by Susana García Blanco | Jan 5, 2017 | Uncategorized
I love the practice of creating a theme at the beginning of the year. It provides me with focus and meaning in every step I take; it offers me direction when I get dispersed in the messiness of life; it give me direction when I lose my North. This year the theme springs forth from the bottom of my being, from the rawness of darkness, from long times of contemplation and as a gift from all the experiences that I have lived, and I am still living, both external and internally. The idea showed up constantly and it was fully confirmed in a reading using the 13 Moon Oracle by Ariel Spilsbury, that also revealed to me a symbol, that among many things is a symbol of beauty. But today I want to focus on the concept of
Transmutation
transmute
Change in form, nature, or substance; to change something completely, especially into something different and better.
transmutation
- The action of changing or the state of being changed into another form; metamorphosis
- 1Physics The changing of one element into another, either naturally or nuclear reaction
- 2Biology historical The conversion or transformation of one species into another.
- 3The supposed alchemical process of changing base metals into gold.
We regularly experiment Nature dynamic rythms. Most of spiritual traditions will teach us to accept that the only permanent thing in life is change. We are constantly changing. But the concept of transmutation does not refer to minor changes or the changes we continually perceive, but to radical transformation: the change of a chemical element into another, that needs of the alteration of its essential nucleus; the transformation of lead into gold, the dream of any alchemist; the transformation of a species until it has such characteristic and different features that has become a new one.
Immersed during several months in a transformation cocoon, I feel this process of radical and deep change happening, not in a linear and logical way, but like anarchícally bubbling, becoming a new me in many ways. At the same time, we all live in a world that is undergoing abrupt big changes, huge readjustments happening at a geological level, at a biological level, at an economical, social and political level. We are witnessing the collapse of old structures and empires, a real growth crisis, like if the Earth and humanity´s hormones went crazy in adolescence mood.
As above, so below. As inside so outside. I truly believe that they main transformation in this moment in time is our inner transformation. We feel it in the collective psyche crying out to heal its wounds. People is seeking ancient teachings and practices, get together in sisterhood and brotherhood circles, reclaman the power of the femenina and the Goddess, reclaiming the power of the masculine too. In the same way we see how the old paradigms do not serve in our societies, our obsolete mental patterns do not either. We are in an individual and collective mission. I am not sure if this is the best time to live in this planet, but no doubt these are interesting times to evolve and leave a meaningful print behind.
We are called, as individuals, as a society and as a species, to transmute. What you do for your personal evolution matters and makes a difference
One of my favorite definitions of yoga is as “a technology of transformation”. Yoga offers infinitude of practices that teach us to observe and change stagnant patterns in our bodies, in the breath, and in our minds. It is said that, due to the interconnection between the different bodies or “koshas” of our being, even changes at the DNA level are possible when we allow for radical changes of the inner structures of our self. Without doubt, yoga can be and is an incredible ally in the process of personal and collective transmutation. If, as I do, you feel that we are in need of a radical change, start from the closest. Starts with yourself. Cultivate the values you long to see outside and commit to them. One of the major discoveries along my 20 years of practice is that, in the process of learning to deal with my personal resistance to change (nobody says this is an easy goal), I feel much more compassion and empathy to the people in the world that is basing their choices in fear and that is looking for protection in the external powers that brings more and more control. And this world for sure needs much more compassion, empathy and love towards those who do not share our same vision.
If you do not like what you see, try to radically change something inside of you or in your way of living. My wishes for a year of growth, transmutation and metamorfosis, so every one of us can become its most powerful and beautiful version of themselves.
by Susana García Blanco | Dec 21, 2016 | Uncategorized
I love this day of the year: Winter Solstice. The day with the greatest promise of light. This year has come for me with lots of shadows and I feel even more connected with this celebration. My practice has been, and it is, to connect with that promise, that is the promise of yoga. Ans not only that, but to learn to celebrate the shadow as well, in the same way that we celebrate today the longest night of the year.
Over the last months, I have felt the great pulsation of light and shadow; of resistance and surrender; of hating and savouring the process; of feeling lost and of being in love with life mysteries. I have lived moments in which the pulsation turns into giant waves that pull you down to the bottom and you feel you could drawn. My neighbour in Morocco, a surf trainer, gave me one an advice that proved very useful in the ocean: “When you are pulled under by the waves, count the seconds. You will realise that the time is not so long as you feel” Sometimes I have found myself mentally counting, and not precisely under the water…
The journey to the underworld, as in Inanna´s myth, is real. As they are all the fears, the sensations, the pain and all the parts of your being that get revealed. Josep Soler, in his book “The journey of the soul” says that “after the fear there is nothing”. I have felt that there is a moment when you have spent so long with your fears, with your shadow aspects that they become so familiar than your perception and judgement about them change. And you start accepting them as parts of yourself.
And with that acceptance it comes the gift that is hidden in each process, inside each challenge. Some are obvious, like the gift of time. Some are still to be revealed.
My gratitude for all of them. Thank you for the flash of insight inside a book. Thank you for all the different forms of help and support. Thank you for the raw open heart enlightening conversations with the most special friends. Thank you of the wisdom of dear teachers that show up when you need them the most. Thank you for sisterhood. Thank you for the spark of life as the energy that spring forth when everything seems exhausted.
My commitment, this Winter Solstice, is to honor the darkness and transmute it into new life, with every breath, with every step, and to celebrate the light
I invite you to dedicate a time today to honor this portal in time, this cardinal point of the year that is Winter Solstice, honouring your shadows and celebrating your light
You can find some ideas about how to celebrate and connect with the energy of Winter Solstice in some of my older posts in the following links
Dissolve, imagine, create! A ritual for the Solstice
Feliz Solsticio y un regalo de Navidad
by Susana García Blanco | Sep 22, 2016 | Uncategorized
I deeply love stones and crystals. This summer, going through a very critical time with a very serious injury in my leg, mostly immobilized and in the middle of an emotional storm, I gathered all my allies to get ready for the process that was ahead. No doubt some of them were stones and crystals. The were bringing the Earth medicine, so much needed in a moment of literal disconnection from my roots, with a big muscle and tendon tear in my right hamstring.
When getting stones and jewelry I let my intuition guide me. Then I find information about the stones and see they match what I need. The jewelry I wear has a purpose and a meaning. I feel it like the Earth Medicine.
Injuries and disease are times of processing lots of shadow material. So I thought black. Lava stone. I immediately felt in love with two bracelets from Mukhas: The Volcanic Lava and the Eivissa bracelet. Lava stone is fire transformed in solid ground. Just what I needed. Fire for the inner practices, so determinant in difficult moments, and grounding as the tear of my muscles was a disconnection from the Earth. Volcanic lava is also a black porous material that absorbs negative energies and helps to work with your shadow stuff.
Rudraksha is always with me. My japa (mantra recitation) companion reminds me of the place of stillness inside. That place that we call Shiva. Myth says that rudraksha sprouted from the Earth as Shiva shed his tears for the death of her beloved Sati in the fire pyre defending his honor. Tears transform pain and frustration into surrender and surrender is the magical portal for transformation. As it is mantra. Rudraksha is the touch of mantra on my fingers.
The Eivissa bracelet inspired me for many reasons. I loved the description “for anyone going through a change of direction”. I loved all the stones too. And Eivissa is one of my favorite places in the world.
Turquoise is one of my favorite stones since I was a child. Protector of gypsy travelers, reminder of the Ocean. During the days at home I used to close my eyes and visualize the sea and that brought me the feeling of freedom. Obsidian, another black stone. One of its properties is to help taking decisions. It was time for a big one. to go through surgey or let Mother Nature find the way of healing. That took a great deal of meditation, contemplation, of feeling my body. I felt truly assisted by the energy of obsidian and lava stone.
To complete the earth medicine kit, I felt instantly attracted towards the pendant angel aura. This angel quartz truly lights up my mood with its rainbow reflections and brings in the angelic energies for purification and protection. And there is such a healing power in being surrounded by beautiful things
The process is being strong; healing is powerful. I am grateful for the process. I am grateful for all my allies. I am grateful for the power of the stones. I am grateful for the Earth medicine that fills me with light and surrounds me with beauty. Thank you Mukhas for the perfect balance of consciousness and beauty.
You can see here the article published in the Mukhas website
by Susana García Blanco | Aug 23, 2016 | Uncategorized
My heart is full of gratitude for all your support and all the love I have received from so many of you. Although this is a long process until full recover, last week was an inflection point and news started to be good. (If you have no idea what I am talking about you can read my first blog about this process HERE)
A few weeks ago, as I was listening the monthly webinar from a course I am taking with my teacher Sianna Sherman (urbanpriestess.com) I felt overwhelmed by frustration. It was the beginning of the Leo Moon and, with it, the time of the wild women archetype, with whom I have always felt very identified. An invitation to play and enjoy the wildness of summer and nature, while I was feeling like a feline in a cage. It was also the Celtic Holiday of Lammas, that represents the first harvest, the harvest of the grain. The moment to start collecting the fruits we have planted over the year. Contemplating my plans and projects, and the state of immobility I was in, I felt deeply disappointed, as if my crop had been swept by a hail, by a hurricane storm. I cried a lot. Tears are like sea water. The Ocean is what most connect me to my wildness. Tears turns frustration into surrender and, from that place, it is easier to feel gratitude for everything I have. I committed to connect with my wild woman to go inside and explore and play and enjoy the situation.
Some spiritual masters say that everything that happens is an answer to our prayers and our deepest desires. So I kept asking to myself why I had wished for such an intense injury. The first answer was very obvious. I really needed to rest. To have time without traveling and rest deeply. But I knew there was something else.
I went back in time to contemplate my initial intention when I started practicing yoga in 1997. Actually I was never thought that it will become such a physical practice. I wanted to feel well. To transform the sutile but constant insatisfacción and melancholy that I felt since I was a child into that inner peace that yogis talked about. Soon after I found Ashtanga yoga. Three years later Anusara yoga®. Asana became my main yoga practice. Meditation came later. Ok. Now asana is gone for a while. If you are a yogi you know what that means, Not easy. During the first days I could not even taken any of the restorative poses I know. For weeks the only possible one was Supta Badha Konasana, with pillows to hold my legs. None of the advanced asanas that I used to practice often could help me in this moment. Meditation and mantras could. Thank you!! I looked up into my journal the list of intentions for this year. To deepen my pranayama practice, to study Yoga Nidra…. Interesting!. I could not but smile. I created a daily sadhana that I have been adapting week by week. Everyday I did my yoga practice. And for a longer time than ever.
Another one of my intentions was to know and work on my shadow more deeply. I have been doing this type of work during the last years but I had the feeling that I needed to go deeper (as it is a time we do not need it). A hot spot for me is reactivity. One of the persons that is a clear mirror for me with this subject is my sister. I got injured in Spain, when I was spending a few days on holidays with all my family. All this time I have been in my home town, with my mom, in the place I grew up. And I have been totally depending on my sister and her car. I have spent with her more time time than in many years. I can tell it has not been easy. Sometimes when I am with her I feel I behave again as a little girl. Ans I am not exaggerating when I say that the inner work with my reactivity has been much more intense than the physical exercise for my leg rehabilitation. As a powerful synchronicity, the most difficult day, when I had to take a no return decision about getting surgery or not, the person that was there with me was my sister. I feel all the inner work has given rich fruits. Our relationship has changed over these weeks and now it is a more clear reflection of the love we feel for each other. Mmmm… harvesting.
The teachings of yoga say that the ego (the part of ourselves responsible for the feeling of individuality and separation and from which we live our daily life with our plans and our schedules) does not like chang. They also say that the Self thrives in change. This is the soul´s journey, sometimes hard. Yoga promises that the fruits are always sweet.
I also wanted more time to write and I am having it. I am curios to see how another one of my intentions will manifest after the big tear in my hamstrings: refining my Uttanasana (standing forward bend). I have until December 31st. I promise a picture.
by Susana García Blanco | Aug 12, 2016 | Uncategorized
Life is what happens while you are making plans. And usually, it does not really mind your schedule. One month ago I had an accident water skying that changed, at least, the course of this summer into a journey towards an unknown territory. I had a severe tear in my right hamstrings and its tendon. I have been resting for a few weeks and now finally I start to slowly walk. Although I had several injuries before, I never experienced anything like this. A not very kind invitation to slow down and look inside. Once over the initial shock I would like to share with you this journey, that is being my most advanced asana.
During these weeks, I have experienced all the palette of sensations, thoughts and emotions. In Tantra these are called rasas (tastes). Shock. Physical pain. (I have been lucky that the most intense pain only lasted a few days, although now it comes back at times with the rehabilitation). Immobility. Frustration. Deep rest. Rage. Change of plans. Family time. Love. Sadness and healing tears. Work adjustmens. Being taking care of with love. Dependence and lack of freedom. Gratefulness. Being away from the Ocean and my home. Family tension. Awareness. Difficult decision making. Laughter. Confusion. Fear. Fear. Fear.
After some time the physical body lets go. But the mind is a harder one. This was the most difficult part during the first days: the continuos lidia with the fast flow of thoughts. Thoughts that reproduce themselves as the demon Raktabija under Kali´s sickle (this myth tells us that each drop of Raktabija´s blood, in contact with the Earth, became a clone of the demon. Bija means seed. Kali sticks her tongue out to drink every drop of his blood and annihilate the demon) And the emotions that appear like huge waves that swallow you. Accept and assmilate the flow of thoughts and learn to surf the emotions. An intense job, a great tapasya. Then there is a moment when, as unique antidote to suffering surrendering happens. And the peace that comes with it.
I will not deny it. Waves come back. Some times are enormous. Pulsation is intense. On one hand the frustration, the burden of all the things I cannot do now, of not having control. (Or should I say the illusion of having it?) On the other hand an inner feeling, like an excited child; a feeling of “mmm… there is learning here, and opportunity for growth”. On one hand the attachment to the memories of the past and the anxiety and fear for the future. On the other hand, the delight of so many unique moments with their own magic.
I take refuge inside. This is the gift of yoga. There is a place, like in the eye of the storm, where there is pure calm. A place, in the middle of an aureole of flames, in which eternally, the Ananda Tandava, the dance of bliss of Shiva Nataraja, is taking place. There, as him, I try to keep a gentle smile and a serene gaze, Sambhavi mudra, observing everything and focused inside. It is much easier for me to do that in Natarajasana and, it si for that I say this process is my most advanced asana. And although there are tears sometimes, I am fully committed to happiness and peace.
““The pain of transformation is real – physically and psychically – but only the intensity of the fire can unite body and soul. This is a soul-making process…The body is the grit that produces the pearl.” ~ Marion Woodman
by Susana García Blanco | Sep 8, 2015 | Uncategorized
A long time since I shared my inner world here… I left it on chapter 1 of “Follow my Bliss”. Yes. Last year I learnt a lot through pain and how to find serenity and even happiness in the most difficult moments. For this one, I set up the intention of connecting every day with ananda, the essence of bliss that is the throb of the Universe, that is my heartbeat. It might sound a bit presumptuous, but the same way that most yogic texts start with the highest teaching, why not aiming to one of the highest intentions of yoga practice and of life itself? To bring the fullest happiness to my life. To enjoy the pleasure of being alive, my body sensations, the places that my mind takes me to, the emotions that arise from my heart. To experience happiness, delight, pleasure. And I am not talking about ephemeral happiness or momentary pleasure. I am talking about happiness that feels like peace, like fullness, like a huge inner smile; about pleasure that fills your soul and transform you forever.
I meant to write about it and I must apologize (maybe not) for getting lost among traveling, experiences, encounters that kept me away from my computer and more in contact with myself. Wow! The power of intention is beyond question. Days after writing that last blog, I started feeling how inner walls were knocked down, old patterns started to crack, preconceived ideas started to dissolve and my life started to change, both inside and outside.
Now I can write, not only from the intention but also from its experience. I have learnt that I have to listen, feel, refine my senses to experience the nature around, but also to refine the inner listening to connect even more with my intuition. That I have to get rid of the “noise” that does not allow listening the fundamental throb. That sometimes I have to say farewell to parts of myself because there are part of the noise. That each moment of bliss and delight bring along a choice of surrender, openness and greater vulnerability.
I truly believe that human beings can experience much more pleasure and delight, much more happiness; that happiness is inherent to our nature. But sometimes we have to work with dedication, not to “build happiness” but to let go of everything that does not allow us to experience it. For me, yoga and meditation are key tools to cleanse, to let go, to connect. Also are the Ocean, surfing, love, healthy and nutritious food, inspiring reading…. Which are your tools for happiness?
Ananda comes always together with a deep experience of awareness. In sanskrit it is called Cit. It is my practice to try to be more aware and question myself every day if my actions are in service of my desire to experience life as ananda. So I often ask to myself:
Which aspects of my life, that maybe I even desired and manifested some time ago, are not contributing now to my experience of life as delight?
Which of them can I change from today? Am I willing to change them?
Which of them can I change in a long term? What do I need to do today to start initiating the change?
Take the reins of your happiness. Do it now. Why do you want to wait? Only the way will already surprise you .
by Susana García Blanco | Dec 30, 2014 | Uncategorized
2014 is saying farewell. One of the most intense years of my life. December 31st is day of change of cycle and I would like to share with you a ritual of closing and renewal, inspired (among many other sources) by Solstice rituals, my own Goddess and mantra practices and my teacher Sally Kempton (to whom I literally copy for some parts of the ritual). You will need two papers (or your journal), something to write, a candle and a bit of your time on the last day of the year. Do it alone or in good company.You can add to the ritual the power of the Goddesses mantras that I offer or you can skip that part and just go for the simple ritual.
Closing and renewal ritual
- Light a candle as a symbol of the light to guide you.
- Write in a paper a list of the most important events in the year: describe the challenges you faced, the important accomplishments, the moments you regret,… Read your list (for yourslef or in loud voice). Offer it to the Universe, to the Goddess, to the Divine,… EVERYTHING! The positive and the negative. What made you smile and what made you cry. You can use these words or your own: “I offer these thoughts and actions to Grace. May all that is of benefit come to fruition. May all mistakes be dissolved. In the year to come, may my life be of benefit,may I know my own freedom. May I be loving. May I be loved” When you have made your offering burn the paper or tear it into tiny pieces and bury it. You are offering the karmas and actions of 2014. Dissolving them, you are free to start the next year.
Offer a mantra to Goddess Kali. Her liberating energy helps dissolving obstacles and limitations, opening the path for the new. A powerful mantra, that carries at the same time the energy of dissolution and manifestation, and you can repeat 9 times (or 108!) is OM AIM HRIM KLIM CHAMUNDAYE VICHE SVAHA
- In a new paper, make a list of intentios for the year 2015. We are creating what in sanskrit is called SANKALPA (a mental construction that is already manifesting in the future). Rather than making resolutions (difficult to follow!), make a list of the things you would like to give birht to your life. Contemplate which are the things you really enjoy. What is that delights you? Don´t put limits to your dreams, to your wishes, to your vision. In Ghandi´s words, “Be the change you want to see in the World” Write your intentions in present time, as if they are already happening. You can create intentions in different planes: material, emotional, energetic, spiritual,… Be as precises and clear as you want, but it is very important that they are expressed in posiitive form and in present time. (for example, “In 2015 I don´t want to be ill” will not be an efficient way of expressing your intention. To attract what you desire you should say something like “In 2015 my body is strong and healthy, and I have enough energy to fulfill my dharma, for myself and others”.
You can also create a general intention. Mine, that I will share in more depth at the beginning of the year is inspired in a Joseph Campbell´s quote “Follow your bliss”
- Contemplate how your intentions for the New Year are good for you and for others, for your community, for your family, for the world. May they be filled with your wishes of growth, of wisdom, of love.
Invoke Saraswati, the energy of wisdom, intuition, speech and knowledge to illuminate your intention and the way to its manifestation, repeating 9 times the mantra OM AIM SARASWATIAYE NAMAH
- Now imagine that your intentions have materialized. How do you feel? Close your eyes and allow that your heart and your body soak in those sensations.
It is Goddess Laksmi the one that carries the energy of full manifestation. Repite 11 times one of her mantras as OM SRIM HRIM
- Read this blessing, from my teacher Sally Kempton, or use your own words of inspiration.
“May I let go of the struggle. May I be able to do the work that I need to do in my way. May inspiration fill me. May my most intimate relationships serve to the expansion of my heart. May my life be of benefit for all around me. May love be may pole star. May the Goddess bless me at every step! “
Happy Year 2015 !
by Susana García Blanco | Oct 17, 2014 | Uncategorized
The first post in the blog of my brand new web page.
What it started as a text about Yoga Therapeutics has become by itself a contemplation about the presence of Shiva y Shakti, maybe philosophical concepts that a priori can sound as foreign and distant, in my practice and, specifically, in yoga when practiced with a therapeutic goal. Curiously, a few days ago, my friend Zaira Leal, posted in Facebook a beautiful text, titled “Shakti in your practice”, which view I totally share and that I think, here, I complement.
In Tantra, the concepts of Shiva y Shakti are essencial to understand both the Absolute and the world we are living in. esenciales para entender tanto lo Absoluto como el propio Universo y el mundo en que vivimos. One way of contemplating Shiva and Shakti is as the masculine and femenine forms of the Divine, of the Absolute, of the Universal.
They often appeared represented as deities with human forms. Some times as lovers whose illuminated conversations give place to the most beautiful and powerful texts of Philosophy and Meditation. At other times, fused in a unique form as Ardhanarishwara, half Shiva, half Shakti. Always symbolizing the sacred union between the masculine and the feminine, between the complementary opposites.
But, what do we mean by masculine and feminine? And, returning to the origin of my contemplation, how do they manifest in the yoga practice?
We can interprete masculine and feminine from two different perspectives. In the relative world, they relate to gender, like for animals or human beings. The masculine represents, among other things, strength, tenacity, perseverance, action, penetration. The femenine is personified by qualities as softness, receptivity, adaptability, nurturance, space. Both are needed in our yoga practice. My teacher Sianna always reminds us that Tantric texts talk about how every practice has to have two components: fire (agni) and nectar (soma). The solar and the lunar. On one hand, as the insistent friction between two stones, our practice must be able to create fire (agni), that from all elements is the one intimately linked to transmutation. On the other hand, there is in any yoga practice a more sutil, more feminine component, that as Moon light (soma) connects us with the essence of pleasure and sweetness of the Universe.
Then there is the vision of masculine and feminine from the Absolute. From this perspective, Shiva is Awareness. Yes, with capital letter. Because there are different levels of awareness and Shiva is the purest, most clear, most aware awareness. In one of the forms that appear in the Myths, Shiva is the yogi, that from the top of Mount Kailash, has a 360 degrees vision. Shiva IS and, also, is the witness of all that is. Shakti is the creative power of the Absolute that gives birth to Universes, stars, planets, living beings… that give birth to us. One of the condensed forms of this Universal power is the vital force, prana, that manifests, among other ways as the breath. So, in a tangible way, inside myself, Shiva is awareness and Shakti is the breath. It is not by chance that yogis from ancestral times have experimented with methods that work with awareness and breath. It is not by chance either that, as Shiva and Shakti, they go always hand by hand.
In Yoga Therapeutics, we look for the soma, the sweet nectar of good health. The first rule for a therapeutic action is that it feels good (with an injury, actions that eradicate or lessen the pain). And so the feminine qualities of patient listening, sensitivity are truly important. But in most cases, the change in physical patterns (and mental and emotional) that are needed to get out of pain, it is not going to happen without the fire. The fire of a regular practice; the fire of the constant repetitions of a particular action; the fire of the heat that is generated in our muscles and that allow that muscular chains and fascia are molded as wet clay.
In Anusara yoga, we work therapeutically using the Universal Principles of AlignmentTM, the same that we use in our daily yoga practice. No difference. But when your body (or someone´s body) is suffering from an injury, there is a small margin for error in alignment. Pain is there to bring awareness and the breath is there to recall space. At a personal level, when I had an injury or limitation (and I can think as well of emotional limitations), sometimes, in the moments, I experienced it as a going backwards in my asana practice. With time, with no exception, I have always seen how the increasing attention, the precision that comes with awareness, the pranic flow that comes deepening the connection with the breath, have taken me to a new place in my practice through a deep learning.
If you are going through an injury at the moment, if you have a physical limitation in your practice, if you do not feel well in your body, make your practice your friend. Dedicate it even a little bit more time and energy! And it is not necessary to wait to have an injury to make your yoga a therapeutic practice. Bring full awareness to any movement, to any action. Do not let anything be mechanical or with lack of attention. Contemplate your yoga practice in general and your asana practice in particular. Where is the fire? Where is the nectar? How do they relate to each other? And awareness? And the breath? And prepare yourself for a new level of experience.
by Susana García Blanco | Apr 20, 2014 | Uncategorized
As the year started, and I was contemplating my dedication and focus for 2014, both in yoga and in my life, there was a word coming repetitively to my mind: breath. I decided to dedicate this year to its study, observation and expansion; to let my practice to be more deeply guided by this dance of the Shakti that is the constant pulse between inhalation and exhalation and the spaces in between.
Decided also to slow down the traveling, and living in Morocco, from where is not so easy to follow the rhythm of yoga studies of the last 15 years, I signed up for some yoga courses on-line, some of them with teachers who I barely knew, fully following my intuition. All of them are helping me to deepen my relationship with the breath in various ways: through pranayama (see definition in Newsletter Inspiration); the use of breathing in Yoga Therapeutics; anatomy and the observation of the shape changes that happened in the body with the movement of the breath; the practice of vinyasa flow; or the meditation techniques from ancestral texts that use the breath as an instrument for the expansion of Consciousness. I am deeply grateful to Sally Kempton, Leslie Kaminoff, Noah Mazé, Christina Sells and Gioconda Parker.
There is always a mix of excitement and even fear about how the Universe will manifest its teachings when I ask a question. My curiosity about the breath brought a double tremble to my being. So I cannot really say that I was surprised when the year started marked by my father´s bad health. Instead of experimenting with the apnea below the Moroccan waves, I have spent nights in a hospital pending on his breath. Then, after a very traumatic surgery, today it is a month since I have been seeing him sleeping connected to a automatic respirator. During this time, I have hold my breath many time listening the news from the doctors. I have felt the lack of air in my lungs and literally I have been unable to breath. Wow! I experienced what people feel when they are anxious. I never thought it was so, so physical! I observe how my breath changes many times during the day: when I wait for the doctor news, when I visit my father every day wishing for him to open his eyes and look at me, when I sing healing mantras, during some nights when sleeping gets difficult. Even hoe my breath is different some days during my practice. Paradoxically, although I am also dedicating myself to the practice of pranayama, some days my study of the breath is to deal with the changes that happen in my breath due to the tension, confusion, anxiety, sadness and the giant fluctuations of my family emotional state. A great reminder of how the breath is prana, the breath is life. A tangible experience of how the energetic body (PRANAmaya kosha) interwaves with all the rest: with the physical body (anomaya kosha) and with the mental and emotional body (manomaya kosha). How a moment perception changes when I see it from the infinite questions of my mind (manomayakosha) or in the moments in which I am able to connect with a bigger vision (vijnanamaya kosha) and how this affects the rhythm and quality of my breath and helps me to connect with a place of deep calm and tranquility (anandamaya kosha).
Still immerse in this experience is difficult to get all the lessons and teachings. I am sure they will keep on showing as sparkling jewels. But now I can express with clarity a deep gratitude. Gratitude to the practices of the past years that are helping me (and my family) so much in navigating this tortuous waters with a great inner calm. And my gratitude to all of you there, some close by, others sending your warmth and support in many different ways. Your energy is felt and appreciated. We live in a bubble of love that comforts us and gives us strength.
I would like to apologize for any non-answered emails, for any delay. I try to attend to the most urgent things and walk day by day. I don´t want to put the excuse that I don´t have energy. Sometimes that is totally true. At other times, it is simply that I feel this moment as so important, so sublime, so sacred that is bringing me very inside and there is the need to respect that. Slowly, as this moment is expanding itself in time, I am returning more and more to a relative normality. But still a big practice of living every moment, every step, every sadness, every smile.
by Susana García Blanco | Dec 24, 2013 | Uncategorized
These are some of the calmer Christmas I remember. Since I arrived to my parents´home I feel immerse in a beautiful peaceful kind of silence. It is not that everything is silent but I feel a deep quietness inside. The typical Christmas hurries are not here and there is time for everything. Yes, serenity ….
These Christmas are, no doubt, special for me. I feel HAPPY that were are all together one more year. It has been a hard one for my family and there is a great happiness and appreciation for being able to get together to enjoy dinner and the nice company. These feeling of appreciation and gratefulness makes that every moment, every small detail is beautiful: a little shopping, laying the table for dinner or wrapping the gifts with love.
LOVE. That is the w
ord that sounds today in my heart. At noon I was with my mom in a Monastery in my hometown. In the lonelinees of its ancient stone church, with its very high domes, with its profound inciense smell, with its solemn silence (silence again…) I contemplated today´s meaning. In the pagan tradition, we celebrate the solstice, the honoring of the darkness as the pulsation of the light. What a powerful time of inner vision to revise the places in our lives where the light is missing and in the darkness of the heart, to plant new seeds for the new cycle. In the Christian tradition, it is the celebration of the embodiment of Love. The Divine becomes man, becomes Earth. The Tantric tradition says that this is happening constantly: the subtle energies of the Universe, of love, awareness, wisdom, bliss, get embodied, create this world and transform into us and everything around us and all our experiences.
All our experiences. All. From here a new contemplation, a new appreciation (and maybe you don´t want to keep on reading because I am not sure it is about Christmas any more). The new appreciation of the Castilian lands where I was born, where I grew up, this place that I never fully connected with.
Today I was thinking what is it Divine in here? And suddenly, observing its vast plains, I felt how here God becomes infinite space; He
becomes both ice and burning sun; and for sure He becomes the food and the wine. I might have just been born here to admire its infinite oceans of golden wheat, its blue skies of light, either in summer or winter time, the powerful desert-like sunsets, the many ways in which the sense of taste is awakened and delighted.
Sorry for the detour. I was considering to edit everything and send just a simple greeting but this is a powerful making peace with my origins. And everything started with Love and with Christmas….
I lift my glass for the happiness and peace that comes from gratitude and recognition. Merry Christmas, from my heart, and my wishes for a 2014 full of light and strength in which the pulsing energy of love that makes the Universe manifest itself in all the different facets of our lives. Enjoy!!!.
NAMASTE
Susana
by Susana García Blanco | Oct 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
This weekend starts the Navaratri celebration (literally “nine nights”). During these days, and their nights, it is celebrated Goddess Durgaás victory over the demon Mahisa, the victory of light over darkness; Durga´s power to transform our lives dissolving everything it is not useful anymore. Each of those nine days is dedicated to honor one of the forms in which Durga appears, each of the forms in which the femenine power manifests itself.
Mahisa was a terrible demon that was threatening with destroying all the worlds. It is considered in Hindu Mythology that there is a balance of power between Devas (literally light or luminous) and Asura (the demons). The Devas are the Gods and they represent the bright parts of ourselves, in alignment with the Universal energy: our generosity, our compassion, our will power …. They are the energy in the moments when we act guided from the heart and following the highest motivations. The Asuras are the beings that have won great power through their yogic practices and they use that power in an egoistic way. We can easily feel that asuric power in the world today just opening a newspaper and reading a couple of news. Also in our own actions or thoughts when they come from resentment, envy, greediness,… In the Tantric vision of Mithology we are all the characters in every story and that ideal search for balance between Devas and Asuras is nothing else that the search for balance between the different parts of ourselves. It is yoga.
But lets go to the story… a brief version of the story. Mahisa had received a boon from Brahma because of his intense ascetic practices by which no man or God could ever kill him. He totally forgot about the power of the femenine… Big mistake !! With all the power acquired through those practices, he dedicated himself to terrorize and conquer all the worlds, even the Deva´s. Given the terrible threat from Mahisa, the three main Gods, Brahmma, Vishnu and Shiva get together to find a solution. They gather their powerful energies as a blinding ray of light and, from that flaming light, Goddess Durga is born. All the Gods offer to her their most powerful weapons as a gift: (that is the reason why Durga has so many arms… from eight to thousand!!). The Goddes, fierce and stunningly beautiful at the same time, shows up in the gardens of Mahisa´s palace. After some exchange of impressions, the battle with Mahisa starts. Mahisa usually takes the shape of a buffalo or a bull, resembling the insistent and stubborn ways in which our misalingments and our unconscious tendencies show up in our lives. He is also known for shape-shifting. (Does this sound familiar, how all those tendencies that seem dissolved, part of the past, show up in a new way? ) Durga has all her arms in her multiple arms. During the battle, as Mahisa takes different shapes, she uses the right weapon to confront him . Because Durga is interested in the change that takes place from inside. In teaching us which are our resources to face the different life situations as the challenges shape-shift. This is a happy ending story. Durga aniquilates the Demon Mahisa, after an ardous battle, cutting his head with her sword that represents the light of knowledge that defeats darkness. All the Gods rush towards her and fall to her feer, honoring as Maha Devi (lthe Great Goddess). ¨Devi, you ended our torment … You are our Mother, our protectress… Please, listen to us and protect us always when we are in danger” This is Navaratri´s prayer. And this is the active power of the femenine, represented by Durga, that carries us through deep transformations, that guides us in the moments in life when the challenges seem unsurmountable. Durga is the part of our being that does not get intimidated in front of injustice, that is not afraid to tell the truth or to let go of anything harmful or that it does not help us, no matter the amount of attachment we feel. Durga infuses with the warrior energy as she gives the unconditional love and protection of a mother. In these days of Navaratri that starts on october 5th, ask her for help. Invoke her presence with her mantra OM DUM DURGA JAY NAMAH, contemplate which are your asuras in this moment of your life and offer them to her. Allow yourself to feel how here strength and resources are your own.
by Susana García Blanco | Jun 24, 2013 | Uncategorized
Tonight I had the visit of a hummingbird in my dreams, bringing the message of auspicious beginnings. It is a beginning this first blog entry, where there will be my contemplations and little grains of sand in the conversation of yoga and life. In Morocco, nothing can start without a blessing… so Bismillah!!
I find great inspiration in sacred texts and the notes that I took over the years from my teachers or during my travels. This gem from my dear teacher Douglas Brooks popped up today:
“If you practice vulnerability, the Universe will give you the gift of authenticity”
The energy contained in this sentence, its Matrika Shakti, is for me like an arrow direct to the heart. It resonated with great potency the first time I heard it and still feels heavy in its truth everytime that I read it; a great invitation to explore who I am and to commit to live from the heart and write from my sincere experience.
This teaching sounds very interesting to me, not only because its deep resonance, but also because, in some way, is the opposite of the advice that we often receive. Our world rest in the confortable zone of uniformity. The process that we call globalization illustrate this idea at a large scale but the same can be said at a more personal level. There are determined roles and models in our societies and if you fit into one of those apparently your life is so much easier. “Be protected”, “Don’t expose yourself”, “Do what the mayority do”. This are the advice we, directly or in a subliminal way you are most likely to receive. But to fit into those patterns most times we have to wear a mask. And this can have a high price to pay: a sense of confusion between who we are in our inner space and the role we decide or we think we have to play. I believe, this is a great cause of suffering and unhappiness in our societies.
I cannot help but using surfing (from the humbleness of my limited experience) as a metaphore of life and the spiritual journey. When you are at the beach, you can choose to spend your day in the confortable spot that is the shore, just laying on the sand or having a Moroccan tea, or you can paddle out to the place of vulnerability at the peak in the waves. (Is there anything more vulnerable than a human being in the Ocean?). Somehow it is crazy but it happens that when you take yourself out there you have the most amazing experiences of power, connection, inner peace, and joy. Surfing faces me continuosly with my fears and my weaknesses but everydat shows me my strengths and gives me so many smiles. I feel I had some of my most precious yoga moments in the Ocean by allowing myself to explore and live my vulnerability. And I can say the same of my life, out of the water
When you dare to take out the mask (or the many masks that we have built over the years around us), to wear just your bare face, you become vulnerable, simply by being who you are. The gift is that you savor the flavors of your heart, not the artificial ones, but the real flavors and smells of life, like a good meal made just with natural ingredients. Yoga invites us to explore our inner world. One of the common metaphores that appear for this adventure is that of going inside the forest or the jungle, another place of great vulnerability for human beings. From there the invitation is to open our senses, and our mind and heart to the mystery of life, to show ourselves as what we are: an embodied form of the Divine that chose to be us. The yogi finds protection, not in an outer armor but in developing an inner strength that comes from our most intimate relationship with the Self. It is through the constant remembrance of who we truly are that we can show ourselves with no fear. It is from fortitude that you can be vulnerable. And this vulnerability zone is it is a dynamic place of practice and learning, as it is to be in the Ocean. And there is where yoga truly happens.
Back to cites, I love one from Appa, (the familiar way how Douglas Brooks’ Indian teacher, used to be called)
“Have you stopped to think all the effort that the Universe has made to be just you?”
It is human to be scared of not fitting, not being accepted, not being loved, and it is for this we créate our protection masks. To be as we are supposed to be. But if you contemplate the fact that you are a unique being in this beautiful Universe, that the Divine wanted that you were just precisely you…. would you hide yourself? Would you deprive others of the singularity that is you? It is that recognition that makes me take and re-take the concious choice of being consecuent to my heart, making myself vulnerable if needed, and living with the freedom that brings authenticity.
It is summertime and as we expose our bodies more to the Sun, it can be a good time to contemplate what is the gift of myself that I want to offer and share just by being more of me. Trust more deeply in your friends, surrender totally when you make love, publish in Facebook a poem that comes from your soul, sing in public, dance as if you are alone, say what you think, do what you feel… When we make ourselves vulnerable we might be judged, it might hurt. But it is also the only way to be truly loved and to be able to live with any judgment.
Happy San Juan night! Take a step to a more vulnerable place, throw your masks to the fire and enjoy the summer breeze in your face…
