spirituality

Babies usually enter the world head first, literally “crowning” as their final move from the fetal stage of development into the oxygen breathing world of humanhood. The Crown Chakra is found at the very top of the head and is the interface between the world of the unseen and this body. When the Crown chakra, also known as Sahasara, is fully open and activated it is seen as the Thousand-petaled Lotus and is rainbow colored, signifying that all of the lower centers are open and functioning.

Several years ago, I wrote a post for Quarterlette.com called “Opportunity will beat down your door.” It’s a cheery and inspirational post about my move to San Francisco, explaining opportunity doesn’t knock once, it will beat down your door. In other words, there are certain things the universe will keep throwing in your face over and over again.

According to the spiritual philosophy I ascribe to, we are all moving from imperfection to perfection. That means we are all growing, changing, developing. We are progressing from crude to subtle, culminating in merger with the subtlest entity of them all: The source of all creation.

Okay—so I recently started doing jujitsu, and regardless of the challenges I’ve faced—I’m hooked! But why? Jujitsu, also sometimes known as “the gentle art,” is more than just an ancient Japanese grappling style -- it is a life-altering practice that can truly heighten a person physically, mentally, emotionally, and even spiritually. Read on to find out more about the martial art of Jujitsu, and its benefits for the mind, body, soul and spirit.

It’s been a rough week. I found out a friend of mine committed suicide and it sent me reeling. Not only am I grieving the loss of my friend, but I’m also questioning the meaning of life, what my priorities are, how I’m spending my days, etc. The inconsequential questions, in other words.

The capacity to witness life from the standpoint of the “observer” is a skill that sets apart the novice from the expert, especially in terms of spiritual advancement. To the ancients, this ability is deemed a technique used to classify the beginner from the advanced human and is given the name drashta in Sanskrit – which translates as “the witness.” When one has cultivated this witnessing attitude and can maintain it through all layers of evolutionary unfoldment, this state signifies an awakened and functioning third eye center, or at least the beginning stages of such.

When I think “love,” I think soft, gentle, and kind. I also think “permissive.” If I love someone, I want them to have everything they desire. But that’s not real love. Real love also means saying “no.”

Highlights

• The New Moon is when it occurs monthly when the sun and the moon are conjunct or together in a particular sign and I like to give people the image of the New Moon being like an empty cup ready to be filled with the incoming energy and when we add our conscious intentions to the energy that is already in play, it really kicks up what we reflect out to the world and in term the world is going to mirror it right back to us.

A couple of years ago, I got this text from my sister: “Yoga question: In the book I’m reading, part of what they do is drink their pee. Have you heard of that?”

I had, in fact, heard of “urine therapy” in books on yoga, but it certainly wasn’t a topic covered in my yoga teacher training, and I thought it was a long-dormant practice. Call me odd, but I was intrigued. I asked her what she was reading.

It wasn’t until I started running (very) long distances that the need for proper nutrition became clear to me: I needed to reduce inflammation in my body and to do that, I needed to focus on anti-inflammatory foods. The Anti-Inflammation Diet and Recipe Book by Jessica K. Black, N.D., was the perfect guide, or so it seemed.