Archives for 2022

Dear Friends,

A friend sent me a card a while back saying that the picture reminded her of me, more specifically of how she feels when we are together, alive, joyful, flowing, happy!  I am grateful for those thoughts and I must admit, that I do feel this way much of the time.

So many of us experienced these states of being as children.  Joy was not dependent on outer circumstances.  I have seen children in Cambodia playing joyfully who literally had nothing to wear, and only sticks and mud as toys to play with.  Gradually, however, there is a tendency to build up preferences, judgments, and guilt about those judgments in our minds.  They create layers of dross over the natural joy that is ever present.

Joy is a state of BEING not an emotion like happiness or sadness.  Emotions are reactions to thoughts or circumstances that are temporary, although we are free to hold onto them for as long as we like.

BKS Iyengar’s translation in Light on the Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali Book II. Sutra 41 states that joyful awareness is needed for Self Realization.  I would add that joyful awareness in its full expression IS Self Realization because the Self IS Joyful.   A favorite recent quote that I have taken as a mantra is,

“To lead an effortless life, abandon resistance to what Love requires in the moment.”  

It all comes down to the choice we make in our minds’ moment to moment.   Is it easy? Uh, NO! Is it worth the effort?  Only if we want to truly be the change we want to see in the world.   We have to change OUR minds first.  What is Present in us is Present in Every One.  If we are waiting for THEM to change first, well, good luck with that.  Our judgment may be the very resistance that keeps THEM from changing.  However, when we make the choice for Love, for peace, for joy, others feel it and want to play too.  If you can’t imagine a world like this, may I suggest, in some small way, begin to abandon resistance to the thought of such a world. What Love requires of you will be revealed along with the effortless effort to do it.

FALL CLASS OFFERINGS ON ZOOM

SESSION I : SEPTEMBER 12- OCTOBER 12

~TWO WEEK BREAK~

SESSION II:  OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 30 

Monday and Wednesday  10-11:30 AM PST  (9-10:30 AM ALASKA TIME)

Monday is Gentle yoga

Wednesday is Beginner/Advanced beginner with more standing postures and basic inversion options

COST:  $12 drop in,  $10 each for 3 or more classes

Pay on Paypal via lynneminton@gmail.co, or mail a check to me at 5961 Everson Goshen Road, Bellingham, WA 98226

I hope to see you on Zoom soon!

Warmly,

Lynne

Spring has a way of lifting spirits.  The reawakening of nature and the extension of daylight revitalizes my mind and heart.  The emerging life all around is a reminder of our connection to all of life and of how precious it is.  It is only the belief that we are not connected that creates the conditions that breed mistrust and conflict that causes much suffering.

I wanted to use this post to remind us of the joy of feeling connection to life.  Recognizing that we are adding to either the joy of connection or the pain of separation by every thought and action we take is a lifelong undertaking of mindfulness and understanding.

One of the joyful sounds that announce spring in the Pacific NW is the awakening of the frogs in the evening.

Listen to the frogs here

This mid-March morning, the woods around our home were alive with an influx of newly arrived migratory birds.  I heard, and then saw, redwing blackbirds, and many robins adding their voices to the new dawn chorus.

Listen to the birds here

Please click here for my next Zoom class offerings.  They will be my last set for awhile.  Then let yoga convert and influencer, Margaret Hoolihan bring a smile to your face with the following clip.

Click here to watch

Lynne in Frog Pose at Frog Pond

A LITTLE MORE ZOOM

There will be three more weeks of Zoom Yoga after which I will be taking an extended break for Spring/Summer projects and travel.

If you are planning to zoom in and are not currently on the Zoom email list (not the same as this mailchimp list) please email me to let me know so that I can send you more information and announcements as they arise.

Gentle Yoga:
Monday   10- 11:30  AM  PST  (9-10:30 Alaska time)
March 21, 28 and April 4
Details here

Level I/II Yoga 
Wednesdays  10- 11:30  AM  PST  (9-10:30 Alaska time)
March 23, 30 and April 6
Details here

Cost:   $12 drop in,  $30 for 3 or more classes.   Payment may be by Paypal or check written to me and mailed to 5961 Everson Goshen Rd.  Bellingham, WA 98226

50% of all proceeds will be donated to  World Central Kitchen  #chefs for Ukraine

If you are looking for ways to help support Ukraine please open this link that was sent to me from a friend in Moscow, Idaho.  It came to her directly from a friend in Kiev.

https://supportukrainenow.org/

At the time of this writing I have not opened every tab but felt it best to get this information out to as many people as possible as quickly as possible.   The tab “read info from the source” under media has links to local and national print media in Ukraine.  Here is a link for a crowdsource fundraiser for the ” Kiev Independent” newspaper.

GoFundMe:  https://gofund.me/fc38a86a. 

Reading the articles brings you to the front line horror and humanity taking place now.

Some items in the support link are beyond my scope and I’m not inclined  to join the foreign legion, but perhaps this will spark an idea or inspire you to help in an out of the box way.

And please join me and millions of others in daily mediation for Peace. Mediation alone will not save lives, but it will inspire action from a peaceful place rather than from the chaotic, confused state of mind that drives the actions of desperate despots.  Just because the majority of people on the planet do not YET believe that we are all connected through ONE MIND, doesn’t mean it is not true.  Science and humanity as a whole, are not yet sophisticated enough to pick up on the finer energies of thought that drive us all, but it is making inroads everyday..  As we put our minds on Peace, we strengthen and contribute to its ability to access all seemingly separate minds.

Love and Peace,
Lynne

Here is a copy of an email sent via another local friend from Energy Medicine Yoga for a daily world meditation.  

Like so many people around the world, we cannot just go forward as if everything is the same.  Everything is not the same.

We cannot just get up, brush our teeth, drink our coffee, go about our days, when we know our brothers and sisters in Ukraine are fearing for their lives.

We must do something.

Some of you will donate money, or resources, to help support Ukraine. Others will write letters of protest.  Others will withdraw participation in events that are sponsored by or promoted by Russia.

Remember, the Russian people are also our brothers and sisters.

It is the fearful, despotic dictator who, instead of dealing with his own inner demons, has decided to thrust the world onto the brink of war.

We need to strengthen the field of resolve, peace, and reconciliation, so we do not descend any further into madness.

We are taking a cue from our Mother Ship, The Eden Method, and promoting the work of peaceful prayer with Lynne McTaggart. She is holding global intention groups each day.  She is encouraging people around the world to hold the same intention at the same time for 10 minutes every day: 9 am PST, 12 noon EST, 5 pm UK, 6pm Europe.

‘Our intention is that peace be immediately, completely and permanently restored in the Ukraine with no further loss of life and that the country maintain its sovereignty as an independent, democratic nation.’

May we all rid ourselves of our demons.

May we all find peace within

So we may all find peace everywhere…

In deep, prayerful hope,
Lauren and the entire EMYoga team

I.26-I.28  (paraphrased)   Isvara (the indwelling Spirit, God) is totally free of conflict, the unexcelled seed of knowledge, unconditioned by time.

Dearest Friends,

Lately I’ve been contemplating the distinction between intelligence and knowledge,  perception and vision.  Intelligence relies on perception, is wavering, changing, expanding and contracting.  It utilizes the 5 senses and methods that are measurable in the world of matter.  Knowledge, or knowing, relies on vision which is what we “see” with our eyes closed. It is stable and doesn’t waver with circumstances.

A former student and friend wrote to me recently mentioning how much she appreciated the community that my former yoga studio brought together.   She remarked “…So many wonderful people that shared the space together.  I still yearn for that feeling.”   I believe that feeling is the knowledge of oneness that we open ourselves up to through the silence we share.  After a really good savasana, no words are needed.   Communion, (union with the community) is the most natural outcome, with no seeming effort required.

In that moment, we feel free of conflict, we “know” we are one.  In that moment we are more identified with Spirit than ego in ourselves and we can en ‘Vision” the same in others.  The kicker seems to be to sustain that knowledge in time and space.  We, or speaking for myself, I know that I, have a pile of conditioning to undo.  But I’m up to the task.  I mean really, Savasana every day, how hard can it be? (Surprisingly hard at times!) I hope you’ll join me and that we will commune once again.

Love and Namaste,

Lynne