A new year just started. A special moment to create new intentions. The fundamental intention for every human being is to have happiness, abundance and prosperity in all áreas of life. As yogis we know those are not goals to reach but paths to walk.

One of the question that humans have made to themselves from the beginning of time is how to make this journey on Earth one of happiness instead of one of suffering.  Through my practices and contemplations the sankalpa (intention) for this year rises as an inner answer to these ancestral questions

Life is a journey of transformación. Yoga is a set of practices for transformation. But in the Tantric tradition, it is not about transform ourselves into something we are not, but about transforming our awareness, about elevating our state of consciousness. It is about cleansing, purifying everything is in the way of the experience the fullness of the Self. Our most inner core. That place where suffering does not exist

The practices: meditation, asana, pranayama,… have a double goal of purification and of dedicating time to experience at least the glimpses of deeper states of Consciouness. For a moment we transform into our Self.

The spiritual path in Tantra is not about disconnecting from what we are as individual being.  Not at all. Life is a process of self-awareness, of self-knowledge. There are innumerable methods and techniques to know yourself better. In my Astrology sessions I constantly observe the power that comes when someone is reaffirmed in how is his/her personality, the empowerment  from listening your gifts and skills, and the relief to clearly see that your challenges and places of contraction are real and are also part of you. Each individual is different. Each chart is different. No paths are the same.

The idea of  svadharma in the Bhagavad is an invitation to find your own path.  Dharma is a common concept in the Eastern traditions and has its origen in the Vedas.  We can translate dharma as mission or purpose. In the Vedic view of the Universe as a dynamic balance of energies and forces, each part contributes to that harmony. Dharma is your particular contribution to that Universal balance. Sva is the reflexive pronoun and in this concept signifies  “one´s own dharma, your particular mission”. Krishna not only says that each person has a life purpose but goes to affirm that “it is better to fall doing your own dharma that succeed in other´s dharma”. Again, the scriptures insist in the important of knowing your own path.

Tantrikas state that the road to Shiva is the Shakti. In the same way, to transform the experience of ourselves in an experience of the Self, we need to get to know ourselves in depth to be able to become more of ourselves. Then, being you more fully, you will live from the depths of your Self.

I am a woman, daughter of the Moon. I pulsate with the tides, I dance in the flow of the emotions.

I do not consider myself a feminist, but I fully celebrate the feminine. In fact, I am deeply committed to the awakening of the feminine: from the most inner place, with my compromise to heal the feminine energies in my being and in my linage, and through the esoteric practices of Tantra Philosophy, that celebrate the archetypal energies of the Goddess, all the way to the women circles that I facilitate every New Moon.

The feminine and the masculine exist as a polarity of the essence of love that is the Universe, They cannot exist without each other. They are like darkness and light; like sound and silence; like the Moon and the Sun. In the Eastern traditions this is represented in the yin/yang symbol that shows how each of them is contained in the other.

Todays strike in the International Women´s Day, brings out opposite feelings in my heart. On one hand I am really touched by seeing how, something I have been living in reduced communities for a long time, jumps to the front news and reach to so many women. On the other hand, it scares me the possibility that this process, that we live from our entrails, can be used and adulterated by the political parties.  Our path should not replicate the ways that man have follow up to now. We are different. Our power resides in finding new paths: the ways of the feminine. So our changes can bring about a true revolution. The path of the feminine is, above all, an inner path. I am sure that without inner work nothing can change. Little can change with a strike and a demonstration until you and me, and every of the women that want to participate in this adventure of change, start with deep commitment and lots, lots of love, to do the inner work of healing our feminine side… And also our masculine side.

I would not like to remain in the surface of the issue. When we talk about patriarchy is easy to translate the guilt and the shame outside of us. To men? But if we want true empowerment of women, of human beings, it is time to stop complaining, to stop begin victims and take responsibility for all the ways in which, consciously or unconsciously, we contribute to the reality we criticise so hard. I think we should also celebrate International Men´s Day, to contemplate and question the challenges of the 21st century men. And International Men and Women´s Day, to see the ways in that we can grow together. 

If you want to deepen into the complexity of this issue, I offer some contemplations. Please be extremely honest and I am sure you will be surprised.

How do you support patriarchy? 

In which ways do you contribute to see yourself or other women as objects?  

With other women, do you work in collaboration or do you move in the arena of competition? 

Do you observe and listen to the stories of other women without judgement or do you criticise the women around you? 

Can you track some masculine behaviours in yourself? Sexist behaviours?

If you have children, are you perpetuating the existing patterns that you do not like? How can you guide them to be men and women that live in harmony, celebrating their similarities and their differences? 

Do you take time to take care of yourself, both externally and internally? Do you take time to connect with the source? To be in nature? Do you take time to explore personal and ancestral patterns of the shadow, both feminine and masculine?

And I also ask for blessings for all men that are rising over the old patterns of patriarchy. Men that embody the archetypes of the warrior that moves from the heart and is strong, independent and protector of the feminine and the Earth; the archetype of the king that is sovereign of himself and holds the energy and the space for the women to perform their dance.

It is my wish that all women and men take off in this journey of transformation in a conscious way. This is the true revolution that will change our societies, And it is here!

“The Universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for your senses to refine and being able to receive them” 

I received this teaching more than 15 years ago from Douglas Brooks and my vision of yoga radically shifted. Tantric Philosophy took me back home. To a place where I felt I had been dwelling before. To a world of teachings where to be a yogi does not imply to renounce our senses and the world we perceive through them, but where the discipline of the practice (this is no different at all from other  yoga traditions) takes us to be more capable to experience everything, inside and outside ourselves, with more depth, with more delight, with more intensity.

This teaching came back this week in my advance studies of Tantra with Paul Muller-Ortega, reminding me how fortunate I am to be part of a linaje of beings that envision the world as the embodiment of the Supreme Intelligence that we call Shakti.

When I talk about TRANSFORMATION (for me one of the keys of our practice) I mean exactly that. To soften sharp edges, to clean layers, to refine skills so our perception can change, can be sharper and more subtle. So simple. So complex. As usual, paradoxical.

Not sure about you, but I am not content with experiencing life at a superficial level. So I practice yoga, in the multiples shapes it takes. My goal: to refine the senses, to refine the capacities of the mind, to refine the methods of understanding and knowledge, To become more of a human being, more refined, more capable to detect the spark of consciousness that ignites each experience, each object, each thought, each interaction. And able to feel with more and more clarity the essence of love that pulsates in every moment.

A few weeks ago, during several jet-lag nights after my return from California, I enjoyed some precious time of contemplation about this  year and about where I want to point my arrows towards for 2018.

Personally, after last year´s accident and injuries, this has been a year of recovery, deep healing, growth and transformation and immense learning.  I have felt deep inside how yoga helps to transform wounds into wisdom, pain into compassion; that happiness is a process and not a place to reach. That life sometimes feels like a bad joke, but that it is better when you laugh, and that the most difficult situations offer to you the most beautiful hidden treasures. My theme for 2017, transmutation, was present at all moments.

In February, few weeks after I got out of bed, my dog Ananda and I embarked in a journey to return to Morocco where I had to teach a Teacher Training that I had to cancel two times. Synchronically, a healing workshop I wanted to take was happening in my way in the South of Spain just at the perfect time. A stopover to cleanse and bring a new start after having visited the underworld for several months.

The Teacher Training in Morocco was a full challenge, physical and mentally, being very limited in my asana practice, with my weak legs and a yoga shala in the fourth floor. It was also very nurturing at the emotional level. The group. formed by yogis and yoginis from different places in the world, created a real feeling of  kula, of community, and it was truly encouraging to get feedback about being an inspiration but teaching more from the heart than from the physical body.

Reaching those memories, it seems they happened years ago! But only 10 months have gone by. Time is so relative and it is to related to the intensity of life.

This year has gone fast but with certain dose of eternity. Maybe because I have really savour every moment. I have spent time close to the ocean. I have travelled to several places to teach. One of them San Sebastian, were I feel so at home with the amazing Northern kula. I have met again with the Anusara yoga community in Samavesha, where it was very exciting to teach classes for 100 people. I have cultivated very special friendships. I had moments of deep frustration for not being able to do everything I was used to do with my body. I have been in awe with its capacity for healing and regeneration, and I have created a new relationship with it and my yoga practice.  I have seen my dog being attacked by two big dogs and spent days and nights taking care of her. 

I have visited and re-visited inner places of wound and pain to heal them. I have watched sunsets over oceans of different continents. I have participated in the Foundation Training Certification Program, a new intelligent alignment system that I hope to help many people with. I have seen mountains on fire looking like volcanoes and I have felt suffocated by the smoke. I have been truly grateful for clean air and blue skies. I have surfed again in the Bay, even if with small waves. I have spent time with my family and seen the impossible: my mom falling in love with my dog. I have received healing therapies. I have started my very first Advance Teacher Training  with a very dedicated group of students and special guest teachers… wow…. I could go on and on…

What I have not done much lately is to write in my blog and to be in social media. One of my intentions for next year. What a dilemma!!! When I live so fully I do not have so much time for my phone and my computer. But these are the times we live in. We have to participate in the “real” reality as much as in the virtual one, that keeps us connected out of time and space.

In general, 2017 has been a year of intensity. The world seemed possessed by an unstoppable madness. The Earth screams, cries,   burns up, shakes. What are we doing to Her? We cannot not listen to the Pachamama any longer. We are losing control of a whole civilization whose social, political, economical and cultural systems are in deep crisis. Technological progress is so fast that there is no time to catch up. The feeling is at times spine-chilling. I don´t know if you feel the same but, often, I feel so small against such intensity and vertiginous change. At the same time, I am learning to live in peace in such a turbulent world. The sensation is similar to surfing in the ocean. A mix of fear, excitement and pleasure; humility agains the power of nature and the greatness of life; gratitud for being part of the whole of it.

Inside all of this, human beings are embarked in a capital process of transformation of gigantic dimensions. Never in history has been a time where all the world esoteric traditions have places their teachings to the service of the whole of humanity. The communication era makes possible that we can access those teachings that resonate closer to our heart. So much wisdom at the reach of all! But if we win to create real transformation the teachings alone are not enough. We need  clare vision and great commitment. The moment is now and there is no time to waste.

What do you do in your daily life  to heal, to grow? 

Which are the next steps to crear the life you wish and the world you want to see?  

In this last day of the year, I invite you to dedicate some ritual time to contemplate about 2017: the success and the failures; the moments of happiness and the challenges. Create also some clear intentions so you can bring real transformations for 2018, in your life and in the world. If you want an example of ritual, you can find it in this old entry   HERE

I say good-bye with the deep wish to live everything from the love in our hearts. Love for yourself. Love for the people around you. Love for what you fo. Love for the Pachamama. And from there to be able to manifest our wildest dreams, with work and dedication. I will be sharing my dreams with you along the way. In 2018.

Happy New Year!

The Sun is in Gemini, one of the air signs that governs words and communication. Gemini is also associated with the muse archetype, and with all the ways in which inspiration flows into our lives and in which we connect with the abundant river of creativity, But today, lets focus on communication, that is another river itself. .

In the recent Anusara yoga gathering in Italy, Samavesha 2017, it has been fascinating to enjoy the diversity of voices and all the different forms in which the teachings are lived and expressed. To share in community is so beautiful, and at the same time, I am totally aware that one of our greatest challenges are community and communication. It is so difficult at times to express our truth. To listen other´s truth. To understand and be understood. A big challenge. To make things more complicated, we live in times of global community. Yes, I am talking about social media communities. It is an issue that intrigues me and, I have been contemplating the dynamics of communication in this territory and how, from my point of view, they reflect and intensify what we can call “the shadow of communication”.

Words are powerful. In yoga there is the concept of Matrika Shakti. Literally “ the power of letters”. Letters, in the Sanskrit alphabet, are called Matrikas, little mothers, because they give birth to words, and then to our verbal or written expression.

 Words are loaded with Shakti, with generative energy, either or not we are aware of it. They serve to teach and to learn. To inspire others. To touch hearts. To uplift and empower. To delight. But they can also serve to hurt people. To put someone down.  To manipulate the truth. To betray a secret.

Years ago, most of shared information was contrasted and verified. It was unusual that, for instance, private conversations, were made public. In our virtual communication becomes very easy to say whatever you want without proving wether is true or not. Or to share private information since everything gets somehow recorded. We have access to thousands and it is possible to say anything just facing your computer or your iPhone screen. Yes, social media place all of us in a very vulnerable space. It is said that a lie told many times becomes a truth. And this is what sometimes happens. Someone publish something that in a minute a bunch of individuals “share” and “comment”, adding an opinion maybe without really knowing the facts or the intentions behind them. Yes, it is like in a “reality show” but here nobody gets paid,

• Are you aware of your communication pattern? 
• Do you speak from a place of reactivity? 
• Would you be willing to observe those patterns and try to change the ones that do not serve you or others?
• Would you like to communicate from the heart and always thinking about the greater good? 

There are teachings from psichology, from yoga and from other Eastern traditions that can illuminate this issue and bring about healthier ways.  Communication can become a powerful yoga practice. And it is a daily practice!! So although it is not an easy one, there are some simple steps we can follow. 

1. A fundamental aspect is  shadow work.
   One way to know your shadow is to observe which are the behaviours and comments from others that trigger you. Ask yourself why they make you feel so uncomfortable or agitated, without placing the emphasis on the other person or the action or comment themselves, but on you. We bring to light past experiences or unconscious patterns, so they will stop controlling us from hiding. parts of the unconscious mind that they will stop controlling from the shadow. Then there is no reactivity but conscious communication.
2. Take time every day to bring your attention inside
   Nothing new under the Sun here. The yogic practices of pranayama, meditation, contemplation, really improve anything in our lives. Few days ago I was studying the  Shiva Sutras with Carlos Pomeda. The main teaching is that human beings get lost constantly in the extroversión of our own lives. This causes lack of clarity and suffering. The antidote is to dedicate some time to bring the attention closer to the Self. And if we get stablished in that place inside, and we communicate from there, communication happens, not from reactivity but from compassion. With time, the external craziness starts to affect us less and less, for instance, what the others say, even if the talk is about us.

3. The Four Gates of Speech.

   If everything above is still a bit abstract for you, this is a very down to earth practice that you can start to use in your next conversation. 

Let me know your thoughts and the effect of these practices on your communication with others.

Connect inside and don´t be afraid to express your truth from the heart.

NAMASTE