Day 4: Bhakti Challenge

Yesterday I talked about the song “Looking for love in all the wrong places” and the story of Krishna and Pariksit-- its a must read!  Where you able to recall moments in your life that you were looking for love outside of yourself?  Sometimes when I need a warm fuzzy love-like feeling I find myself at Good Earth buying an Endangered Species black panther extra dark chocolate bar-- you know what I am talking about? !!   Ok, there is nothing wrong with that... and that is why I love the Tantric yoga tradition-- I no longer have to feel guilty or “BAD” for indulging a bit here and there.  However, I acknowledge that continuing to refine my thoughts and actions to be life-affirming and aligned with the Highest is my practice.  

That being said back to the chocolate-- in Exquisite Love, Bill Mahony says there are higher and lower forms of love.  The lower forms of love are more impermanent and related to the physical... like chocolate.   I am sad to say that after I eat my chocolate it is gone.. poof!  So, then the thrill is over and I am back where I started. The higher forms of love are deeper, ever-lasting and connected to essence of being. The Love of the Self is ever-present and thus when activated creates a steady and high level of love in our hearts.  When you gaze into a loved ones eyes and see beyond the temporary form and into the sparkle of their eyes you touch into the Divine Self within them.  And, the Love we see in them is a recognition and affirmation of the Love we see inside of ourselves.  Try this next Bhakti Yoga practice~

Day 4: Bhakti Yoga Challenge

Eat chocolate-- just kidding! Truly you can and notice what happens.  

1. Cat/Cow pose- on your hands and knees. Move with the breath. Long, slow breaths. Do 5 Repetitions.
2. Downward facing dog- 5 breaths
3. Child’s pose- 5 breaths
4. Repeat that sequence once more.
5. Body Scan.  This exercise will bring awareness to the place that you feel natural aliveness and warmth in your body, and help you connect into your the natural wellspring of Love inside. Lay on your back, palms up. Notice the rise and fall of your chest with each breath. Watch the flow of your breath for a minute. Then move your awareness to your feet to begin scanning the body for sensations.  Over the next 3 minutes make your way UP the body-- feet, shins, knees, thighs, pelvis, navel, solar plexus, heart/chest, shoulders, arms, hands and neck and head.  Notice where you feel warmth, flow, pulsation, opening, softening.  When you find a place like that stay rest there and breathe in and out from that source. Notice what happens.  Then spend another 3 minutes going back down the body starting with your head and going to your toes. 
6. Take your time.  Write down your experiences in your journal and in the Blog.  

Please sign-up for the Blog so you can be an active part of the group process to activate more Love in yourself and in the world.

Namaste-

Sienna

Day 3: Bhakti Challenge

Looking for Love in all the wrong places?  You know the Waylon Jennings song I mentioned in the newsletter...

I was looking for love in all the wrong places

Looking for love in too many faces

Searching your eyes, looking for traces

Of what.. I'm dreaming of...

Here is a great story from ancient India that William Mahony tells about the search for love that also relates to this modern day song~  Pariksit had a vision of God or the Divine as Krishna (an Indian deity) who stood by and gave unconditional love and protection to him while he was a baby in his mothers womb. The moment he was born the feeling went away. He spent the rest of his days combing the streets, stopping people as they walked by and staring at their faces while asking them  “Are you Krishna?.... are you Krishna?” He searched far lands to find the vision of Krishna he had before. His life was lived in constant longing to find Krishna again... to find that unconditional Love-- yet he was looking outside of himself.

You may identify with this search for Love.  And part of why we are searching at all is because somewhere inside of us there is a memory of this infinite Love-- otherwise we would not have the yearning to search for it!    

Love is an inside job and, I would add,  JOY!  We turn toward our practice and our Sangha to support us in diving INSIDE again-- taking a heart-centered journey.   (Image is Krishna)

DAY 3: Bhakti Challenge 

The basic practice is the same for Days 1-3 we a slightly different focus so you can get to know each practice and what it does for you.

 5 Minutes of breath and movement

10 Minutes of Radiant Heart Meditation  

(Scroll down to Day 1 if you need the instructions)

Take time to notice where you have been looking for love.  Without judgment or story just be honest.  Did you find what you were looking for?  In the Radiant Heart meditation imagine absorbing the glowing sun energy and visualize your own heart as a reflection of the sun.  The Light is generated from inside of you-- allow the Light to bathe your entire chest and torso.  Bask in your own Light. 

Enjoy your day,

Sienna

Day 2: Bhakti Challenge

Let's welcome a few more Bhakti Yogis who just signing up today!  Breathe them into our Sangha, feel their intention to create more Love and lets support each other by doing the work!  Here we go.

Poetry is a beautiful way to exit the thinking mind and enter the heart-mind. From the great yogi Sri Yogananda

What is Love?

Love is the scent with the lotus born.

It is the silent choirs of petals

Singing the winter’s harmony of uniform beauty.

Love is the song of the soul, singing to God.

It is the balanced rhythmic dance of planets-

   sun and moon lit.

In the skyey hall festooned with fleecy clouds-

Around the sovereign Silent Will.

It is the thirst of the rose to drink the sun rays

And blush red with life.

DAY 2: Bhakti Challenge 

Repeat the practice from Day 1. 

 5 Minutes of breath and movement

10 Minutes of Radiant Heart Meditation 

(Day 1 is available on this Blog)

During the meditation, As Yogananda suggests in his poem, imagine the sun rays blush red with life inside of you. Notice the sensations in the body and let go of stories or judgements that arise.  Come back to the breath again and again. To stay attentive-- become curious.  Notice where you feel the warmth or blush of radiance.. and where you feel less.  Breath from the open areas into the less open areas. Breathing in and out--  welcome your experience.

Make a note in your journal. It will help bring context to the story I will offer tomorrow.

Many blessings~  

Sienna

Day 1: Bhakti Challenge

Welcome to DAY 1~  Start connecting to Love now.

Let’s jump in!  Has this ever happened to you-- you are having dinner with a loved one and both of you are laughing and enjoying your connection to each other. Your heart feels warm and open to them.  Then, a touchy subject comes up and they say something that upsets you.  In fact, now every word feels hurtful.  Soon your chest tightens, the breath becomes shallow and the doors of your heart slam shut.  The ICE queen or king has landed. Where is the LOVE now? ... because its getting cold in here. (I will come back to this..)

During this 15 Day Challenge I will refer to the Narada Bhakti Sutras-- a 1,000 year old text with heart-centered reflections that inspire us to awaken a deep and eternal LOVE that resides within all of us. Sound complicated?  Its not, anyone can do this.  All you  need is 15 minutes.  Remember, nothing will change if do things the way you have always done them.  Try this 15-minute practice everyday for 15 days.  It will be your experience that will empower you to share your heart like a peaceful warrior of LOVE.

Where did the LOVE go anyway?  The Sutras says that the LOVE inside all beings never leaves.  Yeah, but... you may be saying.  Bottom line is that for something to ring your TRUTH bell you must experience it for yourself.

Try this:

Part 1. Imagine someone your deeply cherish and feel overflowing warmth toward.  It can be a  newborn child, close friend, spouse, a beloved pet.  Breathe in deeply and notice where you feel the sensation of LOVE in your body.  Spend 30 seconds breathing into this LOVE.  Close your eyes and do Part 1 now before moving on.  

Part 2. After you have connected to the Love inside from Part 1 let’s go on.  Now imagine someone that is a challenge for you.  Take 30 seconds to notice the sensations in the body that arise.  Close your eyes and do this now. 

What happened to the Love?  I bet if you did Part 1 again that the Love would arise just as it did before.  It truly never left. The Love is there waiting to rise up again should the heart be open to receive it.

Bhakti Sutras say that this wellspring of Love inside of us is ever-flowing from the center of our heart. When we feel warmth for someone that we Love that it truth we are witnessing the joy of their existence-- that presence that is the Divine inside of them.  We catch a glimpse of the radiant, glowing Spirit that is the essence of who they are.  In fact, going even further, they arereflecting your own radiance back to you.  How divine!!   And, in that moment there is a sense of connection, an abiding Love and even a sense of Oneness.  Let’s bring this in to practice.

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Bhakti Practice for Day 1:

Dedicate a quiet corner in a private room for your Bhakti practices.  If you have a cushion, mat, altar, or candles feel free to use them. 

1.  Do 5 minutes of movement and breath. A few yoga sun salutations or easy stretches will work well.  Move and breathe mindfully.

2.  Do 10 minutes of the Radiant Heart Meditation.  Sit comfortably with good posture.  Breathe deeply and draw fresh air into your lungs.  Fill the lungs in all directions-- expand the back body, allow the ribs to fan out and soften your chest.  Long flowing, nourishing breaths. Stay focused on the chest rising and falling with each breath. Now,  imagine an image of the SUN -- a radiant, light-filled, glowing sun.  Place the sun into the heart. Breathe easy and full. Notice what happens over time.  Stay curious, remain open, and allow the Radiant Heart practice to reveal something about the nature of your own heart to you.

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Doing the practice is essential.  Remember your intention to practice. Were you wanting more LOVE in your life?  Are you wishing that the world was a place of LOVE not war? Then allow your experience to bring forth your own personal truth about your Heart and the LOVE inside. And sit in dedication to this Sangha knowing we are more powerful together.

*  Keep a journal of your own experiences.  

*  Sign-up for the Bhakti Blog online to receive updates.

*  Share your experiences or questions on the Blog.

Until tomorrow, Namaste~ 

Sienna

Reference-  Narada Bhakti Sutra translation Exquisite Love by William K. Mahony Anusara Press 2010.

15 Day Bhakti Yoga Challenge

You have arrived! I am thrilled to welcome over 40 people to our online Sangha.  You all are stepping up to claim you right to deeper LOVE for yourself and for the world. My teacher Gary Kraftsow says "we are here but a blink of an eye, make every moment count". And here you are, making this moment count. 


Close your eyes and take 3 deep breaths to feel your intention for being here. Come fully present to the energy inside. There is an inner pulsation called PRANA (life force) that permeates all things~ and that life force is connecting us all now through our powerful intention to LOVE. Connect your intention to the group. Feel the energy of all who signed up with a similar intention~  to cultivate and express a deeper LOVE for themselves and the world.  That is powerful! 

Love connects, Love heals and Love is the only thing that will bring us into balance with each other and the earth. It is an inside job that we all must step up to.  There is no time to waste.  This is not the pink puffy heart us girls use to doodle on our homework pages in school... this is serious work.. which can bring serious intimacy and joy to our heart. The path to LOVE is not for the faint of heart~ it is for the warriors that are willing to SEE, to FEEL and to BE who we truly are.

A daily practice is the key to staying connected to Spirit, Divine, God to nature to whoever or whatever is your highest. And I believe it an be done in 15 minutes or less.  Over the course of this Bhakti Challenge try it for yourself and see.  Your personal experience is the only way to know what is TRUE for you.  May these practices cultivate your inner Guru~ grow your personal Truth~ and illuminate your path to Love! 

See you on Monday, August 15th!
Namaste~ Sienna