"Let No One out Work You Today"

My Monday night "ended" with intensity in the way of work inspiration... so much so that I was ultimately awake until close to 2 am. Not good for those who need to get up and teach in the morning but I found myself digging deeply into my goals and possibilities of projects etc. Once I finally went to bed, I was up again in desperate search for a notebook I have carried for years that holds my "Sanieh's Top 100 List". Sadly, I have yet to find it... and I don't have a lot of "stuff" to search through, but I just KNOW I would not have tossed that. The only thing that comes to mind is that perhaps because it's so old, maybe the paper fell out of the notebook or something.  

This list is very special to me. I have evolved as a woman and as a yogini, over the last several years (7 in particular) and this list was a constant through the many life changes. I created this list of random things I wanted to do, have, or achieve in my lifetime and even though there were not 100 items listed, I knew that it would become that and so much more, eventually. After a few years, I would mark the date that I wrote the goal and then also the date that I met that goal. Included were scratch outs and changes as I realized that once I evolved and grew, so did my list. Things that were once important to me, no longer were and of course I was steady adding to this list. I suppose that I don't need the "bucket list" since everything one needs is in their heart, yet I sure would love to look at it again. In the nature of my process, I would pull it out whenever I would think about it (last night!) which ended up being every year or two. So I was really looking forward to seeing what goals I stated/wrote down and essentially *claimed* to compare to that which had come to fruition. Hopefully I will find it; but I'm not attached to doing so...  

I realize that I continue saying the same thing yet I don't get tired of it (so I hope you don't get tired of reading it :D)...  

2009 is going to be an ABUNDANT YEAR!  
 
I was thinking about this earlier... There are many areas that I am petitioning abundance in my life (beyond that which is already beautifully abundant that is) but it's more about opening myself to this abundance rather than seeking it out. I say this for a few reasons:  

1) in Tantric philosophy, which I study and is very much so a part of my practice on and off the mat, it is taught that to seek out something, anything, would mean that one feels that are without it or separate from it. Tantrikas trust that we live in a non-dualistic experience. Everything is everything, and there isn't a thing that exists outside of ourselves in the way of happiness, love, abundance etc  

2) There is something to be said (in my humble opinion) about doing the work (see quote- "LET NO ONE out work you today"- this could be my new daily mantra compliments of a Seattle Seahawk; only I forget which one :) then allowing the river to flow and do it's thing. More and more I find myself moving closer towards trusting the unfolding (always a work in progress; trusting the Universe), and trusting the ABUNDANCE of the Universe and that there is plenty for me in the way of spiritually lucrative work; trusting, honest, connected, spiritual,and EcStAtIc LoVe, and growing, fulfilling and maintaining relations of the tribe that I am building a thick foundation on who I can love and support and who give me the same in return.

I will Let No One Out Work me in these areas because I deserve abundance...yet I will not question the law of Universal nature that states that all things will unfold as they are meant to... in the mean time, I work, hard, towards that which I petition in abundance and bow in gratitude for the gift... in advance.   

Moving right along.... :D  

So one of my INTENTIONS for this year, one a most superficial level is to stop being the self proclaimed "cursing yogini". Yep, you heard right. It all starts with something small and the next thing I know, F-bombs are dropping left and right and well... I'm trying to quit! To me, this isn't a "bad" thing I do, it's more like something that I simply just don't *need* to do :) I don't NEEEEED to say F$$$ every other word (I can see some of your eyes in utter disbelief, lol). One of my student friends said to me the other day, after my sharing this in a full nooner class, "Well it's nice to know you are real" ... or "Like the rest of us" or something of that nature. PLEASE! I'm pretty raw, pretty real. Thus is why I know I am a great teacher; not because of anything I can or cannot do in my body physically, but because I convey the message by living it; in honesty..even when it's not pretty (or it's cursing!). Have a look at some of my past blogs! There's a whole LOT of honesty there!

(Side Bar: Speaking of blogs... I've been writing more often than normal so be sure and look to your right under "browse posts" to get yourself caught up :D )    

It would be easy for yoga teacher herself/himself to try to be the message itself. The message isn't me. I'm just the facilitator of the message; what my teacher calls "the river guide",  yet the journey is one that I am on as well. It may look a little different, but don't they all?   

Here's the thing... there is a time and a place (back to the cursing yogini) and when one consciously CHOOSES to drop an F-bomb to "accentuate" something perhaps, and when that time arrives, I will do so... but I no longer want to walk around mindlessly dropping bombs without being conscious of doing so :) In the words of my sweet student-friend, Tavener, "If I want a cup of coffee, so be it, but I don't want the coffee to control me!"  

Coffee? F-Bombs? (*She says weighing the options from right hand to left*) It's all the same :)  

Moving right along (still)...  

You may notice an addition to hands when you see me around town...or in airports traveling out of the country (YES!)... I'm getting myself geared up making 2009 THE YEAR that I finally follow through and LEARN THE HANUMAN CHALISA!

Understand something about this 40 verse chant... IT'S in 40 VERSES... LONG VERSES. As a matter of fact, even with the transliteration that I have, one has to give themselves a year to learn the Chalisa... suggested study is a verse a week... there is also an opening and closing invocation. YOU do the math... really, at that suggested and much needed time frame, it's LONGER than a YEAR! I've got to get going... I've barely memorized the opening invocation to Hanuman and the first 2 verses...  

"We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share. This is a precious moment, but it is transient. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. If we share with caring, lightheartedness, and love, we will create abundance and joy for each other. And then this moment will have been worthwhile." -Deepak Chopra  

All Love,
Sanieh
www.saniehyoga.com