Each week I pick an angel card, and it is amazing how often the quality fits exactly with what I’m going through that week. Take this week, for example. I am working to release a very big pattern from my life, consciously focusing on breathing and releasing… and I picked “Release”!  (Angel cards, by Kathy Tyler and Joy Drake, Narada Productions, Inc., Milwaukee, WI, 1981.)

After twenty years of trying unsuccessfully to get what I want from the Universe (in the way of a perfect Sita-Ram union with an earthly man), I’ve decided to lay down the “dream” and be free of the disappointments I inevitably experience at every turn. I am intending to finally release the last bits of the addictive love pattern that I wrote about in my memoir, The Rita Lila: A Western Yogini’s Journey to Bliss, by my pen name, Rita Ann Shankara. Rather than continuing this madness of seeking the union with someone outside of myself, I have decided to renounce the search altogether and relax into the inner Union with my beloved husband, Lord Shiva.

My dear friend Thomas does not believe me, and he is encouraging me to take a neutral stance on this matter. While I appreciate his feedback, I have recently become aware that if I continue to allow myself to indulge in these lilas with the masculine, I will most likely not be celebrating too many more birthdays! The strain of the intensity of grief from this past year alone has taken its toll, and my body is telling me clearly – through shouting methods – that it’s time to stop this pattern.

I do understand the value in finding a nonattached, neutral attitude on the matter, so I will intend to reach that state soon. For now though, I release all expectations and griefs that I’ve put onto any forms of the masculine, and I endeavor to walk alone… with deep breathing… and lots of laughing.

I am feeling incredible freedom already. From this healing process of release, I am experiencing a warm, radiant self-love that is tingling throughout my cells. 

Release, release, release!

May all beings everywhere know Peace and Happiness.

Om Shanti (Peace),

Yogini Tejaswini

Photo of yellow rose and release card by Teja Shankara.

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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

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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.

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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.

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