Monday, May 23, 2016

Book Review: Peace and Where to Find It


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Peace and Where to Find It

Like all journey's we must begin with an idea of what we are looking for.  Chapter one begins with The Search for Peace.  In the search for peace we must become more attune to our inner awareness to bring us to the deeper reality of how to actually come to this state of peaceful within even if you are maybe not having a peaceful day or in a peaceful place.
The book is mostly set in a question and answer set up which can be helpful if you have certain questions arise as this book answers many of them. 
Below is from the Namaste Publishing website about the book:


In a world rife with turmoil and lives led in fear, this book is the road map that delivers us from our angst, sense of separateness, and fear to the place where true and lasting peace resides.  
The world has never created/manufactured peace and never will because peace is already here and everywhere, waiting for us to notice it. It is a fundamental characteristic of who we are, if we were only aware of this.


 This book reveals the deep relationship between peace and body awareness. Inhabiting the present moment through deep body awareness makes peace manifest in our lives and across the planet. Thus feeling our bodies – the outer and inner – is a radical and revolutionary act.

Giving our full and felt attention to the body helps us enter the present moment where we become aware of this ever-present peace. The body is always here in the present moment and our sensations can only be felt in the now. Presence through body awareness is the off switch to the incessant voice in our head that pretends to be us. The more present we are, the quieter our thoughts and reactions become, and we come to realize we are not our thoughts but are the peace-infused awareness that’s the source of everything.
 
Christopher Papadopoulos lives near Montreal, the city in which he was born. He holds bachelor degrees in education and history from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, and has served as both a primary and high school teacher. Based on his desire to help create a better world, in 1993 he ran for parliament in the Canadian federal elections. Realizing that a world of peace and harmony begins within the individual, he then embarked on an inner journey toward greater self-awareness. He works with individuals and groups, guiding others to experience peace through the process of his own self-discovery.


I received this complementary copy of Peace and Where to Find It from Namaste Publishing. 
Check out their website for more inspiring books.

 
 

Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor





www.plnyoga.BlogSpot.com
plnyogastudio@gmail.com

 
 

Sunday, May 15, 2016

The Beauty about Dharma - May Peace Practice


Peace practices at yoga sublime studio are a way to generate compassion for ourselves and those around us. Monies raised this month are going to the Prince Albert women's shelter. 

Thank you to all that attended. It is always nice to share these practices with people from the community and know will be helping those in the community - whether that is near or far. 

During the class I read a little from an article by Birjoo H. Mehta, a long time student and teacher of B.K.S. Iyengar.  

In it he gives a few definitions of dharma but the one Guruji often used and I have read in a few other of his books is dharma is that which uplifts, sustains, upholds those who have fallen, are in the process of falling or will fall."


Birjoo tells a story of how a number of Brahim priests were called for a feast. 
He writes, "The host put a condition that while the priests could eat as much as they wanted they should do so without bending their elbows. So the priests being very smart fed each other.  Because of this action everything was sustainable. Each person was fed by the action of others. A Brahmin did not feed himself. A Brahmin did not feed others to feed himself. Even if someone stopped feeding him, he kept feeding others seeing that the feeding of others had no connection to the feeding of himself. 
No person is so independent as to be able to feed himself or herself. Every person is fed by others. And in turn if you feed others in a manner that it sustains this ecological state, the that action is dharmic.  The only way you can acknowledge the bounty of the universe is by doing dharmic actions or actions that sustain, that support the ecology, the ecosystem.  This happens only when you realize that you are entirely supported by the universe and not by yourself."

Thank you Birjoo for the wise words and for me a strong feeling of being part of something greater for the good of others. 

Next Peace Practice is June 3rd with donations going to the Prince Albert S.P.C.A.

Namaste, 
Pamela Nelson
Certified Iyengar yoga instructor
Www.plnyoga.blogspot.com
Plnyogastudio@gmail.com