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How it happened

Philip — 2009-04-06T10:39:46-04:00

It was one of those gradually suddenly things; Last fall I found myself very unhappy and started to deconstruct why; I realized that I was not getting most of what I needed. I had been putting in a lot of time and work into the business trying to offer high quality unique services or courses. This of course meant virtually no social life. The tipping point was that business earnings were dropping. Of the various other factors that have influenced the decision to move, the primary emotional one is the isolation of being chief cook and bottle washer. I have found it to be overwhelming and unsatisfying. And yet working with people has its own challenges. Both are difficult in different ways.

More on our transition

Philip — 2009-04-02T11:08:37-04:00

Well I just came back from Toronto and looking at a house. There is a place next door to my mother’s (can you believe that!) which is going on the market next week. We are trying to make an offer directly to the seller in order to avoid the agent’s fees. The house has a few issues that will need repair and renovation but it looks like there will be a large enough space to hold some small classes, and here are studios near by where I can take classes (yahooo).

We are closing our doors.

Philip — 2009-03-11T20:22:18-04:00

Inner Peace Wellness
Our Transition

It is with mixed feelings that IPW is relocating. I am placing the house on the market and am planning on moving to Toronto, unless of course the Universe has something else in mind (lol). The house is listed through Royal LePage with Dana Demmings. You can see a slideshow of the house and property by clicking here.

I will continue to offer yoga, iRest classes and massage until the sale closes. To accommodate this, I will be offering registrations in 5-week blocks. Massage therapy certificates will be honored until then.

As I am able, I will be blogging about the move.

After 12 years, massage therapy and yoga are no longer sustaining me and I have decided to move to Toronto. At this time there is no particular plan; it may involve returning to Speech Pathology to earn a living or perhaps Spirit will present other alternatives.

I owe deep thanks to many wonderful people over the years and as I make this list I am sure to leave someone out. To those of you who have helped recently; JJ, DD, Lorraine, and to my good friends Pat Hine, Janet & Tom, Brian, Gayle and Jo - thanks. So many of you who were clients or students were also friends - thank you too.

Almost everything will be sold. If you see it, and you want it, make me an offer and we’ll negotiate. I will take “reservations.” Stay tuned for a yard sale (or two).

Namaste
Philip

Spiritual Practice #5

Philip — 2008-08-13T23:18:30-04:00

There are three elements to a pose: in , holding exit but also physical meotional and mental

Outer alignment leads progressively to inner alignment

Rebecca's Life Questions

Philip — 2008-08-11T19:47:51-04:00

Here are some questions that a friend of mine once asked me.....

Would you rather die on your feet or live on your knees?
Are you going to die while you are alive and embrace what desetroys you OR are you going to live while you are alive and embrace what nourishes you?
There is only one person with whom you will spend 24 hours each day for the rest of yor life. Will you be spending that time with someone who hates you and puts obstacles in your path or with someone who loves and inspires you? You get to choose!

A New Earth

Philip — 2008-08-03T09:04:32-04:00

I have been watching some of the videos of Oprah and Eckhart Tolle in preparation for a presentation to a Chapter’s book club studying this book and have been struck by the similarities between his teachings and those of iRest. In fact they are the same; both are based on the ancient teachings (5-10,000 years) of Tantric non-dualism or Kashmir Shaivism. At the root of this philosophy and practice is the quest for the experience of the Divine. iRest is a perfect complement to and extension of Tolle’s A New Earth.

Telling Stories

Philip — 2008-08-02T09:54:02-04:00

I’ve discovered something really lovely.... As a result of my study and practice of iRest I’ve become less interested in stories. By stories I mean those thoughts that I have about myself and others. I can easily find myself having fictional conversations, dreaming up what another person felt or intended and then (in my head) reacting to it as if it were true. This is really a form of story-making.

One of these stories (there are really only a few basic stories) is about what will happen in the future. Most of the time when I choose to be stressed I am in the midst of imagining a fearful future and spending time planning how to avoid that dreadful future. Have you ever noticed that defenses create the circumstances they seek to avoid? That is, we bring to ourselves the very thing we try to avoid. Both of these are excellent reasons to give up preventing. Insurance is a manifestation of this. We pay for insurance against an imagined future loss. This can be the same in relationship; imagining a future loss you might decide to play it safe (insurance) and then give less or be less involved. In the end you find yourself alone because you were emotionally unavailable both to yourself and the other. There is great relxation in giving up imagining and defending. If you wish, take a moment to notice the now free of fearful anticipation.

Another of these stories is about what happened in the past. perhpas its a memory of childhood and all the things that “went wrong.” What would it be like to imagine no past, no childhood, no childhood traumas or losses. How do you feel about this moment?

I’m now more interested in what is now and living fully in the moment, undefended from my imagination and completely available to the now.

Strengthening Peace

Philip — 2008-07-29T09:56:17-04:00

What you repeat you strengthen. If you repeat bicep curls, then you strengthen the bicep. If you repeatedly practice peace then you strenthen being peaceful. So watch your state of mind. Watch the thoughts that you have of judegement or condemnation of yourself and others.

The Waste of Nature's Harmony

Philip — 2008-07-28T08:08:05-04:00

I recently bought a bottle of Vitamin D of Nature’s Harmony from a local seller only to discover that the 100 tablets occupied 1/10 the volume of the bottle. To me this a sign of great waste. When I see this kind of corporate choice I think of the environmental impact of the extra plastic and the extra fuel to transport the excess container. It also smacks of deception, because we expect the container to be 90% full of product, not 90% full of cotton and air.

On the other hand I also buy Usana vitamins and minerals which are packed to the top without cotton and air. If Usana can do it, coulldn’t Nature’s Harmony.

Please buy products from environmentally responsible companies. Please consider that there are 9 billion people on this planet when making your choices. Choose as you would for the benefit of your great grandchildren.

Spiritual Practice #4: Being Synchronised

Philip — 2008-07-27T09:47:26-04:00

Synchronizing body and mind, or heart and mind, is an ancient Buddhist practice, and undoubtably practiced by many other spiritual traditions as well. It is simply about paying attention to what is happening now. As I am typing I am paying attetnion to typing, as I wash the dishes I am paying attention to washing the dishes. Or as I am experiencing fear, I am paying attetnion to the sensations, thoughts, memories and so on that accompany the fear. Or as I am experiencing Love, I am paying attetnion to the sensations, thoughts, memories that accompany the Love.

The common yogic practice of paying attention to the breath is also about synchronizing attention and experience. It brings one into the present moment where fear cannot enter. Fear or its derivaties, like worry or anxiety, depend on imagining the past or the future, either with regret or negative anticipation. Being present to sensation, whether it is to the breath or of pain or pleasure short circuits the mind’s story.

It is only in the present moment that awareness of your inate equanimity is possible.

So, take a moment and ...

be aware to the sesnations of hearing
be aware of the sensations of seeing
be aware of the sensations of touch, such as pressure
be aware of the sensations of touch such as temperature
be aware of the sensations fo touch such as movement
be aware of the senstations of the the breath
be aware of the sensations of taste

Eventually we can pay attention to the experience of being aware; that’s when things really change!

Philip

Real Yoga: Stilling the disturbances of the mind.

Philip — 2008-07-27T09:27:24-04:00

Lately with the bolssoming of yoga has come a blossoming of misunderstanding. Patanjali, the ancient yogic sage who wrote the Yoga Sutras said “yoga is the stilling of the disturbances of the mind.”

To put it plainly and simply, yoga is not about the pose, its not a physical pratice. Yoga is a state of mind; this state is one of inner peace and equanimity. The yogic state of mind is being present as Presence. You are practicing yoga when you are in this state of mind.

The physical practices of poses and breathing are meant to keep the body, mind and emotions healthy for meditation practice. They also provide a challenging opportunity to remain present as Presence under challenging circumstances.Practicing the poses and the breathing are opportunities to practice that state of mind. Poses or breathing, or yoga classes done without cultivating this awareness are not yoga - they are noga! A strong, flexible body doesn’t guarantee happiness, which is what you really want.

Spiritual Practice #3: Remembering the Divine

Philip — 2008-07-24T11:04:00-04:00

I love the idea that the word remembering can be seen as re - membering, or becoming a member again. To me this is about rejoining in the awareness of God. Nothing

special needs to be done; no formulas, breathing techniques or ceremonies, just re-setting the mind on the Divine. Of course this can be done anywhere and at any time; every moment is for practice. Since the Divine is Love and Joy, then remembering involves recalling the thought and feeling of love and joy. It is crucial to realize that this applies to one’s self and others. So to remember is to see one’s self and others as love and joy and to experience that in every possible moment.

An easy way to do this is to use the hourly chime on your watch to remind you to take a moment to remember your essential nature (and the person you are with) as joy and love. Another way is to leave a rock or other object in your pocket or purse so that each time you feel it you are reminded to feel the remembering.

Flat-Screen TV Gas 'a Climate Time Bomb'

Philip — 2008-07-19T11:11:23-04:00

Flat-Screen TV Gas 'a Climate Time Bomb'

Fox News
Monday, July 07, 2008

Booming demand for flat-screen televisions could have a greater impact on global warming than the world's largest coal-fired power stations, scientists warn.

A greenhouse gas called nitrogen trifluoride, used to make the TVs, is 17,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, said Michael Prather, director of the environment institute at the University of California, Irvine.

But no one yet knows how much of it is being released into the atmosphere by industry, a report in Britain's The Guardian said.

Prather's research shows production of the gas, which remains in the atmosphere for 550 years, is "exploding".

It is expected to double by next year, from the current 4,000 tons produced annually.

But unlike other key greenhouse gases — such as carbon dioxide, sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) — emissions of the gas are not restricted under the Kyoto protocol or similar agreements, The Guardian report said.

Prather and his colleague Juno Hsu — writing in the journal Geophysical Research Letters — said this year's production of nitrogen trifluoride is equivalent to 67 million tons of carbon dioxide.

That meant the gas has "a potential greenhouse impact larger than that of the industrialised nations' emissions of PFCs or SF6, or even that of the world's largest coal-fired power plants".

Air Products, which produces the gas for the electronics industry, told New Scientist that very little nitrogen trifluoride is released into the atmosphere.

But Prather raised concerns about companies being careless with the gas, given the lack of a regulatory framework.

Motivation

Philip — 2008-07-16T11:54:03-04:00

Take a moment to look at your motivations deeply.... when i do this exercise, i deconstruct or reduce my motivations (often) to fear. And a lot of that fear is related to the body, and in particular dying. For example, if you didn’t need to eat or have clothes or a roof over your head would you work? If you were assured of enough money in retirement, would you stay in the job you in which you are currently employed? If you weren’t afraid of dying (confident that you were eternal) what would you do differently? Perhaps it would be an excuse to delay enlightenment, but perhaps it would also free you (me) to take the “chance” of doing something differently. of doing what really fires you up.

“So you think that’s air you’re breathing?” Hmmm.

Easy Secure Passwords

Philip — 2008-07-01T20:44:55-04:00

We have too many password requirements and most of us use just one, which means that someone with malicious intent could conceivably access all your records. To have unique easy to remember passwords is simple. Create a stem using easy to remember letters and numbers with some capitals interspersed.

For example my friend’s daughter’s birthday is Feb 14, 1997 and her initials are APV. Using her birthday and initials we can create a stem of a2p14v97 or a2v97. Then add the stem to each website you use. If she had a GMail account, then the password could be a2v97GMail.com. Or if she had a rogers email then it could be a2v97Rogers.

Another good idea is to add an unusual character such as the star or dollar sign. See below for a possible list. Not all web sites allow these characters, however. A strong password such as a2p14v97Rogers.Com$ is impossible to guess and easy to remember because it relates to her initials, birthday and a unique character known only to her. In this case she has only to remember that she capitalizes the first letter of each word or syllable. This is also over 13 characters making it hard to break with a brute force attack.

Another variation is to use a parent’s initials and birthday, or a combination of your initials and birthdate combined with your parents. For example, if APV’s mother was born in September and her father in May then her stem could be a2s9m5.

Remember of course that if you are in an internet cafe at Starbucks using an insecure connection or have inadvertently downloaded a key stroke logger, then the there s no guessing the password because it can be extracted out of the wireless signal, just like picking up a radio station.

Its a good idea to use one of these characters
' ! @ $ % ^ & * ( ) - _ = + [ ] ; : ' " , < . > / ?

Spiritual Practice #2: Forgiveness Meditation

Philip — 2008-07-01T09:18:45-04:00

Exercise in Forgiveness
(excerpted from ACIM)

Think of someone you do not like, who seems to irritate you, or to cause regret in you if you should meet him (her); one you actively despise, or merely try to overlook. It does not matter what form your anger takes; you probably have chosen him already. He (or she) will do.

Now close your eyes and see him in your mind, and look at him awhile. Try to perceive some light in him somewhere; a little gleam, which you had never noticed. Try to find some little spark of brightness shining through the ugly picture that you hold of him. Look at this picture until you see a light somewhere within it and then try to let this light extend until it covers him, and makes the picture beautiful and good.

Look at this changed perception for a while, and turn your mind to one you call a friend. Try to transfer the light you learned to see around your former “enemy” to him. Perceive him now as more than friend to you, for in that light his holiness shows you your saviour saved and saving, healed and whole.

Then let him (your friend) offer you the light you see in him and let your “enemy” and friend unite in blessing you with what you gave. Now are you one with then and they with you. Now have you been forgiven by yourself.”

This beautiful image is by www.christinepeloquin.com

Preparing for the Beloved

Philip — 2008-07-01T08:09:19-04:00

As I cleaned up around the house this morning I was thinking about how I am preparing for the arrival of Karen. I had my hair cut, made sure the floors and bathrooms were washed, will change the sheets the morning she arrives, and so on.

But there is another beloved, The Beloved, The Divine. The question becomes “How do I prepare for that Beloved?” It’s something we (I) often don’t think about, but is important if one is on a conscious spiritual path.

So what is it we need to do to prepare? In the end there is nothing we need to do, because we have never left Heaven, even though we may be unaware of that state of consciousness. We are like children who have not yet developed object permanence, thinking that something has disappeared because we can no longer see it; because we wear sunglasses has not affected the sun at all. And yet, at the same time, we each have obligations in this world and we suffer from a lack of awareness of our inherent divinity. There is something to do to regain the awareness of that state. We need to take off our sunglasses to rediscover the sun.

So what actions can we perform? How do we prepare ourselves to realize Divinity in the now, in this moment? It seems reasonable to me to assume that we must be like God to realize the awareness of God. If God is Perfect Love, then it follows that we must embody perfect love. Our sunglasses are like the fears, anxieties, angers, guilts and hatreds we carry around obscuring but not obliterating our divinity. Forgiveness and meditation are two of the essential practices. We can even combine the two.

Fear & Stress

Philip — 2008-06-30T15:41:32-04:00

These are the same. The problem with calling it stress is that it appears to be ouside of us and therefore beyond out control. The benefit of calling it fear is that we can then own that we have caused it through our thoughts and beliefs. This cascades into emotion, physiological response and physical response. Owning our fear allows us to look at it and then examine it and choose differently.

Spiritual Practice #1: Awareness

Philip — 2008-06-30T13:57:19-04:00

I hope to continue offering a variety of exercises for mind and heart to reconnect with your Essence. In a sequay from the “Distractions from Essence” post, let me ask you this.... who or what is aware of the distractions? Yoga is fundamentally an experiment in spirituality, in the Awareness of Bliss. This means that we can test reality against our direct experience and verify things for ourselves. In this case inquire, investigate, “test” who you are. You can experience that there is someting to be aware of, such as the distraction or the feeling that preceeds the desire to be distracted. And there is something (or someone) that is aware of the object, of the distraction. Its easy to describe the object, however it is also possible to inquire (“sense”) into the feeling of Awareness and describe it too.

Can you do this now - notice an object and then notice the feeling experience of being Aware.

This image was taken from: www.art4spirit.com

Distractions from Essence

Philip — 2008-06-30T13:37:04-04:00

Don’t be distracted by your distractions! I know that’s what they are for, but ask yourself “What am I distracting myself from?” More than likely it is something perceived as uncomfortable, threatening or fearful. These fears are self-perpetuating as long as they remain unseen and unexamined. To free yourself from the tyrnanny of the egoic mind, each belief and assumption that makes you unhappy must be examined and seen to be false. It is true that the Truth will set you free. It is more important to have the experience of truth than to have this understanding. At your core - the part of you that cannot be further reduced, you are Joyful Love. Our spiritual path is one way is encountering the fear in order to reveal the hidden love.

Often fears can be deconstructed to reveal one of the five pointer sisters. The kanchukas are the five beliefs that all human beings share which are reflections of our imagined separation from God. They all boil down to a sense of separation and scarcity. In a sense each one of these can be a reminder or pointer that we have strayed away from the Awareness of this inner essential Joy. This Joy has no cause and is independant of all things of the world. In a sense it is no-thing.

New Age Doesn't Ensure Happiness

Philip — 2008-06-25T21:10:11-04:00

I received an email today about a new type of treatment which struck me as just another cleverly disguised way of removing personal power and deflecting change from the place that needs it most - the mind. Happiness is not outside of you. I contend that our one core motivation (beyond survival) is happiness. Everything we do is to gain some happiness - the car, the job, power, money are all ways of trying to get happiness. That includes laser reflexology, yoga poses and massage therapy. There is no happiness in beauty or an aligned yoga pose or being pain free; happiness is possible under all circumstances including difficult ones. There is no external person or circumstnace or treatment that will give you the happiness you seek. All external seeking fails - external solutions are snakeoil. I agree that there is temporary happiness, however it is always followed by some form of disappointment; that is not the kind of happiness we are looking for. We are looking for the kind of happiness that lasts, that doesn’t tarnish - and that you will never find in the external world. If you look to externals you will look but never find. We want to be finders! To find true abiding happiness and personal power you must look within and be willing to change your mind about what and how you think of yourself.

Desires

Philip — 2008-05-02T13:34:05-04:00

Our desires point to what we believe is lacking in ourselves. It is a trick of the ego that there is something outside of us which will be fulfilling; you know this to be a lie. Everytime you have had a relationship or bought something new, it hasn't been exactly what you wanted or needed. You also know in your bones that the only thing that is reliably and deeply satisfying is the the inner peace you carry with you in every moment. You know this peace is present when your mind and heart are at peace, loving without judgement or reservation. You recognize this because it is who you are and when you recognize it you are recognizing yourself.