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June 2009 
2009~The Year of AbunDANCE
Posted on Jan 4th, 2009
by 
Sanieh
Sanieh
(Pic: On flight back into the US... above the clouds :)
2009 is here and Abundance is my theme!
I celebrated the annual transition by attending a sweat lodge with my friend, Laura. I had never been to one, so I was actually excited to go. All that I knew and was told is that it was going to be hot, very hot, pitch black, and a lot of people crammed into a small place.
So we get to Jay's house, where the sweat lodge is taking place in his back yard (he built his lodge in the back). I should add the Laura only found out about this New Years "Sweat" as they call it through someone else so we went knowing nobody except for the guy leading (not the home owner) because she had met him via email or something through someone else. It was going to be an interesting night!
Sweat lodges are home to Native American tradition and I'm told they were actually intended for men to have their monthly bonding time. Symbolic to the womb, there are chants and prayers that take place inside and it's intended to be very spiritual. Rocks are in fire puts all day long and then they are brought into the sweat pipping red where water is poured on them creating steam like you've never known before in your life! Traditionally, prayers are made my taking small pieces of cloth and filling them with tobacco tying a string of them together and then they are hung behind your head from the rafter of the lodge. Having been my first experience, Laura and I wove our prayers on a string for the full experience- a great way to close out 2008 because Goddess knows, I've certainly done so in other ways in the past ;) The people kept showing up and in the end, right before entering the lodge, there were close to 30 people... I believe the most they had ever fit was 20. So we strategically piled in the lodge and I'm actually excited; initially.
While the people were still filling in every crevasse, I turned to Laura saying "I think I'm experiencing anxiety, I feel like I need to be near the door way". I never think of myself as being claustrophobic but when you are crammed in that tiny of a space, in the pitch darkness of the night, with extreme temperatures, anxiety lives next door. I felt my heart rate speed up and I did what any yogin would do, I went into my breath telling myself, "It's going to be okay". I looked to Laura saying the same thing again; that I was experiencing anxiety and It was at that point that she turned to me and whispered, "We are all ONE".
In that moment, my mouth said "I know" but It wasn't for a few more breaths that i absorbed that... After that moment, the experience was absolutely glorious. It was intensely hot indeed and next time I will be sure to bring my towel inside to protect my face and ears better for when the water is being poured because I felt like I came close to doing some damage in that regard...It got very hot indeed... but I found myself smiling and finding a grateful heart for all of the abundance that I intended on knowing, especially in 2009... and being grateful for it in advance :) Moving On....
I love this quote from one of my inspirational calendars...
"You could say that I started my learning with what was given to me at birth, continued with what was natural for me to do, and completed it by trusting what was meant to be." - The book of Lieh Tzu
It's beautiful to me because that's how I feel about my life. When I moved back here in the summer of 2007, I came with the conviction and dedication of making this work. There were no other choices for me. When there are no other choices; when we decide on that, amazing things happen.
I have a lot of things planned for this year and some that are quite larger than anything else I've ever done so much so that they will actually not take place until 2010... that year alone sounds Auspicious so I'm perfectly fine with that.
I'm working on a few workshops as well, working towards determining a date for my "Yoga as Stream of Consciousness" workshop as well as another that will be teaching some things in the Prana Flow Yoga tradition that is the love child of my teacher, Shiva Rea. I decided that this year I was going to start to fully use the language of this method of study just like any other tradition would do since that is what I teach.
I am also thrilled to share that I have decided on assisting in India for certain and am SO excited to go! I find it no accident that I will most likely be traveling on my 32nd Birthday across the world to the Mother Land of Yoga. I've already got my passport of course, just applied for my Visa, have subbed out most of my classes for 2 weeks and now I'm left with visions of the water, early morning meditations, singing and chanting mantra with my Shruti box and breathing in the peace that I AM pursing what was "given to me at birth and continuing with what is natural for me to do" and every day, I work deeper into self study in trusting, TRUSTING, "what is meant to be", will be...in abundance.
Love, Light, and Liberation,
Sanieh
http://www.saniehyoga.com/
ps- remember to sign up for Yoga Trance Dance special event on January 23rd (see http://saniehyoga.com/classes.htm for details). This event WILL FILL UP ... pre-registration is highly suggested! * A portion of the proceeds will go to Green Dharma...A non-profit providing yoga and meditation to the incarcerated youth.
2009 is here and Abundance is my theme!
I celebrated the annual transition by attending a sweat lodge with my friend, Laura. I had never been to one, so I was actually excited to go. All that I knew and was told is that it was going to be hot, very hot, pitch black, and a lot of people crammed into a small place.
So we get to Jay's house, where the sweat lodge is taking place in his back yard (he built his lodge in the back). I should add the Laura only found out about this New Years "Sweat" as they call it through someone else so we went knowing nobody except for the guy leading (not the home owner) because she had met him via email or something through someone else. It was going to be an interesting night!
Sweat lodges are home to Native American tradition and I'm told they were actually intended for men to have their monthly bonding time. Symbolic to the womb, there are chants and prayers that take place inside and it's intended to be very spiritual. Rocks are in fire puts all day long and then they are brought into the sweat pipping red where water is poured on them creating steam like you've never known before in your life! Traditionally, prayers are made my taking small pieces of cloth and filling them with tobacco tying a string of them together and then they are hung behind your head from the rafter of the lodge. Having been my first experience, Laura and I wove our prayers on a string for the full experience- a great way to close out 2008 because Goddess knows, I've certainly done so in other ways in the past ;) The people kept showing up and in the end, right before entering the lodge, there were close to 30 people... I believe the most they had ever fit was 20. So we strategically piled in the lodge and I'm actually excited; initially.
While the people were still filling in every crevasse, I turned to Laura saying "I think I'm experiencing anxiety, I feel like I need to be near the door way". I never think of myself as being claustrophobic but when you are crammed in that tiny of a space, in the pitch darkness of the night, with extreme temperatures, anxiety lives next door. I felt my heart rate speed up and I did what any yogin would do, I went into my breath telling myself, "It's going to be okay". I looked to Laura saying the same thing again; that I was experiencing anxiety and It was at that point that she turned to me and whispered, "We are all ONE".
In that moment, my mouth said "I know" but It wasn't for a few more breaths that i absorbed that... After that moment, the experience was absolutely glorious. It was intensely hot indeed and next time I will be sure to bring my towel inside to protect my face and ears better for when the water is being poured because I felt like I came close to doing some damage in that regard...It got very hot indeed... but I found myself smiling and finding a grateful heart for all of the abundance that I intended on knowing, especially in 2009... and being grateful for it in advance :) Moving On....
I love this quote from one of my inspirational calendars...
"You could say that I started my learning with what was given to me at birth, continued with what was natural for me to do, and completed it by trusting what was meant to be." - The book of Lieh Tzu
It's beautiful to me because that's how I feel about my life. When I moved back here in the summer of 2007, I came with the conviction and dedication of making this work. There were no other choices for me. When there are no other choices; when we decide on that, amazing things happen.
I have a lot of things planned for this year and some that are quite larger than anything else I've ever done so much so that they will actually not take place until 2010... that year alone sounds Auspicious so I'm perfectly fine with that.
I'm working on a few workshops as well, working towards determining a date for my "Yoga as Stream of Consciousness" workshop as well as another that will be teaching some things in the Prana Flow Yoga tradition that is the love child of my teacher, Shiva Rea. I decided that this year I was going to start to fully use the language of this method of study just like any other tradition would do since that is what I teach.
I am also thrilled to share that I have decided on assisting in India for certain and am SO excited to go! I find it no accident that I will most likely be traveling on my 32nd Birthday across the world to the Mother Land of Yoga. I've already got my passport of course, just applied for my Visa, have subbed out most of my classes for 2 weeks and now I'm left with visions of the water, early morning meditations, singing and chanting mantra with my Shruti box and breathing in the peace that I AM pursing what was "given to me at birth and continuing with what is natural for me to do" and every day, I work deeper into self study in trusting, TRUSTING, "what is meant to be", will be...in abundance.
Love, Light, and Liberation,
Sanieh
http://www.saniehyoga.com/
ps- remember to sign up for Yoga Trance Dance special event on January 23rd (see http://saniehyoga.com/classes.htm for details). This event WILL FILL UP ... pre-registration is highly suggested! * A portion of the proceeds will go to Green Dharma...A non-profit providing yoga and meditation to the incarcerated youth.
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