Bamboomoves Warrior Teacher Training 2010

Day 2 of the Bamboomoves Teacher Training:

Today our students had special guest instructors; Stephanie Miller from Bamboomoves Englewood and Yoshio Hama from Bamboomoves Forest Hills.

Stephanie lead them through the warm up and the crescent moon sequences as well as how to do basic (and a few advanced) adjustments. And even the 9:30 am class had a chance to experience her awesome class!!! (Come back anytime Stephanie)

And later that night after Andrew shared from "The Yoga Sutras" and gave a much needed holistic energy healing workshop, Yoshio came in a taught a hip opener class that was intense but great! I rewarded everyone with smoothies; bananas, almonds, avacados and rice milk in a blender. De-Li-Cious!!! (try it)

Oh! And I started out the day by leading the class in 103 Sincerity bows and then Pranayama and chanting!

This was a major breakthrough for me since I have small, tint, fear of singing publicly!

But one can only lead from the front right? So I did it.

Goodnight future B.M.W. - keep the fire going! You're all doing a great job...

A Magical Day (Sunday May 2nd)

I can already sense that May will truly be a magical month!

I was at the Agape International Spiritual Center this morning at 7 a.m. and on my way there I could feel a change within me already happening. The service was incredible as usual - Rev. Michael Beckwith's theme was - "Total Recall" meaning, recollecting (or as he said Re-Collecting & Remembering) WHO you really are and WHY are you here?

Throughout all of my many years of personal development and spiritual growth and practice, these are common questions asked no matter what religion, philosophy or seminar I have researched.

Simply put - "What is your Purpose?"

I believe most people are searching for the answer to this very question, whether they have "consciously" have asked themselves this or not.

I believe there is Greatness in each of us and that when we witness the Greatness in others or when we meet those who have discovered their Purpose - then we are reminded of our own Purpose (or to seek it).

Today at Agape, I had the honor and the privilege of attending a profound lecture / meditation lead by a Tibetan Monk named Khen Rinpoche. Just being in the room with him, I felt his powerful spirit of Love, Peace and Compassion which were the Virtues of his teachings.

He said the goal we should keep in mind while meditating is that we want to "reach enlightenment to help ALL sentient beings" (animals too) The Tibetan Monks meditate 6 hours a day, dedicating their meditation and their virtues of Peace, Love and Compassion to others. (Like we do in Yoga when we dedicate the fruits of our practice)

Khen Rinpoche lead us all through a mediation called "Tong Lin" (I'm writing it the way it's pronounced, I don't know if that's the correct spelling). The purpose of this meditation was to increase our Compassion and Love towards our mothers. (Mind you, this wasn't presented to us as a Mother's day prayer) It's simply a powerful and yet difficult meditation that the Tibetan Monks practice. Why mothers? Because as Khen Rinpoche shared with us, it's the ultimate example of Unconditional Love. And if we can truly practice that level of Unconditional Love toward our families, friends, strangers and even enemies then we are on the path to enlightenment and in healing the world.

I can go on and on with all that I learned in just the short 2 and half hours my wife and I were with him, but I will save that for the next class I teach you when I return to NY ; )

But I will leave you with this... He described one's "Virtues" as a cup of water. "Your cup of water left alone will eventually evaporate. But if you pour your cup of water into the ocean, it will last as long as the ocean exists..."

So don't let your cup of Love and Compassion evaporate. Pour it into the world. For the more you give, the more you will receive. Or as one of my other mentors said - "Give what you came here to get"

Namaste,
Michael

My very FIRST yoga class

It all began one night in L.A. when my friend Onahoua invited me to take a yoga class.

I had never done yoga before, but I was always interested. So I went.

The class was being held in someone's home. A small studio apartment in North Hollywood (NoHo as they call it, which has totally different meaning in the Bronx!)

The class was by donation only, which I thought was a nice touch along with the incense, candles and soft music.

I was feeling the ambiance.

The class began and 10 minutes into it, I think during "downdog" or "scorpion pose", I was hooked!!!

Now I had studied and even taught karate for over 10 years, so the balance and flexibility came pretty easily (not to brag).

And a lot of the asanas were similar to the Martial Arts; the "Warrior 1 & 2" stances were identical to a "Front Stance" in karate.

I was like - "OK. I can do this".

And then came shavasana. Ahhh...

Everyone's favorite pose. One of mine 'till this very day ;-)

I think in yoga class and in life we go thru all of the twists and bends and challenging poses that make us sweat and ask ourselves "why did I sign up for this again?" -

We do it all for shavasana. Ahh...

The class ended. We all said our goodbyes.

I thanked the teacher (Korbi was her name) and Onahoua and I left.

Now I had never been to a chiropractor (I have now, but that's for another blog) but I felt like I had just been "adjusted".

I felt like my back and spine was straighter. I felt lighter. Centered. Calm. Like I just had a really great "power nap".

To this day I'm so glad I said "yes" when Onahoua asked me to go.

I didn't care what people back home would've thought of this "Bronx boy" doing yoga in L.A. because I felt great.

I practiced yoga on and off with Korbi and eventually at other studios in L.A. and in N.Y. but I will ALWAYS remember my first yoga class.

Do you?