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SOLAR CYCLES March 21 Spring Mid-point May 5 Summer Solstice June 21 LUNAR CYCLES April 27 Waxing Quarter Moon May 5 Full Moon May 13 New Moon May 27 |
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Massage Therapy We created the healing center at Namaste in the spirit of community. We all, ultimately, do our own work. However, we all need help along the way. Enter, your healer, acupuncturist, therapist etc., who, like the paraclete, intercedes on your behalf. We get by with a little help from our friends. Meet Philip Calkins and his amazing hands: Philip is one of our massage therapists at Namaste. He began his massage career in 1987. He is certified in Shiatsu, Swedish and occupational therapy. He balances eastern and western modalities. He listens. He has a gift for healing. Come have your first massage with us for only $75. 
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New Life
This time of year marks the mid-point of spring, when the ragistic forces burst into bloom. Life is resurrected. The earth is celebrated.
When the midpoint of spring falls on a full moon, passions run high as we celebrate Eros, the creating, producing and generating principle. This year the midpoint falls on a waxing moon. Beltane won’t be as wild. Take advantage of the lessened intensity to connect with and witness the flow of energy as it expresses itself through the universe, the cycles of sun and moon, the passions of others and you. Those of you who celebrate Easter know that much attention is paid to the resurrection and that Maundy Thursday barely gets a nod. Take a closer look at what Jesus said that night of the Last Supper when he celebrated Passover with his disciples. He prophesized that the one who will come after him is the paraclete. Christian theology identifies the paraclete with the holy ghost. It is actually from a Greek word meaning “one who consoles or intercedes on our behalf.” The paraclete could be the good Samaritan, a doctor, a shaman or an angel of mercy. The paraclete lives in all of us as the expression of compassion. As the awakened one, you are the paraclete in the world, dwelling at the chaotic, creative edge of the unfolding present. By the way, Maundy is from the Latin mandatum, like mandate or commandment. Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment that night, “Love one another as I have loved you.” He also washed their feet, a shocking and symbolic gesture honoring the truth of equality, the promise of mastery and divine origin in everyone. Unfolding Your Inner Paraclete The only way you really know something is by direct experience with your body and mind, not through your concepts, your history or your beliefs. Gurdjieff said “Believe nothing, not even yourself.” Your feelings cannot be trusted to reflect reality. Feelings are subject to the Law of Rhythm. If the pendulum swings toward despair today, tomorrow it will swing toward joy. If you can observe your experience from a centered I AM awareness, you avoid the gravitational pull of mass consciousness. You begin to understand patterns, flows and universal principles. Jesus was a Gnostic. Gnosticism (from the Greek: gnostikos meaning good at knowing) is concerned with direct knowing. The alternative to believing is experiencing and knowing. This is the direct path. This is the power humanity is awakening to now. Doomsday prophesies like the end of days or 2012 in the Mayan calendar are symbolic. They speak of an end of an epoch of consciousness, the mental-rational structure, that began with the Greeks around 500 B.C. It is being superceded by an integral consciousness. It has been modeled for us by a few avatars like Jesus, Buddha, Sri Aurobindo, and others who have trail blazed for us. Yoga is one way to participate in the evolution of consciousness. Yoga is the original integral path to awakening as it asks you to transform body, breath, thought and action. Living in integral consciousness means you make your understanding a whole body event. You digest your experience. You release a fixed point of view. You replace belief with faith. Belief is fixed concept that may or may not be in relationship to universal law. Belief exists in the mind of man. Universal laws, such as the Law of Rhythm, exist as cosmic truths. Faith lives in us cellularly. I am not speaking of blind faith, which is naïve. Cellular faith is the sense that the ground of your existence is good; that it is OK to laugh and love; that the universe is benign. Faith and healing are very similar. Both teach us how to relax into whatever is arising. Both teach us that we can simultaneously be with what is and be rooted in the spacious peace of our origin. With palms together, Elizabeth |
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Asana of the Month: Vajrasana/Virasana the Truth poses “It is there, all around us, permeating everything; and to enter into contact with it and receive it, it is enough to aspire sincerely for it, to open oneself to it in faith and trust, to widen one’s consciousness and identify with the universal Consciousness.” These poses are used for pranayama and meditation. When sitting for long periods, the spine should remain extended along it’s vertical axis so energy can flow through and blossom each chakra. In Vajrasana, you sit on the feet or a small meditation bench. It is a very effective pose for people with tight groins as it allows you to tip the pelvis forward in order to find center. People with lordosis (excessive pelvic tilt) must be careful not to tilt too far forward of the axis. Virasana, or virility pose, requires inward rotation of the hip joints and releasing the front thigh muscles. There is some torque in the knees so be careful. You can try this pose sitting on a block or a rolled blanket. Whichever version you try, sit with an erect spine and balanced fluid breath. You are aiming for 20 minutes in the pose. The vir (or ver) in virasana became the root word for many European words like verify, war and even peace (ware) in old German. One interpretation of the meaning of the pose is: how do we wear our life experience? How well can we integrate the conditions the world places on us? Do we live in Truth? What pulls us off center and how do we respond? Do we remain in darkness or are we dazzled by brightness? As you sit in the pose, explore the relationship between your energy and the universal energy that flows through you. Align the spheres of your head, torso and pelvis to the vertical axis, focus your gaze, and relax your jaw and your diaphragm. Develop a strong body and nervous system so that you can hold the Ananda (divine love) that comes to those who have created a solid base of peace. You are not only a witness but an instrument of evolving reality. Hence the necessity to create a means to jointly shape this reality. This is awakening. This is the new enlightenment. | |
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Namaste Yoga Center 371 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York 10024 |