d a n c i n g w a r r i o r Y O G A

Yoga can be more than simply a great exercise for the body. To achieve ones full potential emotionally, physically and spiritually, the courage of the warrior is required. The Dancing Warrior harnesses these subtle energies through nature, movement, intuitive guidance, spiritual awareness and the ancient teachings of yoga.

Ritualistically combining these elements into our lives is a gateway to better health, divine insight and universal wisdom. This is the Warrior Wisdom.

Yoga with its foundations in India, is a science that has evolved over thousands of years. Its physical and spiritual history draws upon a lineage of knowledge that has been passed down through generations of master practitioners.

According to Indian tradition, Patanjali a yogin, became the first author to gain attention of the yogasutras - the foundational text of Yoga. Within the sutras lie the eight limbs of Ashtanga yoga – abstinence,observance, posture, breathing, sense control, concentration, meditation, and contemplation. These eight limbs create the foundation of contemporary yoga philosophy and practice.

In the pursuit of mystical insight yogis have lived in caves in remote jungles renouncing desires, attachments, doubt, selfishness, fear and anger. Instead choosing to restrain the processes of the mind through meditation and trance to taste universal consciousness and reconnect with our devine perfection.

Interestingly, yoga's historical foundations include devotees experimenting in alchemy, (ingestion of toxic chemicals) to understand the bodies physical and mental limitations. While some of these methods may sound extreme today they have shaped and informed the scientific background of yoga philosophy as it delves deeper into unveiling the truths of human existence and universal consciousness.

Yoga by its very nature is associated with universal laws: for respect for life, truth, patience and focus. These are all indispensable factors in the drawing of a quiet breath, in calmness of mind and firmness of will.

Yoga teaches how to refine and animate every cell in the body, emancipating the soul via the energy currents that travel throughout the body and beyond it (nadi channels). It offers a mechanism for all to experience their bodies and minds intelligently. It provides a unique platform to view our fundamental attitudes to life, which undoubtedly have their physical counterparts in the body and recesses of the mind.

According to yoga philosophy, the mind is the instrument of perception and action, Yoga uses the body to exercise and control the mind, so that the body and mind together may harmonise with the soul.

Practicing Yoga in an urban lifestyle is one of the warrior's greatest challenges. However busy or time challenged we may be, our daily practice it is one delight and reward amongst the clutter of urban survival.

Around the same time the foundations of yoga were appearing, developed Ayurveda – the science/art of living, the two are know as the sister sciences. Ayerveda is understood as the mother of medicine, being the first health management system evolved on earth. It teaches us how to live in harmony with nature in order to obtain maximum spiritual and material fulfilment and to avoid unnecessary suffering. This healing wisdom is part of the Vedas, the oldest literature on earth dealing with eternal truths.

Our modern lifestyles have in many ways disconnected us from our true source – the energy of this living earth. Connecting to this source is the key to unveiling the inner guru, nurse, doctor, shaman, and teacher within us all. This voice teaches us how to manage our lives as effortlessly as possible in order to experience mother natures devine masterplan – that human beings evolve healthily and in harmony with one another and their environment.

Positive steps towards opening to intuitive guidance include:

Regularly exercising
Walking barefoot and experiencing nature and sunlight
Remaining in tune with the cycles of night and day
Daily meditation, affirmation or prayer
Absorption in divinity
A belief in the mystical and cosmic forces of nature
Trusting that first impressions are often the best
Avoiding addictive substances
Avoiding negative energies
Moderate eating. Not over sleeping
Seeing the good in all
Trusting in symbolic sight and devine intervention
Understanding the concept "our biography becoming our biology"
Actively healing our past through programs designed to heal, body mind and spirit
Moving beyond victim consciousness into gaining insight into what you need to learn in this lifetime

One way to acheive harmony in life is to consider it as a holistic spiritual practice. Every considered action can help achieve inner peace. Your inner peace flows to those around you. By routinely practicing rituals around every day events, it is possible to reinforce this effect.

In the following sections, are some suggested rituals which you may find will help in your journey of life.

One way to demonstrate gratitude is to make an altar in your home or garden that symbolises your thankfulness to the universe for providing you with this precious life. Ad anything to your altar either food, flowers, plant life, stone, water or crystals that represents you and the others close to you. Collect objects on your travels. Arrange them according to colour and shape; trust that your intuitive self will know exactly where to place things. Certain objects or colours will have a particular vibrational frequency that will sing to you out loud. While arranging your alter, sing along in the form of a prayer or affirmation that locates you to this mortal body, this point in time, in space, and in health

On a daily basis make blessings at your altar and be thankful for what you have been provided with. Light a candle or incense and check in with your self, remain present to this life and greater possibilities of everything. Be your own guru. Radiate the devine!

If all of this is sounding too witchy-poo for you then try another tact. Invite friends over for dinner and acknowledging them in friendship and love.

More often than not most contracts or transactions with others are geared toward exchanging money or what one can accomplish through negotiation. A ritual of humility is to practice giving service to others without any outcome or financial return attached. In other words, don't be attached to the benefits of your giving. Instead, practicing giving unconditionally and watch for the delight in others when they receive your warmth. Another alternative is to become a volunteer for a charity or community organisation and join in on the fun to be had while fundraising, or just helping out with simple things like sealing envelopes or folding ribbons.

A snake sheds its skin leaving behind a trail of its former self! If you haven't worn it or used it for the past two years, chances are you won't miss it! At home try clearing out unnecessary objects or musty old clothing that has been gathering dust for some time. A fun way to move things on is to run a garage sale, or a stall at your local market. Watch others receive joy in what you once found useful. Better still hand the goods over to a charity organisation, or perhaps put this money aside for your ritual of renewal.

Think shoes. Think Amelda Marcos. This lady had a PHD in Ritual of renewal. Perhaps a little over the top with her vast collection of footwear, however deep down she found pleasure in this particular renewal. Instead of acquiring 2000 thousand pair's of shoes, try a new haircut or pedicure. Take a holiday. Buy a new pair of jeans or outfit to coincide with the change of seasons or a change in you! Renew your commitment to honouring yourself and this blessed body. Avoid stagnation.

It's no mistake that meditation and yoga are becoming one of the most popular ways to experience a gateway to the soul. Checking in regularly to the soul is a gentle way to cleanse unnecessary thoughts or residual emotions from the day that may negatively imprint upon the body or mind. Remember it is our biography that becomes our biology.

Attending a meditation or yoga class regularly will help purify the energetic currents that flow within and around the body (nadi channels) boosting your vitality and resistance to disease. Practicing yoga with devotion, is a spiritual goal.

Remember the body and mind requires one another to function as a whole therefore to refresh them requires a nurturing of the two, otherwise imbalances may occur.

Repeating favourite chants or AUMS have a soothing effect upon the body. Practice spreading the vibrations or sounds throughout your whole body. Learn to nurture your body on a cellular level. Go within and be at peace in the mystic seat of the heart. Avoid people that drain your energy.

Purify your body by covering yourself in sesame oil and lyinh naked in the sun for 20 mins, or soak in a hot bath with your favourite therapeutic oils and chill out by candlelight listening to your favourite CD. A shower can be just as soothing to tired, achy muscles. Have a face pack or total body scrub to reinvigorate your skin cells. Take a dive into the ocean and let the sea salt dry on your skin – rub it in! Spoil yourself with a little self-indulgence.

Purify your surroundings. Treat your home as a place of sanctity and keep negative energies away. Keep it tidy and organised in your own special way. Air it thoroughly everyday, especially after cooking. Let natural light in to avoid moulds developing. Avoid sleeping near heavy electromagnetic fields from TVs and other electronics, and avoid sleeping in drafts. Avoid confusing your spaces and begin to designate certain items to remain in set rooms like paperwork to remain in the office or filling cabinet, shoes at the door etc. Follow the tantric saying, "simple living, high thinking".

Time alone for oneself is golden however too much time alone renders one anti-social. Mix with different groups of people outside your regular social circle. Join a writers group or sign up to a yoga course and make yourself energetically available to share with others in your life's experiences. Humans are by nature social creatures. Give everyone you meet during your day a smile or look them in the eyes and offer a warm "hello, how has your day been?" Be open to communication and connection.

Cultivating a small herb garden or sprouting your own beans and watching them grow can be rewarding. Cooking and preparing light organic foods that revitalise and energise the body, like salads and stirfries, are easier for the body to digest than heavy saturated fats. Exercise such as yoga, pilates or walking at sunrise or sunset revitalises the blood cells, deepening the lung capacity, making you feel more vital and alive.

Spending time in nature is one of the best medicines for the soul available. Listening to the birds at sunrise is a treat not to be missed. Meditation for peace of mind and writing a daily journal are wonderful ways to tune into your internal self and seek guidance from the divine.

When practicing these simple life rituals your focus and attention on each subject is just as important as the doing. Before your rituals create a mental clearing that allows you time and breath to focus your attention inwards. Be present and connected through all 5 of the sensory realms. It is important to believe in the purpose and outcome of your actions in order for there to be an engagement with the devine and a party in the heart!

Most of all enjoy this material with an open mind and trust that deep down we are all gods children in search of a deeper understanding and connection to the meaning of this body, this soul, this life. We may never find the real meaning to life as Christ, or Budha did,however any little step or transformation along the way is a gem worth remembering.

"Yoga is the science of full life in tune with the infinite".

"Spiritualise politics. Then alone there will be peace in the world".

"Our future is in our hands and entirely depends upon our will, right thinking and right exertion".

Divine Nectar, Swami Sivananda

"The relaxation of tension in the body allows suppressed energies to be released, bringing with them the conflicts and nuerosis from the subconscious and unconscious depths, purifying body and mind. As a result we may experience strange emotions, feelings and warrior wisdom because of the yoga practice, but these should be kept within perspective and realised to be manifestations of the cleansing process".

Moolha Bundha, Sivananda Institute

"Simple Living - High Thinking".

Clive Sheridan, Tantra Yoga Master

"A moment on the yoga mat is far greater than several moments spent punishing oneself for not getting to the yoga mat".

"Practice the yoga you remember, make up what you don't, experience your own body and discover its intuitive yogic knowledge".

"The breath is your mantra, your life force, your connection to this earthly body - breath and smile. This is paradise".

Mathew Bergan, Dancing Warrior Yoga