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Hi Mike

Feel free to come to any regularly-scheduled class. All exercises are tailored to the individual student.

I teach Raja Yoga as outlined by Patanjali in the Yoga Sutras (a prehistoric 200-line poem, the origin & practice behind the universal Serenity Prayer).

It’s a multi-faceted discipline to control our emotions and thoughts – and thus our actions, which account for 70% of what bothers us!

In short, meditation is about mind control. It’s a dual practice in self-awareness & self-control.

There’s no wrong time or place to start practicing!

FYI – here are links to a rough translation of the first half Patanjali’s poem:

chapter one

chapter two

Blessings. Hope to see you soon, Skip

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PROUD NEW ENGLANDER

[that’s Buddha watching over our winter garden]

I’m proud to hail from this neck of the woods.

I grew up in Vermont; went to school & met Sue in New York; and we moved here with two kids & a dog in ‘95.

Our 01945 neighborhood (2 rows of 7 houses) received more than a foot of rather heavy late-season snow today.

I just walked Penny around the block; virtually all of us are dug out; sidewalks cleared, cars dusted off – ready to go.

Not a pretty analogy, but it’s as if a giant foot kicked sand on our anthill and within a few minutes we were out and going about our business as usual.

#RespectNature

❤😊🕉

Qi Gong and Raja Yoga class schedule

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NOTE TO MY BROTHER [the open minded one!]

Do you know where I can find out what time of day I was born?

It’s a Zen thing. Apparently, not only the day, month and year we’re born – but

the actual time of day – can be predictive of one’s true nature.

 

Sounds bananas, but it’s as if humans grow and whither seasonally like everything else on the planet. Go figure.

Apparently after thousands of years of observing nature (including us), ancient Chinese scientists figured out that – just like flowers planted and blooming in different seasons have different characteristics –

times of human conception and birth influence the output. Who knew?!

 

Friggin’ fascinating. They’ve got it down to such a precise science that the time of day we’re born has a distinct effect on:

  • our bloom potential (i.e., how we’re likely to grow and “bloom” naturally baring a catastrophe), and more importantly,

 

  • how best to maximize that potential (in short, what combination of body-mind-consciousness work is most likely to restore someone to their true, balanced self?)

 

The “charting” gives the “doctor” (in this case a Zen Master I’m fortunate enough to have access to) another piece of information to work with when prescribing a personal “restoration protocol” for the student (i.e., so I can adjust my personal practice to make the most of it holistically).

Thanks Bud – for the time of day info and listening. Love you.

Qi Gong & Raja Yoga class schedule

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NOTE TO A FELLOW TEACHER

I think it’s great to encourage men to honor both their yin and yang attributes but yoga and other Eastern mind/body disciplines train us to control our emotions rather than remaining vulnerable to them.

“Strength begets Freedom.

Freedom begets Peace.

Peace begets Tranquility.”

 

Strength over emotions is essential; they color our thoughts and precipitate our actions which account for 70% of what bothers us!!

“Watch your mind.

Guard your words.

Keep your Qi.”

 

That said, stuffing, ignoring or distracting ourselves from emotions isn’t a long term solution. The solution is a lifelong discipline of self-awareness and self-control.

“Every second. Every day.”

 

That includes daily physical and mental exercise, specifically meditation.

That’s where Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras come in!

Blessings, Skip ❤😊🕉

Raja Yoga – Qi Gong class schedule

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QIGONG STUDENTS WANTED

My grandfather used to tell me not to worry about a bad haircut. It grows back!

Ever go to a dental or hairdressing school to get fixed up at lower, student-teacher rates?

It’s USUALLY a win-win-win: you get a hair cut or a tooth pulled and the good doctor or stylist gets a little better at his/her job – benefiting the next client or patient.

Same concept – only in this case, here’s how it works:

  • You win – you’ll leave class smiling – but it’ll cost you $10.
  • I win – I’ll be smiling – priceless!
  • My next student wins – by letting me work some of the kinks out on you, I’ll earn the next guy’s $15!

I’M LOOKING FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN LEARNING BETTER SELF CONTROL: PHYSICAL, MENTAL and ENERGETIC!!!

 

QIGONG = ENERGY WORK

Namaste, Skip

❤😊🕉 

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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HOLISTIC VISUALIZATION 000,001

[Remember to engage your senses as part of the visualization experience!]

While seated meditating, work up to a rhythmic breath cycle: inhale – pause – exhale – pause, with each of the four quarters of the cycle lasting an equal four counts.

Here’s the visual:

Imagine you’re actually standing comfortably, boyantly in thigh-deep water as part of some luxurious spa treatment – as if you were bathing a newborn – but it’s happening to you:

Inhale – as water is being drawn up your cool back;

Pause – as the water pours gently over the top of your head;

Exhale – as water washes down the warm front of your body; and

Pause – as the water drops off the bottom of your torso back into the water below.

Meditate. It’s what’s good for you!

SO ARE SPA RETREATS!

Join my teacher, Mylena Orrigi and me as we lead a wellness retreat in the pristine baths of Sirmione, Italy the first week of June!

❤😊🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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WHICH WAY DOES YOUR HEART LEAD?

Our heart energy leads!

We  focus our heart energy either upward or downward.

 

To varying degrees, half of us are generally drawn downward towards the relatively heavy, dense, darker aspects of our self and life.

And to varying degrees, the other half of us are generally drawn upward towards the relatively light, bright, airy aspects of our self and life.

I took down the recent FB rants about the NRA’s tax exempt status. They were weighing me down.

Namaste. For better or worse, we’re all in this together.

Love, Skip

❤😊🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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CHAKRAS

For years I’ve seen our seven-chakra energy body simply as a quasi-physical aspect of our internal organs and systems [side note: it’s utterly fascinating the level to which we can manipulate this non-physical, essential aspect of ourselves!].

Today one of my QiGong teachers explained the chakra system from a different perspective: as the seven phases we pass thru from unconscious to conscious form. Paraphrasing:

We evolve (or not) through seven phases during life [corresponding with our chakras from the bottom up]:

  1. Elimination – necessary to exist
  2. Procreation – necessary to continue to exist
  3. Sustenance – corresponds with the basic “stuff” necessary to sustain life
  4. Love – the middle or heart chakra; from here we either live loving 1 thru 3, or (with 5) we ascend to 6 and 7
  5. Knowledge – comes from contemplation; necessary to unlock the higher levels of living consciously
  6. Awareness – comes from observation; we become aware of the existence of 7
  7. Presence – comes from meditation; the state of mindful consciousness; “You have form; it no longer has you.

I hope this resonates half as strongly within you as it does me. The trick to lessening suffering in our lives is to recognize it’s energetic, seasonal, and cyclical nature – and

go with the flow!

 

If you need help deciphering Patanjali’s map, call me – that’s why I’m here!

Blessings, Skip

❤😊🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali

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PLEASE OPEN THE STOWAWAY SWEETS BOX!

Yesterday I wrote about the five seasons of an uninterrupted life:

To everything there is a season.

We Sprout, Grow, Bud, Bloom and Whither

Everything – Everyone

 

That seasonal cyclicality (clearly evident in nature) is universally applicable, for example to marriage [keep in mind that most of us grow old, but not all of us grow up]:

We:

SPROUT – this is the “oppositional” or Spring or “opposites attract!” phase in which……..[well you know] [note: this phase lasts one third as long as the next three equal phases, and half as long as the last phase];

GROW – this is the “interdependence” or Early Summer or “it takes two!” phase in which we begin to work together toward a common goal, typically procreation;

BUD – this is the “inter-consumption” or Late Summer or “thank you!” phase in which we begin to sincerely appreciate our partner on a deeper level;

BLOOM – this is the “inter transformation” or Fall or “you bring out the best in me!” phase in which we begin to celebrate the oppositional traits in our partner, and together we’re striving toward harmony and balance;

WHITHER – this is the “infinite divisibility” or Winter or “we live happily ever after!” phase while we remain in these bodies.

The concept is universal – just like my other favorite subject!!

Blessings, Skip

Meditate. It’s good for relationships!

❤😊🕉

Meditate – you can’t do it incorrectly [just more efficiently – that’s why I’m here]!!

$15 – scheduled group “meditation prep” classes

Current class schedule

  • Skype lessons
  • seminars
  • lectures
  • private lessons

Proud sponsor of Yoga Instructors Association (MA)

#BringBackPatanjali