Hello Yogis!
I am rereading Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth, and am blown away at how perfect the timing is to pick this book back up with all that is going on the world. There is a lot of heaviness, fear, big opinions and even bigger egos taking over our world right now. We can certainly fight back with our own opinions and beliefs, and sometimes, that is the appropriate action. However, the more beneficial practice is to work on ourselves. As Tolle goes into in this book, our own consciousness is linked to universal consciousness, so when we as an individual start to recognize our own ego and bring awareness to our sense of separateness, it thus helps to break down the collective ego of humanity. What more do we need right now?
One way to go about becoming aware of ourselves beyond the limitations of the ego is to be aware of the present moment. The ego is constantly either living in the past (what has happened) or in the future (the potential of what may happen). It cannot exist in the present moment. Here is an excerpt from the book, a brief practice to help cultivate present moment awareness:
"Be aware of your breathing. Notice the sensation of the breath. Feel the air moving in and out of your body. Notice how the chest and abdomen expand and contract slightly with the in- and outbreath. One conscious breath is enough to make some space where before there was the uninterrupted succession of one thought after another. One conscious breath (two or three would be even better), taken many times a day, is an excellent way of bringing space into your life." - Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
I encourage you to try this super simple exercise a few times a day. Perhaps turning off the news or logging off of social media for a moment just to be present to the breath. Imagine if the whole world did this, disengaged from ego for a moment. What a different place we would live in. Remember, it all starts with you :o)
With lots of love, from my heart to yours,
Courtney
Courtney focuses each practice on stilling the mind through mindful breath and movement, and incorporates Ayurveda and subtle body work into her classes. She has been my yoga instructor for five years now and her vinyasa flow classes are wonderful, she offers many options to accommodate different levels. Bringing together body, mind and soul, the light and spirituality she brings to the practice each and every time always leaves me peaceful and full of gratitude. For the past year due to the pandemic her classes have been via Zoom and I have faithfully participated three days a week. Keeping this consistency through such uncertain times helped me to get out of my self and let go of the commentary going on in
my mind. I highly recommend trying one of her classes. She is on Zoom M,W,F 12-1pm and teaches at Nuzuna in Laguna Niguel Tuesday/Thursday 10:30-11:30. For more information go to #courtneyparkynyoga.com.