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Roadblocks to Practice

When thinking about the yoga path or our spiritual path. The path is not really a path at all, that would imply a destination. As soon as we put a destination on the path we don’t focus on the journey. When we are focused on the journey, we are really experiencing the now moments and the experiences of growth, self transformation that occurs.

The path is really a practice. A practice of applying what you learned, the concepts you have been exposed too to help you on your journey. With practice comes many lessons learned about self. With non practice and realizing you are not practicing also comes different lessons, perhaps on what blocks you from practicing. More than likely it will be your own thoughts and judgments coming from fear or outside influences.

I have seen people, myself included, who are very knowledgeable of metaphysical, and spiritual concepts, texts, etc teach others about these concepts but struggle with applying these concepts to their own life, because they have mental or emotional blocks that are preventing their practice. In the yoga culture a guru would help a student to see these roadblocks, help to break down the veil of illusion brought upon by sense gratification, material gain, identification of the self as the physical body, actions, thoughts that create lopsided perceptions and false beliefs. If a guru has not been found to experience this with, we can look around in the mirrors other people are holding, and observe the self looking in those mirrors and if we are reacting to the reflection with Love or not.

As a coach, yoga teacher/student, I often have an ah-ha moment of my own physical and emotional blocks from observing people in my classes, my clients, or people close to me and my reactions to their traits. I may help lead others in the direction of self realization during practice, but we are all teachers to eachother, and mirrors for eachother and can learn so much about ourselves by just observing.

Most of the roadblocks I see people encounter with practicing yoga is within the mind. People have limiting and false beliefs about practicing yoga and what yoga really is, even before their first class. Even with physical conditions or illnesses there are underlying mental and emotional blocks and false beliefs. After breaking those false beliefs, fears, and mental blocks they realize yoga is much more than an exercise and they develop a practice that transforms their life. They will soon find those physical limitations or illnesses are not limitations at all and may even begin to heal them the more they practice.

When I have people comes to class who are brand new to yoga I will make sure I say things like; “Yoga is not a competition activity, every-ones body is different and every-ones practice is different. Listen to your own body and if you feel any discomfort pull back, modify or simply come out of the pose and rest. Rest when you need to, everything is optional, this is your practice. Accept on where you are at in the pose without condemning yourself or judging yourself. Just accept.” Reminding people of this creates ease and enjoyment in their posture practice and they can let go of the mind a little more and surrender and bring in more of the spiritual aspect of yoga and connection with themselves.

Even people who have been practicing yoga for a long period of time have mental and emotional blocks to their practice. With posture practice I often see people comparing their current practice to their practice in the past instead of being present and accepting on where they are at currently and listening. When we accept on where we are at in our physical practice we can let go and surrender in all areas in our life much easier. Everything that is happening is happening for a reason, lessons to learn. Once we surrender to that and have let go, it is easier to see the reason and lessons in everything that happens in our life and gratitude and love shine from within.

After taking a fall down the stairs, my posture practice changed dramatically and so did my approach to teaching. I went from practicing an active posture class such as Asthanga or Vinyasa and Sivananda to a more gentle and restorative class. My teaching style became more of a mixture of different styles and traditions and was gentle enough for beginners as well as people who have been practicing awhile bringing more of a spiritual aspect to the class. I also learned many other limiting false beliefs and mental and emotional blocks that I held in my life that may have even caused the fall in the first place. I am very grateful for falling down those stairs because without that experience and injuries I would not be where I am today in my practice and self development. I am also very grateful that I am almost fully recovered from that fall, physically and emotionally.

I also see people who have been practicing a long time comparing their practice to other peoples practice bringing more of a competitive energy to their practice which just brings on more blocks, illusion, false beliefs and ego. Yoga is NOT a competition activity. Bringing a competitive attitude to yoga practice can take that person in the opposite direction of the true meaning and goal of yoga. It can lead to inflation of the ego and increased identification with the body not realizing that it is just an illusion and not who we really are. The goal of yoga is to develop a relationship and connection with our true nature, enlightenment or becoming one with the light, liberation of the barriers that prevent our true nature from shining. Those barriers are often called; the veil or mya or ego which is the exterior identification of the self, such as the physical body, actions, sense gratification, material gain, and thoughts that create lopsided perceptions and false beliefs. Sometimes practicing with others in a room with mirrors can bring on a competitive feeling to your practice. Observing yourself when it does occur and breaking through that barrier by bring a little ease to your practice, going more within and maybe practicing in a space without mirrors. Then we can clearly see the invisible mirrors others are holding and our reflection in them.


The following are excerpts from “Meditations from the Mat” by yoga teacher and recovering addict Rolf Gates that I sometimes read in class. His words beautifully describe some of the roadblocks people encounter with yoga practice as well as our spiritual and life practice.

Working with beginners affords me the opportunity to observe just what it is we bring to our mats. Despite wide age, gender, socioeconomic, cultural, physical differences, we all carry some of the same baggage. Whether you are a dancer, a housewife, a grad student, retired police officer or an aerobics dropout, you will not doubt confront the same roadblocks to learning that I see students encounter every day; pride and fear.

If you are new to yoga, chances are you are wrestling not only with the postures but also the judgments you pronounce on your efforts. But if you can make commitment to be a little easier on yourself, I am certain you will enjoy your practice more. If not you may soon find yourself making all sorts of excuses to avoid practicing altogether, it will become too painful.

When we opt out of experiences that challenge us, its usually because of our pride is in the way. And pride is really another word for Fear, the fear of not being good enough. Marlon Brando delivers this truth in Apocalyse Now “ It is our Judgment that defeats us”. We become our own executioners when we sit in judgment of our efforts. Only when we act without judgment can we truly flourish in our lives.

Yoga means becoming one. As long as we stand apart in judgment we sabotage the opportunity for connection and integration that is yoga. So I encourage you: get into that canoe and ride with the river. Commit and don’t look back. Before our bodies can open they must first let go; clinched and guarded muscles must relax but the mind must let go first.

By choosing to practice yoga, we are saying that our spiritual growth is important to us. We are making it a priority. Our practice is a shelter we build for our spiritual selves. It is the work that we do to safeguard and support the possibility of spiritual growth. The winds of life constantly wear away at this shelter, but if we stick to our tools, the shelter will hold.

“If one knows what the particular disease is there is the possibility of curing it. To know the particular limitation, bondage or hindrance of the mind, and to understand it, one must not condemn it, one must not say it is right or wrong. One must observe it without an opinion, a prejudice about it, which is extraordinarily difficult because we are brought up to condemn.” J Krishnamurti



“Try to do everything in the world with a mind that lets go. If you let go a little you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely you will know complete peace and freedom. Your struggles with the world will have come to an end.” Acjaam Chah

NAMASTE
NICOLE PETROFF

A BALANCING ACT

The act of balancing on one foot in yoga class can inspire balance in the rest of our lives. The breath and a focal point of concentration can assist us in posture. It’s the mind the really must let go of a particular outcome for balance on a deeper level, to occur. While in posture letting go of judgments, condemning of self and accepting what is happening in the moment. Staying present and accepting what is happening at that moment wobbling from side to side of the standing foot. Not expecting to stay on one foot, two feet or falling over, just acceptance on where you are at. Noticing if your competitive ego nature is comparing yourself to others and just coming back to where you are at and going more inward to create the balance.

This concept of the balancing act in posture is also an act of balancing the mind and it can be used in all areas of our life. It is useful not only for balancing the thoughts but also the emotions that create blocks in our chakras energy centers which in turn can create illness and physical symptoms in the physical body.

These balancing concepts that I bring up in my yoga classes has a deeper lesson that can be applied off the mat and in our lives. Lets break it down. Letting go and accepting, careful not to judge or condemn self or others, staying present, going inward, creating ease, wobbling from side to side, finding balance.

Going inward if we notice we condemn ourselves or judge others. What we see in others is a reflection of what is within us. Perhaps the condemning and judging is coming from not loving the self or not feeling good enough. Going more inward after you see the reflection in the mirrors others are holding. Being a little easier on yourself by not judging the self will create ease and more enjoyment in your yoga practice and in your life. Wobbling from side to side in posture just like, on the scale of emotion and energy is part of the process. After all how would we know what balance is unless we experienced both ends of the scale. Acceptance on where you are at, balanced or not, wobbly or not, present or not, attached or not, suffering or not.

Underneath these balancing concepts is perception and letting go. The act of letting go of attachments and attachments to particular outcomes takes surrendering that everything is happening the way its suppose to happen for reasons and lessons to learn and also, trusting in that its all happening perfectly. Surrendering and letting go takes great faith and being present instead of fearing the unknowns of the future or fearing letting go of the past. Life is in the present moment and when we are not in the present we are missing out on life and will suffer.

With my own experience of observing myself to create balance in my thoughts, emotions and perceptions I noticed several things. I knew from deep inside there was energy shifts occurring within me and my relationship to others and the environment. I was able to sense and feel when I was out of balance and could either suffer or not. I knew that when I am in a state of illusion of who I really am, that I am vibrating at a different frequency. For instance if I am being clouded by trying to get sense gratification, material gain, and start to identify the self as the physical body, actions, thoughts that create lopsided perceptions and false beliefs, I suffer. When I was in a place of BEING LOVE and feeling Love, peace, balanced I am more intuitive, clairvoyant, and more aware of energy, vibrations around me, and instantly I become more compassionate, empathic, forgiving, loving, generous.

I also realized that from studying laws of attraction, I was trying to be more positive, think positively or doing what always feels good to manifest things in my life. This way of thinking felt incomplete like there was something missing and it had unbalanced me. It felt like I was denying or pushing everything else that wasn’t positive away. Sometimes I felt like I was denying a part of myself as I pushed it away. Other times I couldn’t see the positives and only saw the negatives and it was very hard to let it go when I was in that place. I found myself shifting from extremes of being positive and then being negative and also creating false beliefs. I only felt balanced when I was meditating or after I had completed a yoga class. I began to question if i was using my yoga practice as a crutch or becoming attached to it to bring me balance without looking at how to create balance by itself. I was at a crossroad in my practice and wasn't sure how to approach this within myself.


I know from my scripture study and study of the world around me that we get false beliefs and lopsided perceptions from filtering everything through our value system and our senses, then we label it and categorize things as positive or negative according to our value system, creating duality. That value system is based on our programming that we have been put under from ancestors, society, authority figures, media around us. The part of the mind that determines something is good or bad is based on what we hold the highest or lowest value in our lives. For an example, we label things as positive when it supports something high on the value scale and we become attracted to it. We label things as negative when something challenges our value system, or supports our lowest values on the scale and may have resentment towards it. In relationships we compare others to our fantasy we created based on our values, expectations and perceptions and programming we were put under. Instead of just accepting the person for who they really are we compare them to our fantasy and value system and then label, categorize them and put expectations on them, based on the fantasy of illusion and lies. Balance comes from being in the middle, neither repelled or attracted, but being neutral. When we are balanced we can shine our true nature, LOVE.

That feeling of being at a crossroads in my practice came to an end when I found the quantum collapse process written about in “The Breakthrough Experience” combined with the knowledge from Yoga philosophy, Buddhist traditions and authors like Wayne Dyer, Louis Hay, Ester & Jerry Hicks had changed my perception and my life to create and sustain balance when the pressures of living on earth in the United States society may get to me. The concept of creating balance with changing perceptions and thoughts can change your life. Breaking through the habitual patterns of using lopsided perceptions and limiting beliefs was really the experience that i needed to create long lasting balance in my life. When we are in balance with our thoughts, emotions, energy centers (charkas) we can shine our true nature (Devine LOVE & LIGHT) to the world.


Dr John Demartini explains how we can breakthrough the barriers like lopsided sensory perceptions that prevent our true nature LOVE from shining and enlightenment from occurring in his book “The Breakthrough Experience”. This book and the Quantum Collapse process works well with the yoga practice in creating balance in perception and healing of relationships to coming back to being LOVE expressing in a state of Gratitude. Below are some excerpts from his book:

If we are all light the why are we so often confused and how did we forget our enlightened nature? The answer is Lopsided sensory perceptions.

Have you ever thought when I get this car, house, job or relationship life will be better? Most people think that when they get something else, life will get better, but that kind of thinking only transforms the positives and negatives into new forms. Im not saying you shouldn’t seek, but if you think something will give you more positives than negatives your living in illusion.

We need the balance of support and challenge of positive and negative feedback, to grow and evolve. We have a lower, mortal nature that wants to have it all nice, sweet supportive and pleasurable, but in reality we attract the other side to keep us balanced and on track. We’re in illusion that we want one sidedness, but in our search for the monopole we find the balance of duality. The degree to which we appreciate both sides and embrace life is the degree to which we become enlightened.

If you run your life thinking that you’ll have pleasure without pain, your setting yourself up for the very pain you seek to avoid. When you don’t see the perfection of where you are, you take the pure energy of inspiration and dissipate it in emotional reactions. You swing back and forth between Im happy, Im sad, im happy, Im sad. Or in a relationship, Im attracted, im repelled, I like you, I dislike you, I cant be away from you, I cant live with you.

When you’re in the illusion of one sided positive and negative experience you automatically attract the opposite side to balance you. When you acknowledge life’s perfection by embracing both of its sides you experience unconditional love.

Everything you do good or bad, positive or negative serves to teach you about love. When you give yourself permission to be fully human, you approach the divine. But there are beliefs and misunderstanding that keep you form appreciating divinity in every aspect of yourself and the world.

Anytime you perceive a positive without a negative you’re drawn into a positive emotion; whenever you perceive a negative without a positive you’re drawn into a negative emotion and both are lower frequency states that dissipate your potential and run your life. Right in the middle between positive and negative emotions between like and dislike is the core of human experience and its nothing other than Love. True love is a synthesis of two aspects of one wave and one full wave is light, which can also be called Love. Love is a full quantum state. Physicists know that a full quantum state is mass-less, charge-less, space-less and timeless which by definition is spiritual and unconditional.

Ultimately life is not meant to be only positive or negative happy or sad, but to be expressed with balanced expression of love and wisdom. Wisdom is the instantaneous recognition that crises is blessing. Love is the automotive instantaneous recognition that crises is blessing and love is the automatic instantaneous expression of the two sides of life. You express either pure unconditional love when you acknowledge the balance, or conditional love when you acknowledge the imbalance. Either your center in a state of love which feels most purposeful here on Earth or you go of on emotional tangents to gain wisdom about what you haven’t yet loved. You cant blow it. There are no mistakes. Tangents aren’t detours, only reminder of how to grow in love.

When two complementary particles or those with equal but opposite charges spins, and masses are brought together they annihilate each other and birth light. In human consciousness when two complementary emotions or those with equal but opposite charges (such as elation and depression or happiness and sadness) spin (forward and backward in time) and masses (burdening emotional distractions) are brought together and synthesized into perfect balance, the emotions annihilate each other and birth the feeling of love and light. Light and love are two aspects of the same phenomenon. All positive and negative particle in the universe are created simultaneously in perfect one to one balance, but your senses mis-perceive local imbalances and can mislead you. Every time you splinter yourself into positive and negative emotions you scatter your light dissipate your energy potential and disempowered your true and centered being. In this way you separate yourself into past and future and your no longer being present. When you bring your perceptions back into balance and become aware of how things truly are you reverse the process. The past and future disappear in an all encompassing state of loving presence. In the state of love, extraordinary things can happen.

Your not here to be one-side being, you’re here to embrace both sides of yourself. When you try to be one-sided you expect other people to be the same, and when they aren’t you get angry with yourself, them or the world. We’re here to be whole beings and positive and negative are the two sides to teach us that.

Life is like a big play and whatever role we most resist is the one we get to act in next. We draw in those things to teach us to love ourselves and the world. Were not her to judge or be positive or negative thinkers were here to be Love that embraces both sides.

If your honest your see that you both saint and sinner, virtuous and vicious. So when someone accuses you of something don’t waste time defending yourself. Instead admit that you are not in fact possessor of whatever it is they’re attacking you for. Not only are you possessor but they are, too, and they’re judging themselves: that’s why they’re accusing you. If it hurts to hear it, that means you haven’t seen how that quality serves you or others and your judging yourself. Their gift to you is to wake you up to another part of yourself that you haven’t’ yet loved.

Anytime you experience a future or past emotion, you dissipate your potential energy into kinetic motion. But in a state of presence and love your reintegrate your kinetic energy and birth a new quantum of creative potential.

When you love yourself people cant push your buttons, but they will automatically attach you in whatever area you attack yourself.

Gratitude is the key that opens the gateway of the heart and allows the unified field theory of love to fill your life. Gratitude makes you present with whatever your doing. You are not here to run from away from sadness to happiness, because fulfillment is not possible when you deny half of your existence. Either side alone is only half fulfillment. Something grand and far beyond either of those fleeting emotional states is available to you. This book is not about the myth of happiness; its about the truth of balanced perception that brings you back to love.

NAMASTE

Meditation & Art of Letting Go

by Peter Russell

In order that the mind should see light instead of darkness, so the entire soul must be turned away from this changing world, until its eye can learn to contemplate reality and that supreme splendor which we have called the good. Hence there may well be an art whose aim would be to effect this very thing.-Socrates

Meditation is the art of doing nothing. In today’s hectic, achievement-focused world we are almost always doing something. This "doing" mode is fueled by the belief that if only we did enough of the right things, had enough of the right experiences, earned enough money, or owned enough possessions we would be happy. As a result our minds are seldom, if ever, still. Instead we are busy fretting about what we should have done or said, planning what we should do or not do, say or not say, in the future, and worrying whether or not we will obtain the things and experiences we think we need to be happy.

Ironically this mental agitation deprives of the very thing we seek. In the final analysis we all want to be happy, to be more at peace in ourselves, yet a mind that is worried cannot, by definition, be a mind that is at peace. This is why spiritual teachings the world over have recommended some or other form of meditation—some way of allowing the mind to become still and thereby find the peace we seek..

The allowing is important. Meditation is not another mental activity, another form mental "doing." Most techniques of stilling the mind are exercises in attention rather than exercises in thinking. You do not quiet the mind by changing what you think about, but by changing the direction and quality of your attention. In their own particular ways meditation techniques turn the attention away from the world of the senses—the world we thought would bring us peace of mind—and inwards towards our inner essence..

As the mind begins to settle down it discovers an inner calm and peace. The habitual mental chatter begins to fade away. Thoughts about what is going on in meditation, what time it is, what you might say or do later, occupy less and less of your attention. Your feelings settle down, and your breath can grow so gentle as to virtually disappear. What thoughts there are became fainter and fainter, until finally the thinking mind falls completely silent..

Indian teachings call this state samadhi, literally "still mind." This, they claim, is a fundamentally different state of consciousness from the three major states we normally experience—waking, dreaming, and deep sleep..

In waking consciousness we are aware and experience the world perceived by the senses. In dreaming we are aware and experience worlds conjured by the imagination. In deep sleep there is no awareness, either of outer world or inner world. Samadhi they define as a fourth major state. There is awareness, one is wide-awake, but there is no object of the awareness. It is pure consciousness—pure in the sense of being unmodified by thoughts and images—consciousness without content..

In samadhi you know consciousness itself, in its unmanifest state, before it takes on the many forms and qualities of thinking, feeling, and sensory experience... The Isha Upanishad, an ancient Indian text, says of this fourth state:

It is not outer awareness,
It is not inner awareness,
Nor is it a suspension of awareness..
It is not knowing
It is not unknowing,
Nor is it knowingness itself..
It can neither be seen nor understood,
It cannot be given boundaries..
It is ineffable and beyond thought..
It is indefinable..
It is known only through becoming it..

The Buddhist scholar D. T. Suzuki referred to it as a "state of Absolute Emptiness:" There is no time, no space, no becoming, no thingness. Pure experience is the mind seeing itself as reflected in itself.… This is possible only when the mind is sunyata [emptiness] itself, that is, when the mind is devoid of all its possible contents except itself..

The Essence of Self - When you are in this state you discover a sense of self that is more real and more fundamental than any you have known before. You are no longer an individual person, with individual characteristics. Here, in the complete absence of all normal experience, you find your true identity, an identity with the essence of all beings and all creation..

Usually we derive our sense of self from the various things that mark us out as individuals—our bodies and their appearance, our history, our nationality, the roles we play, our work, our social and financial status, what we own, what others think of us, and so on. We also derive an identity from the thoughts and feelings we have, from our beliefs and values, from our creative and intellectual abilities, from our character and personality. These, and many other aspects of our lives, contribute to our sense of who we are..

Such an identity is, however, forever at the mercy of events, forever vulnerable, and forever in need of protection and support. If anything on which our identity depends changes, or threatens to change, our very sense of self is threatened. If someone criticizes us, for example, we may feel far more upset than the criticism warrants, responding in ways that have more to do with defending or reinforcing our damaged self-image than with addressing the criticism itself..

In addition to deriving an identity from how we experience ourselves in the world, we also derive a sense of self from the very fact that we are experiencing. If there is experience, then there must, we assume, be an experiencer; there must be an "I" who is doing the experiencing. It certainly feels that way. Whatever is going on in my mind, there is this sense that I am the subject of it all..

But what exactly is this sense of "I-ness?" I use the word "I" hundreds of times a day without hesitation. I say that I am thinking or seeing something, that I have a feeling or desire, that I know or remember something. It is the most familiar, most intimate, most obvious aspect of myself. I know exactly what I mean by "I." Until, that is, I try to describe it or define it. Then I run into trouble..

Looking for the self is rather like being in a dark room with a flashlight, and then shining it around trying to find the source of the light. All one would find are the various objects in the room that the light falls upon. It is the same when I try to look for the subject of all experience. All I find are the various ideas, images and feelings that the attention falls upon. But these are all objects of experience; they cannot therefore be the subject of the experience..

Although the self may never be known as an object of experience, it can be known in another, more intimate and immediate, way. When the mind is silent, when all the thoughts, feelings, perceptions and memories with which we habitually identify have fallen away, then what remains is the essence of self, the pure subject without an object. What we then find is not a sense of "I am this" or "I am that;" but just "I am"..

In this state, you know the essence of self, and you know that essence to be pure consciousness. You know this to be your true identity. You are not a being who is conscious. You are consciousness. Period..

In the words of the great physicist Erwin Schrödinger: What is this "I"?… You will, on close introspection, find that what you really mean by "I" is the ground-stuff upon which [experiences and memories] are collected..

No single moment of transcendence is likely to enlighten us forever. Our conditioning is so deep that it does not take long before we once again are caught up in our hopes, fears, worries and concerns. Once again start looking for external sources of fulfillment and get trapped in the "doing" mode. But a little taste of the meditative state remains, and our attachment to the world may not be quite as strong as it was before. This is why regular meditation practice is usually recommended—a daily dose of dehypnosis—a daily remembering of ourselves in our unconditioned state..

The weed

I remembered practicing Karma Yoga in the garden at the Ashram as i garden at my own house. I remembered the thousands of weeds i pulled out of the garden at the ashram and began to contemplate what we call a "weed" in the garden.

I wrote this poem:

A Weed

Green

Plant

Unnecessary

Perceived

Unwanted

Invasive

Attached

Perceived

Harmful

Poisonous

Addictive

Perceived

Beautiful

Wild

Free

Perceived

Purpose

Medicinal

Healing

Perceived

Life

Planet

Ecosystem

Perceived

Life

Dependent

Purpose

Perceived

Contemplation

Existence

Purpose

Perceived

Life

Energy

Vibration

Perceived

Energy

Vibration

Love

Perceived

Connection

Everything

Energy

Perceived

Love

God

US

Perceived

Self

Weed

Same

Perceived

A weed is only a weed if we perceived it to be unwanted or invasive. That weed could potentially be a beautiful flower or have medicinal effects to cure some kind of illness. We are in illusion of its beauty and potential, so we decide if it lives or dies instead of just letting it be what it truly is...a part of us, part of our ecosystem, living being that has purpose.

A friend of mine who practices Naturopathic Medicine often picks what some call “weeds” from people’s yards when we take walks together because of their medicinal effects. He often says he loves the spring & summer because of all the free medicine he can get for people. We have been so programmed that these plants are no good that we try to kill them or remove them.

This way of thinking that these plants are weeds came from our domestication of this society. The domestication and programming we are put under by generations and generations of people teaching us how to think, what to believe, how to live in society.

Tree of Yoga

There are many misconceptions on what yoga is about. Many people in this country have been mislead into believing that yoga is just doing postures to gain more strength, flexibility, and beatification. The misunderstanding of what yoga is can take a student in the opposite direction of the true meaning and goal of yoga. Yoga's goal is enlightenment, liberation and self realization and not just a physical practice.

This poem describes my spiritual journey through the practice of all the branches yoga which are called Hatha, Bhakti, Jnana, Raja, Karma Yoga. I now teach a combination of the branches of yoga called Sampoorna Yoga.

Tree of Yoga

by Yogini Nicole Petroff, RYT

What a beautiful tree
So full of wisdom, happiness and love
Standing under it I can sense the mysteries of life to be reveled
Standing under it draws you up

At the top is enlightenment, liberation and freedom
Choosing to climb this tree of yoga
Knowing I will never be the same

Placing a foot on the branches of the Yoga tree
My feet on Hatha
A hand on Jnana and the other hand on Raja
I hang out here for awhile
Changes on outside as well as within begin to become noticeable

The light at the top is drawing me closer
But the ego is fighting for its survival making the climb even harder
Observation of self has intensified

Now I am ready to step closer to the top
Stepping on Raja and placing a hand on Jnana and Karma
I hang out here for awhile

The light from the top shines on my face through the tree at times
The warmth of the light filling me with love
Never felt a love like that before

Then a shadow blocks the light from shining on my face
Doubts begin to appear
I must have missed something
Decide to go back down and start again
On my way down cant help to feel despair

If I climb a different way
I won't miss anything
I'm sure to learn more on the way

Climbing the branches of yoga again in different order
Having one foot on Hatha and another on Raja
A hand on Karma and the other on Bhakti while leaning on the trunk of all styles
I hang out here for awhile
To my surprise healing and self realization takes place

Hanging out in this spot in the tree of yoga
I realized the branches of yoga are all interconnected
Practicing all the branches is inevitable on the journey
The journey and the lessons learned is all part of the yoga path
The destination is really not a destination at all
its a state of mind

The moment I let go
I found myself sitting at the top for a moment
Feeling blissful from the light, love and the energy from everything
I feel at peace
I feel at home

I always been at home
But the shadows were blocking me from seeing
There is no need to fear the tree
The ups and downs is an illusion
A tool to help us see through the shadows and veil
And feel at home

Now I must help others climb the tree
So they can see what I see
The real me
The real you
The real world
LOVE

Love is my Religion

By: Nicole Petroff

Yes I declared myself a worshiper of LOVE. Love is my religion.

When thinking about the concept of having love as a religion, I realized it shouldn’t be like any other organized religion. This religion has no rules, no specific places to worship, no specific god or people involved. It encompasses everyone, every being, every god, every faith, every practice, every action, every thought and energy.

The goal is simply to become self realized of what Love truly is and to become LOVE.

How does one do such a thing? Below is the wisdom I have developed through experiences, reading and self reflection.

There are many practices to choose from that you can use on this learning process and a combination of them is very helpful. I chose the practice of yoga or to yoke meaning union connection and relationship to our true self, Love.

Why do we need such practices to help us to know what love truly is and who we
truly are?

The senses, mind and intellect, and the vacillating nature of the mind creates a constant distraction and identification of exterior self prevents us from seeing. Also the lower emotions (such as anger, hatred, greed, lust, jealousy, envy, fear etc ) prevent us from shining our true nature and seeing what Love truly is. This is sometimes called veil, ego or mya or illusion. Practices such as yoga tai chi, qi gong, zen and many other practices and faiths etc help to purify the mind, emotions so the veil can be lifted.

When the veil is over our eyes, we may see LOVE as a cause of pain, and may discriminate who we love which creates dualism and more suffering. What we call "falling in love" sometimes can be an intensification of the veil and has intense wanting, needing and attachment. The word attachment means a tie or a bond but it can have deep emotional roots and cause scars on our soul or core issues to come to surface for a chance to heal. The feeling of “falling in love” can also be a great lesson looking back at us in the mirror the other is holding. It can be a lesson of seeing true self divine love in the mirror or of ego/veil the other is holding. What is to be seen in the mirror seems to be dependent on, if you are at peace within yourself. The more the ego/veil has been lifted the more at peace and your true nature you become. When we have attachments we create resistance of abundance instead allowing divine energy, abundance, manifestations, happiness, joy, bliss and true love to come into our lives.

This illusion of what Love is, seems to be the result of having that veil covering our eyes and also projecting your thoughts and energy into the future by having expectations or attachments to certain outcomes, which seems to be causes all sorts of suffering. We sometimes do this in relationships by labeling the relationship and putting it into a box of what society or culture says how that relationship with that label should be. When the relationship is in a box, it is confined to those certain behaviors expectations of that label, which bring attachments, and a lot of emotional suffering because you unconsciously placed conditions on how to Love eachother. If we detach from the label or not have any labels we are letting the relationship be free to be whatever it needs to be, with ease, and un-conditional Love.

Attachments and expectations seem to cause suffering and are hard to avoid and is all part of the learning process of awakening to who you truly are. Realizing attachment when it occurs and coming back into the present moment we can let go of it, and see its changes in energy, vibration or dimension as just what it is, a changed in energy and vibration. Learning to detach from those vibrational energy shifts by letting go of control, having faith that everything is happening for a reason/lesson we can avoid and overcome suffering.

When the veil is lifted it is easier to not allow those expectations, detach and love un-conditionally and are accepting the person or thing for what they really are, no matter what the do. They are Love, Vibration, Energy, and a reflection of yourself.

When the veil is lifted we can see and feel love as this beautiful feeling of warmth in everyone, everything, everywhere, it cannot be gained or lost, it is found within, and we begin to vibrate this love to the world, you become LOVE. The feeling of becoming Love that is so great, it is totally beyond words, beyond all capacity of the ego mind to describe it or to evaluate, but rather, it is like great waves of ecstasy and feeling and the absolute certainty that Love, True Love, Devine Love is the truth of it all.


Once the veil is lifted the work is not over. It takes constant practice, learning about self, and consistency with connecting to your higher self and the present moment. The more you do, the more love you will feel from everyone and everything. Then, you become more aware of what things disconnect you, like things that you consume or the people you associate with. Right diet and right association that will sustain your peace of mind is and your connection to Divine Love. If you don't have consistent practice or continue to look externally for answers chances are the veil will go back on covering your eyes and suffering will continue.

Therefore if you practice Love as a religion, by lifting the veil, loving all beings un-conditionally, you start to love yourself and become more self realized and you start BEING LOVE

LOVE is a state of being. Love is not outside, it is deep within. We can never lose it and it cannot leave. It is not dependent on some other person or external form.


WE ARE LOVE! YOU ARE LOVE!
AND I LOVE YOU!