From "Conversations with God"

"All human actions are motivated at their deepest level by one of two emotions- fear or love. In thruth there are only two two emotions- only two words in the language of the soul. These are the opposite ends of the great polarity which I created when I produced the universe, and your world, as you know it today.
These are the two points- the Alpha and Omega- which allow the system you call "relativity" to be. Without these two points, without these two ideas about things, no other idea could exist.
Every human thought, and every human action, is based in either love or fear. There is no other human motivation, and all other ideas are but derivatives of these two. They are simply different versions- different twists on the same theme.
Think on this deeply and you will see that it is true. This is what I have called the Sponsoring Thought. It is either a thought of love or fear. This is the thought behind the thought behind the thought. It is the first thought. It is prime force. It is the raw energy that drives the engine of human existance.
And here is how human behavior produces repeat existance after repeat existance; it is why humans love, then destroy, then love again: always there is the swing from one emotion to the other. Love sponsors fear sponsors love sponsors fear...
...And the reason is found in the first lie- the lie which you hold as the truth about God- that God cannot be trusted; that God's love cannot be depended upon; that God's acceptance of you is conditional; that the ultimate outcome is thus in doubt. For if you cannot depend on God's love to always be there, on whose love can you depend? If God retreats and withdraws when you do not perform properly, will not mere mortals also?
...And so it is that in the moment you pledge your highest love, you greet your greatest fear.
For the first thing you worry about after saying "I love you" is whether you'll hear it back. And if you hear it back, then you begin immediately to worry that the love you have just found, you will lose. And so all action becomes a reaction- defense against loss- even as you seek to defend yourself against the loss of God.
Yet if you knew Who You Are- that you are the most magnificent, the most remakable, the most splendid being God has ever created- you would never fear. For who could reject such wondrous magnificance? Not even God could find fault in such a being."

Conversations with God an Uncommon Dialogue
-Neale Donald Walsch

This book is truly profound and I cannot stop reading it. I hope you have enjoyed this passage. All my love, Lisa

What my hamstrings are teaching me!

Ahhhh, hamstrings oh hamstrings. Right hamstrings to be exact. I injured them in March of last year. I knew it was an injury. There was a POP and pain. I did not understand how, because I was just gently stretching, but it happened. I did not feel any pain walking or doing anything else other than stretching, which I refrained from for the next 6 weeks until it healed. I iced a couple of times a day, I took care of myself. Then it was better and I went back to "business as usual", but always with care of the hamstrings. From time to time I would feel a little something going on in there as I folded forward into Uttanasana or some other deep hamstring stretch, and I would back off.
I started massage school in May, and over the next 6 months of being there I had several different classmates work on my hamstrings. Massage is great for an injury, I knew, and if there was any scar tissues or any adhesions there that massage would help. I try to take care of myself, ya know.
Now, in my yoga practice I am not someone who feels a need to push myself into crazy positions that my body is not ready for and may never be ready for. It is not important for me to get into lotus, or hanuman asana, or countless others. This does not mean that I do not push my body to its limits and even a little beyond. I push, I push with respect to where I am at. And I do not have any ideas about what I "should" be able to do. We have discussions about these people during our YogaWorks training weekends, the extreme pushers. The ones who just need to keep doing vinyasas even though their posture is sloppy due to fatigue. As an instructor I see them all the time. I offer 2 variatons to a pose and they choose the more difficult option and struggle. I approach and tell them they should try the first variation and I get the response "No, I can DO IT!". Sigh.... Now, I fully understand these people. I have been one of these people in the past. As we have these discussions in our YogaWorks group many of us recognize (and giggle at) times that we have or do demonstrate these qualities at times.
So, during our last trainig weekend, which was Jan. 9, 10 & 11; something happened. We were backbending on Friday. I love backbending. I do it often. It is something I am "good at". But later Friday evening I felt some agitation in my right hamstrings. That old injury. That's ok I thought, after a good night's rest they'll be fine. Saturday morning came and I felt my hamstrings a little, but nothing to worry about. I know my body and I could be careful to modify, right? So I went through our practice on Saturday, modifying so as not to overstretch my right hamstring toooo much. By Saturday night I needed ice. Pain. Dammit! Why!! Why this weekend??? One more day of yoga to experience, this can't happen!!!!
So I had to go in on Sunday morning and tell my teacher that something was wrong with my hamstrings. That I had to be really careful and could not do everything. Of course this is perfectly fine with him, but it certainly isn't fine with me.
I already had a massage scheduled for Sunday evening, which I as feeling very thankful for! We can just work on my hamstrings, and then everything will be fine!
I was a complete emotional mess Sunday evening. My poor friend who came to give me a massage got hit with it before he even got his foot in the door. Yoga weekends are always intense, there are many releases from the body and we also dig deep into the Yoga Sutras. We spend alot of time together bonding and then it is over. That is sad enough. Now add an injury and my reaction to it.
My poor friend. Thank you for listening and understanding!
The massage did not fix my hamstrings. That's ok, I can accept this, I told myself. I started icing twice a day and I did not excercise at all for 2 days. I scheduled another massage for Thursday with another friend. I did yoga on Wednesday and left my hamstrings alone. Then I took a few days off from any excercise again. I started eating sugar again. Chocolate will make me feel better, I told myself.
The big question that I couldn't stop asking myself, and my 2 friends that were kind enough to work on my hamstrings, was HOW did I even do this to myself and WHY did this happen again (ok that's 2 questions). They both pointed out that maybe my hamstrings still have a lesson to teach me. They also both asked if it was really important how it happened, or to rephrase, why it was so important to me how it happened.
Now the irony of this situation is not lost on me. "I'm not one of those people that needs to push myself, I accept where I am at physically", yet I could not accept this injury! How is this different than trying to push myself into lotus? Hmmm....
Yesterday I went to check out the new Go Primal Fitness gym. This place is awesome! Check it out! Train there, take a class, do it all. At least visit their website http://www.goprimalfitness.com/. Vincent asked if I wanted to train and I told him about my injury. BTW Vince, I hope you don't mind me using your name, I didn't figure you would after the Go Primal plug. Anyway, Vincent offered to take a look and help me figure out what was going on in there. After a couple of resistance tests it was easy for him to see that I definitely tore the muscle (way back in March) and that scar tissue had laid itself down to fix the tear. Scar tissue does not have the same integrity of muscle and unless addressed I will continue on in a viscious cycle of re-tearing that area (more scar tissue, more tearing, etc.). I should be happy at this point that I at least know what is going on. And even happier that Vincent has offered to work with me on fixing it. And even happier that it should only take a few sessions and that it is fixable. Okay, I am. Truly GRATEFUL! But I still feel like sulking a little. I want it to never have happened!
I hear myself telling Vincent that I haven't been working out at all lately and asking him what I can do without working my hamstrings.
What a dumb question! As soon as we start discussing excercises a million things fill my head. Why, all of the sudden, do I feel my hamstrings are the only muscles in my body?
Just a few months ago I was dilligently working on my handstands. I love handstands! I also love headstands. I can work on all my inversions, what better time! Better yet, maybe I should take on pinch mayurasana, my enigma inversion. Work on something that I DON'T like as much.
So I begin this day with a smile. This afternoon Vincent is going to begin breaking up the scar tissue in my hamstrings and retraining the muscle fibers to go in the same direction.
And this evening I am going to work on pincha mayurasana!

Lately I've had several people ask me

If I have read any of Eckhart Tolle's books. Usually this question comes after I have confessed to feeling badly, or sad, about something going on in my life. Each friend enthusiastically tells me that if I just listen to what Eckhart Tolle says that I would realize I have nothing to be upset about, that I could just "be here now" and not be affected by the worries of what has been and what may be. I truly appreciate these words of wisdom, and the enthusiasm of the friend sharing them with me. I love that Eckhart Tolle and his books have become so popularized. He is sharing an amazing and wonderful truth. The fact that the message he is sending is being received by the masses is a defininte sign that the level of human consciousness is ready to and indeed IS expanding. This is a great sign for all humanity!
The thing is, though, that Eckhart Tolle is not the first person to discover and share these teachings. These teachings are similar to the practices of the Taoists, Buddhists, Yogis, Tibetans, and many other ancient traditions. You can find many words of wisdom in ancient texts such as The Yoga Sutras if Patanjali, the Indian "Vedas" including the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, as well as many current books such as written by the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hahn and many others.
Many have been practicing mindfulness and being present way before Eckhart Tolle. And THAT is the important thing to note... that it is a PRACTICE. It does take effort on the part of the practitioner. And to quote Pattabi Jois "practice practice all is coming". I don't like the saying "practice makes perfect", because what exactly is perfection?
I am happy for all who are just learning the message of being present, and appreciate Eckhart Tolle (and OPRAH) for being the catalyst to help expand the human consciousness. With any new found thing comes much excitement and zeal, much enthusiasm.
As life and also the same texts that teach us how to overcome our human suffering tell us, there are many causes of human suffering and it is difficult to overcome them. So, as someone who has been practicing for awhile, I still at times fall prey to my "pain body" though I do not relate to the pain as much as I would have in the past.
I smile when my friends share with me how easy it is for me to overcome my issues, as I remember feeling a same sense of enthusiasm as they at one time. It does help to bring me back to the simplicicty of it all.
And I hope that after some time of incorporating practices of mindfulness into their lives, when they are confronted with challenges they have a friend nearby that will ask them if they have read anything by Eckhart Tolle lately.