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!

Food For The Soul

Food For the Soul By Nicole Petroff

If you ask different yoga teachers/masters what the yoga diet consists of, you would probably get different answers, just as there are different ways of doing postures and different opinions of what is considered to be a branch or style of yoga. In my research I had found that the following about the yoga diet is pretty consistent.

The yoga diet doesn't just consist of food that is ingested through our digested system. What is adsorbed through all of the senses is also food to the soul, mind and body. What someone pays attention to through the senses can affect someone's yoga practice, mind, emotions, and physical health. What we read, watch, listen too, and who we associate with all has a certain energy associated with it. That energy can either intensify the veil/ego keeping you stuck in the matrix or help to lift and release veil/ego so enlightenment can occur.

Observation of self while practicing the yoga diet can help with bringing peace of mind, self realization, liberation and enlightenment as part of your yoga practice. Once you start practicing, it becomes easier to notice the subtlest differences in what you bring in through the senses and how it affects your mind, emotions and physical health. Then the yoga practice and diet stops being ancient philosophy and becomes a lifestyle.

In Yoga philosophy, all matter in the universe arises from the fundamental substrate called Prakriti. From this ethereal Prakriti the three primary gunas (qualities) emerge creating the essential aspects of all nature—energy, matter and consciousness. These three gunas are tamas, rajas and sattva. All three gunas are always present in all beings and objects surrounding us but vary in their relative amounts. We have the ability to consciously alter the levels of the gunas in our bodies and minds. The gunas cannot be separated or removed in oneself, but can be consciously acted upon to encourage their increase or decrease. A guna can be increased or decreased through the interaction and influence of external objects, lifestyle practices and thoughts. (Timothy Burgin)

Diet is a very important part of the yoga practice. The mind is said to be formed from the subtlest portion of food. If the food is impure, rotting, spoiled the mind also is impure in its workings and takes away from the goal of yoga.

Tamas is a state of darkness, inactivity, lethargic and materiality. Tamas manifests from ignorance and deludes all beings from their spiritual truths. To reduce tamas avoid tamasic foods, over sleeping, over eating, inactivity, passivity and fearful situations. Tamasic foods include heavy meats, and foods that are spoiled, chemically treated, processed or refined foods alcohol, meat, eggs, preservatives.

Rajas is a state of energy, action, change and movement and over stimulation of the nervous system. The nature of rajas is of attraction, longing and attachment and rajas strongly binds us to the fruits of our work. To reduce rajas avoid rajasic foods, over exercising, over work, loud music, excessive thinking and consuming excessive material goods. Rajasic foods include fried foods, overly spicy foods, onions, garlic, and stimulants such as caffeine and drugs.

Sattva is a state of harmony, balance, joy and intelligence. Sattva is the guna that people who practice yoga achive towards as it reduces rajas and tamas and thus makes liberation possible. To increase sattva reduce both rajas and tamas, eat sattvic foods and enjoy activities and environments that produce joy and positive thoughts. Foods that have been processed, refining and overcooking destroy much food nutrients and should be avoided. Sattvic foods include whole grains, legumes, beans, and fresh fruits and vegetables (organic if possible) will better supply the nutritional needs and maintain health, and peace of mind.

Dairy is not really mentioned in the yoga diet and is debated among the yoga community. Some research suggests that avoiding or reduce dairy products is better for digestive system, sinuses, lymphatic system. We are the only species on the planet that ingests another species milk, and may be considered unnatural. Every other species uses mom's milk to a certain age. I find that it's a personal preference and avoiding it is really good for some but doesn't matter for others. It doesn't hurt to try substituting dairy with soy, almond, or rice milk products to see if health improves while eating more Sattva.

When we do eat it's important that we eat mindfully to get the most out of the food that we are eating and the mind and body can focus on digestion.

Tips on eating mindfully:

Enjoy your meals.

Eat in clean, pleasant surroundings.

Don't be doing other tasks while you are eating.

Create an attitude of tranquility immediately before and during a meal

Pay attention to eating when we are eating

Chew each mouthful of food thoroughly, Eat slowly

Do not take more than what we need. Make sure there is enough for everyone.

Never stuff yourself

Remember those in the world who don't have enough to eat

The mind's psychological qualities are highly unstable and can quickly fluxuate between the different gunas. The predominate guna of the mind acts as a lens that effects our perceptions and perspective of the world around us. Thus, if the mind is in rajas it will experience world events as chaotic, confusing and demanding and it will react to these events in a rajasic way. (Timothy Burgin)

All gunas create attachment and thus bind one's self to the ego. "When one rises above the three gunas that originate in the body; one is freed from birth, old age, disease, and death; and attains enlightenment" (Bhagavad Gita 14.20).

While we reach to strive sattva, in our lives the ultimate goal is to transcend their misidentification of the self with the gunas and to be unattached to both the good and the bad, the positive and negative qualities of all life.

Namaste!

Love Yogini Nicole Petroff

Cutting the Cords that Bind You

by Ayal

We all know when someone is gazing at us - we get a sense that some energy emanations have been directed our way. We feel the energetic vibrations and we know when something or someone has connected with us in some way. We are all telepathic, although some have become more conscious of and developed this innate ability more than others..

INTERCONNECTED - Our bodies are electrical in make-up. Within and without our beings operate like telephone circuits sending impulses through the nerves to connect with and communicate to other energy impulses. We are all interconnected on the Great Energy Grid of Life, and thoughts travel with the speed of lightning around the grid, connecting one to another..

ENERGETIC CORDS - When we consistently direct our thoughts and energy to a particular person, place or thing, we begin to establish an energetic cord connecting us to that object. The more we send our energy there, the more we think of that object the thicker and bigger the cord becomes. In this way, our energy gets attached to that object and as it flows away from our own being where it is needed we lose energy. Not only do we lose energy which many call "giving our power away" but we also allow our energy to become entangled in the energy of the other..

LOVING DETACHMENT - Any time we are attached to something,= we have lessened our ability to move freely without encumbrance. One of the definitions in Buddhist terms of suffering is "attachment". This does not mean that we disconnect from life or others. It means that when we connect it is important to do so from a heartfelt, truly loving place. To connect from the heart is appropriate if we are able to connect from a place of loving detachment. This means that we give our love freely, without any strings attached. We love not from neediness, insecurity, ego enhancement to prove anything or to gain anything. We just Love as we would love and feel deep appreciation toward a beautiful sunset. That is Loving Detachment. Connecting from loving detachment does not encumber us nor does it try to pull energy from another. It simply Loves..

A wonderful healer from London once told the story of how a young 21 year old woman, who was much beloved by her parents, was in a coma, dying of cancer. The parents went on the radio and desperately asked that people to please pray for her to live. People from all around responded to their plea, and the young woman lingered on. Finally, one day, this healer was visited by the young woman's spirit, which seemed to be in deep turmoil and distress. He therefore went to visit her and as he sat by her bedside, he saw that she was totally wrapped up from head to toe in energetic cords, keeping her bound on the earth plane. She had come to him to ask him to help her get free. As he sat by her, he helped her to cut the cords from all the prayers people had sent her way, people who had meant well, but had not understood the impact or consequences of what they were doing. Then he returned home. A day later, she appeared to him again, smiling and refreshed, appearing fully well once more. He later heard that she died that day..

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE - When we come from a place of need, when we "need" something from another we attach a cord to them not from the heart but from other, less clear places. This pulls and sucks at the energy of another and can cause consequences which do not work for the Highest Good, for any concerned. That is why true Love is called unconditional. We do not place conditions or expectations on it. It is freely given..

TUNING IN AND ALLOWING - In order to live healthfully, we need to have all of our own energy in our own space in our own bodies. We do not try to direct or influence the lives of others or put out cords toward them. We do not need the energy of others to survive. We are all our own power generators with our own life plans, with infinite resources of energy at our disposal. All that we need to do is to tune into that Divine Source of energy and allow it to flow into us. All we need to do is be willing to receive it. There are many techniques and methods which show us the way to open and receive this Divine energy, which is the energy we breathe with each breath and which fills every cell of our beings, giving us life..

CUTTING THE CORDS - When we feel unclear, tired, irritated, upset or drained an important healing tool to use is to sit in meditation and using inner vision, scan one's body, both the front and the back. Energetic cords can be sensed and some people even have the ability to see them. If you see or sense a cord attached to you from another, or a cord going out from you to something or someone else, you can imagine yourself cutting the cords and allowing the energy to return where it belongs..

You can also state this as you cut the cords: "Mother-Father God and Holy Spirit: Assist me by disconnecting all energy connections from me to others and from others to me"..

When the cords have been cut, surround yourself with a beautiful cocoon of glowing, white light and state: "I now am willing to connect with my Divine Source of energy, and I allow only the Highest Vibration of Love to connect me to others and others to me"..

FREEDOM - By establishing their rightful connection to their own true Source of Power a person lives in freedom and allows others to live in freedom, sharing only that which is of true benefit for all!

The power of NOW on mass consiouness

September 2007

I feel something happening within the human race. Our thoughts weather they are negative or positive effect the plane of existence that we are on.

While talking to some of my friends about their problems and there feelings of anxiety, anger, despair, hatred towards the world. I try to bring some positive in their thinking. I try to do this because I believe we are one mass consciousness. Our thoughts affect the Universe. Every person who thinks in a positive way, who thinks of LOVE, is bringing the entire mass consciousness to a higher level.

"If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought." If more people realized and practiced this there would be a shift in the plane of existence and mass consciousness towards enlightenment and peace.

I know what your probably thinking…. That I am crazy, but think about it. Go back to high school science. Everything is made out of atoms which give off energy. So everything has energy or a vibration to it. Each vibration affects the things that surround it. Our thoughts affect how we feel, how are body reacts and much more, so why not our vibration that we give off to the world? Of course our energy or vibration changes depending on what we are thinking. Haven't you ever felt tension in a room when people are being hostel towards eachother? You were feeling their energy they were giving off and it was probably negative.

It is absurd to limit our thinking that humans are different than anything else on this earth. We are all connected to eachother and everything by the vibrations or energy that is given off. It is also absurd to think that humans and all living beings have stopped evolving. All species have evolved over time with different physical characteristics. That has not stopped. We are always changing and evolving and that vibrational plane has a lot to do with how and what we evolve into.

If this sounds a little sci-fiction to you, don't worry your not close minded you might just be afraid to see what is inside yourself and how you affect the rest of the world. Or maybe your life situation has gotten you so stressed out that you thinking about this or reading further is just a waste of time. If this is how you feel while reading this then you are the one that should read further the most.

You cannot change others. You can only change yourself and how you think and look at the world. One person thinking there is no hope; that we are doomed, that the world is coming to an end, brings down the mass consciousness. However, one person visualizing clean oceans, and rivers, food and housing healthcare for everyone, freedom to express, freedom to be, religions, countries and neighbors living in acceptance of others and harmony with all living things, changes the whole mass consciousness to a higher vibration. Your thoughts, your feelings, your way of being, affects everyone else.

What ultimately all humans, no matter what religion or background we come from, are working towards is enlightenment or to regain awareness of Being. Maybe that is what we are all evolving into. The word enlightenment conjures up the idea of the superhuman accomplishments and the ego likes to keep that way, bit it is simply your natural state of feeling oneness with Being. It is a state of connectedness with something immeasurable and indestructible, something that almost paradoxically is essentially you and yet is much greater than you. It is finding your true nature beyond name and form. It is rising above thought and seeing your true self.

The first step towards this enlightenment is being in the present moment.

When we are in the present moment internal dialogue will begin to subside. When these gaps occur a feeling of stillness and peace inside comes. As soon as you honor the present moment all unhappiness and struggle dissolve and life begins to flow with joy and ease. This is the beginning of the natural state of feeling oneness with Being which is usually blocked by the mind and ego. By continuing to be in the present moment we can increase our inner connectedness, and will be much more alert, more awake than in the ego mind states. You will be fully present. It also raises the vibrational frequency of the energy field that gives life to the physical body. When one person raises their vibrational frequency it affects everyone and everything around them and eventually more people will raise their frequency and so on.

The inability to connect may cause a feeling of separation from yourself from the rest of the world instead of being a part of everything and everything being connected to eachother. When that happens fear arises and conflicts problems become the norm. Fear has many forms such as unease, worry, anxiety, nervousness, tension, dread, phobia etc. Basically when these emotions are felt your mind is in the future while you are here and now. You can always cope with the present moment, but suffering occurs when we try to cope with something the mind is projecting for the future or the past.

"As we grow up we form a mental image of who we are based on your personal and cultural conditioning, called the ego. It's simply mind activity or constant thinking or a false self created by unconscious identification with the mind. To the ego the present moment hardly exists. Only the past and the future are considered important. In ego mode the mind is always concerned with keeping the past alive because without it - who are you? It constantly projects itself into the future to ensure its existence by thoughts of "one day" Even when the ego seems to be concerned with the present its not the present it sees. It misperceives it completely because it looks at it though eyes of the past. Or it reduces the present to a means to an end and end that always is in the future. To the ego death is always around the corner. When we feel fear like fear of loss, fear of failure, of being hurt is ultimately the fear the ego has of death of extinction. " (Tolle)

You may find it hard to believe or recognize that time is the cause of your suffering or your problems. You believe they are caused by specific situations in your life, which is true depending on how you look at it. But until you have dealt with the basic problem making dysfunction of the mind, its attachment to past and future and denial of the NOW… problems are actually interchangeable. (Tolle)

The more you focus on time the past and the future the more you miss the NOW, the most precious thing there is. It's the only thing, its where you whole life unfolds the one factor that remains constant. LIFE IS NOW! Now is the only point that can take you beyond the limited confines of the mind and ego. It's a point of access into the timeless and formless realm of being. (Tolle)

Start with yourself and the plane of human consciousness will begin to shift!!!!

For more information on practicing the being in the NOW you can do many different things:

-Read the book "Practicing the Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. Who I have referenced in this blog. The author also talks about how being in the NOW can help relationships, transform illnesses and suffering which I really didn't talk about in this blog.

-Practice yoga, mediation, or anything else that will allow you to focus fully on yourself, but remember to let go of your ego, past and future.

Talk to others about it.

Spread the word and raise plane of consciousness.

Namaste.

With love Nicole