Tulsa Yoga Meditation Center, 5319 S. Sheridan, Tulsa, OK - Blog

'NOW I DON'T HAVE TO TAKE A SINGLE PAINKILLER!' - THE POWER OF YOGA IN A REMOTE, SMALL CHINESE VILLAGE

8/15/2018

Yugouliang is a village of fewer than 100 people in Hebei Province. Most of the young people have left seeking educational and employment opportunities in China's cities. The village is far from the gyms and health food stores in places like Beijing and Shanghai. The closest train station is two hours away; the internet had just arrived two years ago; the average age of a Yugouliang resident is 65; they survive by tending to their cows and sheep and small plots of land.

China’s rapidly aging population is one of the most pressing issues facing the ruling Communist Party. In rural China, at least 50 million older Chinese have been left behind by the country’s economic boom, according to official data. Many struggle with poverty and depression. For those reasons, the top Chinese official in this village, Lu Wenzhen, was seeking a way to help the older, remaining residents. After watching a 60 year old woman doing yoga, Lu knew he wanted to bring yoga to his village.

The residents in Yugouliang were unconvinced. They had never heard of yoga. Complicating the issue was the fact that Lu had never done yoga. Practicing with videos, he became a self-taught instructor and began offering classes.

Those first few sessions, just a few residents turned up. Mr. Lu started off slow. First he taught them how to breathe through a singing exercise. Then he tried to take them through some simple, cross-legged moves. It didn’t take long for more people to join. Nor did it take long for them to try more ambitious poses. "Now, I don’t have to take a single painkiller," reports one new yogi.

What Lu accomplished is both amazing and inspiring. See the photos of the village doing yoga and read the entire story here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/24/business/china-yoga-elderly-village.html

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

8/15/2018

The Dharma must be put into practice. We cannot separate ourselves from our experiences, nor can we separate ourselves from the larger community of human beings. We can use the elements of our daily lives to succeed in our practice and deepen our faith. - Hsing Yun

BRITNEY SPEARS DOES 2 HOURS OF YOGA WHILE TRAVELING

8/14/2018

One of the few celebrities I follow in Instagram is Britney Spears. A few days ago she posted a picture of her yoga routine with this comment:

"Traveling from hotel to hotel can make you a little stir crazy, so I decided to start doing two hours of yoga in each room! The bare floors give me a pretty solid grip on the ground without a mat. I was very sore the next day but at least I got to use my time wisely."

"NAMASLAY" - YOGA FOR METAL HEADS

8/14/2018

“We’ve got to become old metalheads gracefully,” says Yoga Instructor Angela Fontaine, 42, who is also a middle-school teacher and a fan of heavy metal music.

Fontaine first conceptualized and taught metal yoga in 2014 at Vortex Dance and Fitness, an Easthampton dance studio she previously owned. It seems incongruous with the peaceful, relaxing tone of most yoga classes. But for those half-dozen loyal practitioners who sign up whenever she announces a new series of classes it’s a way to unwind and keep in shape while listening to their favorite bands — Cradle Of Filth, Nightwish, Black Pyramid, Iron Maiden, Graviton, Savatage, Forever Autumn, and Puscifer.

Fontaine seeks to reach that unique group of musicians and music lovers who might never be drawn to yoga believing it's too "soft and gentle" for their tastes physically or emotionally. Yet, Fontaine’s metal yoga classes are laid back but sometimes loud. Throughout, she gives her students advice about their health, describes how poses positively affect the body, and provides alternative stretch-es for anyone who is having trouble. During class time, practitioners are encouraged to ask questions about poses or talk about the music.
Because her practitioners appreciate heavy metal music so much, Fontaine, who says she equally enjoys the music still goes to local shows. For her classes, she plans carefully what’s played during the yoga session.

Each playlist, which often includes local bands as promotion, takes hours for Fontaine to curate. Fontaine’s hour-long classes always start with ‘mountain,’ a standing yoga pose, peak in the middle with ‘warrior,’ and then wind down to ‘corpse pose.’ Playlists mirror the physical arc of the class, starting with quieter symphonic metal and moving into louder and more intense music to reflect the more challenging poses.

Because Fontaine sets the tone for the class carefully, even hard core metal heads enjoy the savasana (final relaxation) at the end of class.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

8/14/2018

The Western world has certainly succeeded in developing powerful outer systems of knowledge in terms of science and medicine, but remains unaware of the inner powers of the psyche and how to access them. - David Frawley

'WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY?' - BEST ANSWER

8/13/2018

The future of humanity consists not just of technological progress but of a deepening awareness and higher evolution of the human mind and brain. The ultimate technology is not that of external machines and computers but arises through mastering the powers of our own awareness and prana, such as the great yogis were able to achieve.

We do not need spaceships in order to travel throughout the universe, however important these may be to develop; we can do this within our own minds, once we discover the inner power, space and silence within us that contains the entire universe. - Dr. David Frawley

DALAI LAMA CALL FOR A COMPASSION BASED GLOBAL DIET

8/13/2018

Speaking at the Vidyaloke Talks, a two-day event in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) dedicated to rekindling appreciation for ancient Indian spiritual traditions, His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Sunday emphasized the importance of adopting a more plant-based diet on a global scale for reasons of environmental sustainability and out of compassion for the suffering of sentient beings.

The Dalai Lama, who turned 83 last month, was responding to a question from an audience member on human cruelty toward nature and animals in particular. “We are consuming too much meat,’’ he observed to the gathering, underscoring the need to be sensitive to the suffering of all living beings. “However small they are, they too experience pain and pleasure,” he said.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

8/13/2018

When you complain, you make yourself a victim. Leave the situation, change the situation, or accept it. All else is madness. - Eckhart Tolle

HOW TO EAT LIKE THE BUDDHA

8/12/2018

Vegetarianism was the diet of the Buddha and the majority of serious Buddhists worldwide follow that diet. Eating flesh food violates the first precept of Buddhism – to abstain from the taking of life. In order to justify a non-vegetarian diet, some individuals point to Tibetan Buddhism saying that they eat meat because it’s hard to grow crops and vegetables in the high Himalayas.
While some Tibetans to eat meat, the preferred diet is vegetarian and, not surprisingly, meat eating has been questioned by Tibetan masters across the centuries. Many Tibetan Buddhist communities and lineages were completely vegetarian.
The highly respected teacher, Patrul Rinpoche, said that humans had turned animals into slaves forcing animals to “experience inconceivable torments.” In The Words of My Perfect Teacher, he bluntly outlined the issue saying that animals domesticated by humans are “exploited until they die.” He cited cattle, yaks, horses and sheep as an example noting: “They are milked, loaded down, castrated, pierced through the nose and yoked to the plough. Not one of them escapes this continual round of slavery. Horses and yaks continue to be loaded and ridden even when their backs are nothing but one big sore. When they can go no further, they are whipped and pelted with stones. The fact that they could be in distress or ill never seems to cross their owners' minds.”

Similarly, Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen promoted vegetarianism teaching: “If someone is motivate by desire to eat the flesh of beings, then butchers will seize animals such as yaks or sheep and sever their minds from their bodies. How can those who consume meat and dlood as food be followers of the Buddha? Such people pridefully consider themselves to be benefiting beings and protecting the weak, but their actions contradict the precepts. Meat eating is nothing but the cause of amassing terrifying evil.”

IF YOU LIKE REGULAR "SNAIL" MAIL.....YOU MAY BE A MILLENNIAL

8/12/2018

Millennials prefer and find regular mail service to email. Though they are born into and comfortable with digital media of all kinds, when it comes to mail, their preference is the post office. Here's a concise report I came across and find myself in total agreement though, technically, I'm not a millennial by age (but in spirit)

The US Postal service found that, on average, Millennials spend more than 9 minutes per day sorting through their mail, more than any other generation. They also are more engaged with their mail than the average consumer, taking more time to scan, read and organize their mail. In fact, 50 percent of Millennials say they like to discover what the mail brings every day, and consider scanning their mail time well spent.

Though they prefer to pay bills online, 83 percent of Millennials still use hard copies for bill management. They’re also open to certain types of direct mail: 54 percent said that businesses in their neighborhood need to do a better job of using mail to keep them informed.

Perhaps this preference for print isn’t as big a contradiction as one might think. After all, Millennials also use public libraries more than any other generation. They prefer printed books over digital ones. They’re driving a resurgence in bookstore sales. They make up nearly one-third of U.S. magazine readers.

Ultimately, Millennials appreciate print for the same reasons many people do: the tactile experience and the emotional connection. But, trust plays an important role too. One study found that 88 percent of Millennials believe print is more “official” than other channels, and 82 percent consider it more trustworthy.

(feel free to re-post and/or link to your social media)