• More Swami Sense

    • July 6, 2010 12:24 pm

    Dearest Readers,

    Sitting here in an air-conditioned coffee shop staring out at the corner of 7th Ave. and West 39th St. in New York City has me reflecting on the incredible adventure I’ve been on for the last four weeks.

    The Big Apple is the last leg of the “road trip” portion of my time away from home and I’m only here for a few days before I head to Montreal for the birth of my eldest sister’s first child. Coming to NYC seemed like a fitting way to transition from one to the other.

    How I love New York. The buzz of this city is unlike anything else in the world. It’s intense and it can be exhausting, especially in 38C temperatures, but I’m a show biz junkie and this city fills the cups of my dreams.

    As a kid, I used to fantasize about living here and being a dancer. When I come here now that wide-eyed, big-dreaming little girl is in heaven.

    I have had a couple of plays produced in New York by Looking Glass Theatre and despite the fact that it’s an off-off-off-off-off (keep going…) -Broadway company it was a thrill nonetheless. I’m here to have fun but that won’t stop me from looking for ways to create business opportunities at the same time.

    Already I’ve been guided to a potential future opportunity and it happened  totally by “accident”. I was wandering the streets this morning looking for an Internet cafe, turning corners at random and following intuitive leads. I found myself on a quiet street with red-brick buildings and large trees providing glorious shade. I suddenly felt very peaceful.

    Up ahead I saw a sign. “No way,” I said out loud. It was a sign for the Sivananda Yoga Center, New York chapter.

    In case you haven’t been reading these posts, I just finished leading a course at the Sivananda Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island not two weeks ago!

    Not only that, I found a little plastic card with Ganesha’s image on it at the place where I’m staying. When I turned it over to read the back it said, “Sivananda Yoga Retreat, Paradise Island.” What are the chances?

    Apparently, they’re pretty good.

    I’m taking these signs as Higher Guidance. Why not pitch Cultivate Your Courage to the New York Center?  After all, if I can make it here I’ll make it anywhere.

    Inspiring Message of the Day: When you devote your life to serving your Gurus they will serve you right back.

    Give It Up

    • July 5, 2010 9:33 am

    Dearest Readers,

    Imagine going into a store to buy something you need and leaving that store with the item you needed and a whole bunch of other stuff you did not need. Imagine then checking out of your hotel and forgetting that first item, the one you actually needed, in the room.

    What is that? Irony? Murphy’s Law? The Forget-It Fairies?

    Regardless of its nature, this minor bummer didn’t, in fact, happen to me but it did happen to my roomie here in San Antonio. She needed a special kind of shampoo so we went into a cosmetics store to buy it and she ended up leaving with a whole skin cleansing system in addition to the shampoo.

    In her own words, “The sales clerk saw me coming.”

    This morning when I got up she had already left. The one item she left behind? Her special shampoo. I checked out myself a few hours later and left her shampoo sitting there on the counter. What I went through before I departed, however, is another story.

    Should I package it up and send it to her? The post office is closed. I could ask the concierge to send it to her. No address and besides, she’s not even going back to her home right away. I could forego the carry-on option and pack it in my luggage. It would cost me $55USD to check the bag.

    Who needs yoga when you’ve got a mind doing mental gymnastics like these?

    Of course, there was one more option to consider: letting it go. But the waste! The money, the shampoo, the packaging!

    Let it go. But… but… but…

    I find it so difficult to throw stuff out and to see useful things unused. I’ve been particularly challenged on this trip what with no recycling in either the Bahamas or New Orleans. So much plastic and glass being thrown in the garbage. So much waste in every corner of our cultural fabric. It can make a person crazy.

    When I feel this powerless I remember the words of a wise monk who once gave me some very practical advice. I had to destroy a wasp’s nest and couldn’t bear it. What should I do? “Offer it to God,” she told me.

    It seemed too simple. But… but… but…

    Offer it to God.

    Can I control the amount of waste in the world? No. I can do my part. That is all. What to do with the rest of it? There’s so much. It’s overwhelming.

    Offer it to God.

    Is this a cop-out? Some might think so. Like a Catholic confession, do what you want and be forgiven. Create all the waste you want and then offer it to God.

    No. This is not the idea. The idea is to offer up that which we cannot control or change. “This is too big for me. Take it.”

    Even if it’s as small as a bottle of shampoo.

    Inspiring Message of the Day: From oil spills to wasted products, there is so much in the world that makes me feel helpless and powerless. I will offer it all, including how I feel about it, to the Highest Power Back of All Things. I will trust that these things are being taken care of by the Unseen.

    Pass It On

    • June 25, 2010 9:01 am

    Dearest Readers,

    My time on the ashram is fast (slowly) coming to a close. I will lead the final Cultivate Your Courage workshop this afternoon and once again, it has been a powerful experience for all who participated.

    One of the things that never ceases to amaze me when I lead this course is how many of us are living with fear, how much it controls our lives, and how desperately we need the support of others to walk through it.

    Yesterday I had to have a private grieving session for all the pain I have encountered in the last little while. There are so many broken people in the world. Some of us find a way out and begin to walk the Healing Path. Some of us do not. Releasing tears remains one of my favorite ways to accept this Truth and then let it go.

    Whenever the negative voice in my head says, “By what authority do you dare to lead this kind of workshop?” the Higher Voice (thank goodness) always answers, “By Divine Authority.”

    The world needs Wounded Healers. We’ve been there and we’re walking through our fear one breath at a time. It’s my honour to support you all on this Journey.

    So the sign on my door now says, “Celia McBride, D.A.”

    Inspiring Message of the Day: My own wounds and fears are my greatest treasure today because they have given me real experience to share with others. I will participate in my own Healing knowing it will benefit others seeking the same Path.