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This week, I took a 5 day Positive Thinking Course at the Ashram.  I started out feeling that I was already a positive person, and mostly signed up for the course because of the instructor.  He tells interesting stories and also is a really good teacher.  

I basically thought I'd affirm my own beliefs and habits.

It turned out, the course was much more impactful than the typical, 'turn a challenge a bit and see the positive side' that I am very adept at doing.  This course was more about transforming our thoughts, actions, interactions and approach to life.

The main premise of the course is "Man sows a thought and reaps an action.  He sows an action and reaps a habit.  He sows a habit and reaps a character.  He sows a character and reaps a destiny."  This one Swami Sivananda line really intrigues me.

The beginning of our destiny is in our own thoughts. 

The practical side of the class used much of the philosophy from the book "The Practice of Autosuggestion" by Emile Coue.

Swami Vishnudevananda, who founded the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat, was a big believer in auto suggestion.  And auto suggestion is taught world wide in yoga classes to facilitate deep relaxation in the final Sivasana pose of a yoga class.  The practice of Yoga Nidra is based on auto suggestion.

In their own thoughts, yogis follow the prompts of the teacher to relax the feet, then legs, then backside, then chest, arms, neck, head etc., one body part at a time, to facilitate the deeper states of relaxation for healing and regeneration.

The acceptance in the West and use of autosuggestion to impact the unconscious mind is a relatively new approach, within the last 50 years.  In the past, the main focus of science was on the conscious mind as being the 'driver' of our actions and existence.  It is now known that the conscious mind is the 'gate keeper'.  However, real change is realized through the unconscious mind.

That is why Trying Harder quite often does not yield success.

Think of the non-golfer who gets up and just swings at the ball and somehow lands a hole in one - completely without knowing how he just did it.  And then how frustrated that person is when he actually starts trying to stand correctly and hold the club right and do all the things that golfers are supposed to do and for years and years doesn't get another hole in one.

So How can we use our unconscious or subconscious state of mind to positively impact our lives?

What I am now testing out, as part of the learning from the course, I share with you -  and perhaps you might want to test it out too?

There are two times of the day when the conscious mind is less effective at gate keeping - first thing when you wake up and right before you fall off to sleep.

Each night and morning, repeat "Day by Day, In every way, I am getting better and better."  The suggested # of times is 20, but so far, I fall asleep before I get to 20 times.  In the morning, it is most effective to say during that kind of groggy , not quite lucid state.  And so, I only get about 10  times in before I happen to be wide awake.  If you can do 20 times, great!

In three weeks time, after consistent twice a day repetition of this phrase, we are supposed to realize notable changes.  It could be changes in our attitude, our health, our emotional state, our interactions with people - everything in our life can be positively impacted.

Besides this little phrase, if there is a particular area that you want to work on, then you can create a short phrase to repeat after the main phrase.  An example -  "I sleep peacefully and soundly through the night, and feel great in the morning."

Make sure to have your statement be affirmative, not hopeful - so NOT " I want to get better sleep or I wish I wouldn't be angry at my kids...." instead - "My sleep is rejuvenating and wonderful."  and  "I am a loving parent"  :)

The key is to make sure to use the main phrase and at night repeat it until you fall asleep.  In the morning repeat it until you are fully awake, or 20  times, whichever comes first.  The secondary phrase is repeated right after the main phrase.

For example - "Day by Day, in every way, I am getting better and better.  I sleep peacefully and soundly through the night, and feel great in the morning."

I'm excited to find out how effective this is and plan to be vigilant for the three weeks time.  We were told that it is imperative to do the phrase every night and morning - so don't cheat yourself - give it a sincere, consistent 3 weeks to see what happens.

I'd love to hear from anyone who takes up this challenge and know about their results.  I will share mine:)

Sending You Love from the Bahamas,🌞
Thank you for taking this journey with me!

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I've had a good week.  Nothing exciting like hurricanes or lightning storms, but Shaman energy healers were pretty interesting.  I've never experienced Chakra cleansing or energy healing, and while I didn't manage to have time to go to the workshops, I enjoyed the evening presentations.  There will be a program here on Shamanic Medicine in October that I am looking forward to attending.

The one presenter was a U.S. degreed MD, who had a very successful dermatology practice in Florida before she became a Shaman energy healer.  It was fascinating to even know that such alternatives exist, are effective and becoming more accepted in the West.  Those who attended the workshops said they were quite powerful.

I really was productive and juggled the work I am doing pretty well, but being buried under emails was the theme of this week.  

I've been fighting using a new system or new software, insisting I could manage with my tried and true methods.  

Yesterday I finally 'let go'.  

I also 'let go' of feeling guilty about not being a perfect 'patient', as I undergo this study of an Ayurvedic and Yogic lifestyle.  I am due for a meeting with KP Khalsa, the herbalist guiding me on this journey,  and I  haven't checked my personal emails all week to even schedule the meeting.

Pushing myself with sheer willpower, to whatever finish line I'm chasing is a default way of being for me.  I come from ancestors with strong work ethics, and most of my life I've bordered on and some years was a full-on workaholic.

A willingness to work hard and being productive are good traits. It's taking those good traits to extremes that is the problem.  And if you have been following my year, this isn't the first blog I've mentioned about my Pitta dominant nature and the effects when it gets out of balance.

I've now added Boomerang software and hope it will be a help for my email management.  I also finally listened to Iswara, one of senior staff here who is an IT whiz.

He has been trying to get me to use shortcuts and to have a different labeling system for my inbox.  I stopped fighting my own need for perfection and thinking I know how best to do my own organization, and really listened yesterday, to his advice.

Today, I have fewer than 20 emails in my inbox, as I write this blog.  

I've been as high as 170 earlier in the week, and pretty much hovered around 120 each of the other days.  

Maybe tomorrow I will actually get to the beach!  I'm in Paradise and haven't been to the beach in a month - that's what I get for that stubborn perfectionism and strong work ethic.  Pretty silly really.

Working smarter and keeping my focus on the beauty of the spiritual and healthy lifestyle that I am privileged to be a part of here in the Bahamas at the Ashram is going to be my focus for next week.

Sending You Love from the Bahamas,🌞
Thank you for taking this journey with me!

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Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us!

Celebrating my grand baby, Aurelia's 1st birthday was well worth the two-18hour travel days and difficult jet lag upon my return to the Sivananda Ashram in the Bahamas.  It was wonderful to spend time with my daughter, son in law and little Aura.  She has a very happy  and sweet personality. Now that she confidently walks, she is very busy exploring everything. 
It was a fun trip!

My return was greeted with a warm welcome by those I live and work with here.  My new room also awaited me.  All it needed was some time and organization to get it out of the chaotic state that I left it, from the sudden move on the day I left for London.

I love the room and feel very grateful, as I again have a desk!  It is a very nice room, with plenty of closet space and is very close to the bathroom/showers - all very positive in my mind:)  I hope that I will be able to stay put until my inevitable move when I take the teacher training course in November.  Then, I will be back to a tent hut.

The first night I returned was a big celebration and puja ceremony for Swami Sivananda's birthday.  The festivities ended close to midnight, and I didn't get to bed until shortly after midnight - a total of 26 hours straight being awake.

I woke the next day with a very sore throat that progressed throughout the week into a dry, hoarse cough and no voice for a few days.  I was paying for pushing my body beyond its limits. 

Luckily Dr. Govinda, who often visits the Ashram, checked me out and assured me that my lungs were clear.  I was given a prescription for an antibiotic if fever developed, which luckily, it did not. 

I continued to work each day, but with no voice.  Meetings became an interesting activity, with a creative solution needed since I could not speak to lead the conference call meetings.  I asked another member of our team to lead the meeting, and I was in real time, constant communication via chat to give input and ask questions, etc.  

I frantically typed at times to be part of a discussion before it ended:)  It's the first such experience I have had, and it worked out pretty well. It was good to listen more also.

Silence (yogis call it 'Mauna') for me is not easy, but we are encouraged to practice Mauna every day for a couple of hours.  I hadn't been practicing it, so I guess I got a large dose of Mauna all at once to deal with:)

This week our new catalogs were delivered and can also be seen in full online www.sivanandabahamas.org.
It is our team that creates the catalogs and also schedules all the programs for the year.

The start of our new season of presenters and programs begins in October!  It is an amazing lineup of presenters and a rich offering of programs.  I encourage you to check it out. 

There is everything from a neurosciences symposium to a healing trauma program to juice cleanses, veterans retreats,  yoga for stress and anxiety certification programs, music and dance festival and so much more.

I am excited to have the opportunity to experience many of the programs while I am here.  There's definitely lots to learn and do in Paradise:)

Sending You Love from the Bahamas,🌞
Thank you for taking this journey with me!

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My week at Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas was generally a good one.  My days were filled with spirituality in meditation, chanting and lectures twice a day, plus yoga class and then my 6-7 hours of karma yoga duties.  Add a few meetings and meal times and a lovely silent walk on the beach for sunrise satsang, and you have a pretty good picture of much of my week.

To add a little spice, I guess, I received an urgent email message from home.  The woman who leases my town-home wrote “Emergency, please call me as soon as possible”.  I read the note 17 hours after it was sent, and when I called, I prayed that whatever the emergency was had subsided without injury. 

I just went through an approaching hurricane, and didn’t once hear the word ‘emergency’. My anticipation was that something really serious had happened for her to contact me with such a note, considering I was in another country and many miles from home

This “emergency” back home was a mouse.  It had entered somehow and found the pantry, eating into a bag of chips, the bag of sugar and left some ‘droppings’.  She was still very upset when I spoke to her on the phone.  There was still terror in her voice when she spoke of seeing this tiny little mouse.  All I kept seeing was the mouse chef in

Even a year ago, I would have reacted in a similarly panicked fashion.

I now live with all sorts of creatures on the island - many I have no idea what they are -I just know they are alive and live here peacefully too.  I walk past snails and other typical island critters every day, without giving them a thought.  I’ve carefully scooped up little creatures and gently put them outside. 

Ahimsa is practiced here - Do No Harm, and the yogis take it very seriously.

This whole situation reminded me of a passage in the book I am reading, The Way of Ayurvedic Herbs,
“Crisis medicine reflects a crisis-based society.  Unhealthy people make unhealthy choices, and create unhealthy environments, which create unhealthy people.” 

I’m not knowledgeable about my tenants overall health, but I do know that her mental health is very fragile, for the sight of a mouse to put her into a crisis mode of emergency.  I hope that she will soon find some peace in the situation and be able to relax again.

Patience was the topic of our evening lectures this week.  Whether with my tenant’s cry of emergency, my finding out unexpectedly I needed to change rooms and preferably immediately, on the same day I traveled to London for my grand daughter’s 1st birthday party, or the delay in Miami for flight takeoff due to bad weather or the 2 or 3 year old little boy right in front of me that was screaming on and off for the hour as we sit in the plane.

The yogis would say that the best way to practice our virtues, such as patience, is to have instances where patience is needed to endure the situation.  Since I don't have this virtue mastered by any means, I think I will continue to be given opportunities to keep practicing it:)

Sending You Love from the Bahamas,🌞

If you haven't signed up for the blog post updates, please do.
I also welcome you to leave a comment below or post one on my BestYOU facebook page. Sharing your thoughts is a gift to all of us!
Thank you for taking this journey along with me!