that it was all for love.

This Is It would likely have been the most spectacular concert experience the world had ever known, complete with fireworks, pyro-technology, 3D films, extraordinary costuming, and much more. Michael Jackson had created a show that would thrill his fans like never before, and within that potent entertainment experience, he intended to deliver a powerful message: This Is It. We all have to help heal this earth. If we don’t make some changes now, within 4 years the environmental devastation will be irreversible.

Michael Jackson planned to make this plea for the environment with his characteristic boldness through a 3D film in which a beautiful young girl is playing with butterflies in the lush green forest. She falls asleep and awakes to the horror of her paradise burning all around her. As a bulldozer approaches, she rushes to save the last green plant, while tears stream down her cheeks. Right at the point where the bulldozer almost crushes her, Michael Jackson was going to jump out of the screen with her, and then an actual bulldozer was going to come on the stage towards them! A man was going to get out of the bulldozer, to show that it is not the machines that are destroying the earth, but rather it is the human beings who run the machines.

As a true spiritual teacher, Michael Jackson intended to show people that the human race is sleeping and we need to WAKE UP! He was going to bring this message live to a million people at 50 sold-out shows. I sobbed as I thought of what a tragedy it is that he died before offering those shows, but then I searched for the positive, and realized that maybe now even more people will get his message through watching the documentary film, This Is It.

In the tradition of his past shows, he planned to end the concerts with the song “Man In The Mirror.”  I don’t remember if I really understood that song’s words when I was a teenager, but now as a 40-year-old yogini, I get them in the context of Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings. Michael Jackson sang, “I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways. No message could’ve been any clearer. If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make that change.” Likewise, Gandhi-ji said we have to BE the change that we wish to see in the world.

When we go within and change ourselves, those changes do ripple out and affect the beings around us. So how do we change ourselves? One of the most effective ways to change ourselves is through regular, daily spiritual practices. Mahatma Gandhi definitely knew the importance of meditation and other spiritual practices. Throughout all of his political activities, he took the time to lead morning and evening prayer services each day. People of all faiths, and even atheists, attended these gatherings. Meditation was a key aspect to Gandhi’s success in the world.

In the Introduction to MK Gandhi’s Book of Prayers, Michael N. Nagler writes: “There is a tendency to think that meditation and action are opposites, that one chooses between one way of life or the other. But as the Bhagavad Gita insists, meditation and selfless action are inseparable. They are opposite sides of the same coin, as complementary as breathing in and breathing out. They not only do not exclude each other, they need each other. By reaching normally untapped inner resources, one can unleash the energy needed to make major changes in one’s self and others, and the wisdom to guide that energy. Meditation enables one to act without the contaminant of selfish attachment. That applies with particular force when the action in question happens to be a revolution. Far from being a distraction, then, the devotional practices of the ashram were the very stuff of revolution. For Gandhi there was no distinction whatever between the social purpose of the community – to raise India and in the process shake off her colonial chains – and the spiritual purpose which has always been the center of ashram life – to raise the consciousness of individuals by shaking off their egocentric chains.” (Book of Prayers, by Mohandas K. Gandhi, Berkeley Hills Books, Berkeley, CA, 1999.)

In order to help the environment thrive on this sacred earth, we need to raise the consciousness of the human species. This begins by each one of us dedicating ourselves to raising our own consciousness. We can speed up the process by committing ourselves to doing daily spiritual practices. In my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living, I describe basic spiritual practices that anyone – of any faith – can apply to their own life journey. (This book will be going to the printer very soon and pre-orders are now discounted on this website’s store.) In this easy-to-read pocketbook, I stress the importance of daily spiritual practices, especially cultivating the witness and sitting meditation.

Cultivating the Witness is an essential part of getting to know ourselves. By objectively witnessing all parts of ourselves, we learn to allow and accept everything that we are. We learn to love ourselves unconditionally. Gradually, as we let go of our false coverings, we become who we truly are: spiritual beings who are part of one pure love energy, the “L.O.V.E.” that Michael Jackson so often referred to.

We can practice cultivating the witness during our daily lives and also when we are sitting in meditation. While sitting still, we silently observe our thoughts, our emotions, our bodily sensations, and our breath. When we sit still regularly, the energy needed to change ourselves spontaneously arises. After meditating daily for a while, we can look in the mirror and be grateful for the transformations that are occurring within our beings.

This is it. This is the only moment we have. Regular, daily meditation is more important now than ever. May we each heed the call to look in the mirror and make that change. May all beings everywhere be uplifted by the rising consciousness created through our daily sitting meditation practices.

As more and more people dedicate themselves to daily meditation practice, I bet Michael Jackson will be smiling upon us from some distant star. Thanks for the teachings, MJ. This is it.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Image "Near the centre" by Eddi 07, CC license.

Comment (2)

As the first signs of spring appear, like the precious little violets reaching up through the grass in my yard, there is still a winter chill in the air. This morning we have sunshine in Ashland, and I am thinking of all the sunny, cheerful things that warm my heart. Like hearing my Grandma’s voice. Every time I call her, across several thousand miles, I get to hear her say, “Thank you for calling. This was a bright spot in my day.”

What are the bright spots in your days? What cheers you? What enlivens you and warms your heart? In wintertime, we all reach for warmth, but in truth, we need warmth in every season.

Once my dear teacher Basil (who passed away in July, 2009), was talking about fear vibrations, and he advised us to ask those fear vibrations what they need. He said that the answer is nearly always warmth. Coming together as a community brings us warmth and calms our limbic systems. Connecting with others breaks the illusion of separation. Doing spiritual practices with others breaks the anxiety-producing sense of being isolated.

In my memoir, The Rita Lila: A Western Yogini’s Journey to Bliss, I share this quote by Basil: “In this time of dissolving form, in this declining empire, ask yourself, ‘What am I called to do?’ and listen to your inner guidance. There is a lot of anxiety out there in the Collective, but if you take in nourishment (friends, food, practices, prayers), and listen for guidance, then you will be able to navigate through – no matter what happens. All of the information in this age produces anxiety that is both contagious and crippling… As yogis and yoginis, it is our responsibility to continually calm ourselves so that we not only lessen our personal anxieties, but we also lessen the amount of anxiety that we contribute to the Collective Anxiety.”

This article is a continuation of my last two blog posts, “The Mind Becomes That Which It Dwells Upon.” and “Bliss and Grief: My Two Lives.” In those entries, I wrote about how happiness is a choice. No matter what is happening, we have to continually choose to put our attention on things that expand us.

When we feel contracted, one way to practice putting our attention on things that expand us is through the simple, yet powerful, Freeze Frame technique developed by the HeartMath Institute. The following is copied from their website:

This 1-minute, 5-step technique, intended to be used when one is feeling stressed or out of balance, involves the following abbreviated steps:

1. Recognize the stressful feeling, and Freeze-Frame it (take a time out).

2. Make a sincere effort to shift your focus away from the racing mind or disturbed emotions to the area around your heart.

3. Recall a positive, fun feeling or time and attempt to re-experience it.

4. Using your intuition, common sense, and sincerity, ask your heart what a more efficient response to the situation would be, one that would minimize future stress.

5. Listen to what your heart says in answer to your question.

For more information on this technique, click here on Freeze Frame.

My favorite part of that exercise is number 3: recalling a positive and fun feeling or time and attempting to re-experience it. If we catch ourselves going into stress mode quickly enough, then shifting our attention toward experiencing a positive feeling in the heart can actually stop the activation of the survival brain state. Take a moment to recall a few times when you felt happy. Attempt to re-experience a time when you had a lot of fun. Then, the next time you feel a stressful reaction coming on, try this Freeze Frame technique and see what happens.

I experience loving feelings in my heart when I recall myself hugging my Guru Amma or sitting in my Grandma’s kitchen. When I think of all the things that bring me warmth, my Grandma’s kitchen is at the top of the list. It is small and cozy, with bright yellow walls and shelves holding spider plants, teapot collections, and glowing candles. Sitting at her kitchen table, listening to her tell stories, I am filled with the cheery warmth that she emanates.

Imagining myself there with my Grandma helps me to think cheerful thoughts like she does. Without knowing anything about ancient Indian sutras, she clearly understands that the mind becomes that which it dwells upon, as she consciously puts her attention upon things that expand her mind and heart. Full of spunk and enthusiasm, as she tells the funny stories from her life, her kitchen fills with the energy of her positive love.

As I’m writing this, another kitchen comes to mind. It was the summer of 2006, and I was staying in the home of my teacher Basil and his beloved partner Luna, on the island of Hawai’i. Ten of us had gathered there for a weeklong spiritual retreat. One afternoon a young man in the group offered to make me a piece of toast. Such a simple offering, there in that simple kitchen, but the magnitude of how it affected my heart sent me into a few hours of deep crying. Back on the mainland, I was a single mama who did all the cooking, and no one ever offered to make me a piece of toast. My heart was so full of gratitude that I just couldn’t stop crying!

Later, after the sobbing subsided, Basil dubbed the incident my “Maha kitchen kriya.” In Sanskrit, “Maha” means Great and “kriya” means movement that purifies. We both laughed, and he gave me the following prediction (which has thus far been true): “On your path of opening your heart, you are going to have many more meltdowns. Just relax and let them go through you.”

Regular, daily spiritual practices help me to relax and let the meltdowns go through me. The most important practice, which I describe in my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living, is Cultivating the Witness. The more I practice witnessing all of myself – all of the contractions and all of the expansions – the more I am able to accept all of myself. This self-acceptance leads to incredible self-love. When we truly love ourselves, no matter what state we are in, then we can truly love others as well. That is the whole point of doing spiritual practices: to become kinder, more loving human beings.

Becoming kinder, more loving human beings is a gradual journey, but we can speed it up by committing ourselves to doing daily practices that expand our minds and hearts. Last summer I attended a retreat with my Guru Ammachi, and she gave a really potent teaching about the importance of raising our consciousness. I transcribe it here from my notes:

“The mind’s natural tendency is to flow downwards like water. The mind is not in our control – negative tendencies pull it down, like water goes down. Conversely, Consciousness moves upwards like fire. When we do things to uplift our consciousness, then the mind goes upward. Fire is always going up. With fire, we can heat water, and the steam goes up. So even water (which usually goes down) will go up, with fire. Fire equals Awareness. So we should be constantly raising our Awareness, our Consciousness, with satsangs, with books, with whatever reminds us of the Truth – whatever keeps our minds tuned to the Highest Light.”

The Sanskrit word “satsang” means being in the company of others sharing spiritual teachings and practices. I attend satsangs, kirtans (call-and-response group chantings), and group meditations any chance I get. Those communal events warm me and enrich the spiritual practices that I do daily in order to continually expand my mind and heart. While doing dishes alone in my sunny kitchen, I cultivate the witness part of my mind. I ask myself, ‘What do I need to do next to keep my heart open?’

May you also tune in to your inner being each day, and may it lead you to the warm radiance of your heart.

May all beings everywhere know the warmth of Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of crystal reflecting yellow light in kitchen by Teja Shankara.

Comment (0)

A long, long, long time ago, in ancient India, some wise being said, “The mind becomes that which it dwells upon.” Through the ages that sutra has been passed down from yogi to yogi, all the way into this present age, when my dear teacher Basil (who passed away in July, 2009), learned it and passed it on to me. Despite my many meltdowns, Basil saw clearly that I am in a relentless process of opening my heart, so he advised me (again and again) to keep my attention on the highest state of consciousness.

The mind becomes that which it dwells upon. If we focus on our problems, we become our problems. We have a choice in where we put our attention, and wherever we place our attention, our energies follow. Energies follow thoughts. So if we place our attention on negative thought patterns, then our energies will feed those negative patterns. Conversely, if we put our attention on constructive, positive thought patterns, then our energies will feed those positive patterns.

A friend recently sent me an article on relationships by Abraham Hicks. The following two sentences really struck me: “I have reached for thoughts that give me relief. And I have relieved myself all the way into my full connection of who I really am.” We do have a choice in which thoughts we focus our attention upon.

This blog post is a continuation from my last blog article, “Bliss and Grief: My Two Lives.” In that entry, I wrote: “When I get stuck in grief, no matter how bad the pain feels, I keep saying to myself, “There I am feeling grief again. This too shall shift.” I remind myself to keep putting my attention on things that expand me, and to hold onto my intention to be happy and open to all of life. When we are contracted – no matter how bad the pain feels – it is really important that we continue to hold our intention to keep opening our hearts.”

In order to keep our hearts open through all of life’s ups and downs, we have to learn to place our attention on things that expand us. The intention to be expanded is a choice. The intention to be happy is also a choice. Once we choose happiness, then we have to learn the skill of being happy. Happiness is a life skill that can be learned, practiced, and cultivated. Our thoughts largely (if not entirely) determine our level of happiness. Thus, watching our thoughts is one of the most important spiritual practices.

In my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living, I describe the spiritual practice of Cultivating the Witness. We can cultivate the witness part of our minds during meditation practice and also during our daily activities. The witness consciousness is simply that part of our minds that objectively watches everything we are. When we practice witnessing our thoughts, we get to intimately know our thought patterns, and then we can practice focusing our attention on the positive thought patterns.

This practice gradually re-trains our minds to be more careful about what they think! This is important when you consider that the mind becomes that which it dwells upon. Our thoughts create our realities. If we want to be happy in this reality, then we have to choose constructive, positive thoughts.

Since this is a gradual process, it is important to be accepting of everything that we witness within our minds. If we cultivate a lot of self-acceptance and self-love, then our minds will be more open to changing.

It can be helpful to first identify what things expand you. These might include activities, people, spiritual practices, time in nature, and so on. You can even write out a list to refer to when you are not feeling expanded. We have to consciously turn our attention toward those things, again and again and again, even when we feel despair or depression. If one thing doesn’t uplift us, then we try another thing, until suddenly we pop out of the funk and back into the happiness.

This week I witnessed a depressed state pass through my being. After a few days of trying several things which did not work, I sat down to do a 45-minute chanting practice that I do on Fridays (the 1,000 Names of the Divine Mother practice I learned from Ammachi), and during that chanting I experienced some heat moving around in different parts of my body. After the practice I ate some good, dark organic chocolate, and then I called a friend and expressed some things that had been upsetting me. As I talked, it felt as though the energies generated by the chanting (and by the chocolate) allowed an energetic fire to send the words out of my throat. After expressing my truth, the depressed state lifted and I felt blissful for the rest of the day.

That day was yesterday, and it happened to be Shiva Ratri, which is the most auspicious day of the year for honoring the Hindu deity, Lord Shiva. In the Hindu pantheon of gods and goddesses, there are thousands of different names and forms, but they are actually all aspects of the One Absolute Reality, which people in the West call God. Lord Shiva represents the universal aspect of destruction, but whenever something dies, then something else can be created, so Shiva is not just about destruction. He is about letting go of attachments that make us miserable, so we can exist happily in a creative, non-attached state.

This ability to exist happily in a creative, non-attached state is within each of us. We don’t have to wait until we die to experience the bliss of non-attachment. Rather, we can choose to witness our thoughts and let go of the attachment-based thoughts that cause us pain. We can choose to focus our attention on thoughts that bring us relief.

Tony Burroughs says it well in The Intenders Handbook: “The Intenders of the Highest Good are steadily raising our level of consciousness by keeping a closer watch on all of our thoughts. We’re learning to tame the negative thoughts and take our own power back. We’re choosing which thoughts we desire to put our attention on by envisioning only positive outcomes and turning the undesired thoughts around in mid-air, before they gain momentum.” (The Intenders Handbook by Tony Burroughs, Dolphin Press, Revised 2007 Edition.)

Take a moment to consider what thoughts bring you relief. As you practice turning your attention toward the positive thoughts that bring relief, keep in mind that changing your thought patterns is a gradual process. Be patient and gentle with yourself as you witness all the thoughts going through your mind. Accept and allow all the thoughts, and then gradually choose which thoughts to focus your attention upon.

The mind becomes that which it dwells upon. May we all choose to focus our minds on positive thoughts that bring us happiness.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of crystal reflecting orange light in kitchen by Teja Shankara.

Comment (0)

Bliss and Grief, Joy and Sorrow, Happiness and Sadness. Again and again, we open to the Light, and then we find ourselves back in the darkness. In my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living (which is going to the printer very soon and which is now discounted on this website store), I describe the spiritual process of expanding and contracting: “As we practice opening and closing, it is helpful for us to understand why we have to keep closing. Simply put, most of our systems are just not ready to open to the Full Bliss of the Universe all at once…. So, we open our hearts again and again, gradually expanding our capacity to be in the bliss state.”

Understanding the spiritual process of expanding and contracting is really important, especially for those of us in the West. We have to let go of our fast-paced mode of doing, and relax into a slower state of being. For most of us, changes within our beings occur very gradually over a long period of time. Once we begin to witness ourselves and we understand that the spiritual path is a gradual journey of opening the heart, then we can release the expectation that we will be happy all the time. Keeping in mind that it is our expectations that create our suffering, we can see the need to realistically approach our emotional states.

If we understand that expansions inevitably follow contractions and contractions inevitably follow expansions, then we can more gracefully navigate the shifts between joy and sorrow. We can even begin to see how these two states are really part of one whole circle. They even seem to touch each other at times, like when we laugh so hard that tears stream down our cheeks.

Kahlil Gibran describes this quite brilliantly in his chapter On Joy and Sorrow: “When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” He goes on to say that joy and sorrow are inseparable. (The Prophet, Pocket Edition, Alred A. Knopf, Inc., NY, 1973.)

When we cultivate the witness, that objective part of ourselves that simply watches everything we are, we intimately get to know the ways in which we open and close. Take a moment to reflect on the ways you open and close. When expanded, how do you feel? When contracted, how do you feel?

My expansions feel like sparkly Bliss. When my mind and heart open, I feel incredibly connected with All that is, and I feel so in love with everything and everyone. For me, the expanded state carries the quality of excitement. At times I feel so much Radiance and Happiness rising inside that I feel like I could just bliss right on out of my skin. In my memoir, The Rita Lila: A Western Yogini's Journey to Bliss (published under my pen name Rita Ann Shankara), I share my process with learning to hold more Bliss and with allowing all my emotions to purify me.

All spiritual practices are designed to purify our minds and hearts. In the Bhakti Yoga tradition, all emotions are viewed as fuel for the purification fire, so all emotions are embraced and offered to the Beloved. I practice this with my emotions, but I notice that I have to be careful not to get stuck in the sorrowful feelings.

My contractions sometimes feel like a grief so deep that it could stop my heart from beating. I tend to cry easily and often, as anyone who has read my memoir can attest. I have a lifelong pattern of releasing my emotions through tears. I can remember feeling things quite deeply, even as a small child. In my baby book, my Mom recorded an incident from when I was two years old. It was the middle of the night, and I stood up in my crib and called out, “Daddy, Teja’s crying!”

A few days ago, after crying over something, I called a dear yogi friend of mine, and I said, “I was just crying because” and right then, he interrupted me and declared, “You were just crying because that’s what you do!” I laughed and said, “You are right. I was just crying because that’s what I do.” We then joked that I could be the crying saint. I said maybe I could put a video of me crying on my YouTube channel, and he dared me to do so.

But who would really want to watch me lying on the floor sobbing in front of my altar? Wouldn’t people rather watch a video of me laughing? (If you have an opinion on this, you can post a comment at the end of this article.)

Crying can be spiritually purifying. Sometimes people feel relieved after a good cry. But, as I said before, we have to be careful because crying can also lead to a state in which we get stuck in the pain body, that emotional mass of energy which holds all of our pains. For me, when I am in the pain body, I lose my connection with the Light, and I feel stuck in an isolated bubble of contracted energy.

Also, I sense that the Universe can’t hear us when we are stuck in our pain, because the pain can block our connection with the Universe. Yet, once we fall into the pain body, it can be difficult to find our way back out of it. That is when it is good to remember that we are not our pain, but rather we are the one witnessing the pain that is passing through us. It is also good to remember that we are not isolated in our pain. We can think of all the other people who are feeling pain at the same time, and send love to all their pain bodies.

The Buddhist path focuses on the “middle way,” which means accepting and allowing our emotions without repressing them and without indulging in them. Pema Chödrön, a Buddhist nun, describes tonglen, a practice in which we breathe in whatever feels bad and send out whatever feels good. (I did not mistype that sentence. Tonglen is actually a practice in taking in pains and giving out relief from pains.) She writes: “People everywhere feel pain – jealousy, anger, being left out, feeling lonely. Everybody feels it in the painful way you feel it. The story lines vary, but the underlying feeling is the same for us all. By the same token, if you feel some sense of delight – if you connect with what for you is inspiring, opening, relieving, relaxing – you breathe it out, you give it away, you send it out to everyone else.” (Comfortable with Uncertainty: 108 Teachings on Cultivating Fearlessness and Compassion, by Pema Chödrön and Emily Hilburn Sell, Shambhala Publications, Inc., 2002.)

Cultivating the witness part of ourselves helps us to stay in the middle, just watching, accepting, and allowing our emotions. So with grief, for example, we simply allow the grief to pass through us, without repressing it and without indulging in it. Repressed emotions get stored in the muscle tissues, which can cause illnesses, so it is important to allow ourselves to feel our feelings. Yet, we have to learn the art of feeling the emotions and then allowing them to release.

When I get stuck in grief, no matter how bad the pain feels, I keep saying to myself, “There I am feeling grief again. This too shall shift.” I remind myself to keep putting my attention on things that expand me, and to hold onto my intention to be happy and open to all of life. When we are contracted – no matter how bad the pain feels – it is really important that we continue to hold our intention to keep opening our hearts.

Sometimes during a bout with grief, if I cultivate the witness part of myself, then I pop back into the Bliss state, in which I experience self-love, inner harmony, and compassion for all beings. The witness part of ourselves is one with the Bliss of our Inner Beings, so tuning in to the witness helps us to keep a bigger perspective. If we visualize our pains in the context of the vast cosmos, then we can (sometimes) laugh at how tiny our pains are compared to the vastness of the stars.

Bliss and Grief. My two lives. Both are true, and that beautiful circle of joy and sorrow is leading me ever deeper into the vastness of my beating heart. May we all come to know the healing self-love that arises when we accept all of ourselves. May we all experience more and more happiness, even as we journey through the pains of life.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of crystal reflecting green light in kitchen by Teja Shankara.

Comment (4)

On January 29^th, I turned 40, and it was one of my best birthdays ever. I felt such bliss and gratitude all day long. During my birthday weekend, I went snow-shoeing on Mt. Shasta with a dear girlfriend, and she suggested that we speak our intentions out loud while on the mountain. After hiking for a while in that invigorating atmosphere, we came to a place where there were two large rocks above us. It felt like an appropriate time to voice our intentions, but then, instead of speaking, we both just spontaneously closed our eyes and stood there in silence for a few minutes. While silent, I felt tremendous gratitude, and I heard an inner voice say, "Have openness to receive."

As I gazed out at the sun sparkles on the snow, I remembered my teacher’s last words to me. The last time I saw my beloved spiritual teacher, Basil (who passed away in July, 2009), he said, “Receive, receive, receive. You are trying so hard to go up and get the Divine. You need to allow the Divine to come down into you. Receive, receive, receive.”

Next I thought about how funny we human beings are. We are funny in how we think that our regular thinking minds are capable of knowing what we truly need. In this case, my girlfriend and I were all prepared to tell the mountain what we want to manifest in life, but instead, the mountain guided our intuitions to tell us what we truly need!

The intuition is a higher mental faculty than the regular thinking mind. When we relax our thinking minds and repeat the mantra, “I don’t know,” then our intuitive minds can guide us in a fruitful process of intending. This past year I began working with the process of intending as one of my spiritual practices, and after several attempts to tell the universe what I thought I wanted, I have come full circle back to the “I don’t know” mantra.

My journey with the intentions process began in July. The day before my spiritual teacher passed away, a friend told me that it was time for me to start teaching. I said, “I don’t know. It seems like that is what I am supposed to be doing, but I don’t really know what the Universe intends for me.” A few weeks later, I met a gypsy yogi who gave me a little book called, The Intenders Handbook by Tony Burroughs (Dolphin Press, Revised 2007 Edition). My favorite line in the book is: “What you are reaching toward is also reaching out toward you.” After reading that book, I thought I understood how to create a list of intentions that the universe would not be able to refuse!

While I was creating my super great (or so I thought) list of intentions, I met another yogi who is quite skilled at manifesting his intentions in the world. I shared my list with him and he gave me lots of suggestions on how to ensure that my intentions would manifest. He shared a couple of tips from his own experience: 1. “Whenever I need to make money, I go and have as much FUN as I can, and then the money comes. 2. “Whenever I need to make more money, I spend all the money that I have so that more money can come in.”

At that time, I didn’t yet understand something that this friend also told me, which is that manifesting intentions comes from a place of knowingness. I will explain that more, when I get to the point in the story where I really ‘got’ what that means. So, at that point, I thought that I could just ask for anything I wanted, as long as I stated “if it serves the Highest Good” at the end of each intention.

Now here is the embarrassing part, and I’m going to share it, because it is a part of my journey in humanness. One of my intentions was for the universe to send me thirty-thousand dollars by the end of September. I know that probably sounds totally crazy, but keep in mind that I was really flexible with that intention – I told the universe that it could send the money any way it wanted to! I wrote out exactly how I would use the money to create a website, to publish and promote my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living, and to get out teaching in the world. I read the intentions out loud several times each day, and I was pretty convinced that somehow the money was going to come to me. Well, as you’ve maybe already guessed, there was no thirty-thousand dollar deposit in my account when the bank closed on September 30^th.

Since I am a fiery, emotional type, I was not initially able to calmly say, “Well, that’s okay. I guess that just wasn’t meant to be.” Instead, I reacted with a full-blown breakdown on the tantrum yoga path. During one of several long, loud, sobbing cries, I said out loud to the universe, “This intention making process doesn’t work for me – I am on the Raja Yoga path, and what works for me is to just surrender everything to the Divine and then trust that everything happens in perfection.”

After I calmed down from the tantrum yoga, I was able to have a rational discussion about it all with a dear yogi friend. He told me that I needed to learn a lesson in trusting the universe to support me. He said sometimes the universe requires us to spend down to our last dollar. I understood what he was saying, but then I also thought about how we have to strike a balance between surrendering and taking action. So, I typed up a sponsorship proposal and sent it out to a few people, and within a few weeks one of them deposited some money into my account. It wasn’t the thirty thousand dollars I had asked for, but it was enough to create the website and publish the next book. And, more importantly, it was enough to let me know that the universe is in support of the work I am doing.

At that point I signed up for The Bridge, a series of free email teachings on the intentions process that you can sign up to receive at www.intenders.org. While receiving those inspiring teachings, I attended a training in Reiki, a gentle hands-on energy healing system. The Reiki teacher also talked about manifesting intentions. He said that the manifestation has to go through the mind, heart, and body. That resonated with what I already believed: even though we create our realities with our thoughts, when we want to consciously manifest intentions, we first have to tune in to our intuitive minds and our hearts to discern what is really correct for us to intend. Once we surrender and deepen into the knowing of what wants to come to us (or to come through us), then we relax into that knowingness, and then the intentions can manifest.

So when we say the “I don’t know” mantra with true humility and surrender, then the intuitive mind and the heart can speak their wisdom to us, and then we suddenly DO know, from a deep place within, what it is that needs to manifest. So by admitting that our regular thinking minds do not know, then our higher minds allow us to truly know. And it is in that state of knowingness that something shifts within us, and that shifted something creates a vibration of openness that allows us to receive what it is that we intend to manifest.

When we regularly practice sitting meditation and we consciously practice cultivating the witness, then we are already well versed in listening to the guidance of our intuitive minds and of our hearts. (To learn how to begin doing spiritual practices yourself, check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.) This ability to sense in and listen to our own inner teacher is really what spiritual practices are all about.

Now that I have come full circle back to the “I don’t know” mantra, I am able to continue working with the intentions process as one of my spiritual practices. It didn’t work for me when I was making red-hot demands on the universe with my regular thinking mind, but it works for me now that I ‘get’ that the workable way of making intentions is through surrendering and deepening into the “I don’t know” mantra. In that state of not knowing, a real knowing emerges, and then you DO know what it is that the universe wants to give you (or to give through you).

May you surrender into what wants to arise through your life. May you have the openness to receive, receive, receive.

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Mt. Shasta photo by Teja Shankara.

Comment (8)

These days many people share the perception that time is moving faster. Whether or not time really is moving faster, that perception can cause us to feel disoriented as we witness these times of rapid change. That disconcerted feeling is a state of being ungrounded.

We are electrical beings, so when we are grounded, much like a grounded electrical wire, we function smoothly. However, when we are ungrounded, we tend to feel frayed and put out sparks that alienate us from our wholeness and from our connection with All that is.

The spiritual practice of cultivating the Witness can help us understand what causes us to become ungrounded. (To learn more about the practice of cultivating the Witness, check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.) Once we begin to witness and understand what causes us to become ungrounded, then we can sometimes prevent the ungrounded state, but not always. Most of us, even with the increased awareness achieved through witnessing, still get ungrounded on a fairly regular basis.

Since getting ungrounded is such a common experience for most people, I’ve chosen to focus this New Year’s blog entry on suggestions for getting grounded in these times of rapid change.

If you aren’t familiar with the phrase “getting grounded,” some other ways to express the grounded state include: getting centered, finding a sense of calm, returning to a state of inner peace, relaxing into accepting and trusting what IS, and remembering the natural human state of simple joy, happiness and bliss.

Two of the fastest and easiest ways to get grounded are focusing on the breath and connecting with the Earth. No matter where we are or what we are doing, we can easily place our attention on our breathing. Even just a moment or two of witnessing the breath helps to calm our systems. As with sitting meditation practice, you don’t need to try to force your breathing to be relaxed, but rather just allow your breathing to be natural, and watch it. (To learn more about beginning a daily meditation practice, check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.)

To get grounded through connecting with the Earth, if at all possible, go outside and physically touch a tree or some stones. If it’s not too cold (and even, sometimes, when it is), I recommend taking off your shoes and socks and allowing your bare feet to touch the ground. If you must keep your shoes on, then you can bend down and touch your hands on the ground. Even just a few minutes of connecting with the Earth in this way has a profound effect on our nervous systems and we quickly feel ourselves calming down.

If you cannot go outside, there are other ways to connect with the earth element, such as holding stones and shells in your hands for a few moments. Certain gemstones are reputed for having a grounding effect. Some of these include garnet, black obsidian, hematite, and smoky quartz. You can also make calming herbal teas such as chamomile and tulsi, or try taking calming flower essence tinctures.

Another way to ground is through eating food, but we have to be cautious with this method and be sure that we choose healthy, nutritious foods. (Please buy organic foods when possible.) Grounding foods include: root vegetables such as beets, yams, turnips, potatoes, and carrots; grains such as quinoa, wild rice, brown rice, and millet; and beans, nuts, seeds, and seaweed snacks. (For healthy, grounding soup recipes check out my cookbook, Love Soups: A Vegetarian Soup Cookbook Inspired by the Soup Devas.)

Water can also help to ground scattered energies. Try soaking your feet in hot salt water for twenty minutes, or taking a long hot shower or a hot bath by candlelight. You can also try grounding scents, such as cedar, sandalwood, and patchouli.

In terms of the chakras (the energy centers within our subtle bodies), the first chakra is the chakra to focus on when we feel ungrounded. The first chakra, called the Muladhara chakra in Sanskrit, is the root chakra, and it is located at the base of the spine. This chakra is associated with the color red and with home and a sense of belonging. The element of this chakra is earth, and the Hindu god who rules this chakra is Lord Ganesha. (To learn more about the chakras and about the Hindu gods and goddesses, check out my new book, Radiance Rising: Spiritual Practices for Daily Living.)

Lord Ganesha, the Hindu elephant-headed god, is known as the Remover of Obstacles, thus he is the one that Hindus appeal to at the beginning of any endeavor. Thus, as we begin the New Year 2010, it is an appropriate time to focus on Shri Ganesha, on our root chakras, and on practices that assist us in getting grounded.

In these times of rapid change, I wish everyone a blissful, grounded 2010!

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Through the Cedars photo by Crinity - CC license

Comment (8)