What a weekend! More on that later...

My friend, Lexie who I met at the end of a Vipassana course I did a few years ago, is a student of Dr. Laad at the Ayurvedic institute in New Mexico and studies Ayurveda and Jyotish (Vedic Astrology). She has started sending out these monthly forcasts to me and I always find them to be so interesting. I've bolded a few key points as well. Her personal website is www.lexneon.com
hearts, Sanieh


Planetary movement for September 2008
Sept. 8: Jupiter stations direct (after 4 months of being retrograde!)
Sept. 9: Pluto stations direct (after 5 months of being retrograde!)
Sept. 15: Full Moon in 28°41’ Aquarius (Purva Bhadrapada)
Sept. 17: Sun moves into Virgo
Sept. 20: Venus moves into Libra
Sept. 24: Mercury goes retrograde in 28°51’ Virgo until Oct. 15
Sept. 26: Mars moves into Libra
Sept. 29: New Moon in 12°28’ Virgo (Hasta)
*Sept. 19-24 and Oct. 15-19 are the days surrounding Mercury Retrograde


Planets to uplift for September 2008: Mercury and Venus

Reasons for uplifting these planets over others:

(sanieh's side bar note: this whole thing deserves BOLDED font!)
Venus and Mercury are sitting with Mars for much of this month, which can
create some “pitta” (hot, angry, frustrating) energy around love and
communication. These same placements can also add a lot of passion and
excitement to our relationships and even energize us in other parts of our
lives. The planets are also in Virgo for much of the month, which can either
add a touch of criticism to our communication, or can make us more precise and
clear in how we are feeling. Many times, it is just a matter of choice.

As Mercury goes Retrograde on the 24th (sanieh's side bar comments: OH SHIT!) it can also bring up issues around
communication, computers, etc. as we know. It tends to bring things “from
the past” (people, issues) back into our lives. Sometimes that isn’t
welcome, but many times, it’s our opportunity to “get right” with these
things and if needed, complete our karma in this area -- or just be reminded of
someone who was once special to us. The five days preceding and following
Mercury Retrograde are the days to really be mindful and when the energy is most
heightened (as the planets “stations” into its Retrograde and Direct
positions). Send any important communication before or after these days, get
any computer work done early in the month, and sign any pending contracts before
or after these dates if possible. And if you can’t change the schedule, then
do the Mercury remedies and trust it will all work out as planned. Another way
to help focus this energy is to honor Saturn…


Honoring Saturn:
Saturn this month is sitting on the ascendant of the chart, affecting our
pre-dawn and morning hours. The things we do in these hours have a profound
influence on how we experience the day. Saturn likes to us to have a plan, to
make a schedule (down to the minute!), and to stick to it! Saturn is all about
service, authority and organization.

A way to honor this energy of Saturn, and to become it, is to start off the day
with meditation and a good solid “dinacharya” -a daily routine (see the
online resource page at: www.ayurveda.com). The classic Vedic texts state that
meditating in the pre-dawn hours (the Brahma muhurta hours) is especially
powerful as it can help us access and undo any traumas related to our birthing
experience or to early childhood. On a mythological level, these hours are
connected to Aditi, the Mother of the Gods and Kings – a deity that is all
about rebirth, nurturing and abundance. The structure and schedule we create
in our morning hours are very important this month as we move out of this
“birthing” energy of the spring and summer and into the “kala sarpa
yoga” energy of the upcoming months – energy revolving around breaking old
patterns (a theme for the past few months, it seems!).

Saturn is giving us the gift of discipline and focus this month, allowing us to
overcome any challenges we may have faced in the early years and to become the
authority over our lives. These are some of the greatest lessons and gifts of
Saturn. Yes, Saturn can restrict and we can sometimes feel as if we are being
“punished’ by Saturn. Sometimes, we are! But most times, it is so we can
hone in our energies, focus and make things manifest in our worlds. And if we
don’t do this, we will just feel simply out of sorts and like we are going
against our inner authority. Saturn wants us to have honor, to be of service,
and to have the structure needed so we can be our own authorities, to awaken
(Saturn is connected to the 3rd eye), and to achieve all the greatness it has in
store for us.


Remedies for Mercury:
*Chant Mercury’s mantra: Aum Bum Budaya Namaha
*Wear Mercury’s colors: all shades of green
*Eat Mercury foods (but don’t eat fast!): green dal, leafy greens, zucchini,
summer squash, almonds, cashews
*Wear the Moon’s gems: emerald, peridot, jade, aquamarine
*Do gentle pranayama (breathing exercises) to calm the mind and nervous system,
like alternate nostril breathing or So Hum breath.
*Be mindful of thoughts and communication, especially with loved ones.
*Doing these things on Wednesday is especially helpful as it is Mercury’s
day. Doing these things (on any day) with the intention that the energy is to
support Mercury is also important.

Remedies for Venus:
*Chant the Venus’ mantra: Aum Shum Shukraya Namaha
*Invoke Lakshmi: Aum Shri Lakshmiya Namaha
*Wear Venus’ colors: all shades of pink
*Eat Venus foods: kidney beans, cashews, asparagus
*Wear Venus’ gems: diamonds, clear and rose quartz
*Take your partner out to a special dinner and tell them you love them!
*Keep a sense of love and passion in all you do this month.
*Doing these things on Friday is especially helpful as it is Venus’ day.
Doing these things (on any day) with the intention that the energy is to support
Venus is also good.


Chanting the Prayer to the 9 Planets in the morning is
an excellent way to align with all the planets:
Sun: Aum Sum Suryaya Namaha
Moon: Aum Som Somaya Namaha
Mars: Aum Kum Kujaya Namaha
Mercury: Aum Bum Budaya Namaha
Jupiter: Aum Gum Guravay Namaha
Venus: Aum Shum Shukraya Namaha
Saturn: Aum Sham Shanaya Namaha
Rahu: Aum Ram Rahuvay Namaha
Ketu: Aum Kem Ketuvay Namaha


Key Words for September 2008:
* cool down! * speak with passion and love *
* discipline * structure * “dinacharya” (the daily routine)*

Today I want donuts.

Yep.

I want an apple fritter and I want a powered, Bavarian filled donut- both which I have not eaten in years. I'm sitting with this desire however, because it's not about the donuts. It's about the longing to fill a space within myself right now.  

The second half of this week teaching has been spent teaching a yoga and martial arts infused practice based around the energy that is Kali Ma. I've only recently been thinking about Kali and like anything else, when we are pulled to something, someone, or an energy, we seem to find it and SEE it in everything. I found myself looking into the mythology of this Hindu Goddess and then came across an article in YJ that was based around Kali's energy. For reasons of my own experience, I felt (and fell) so moved lately to teach from the space that encourages connecting to our own inner Kali.  

While bare breasted and beautiful, she is often depicted as demonic. "The Ferocious form of the Divine Mother", she is with dark wild hair, three eyes, a necklace of skulls and a upraised sword, while her energy is one that symbolizes that of a slayer... a slayer of avidya, or ignorance, and the demonic nature within our egos and those around us.  

The only visual I EVER had of Kail aside from an iron statue was an expression that my teacher shared with me recently while listening to a story of a grown woman who expressed that her own mother use to tell her she wasn't pretty, special, etc... and that this woman was the cause and reason for her own failed marriage. In that moment, as my teacher reacted (being a mother herself), she made the verbal connection stating that her response was that of Kali nature.  

In my own words and current experience, Kali is the voice within the voice. She is the one who looks fear in the eye and says "Fuck it! This is what's right and this is what must be said or done in order for me to live authentically. This is what I must have courage to explore or trust or confront in order to face my insecurities and to see myself and others for what we all are- no sugar coating myself, others, or situations. If it looks like a sheep, it's a sheep!".   

It's said that Kali is one of the most worshipped of all Hindu deities outside of Ganesh, the elephant headed God symbolizing the energy of Auspicious new beginnings and the remover of obstacles. Kali's energy might be the most suppressed one of all within us, especially those who have a hard time finding their voice, speaking up and out, or those who feel timid. Her energy lives within us all and even as lovers of yoga, we must remember that there is always a time to call upon her. The idea that because we are yogins, we should always be "yes people" or "quiet" goes against the self love that embracing Kali can offer to us. This doesn't mean that we need to be jerks or obnoxious in anyway, what it means is that it's our duty to know when to say when. We must know how, when, and where to access that part of ourselves that is willing to take the hit if it means we are speaking out and OVER the voices that can rule the ego, the mind, and our lives creating and causing endless suffering out of avidya (ignorance) and illusion that we are unable to claim all that we are, deserve, and desire to become.  

Right now, I still want those donuts, yet in the same way that I am seeing my own "stuff" for what it really is, I know that ultimately, that kind of processed sugared goodness won't serve or support what I need in this moment. The only purpose they serve for me right now is one that would be supporting avoidance of what is, and an attempt to fulfill an illusion. Should I decide that I do indeed want them later when the waters of my mind are calm and steady, I will be in a better seat to make that choice without it being a harmful one; an assault on my own inner Kali.  

Peace; in body, speech and mind.  
Sanieh
http://www.saniehyoga.com/

Friday October 3rd 7-10pm at the beautiful Dharma Yoga Studio in Austin!

Cut and Paste below to read More:

http://dharma-yoga.net/workshop.html


(Photo: Tattoo of A gal's back who attended a training with me.... her ode to Ganesh)

Love and Light,

sanieh

www.saniehyoga.com

Ahhh Friday morning- this kermie pic in child's pose is how I'm feeling at the moment :)

Last night I finally finished and sent out my newsletter :))))) It's been brought to my attention that the spell check feature doesn't seem to be working too well (Thanks Keith! You're HIRED!) though so bare with me while I slowly work through the kinks! If I'm being honest, that drives me mildly crazy, but I'll try not to lose sleep over it ;)

I Still have one pending piece of information on confirming space for a workshop but I have time between now and the next newsletter to do so so I'm not too worried about it. I do have all kinds of things planned in the way of workshops and intensives and I'm starting to plan my travel-teaching schedule and travels for 2009 as well so there's a lot of good stuff coming up! So if you are on my list and didn't get the email (or not on the list and want to be) let me know! sanieh@saniehyoga.com


I'm pretty tired though. I was up until 2am before I finally completed and sent it out then I felt the need to attempt to clean the living room. The night before, I wasn't tired when I wanted to be so I stayed up locating and printing all 3 credit reports! Great news, but It doesn't help my desire to snooze at the moment! I'm actually going out of town tonight through Sunday with a whole lot of "nothing" planned so I have high expectations that this weekend will be enjoyable that way :)

More soon...
Sanieh
www.saniehyoga.com

I am a student. Goekna-ji of the Vipassana meditation tradition I study, says that a yogi is a truth seeker. I am on this path in the seat of the teacher or as "river guide" as my teacher calls it, but I am a student before all else.  

What my inner student reveals to me WHILE in the seat of the teacher is amazing.  

While I am very passionate about this life of living yoga and teaching the style and method of study that I have taken and shared through my own transmission, the inner student continues to show me that even though I am a teacher, I do not know everything. This is my process on the path, as a seeker of my own truth and Universal truth as one in the same; and being connected enough to realize this and ultimately finding compassion rather than feeding the judge and critic within is part of what makes me a growing student. Just like anything else, this way of practice and teaching is not the only way, however, it was Krishnamacharya himself who said

"If we are to move along the yogic path towards wholeness we must settle on one style and explore it with an open heart. To find water we dig a hole in one place, not lot of random holes like a mole disturbing a garden."  

Every body is different thus the exploration will be different. While it's important for us to honor our bodies, sometimes what we mask as honoring is actually a crutch for being without ease to welcoming change or possibility of something new or something else. I think about this when it comes to our strengths verses our weaknesses physically, mentally, and emotionally and being so willing to compromise the growth of our own yogic garden for being "comfortable" to the mask that looks like our habitual patterns/samskaras of body, speech, thought, mind, tendencies, etc.  

If there is something within these words that strikes a chord, perhaps that is where the work has been set out for us. Recently I came across this quote from Dan Rather that said

"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you who tugs and pushes, and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth."

It is truth, for us ALL, that there are areas to which we cling to yet tending to our gardens sometimes requires many hours nurturing a seed that remains unseen yet with faith, we trust that something is so sweetly beneath the surface ready to break through.    

Love All Ways,
Sanieh
www.saniehyoga.com