LynnAnderson

Visualizing Goals

Before you begin a thing remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead…You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin. – Kathleen Norris More…

Common sense is instinct. Enough of it is genius. -- George Bernard Shaw

This weekend I saw a play by George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara.  It was a play about morality and perception and how they can differ depending upon one’s point of view. Much like the notion; in life you can justify anything. More…

If it weren't for the last minute nothing would get done. -- Anon

To be in the moment is to be practicing Zen and to be aware of the repercussions of the moment is to be practicing karma.  Karma yoga (one of the eight branches of yoga) is the conscious awareness of how our thoughts, words, and deeds become our karma.  We think of karma as being good or bad when in fact it is just an effect that results from a cause.  More…

One is taught by experience to put a premium on those few people who can appreciate you for who you are. -- Gail Godwin

In our relationships so few of us get accepted for the person we are. Our mates, partners, friends, and relatives often want to change us and control us.  Acceptance is a very difficult thing for most of us to do because it calls upon us to simply let go.  Letting go means losing control, however in reality none of us have any control over others.  Control is simply an insecurity that is super imposed upon others. Yoga teaches us to accept and let go.  Yoga calls upon us to live in the moment and to allow the flow of energy to freely move in its natural rhythm.  Because most of life is uncertain and unpredictable trying to change someone or control someone only creates resistance and resistance creates stress. More…

Grandma's Kitchen

Last weekend my husband and I were traveling home from a mini vacation and stopped at a dinner called Grandma’s Kitchen.  We were in a small town and the patrons of this restaurant were of local color.  The meal was uneventful and the food was not very good but on the way out I spied a small plaque that gave me pause to think about the simplicity of life.  This little plaque although simple had tremendous meaning. It read; love is patience, love is kind, love in continuous.  At that very moment more than anything those words gave me strength.  I had slid into a place of stress and despair and to read this little plaque lifted my soul. More…

Great thoughts always come from the heart. -- Vanvenargues

In yoga the heart chakra or energy center is a significant cross over point between the lower levels of earthly existence and the higher levels of consciousness.   The chakras are energy spirals that lie along the spinal column. Each chakra represents an aspect of consciousness, mode of behavior, and perspective. When energy is free flowing and balanced within the chakras we can easily be fulfilled and complete. More…

All our reasoning ends in surrender to feeling. -- Blaise Pascal

Yoga offers an opportunity to get in touch with your feeling. To get in touch with your feelings you must be willing to get quiet and still. When the mind is swarming inside and the outside world is pulsating with noise it is very difficult to get close to the quietude of your soul. Your soul is the source of your instincts, hunches, and intuition. It is interesting to watch some students in a yoga class squirm and run away from stillness and quietude. Then there are others who strive to find that quiet place within. When we move into ourselves we void out the world. I think the fear is often times that we will miss something. In the deep moments of quietude one realizes there is nothing to miss. More…

You are younger today than you will ever be again. Make use of it for the sake of tomorrow. -- Anon

It’s early morning and I am preparing for another week of teaching yoga classes. Each week I try to focus on a different pose, a different thought or a different way of moving and breathing.  This week I am focusing on being thankful for what is today.  The practice of yoga is about present awareness so that we can both learn and appreciate every element of life. More…

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own. -- I.D. Douglas

Tonight I am teaching a yoga class to a group of UCLA college girls.  They have asked me to come to their sorority and teach them about yoga.  There will be somewhere between twenty-five and fifty young women piled into a room.  Each of these young women is impressionable so I have a big responsibility.  Something I might say or share with them this evening could possibly make a lasting impression and may-be a change in someone’s life.  This is what experience is all about. More…

Accept and Let Go

Maturity is achieved when a person accepts life as full of tension. – Joshua Liebman No one wants to experience tension and yet it is tension that often brings needed change to our lives.  Without tension and some struggle life would stagnate.  All change has an element of tension.  Birth involves tension, pain, and transition.  Acceptance of things as they are in the very moment is a very difficult thing for most of us. It creates tension.  Yoga emphasizes the release of tension and  ability to simply accept. More…