Recession proof your life

Daan Yoga, or Recession proofing your life

Two fellow Yoga teachers and I are hosting a benefit for the food pantry Today.  Coming off this cycle of abundance and frivilous spending by much of the country, I think we need to re-learn how to give, how to really experience generosity.

Two ways to experince the gift of giving:

1, Root through your shelves and find the box of pasta, and can of soup bought so long ago, and bring them along to class.  Yes, that will feed somebody, and we will very-much appreciate your contribution.

2, Search your cabinets and find the favorite item amongst your stores.  Hold it to your heart; imagine the person who will receive it.  Beam your prayer into the container, infusing the food with this light. Do this until your eyes well-up.  Bring it to class and place it in the bin.  Don’t tell anybody.  It’s not a story; it’s a sacred act of compassion between you and the recipient.

 It’s important to notice even a slight hesitation in your giving.  Is it an expensive item, does it activate a sense of ‘I don’t have enough?’   Our lower chakras blindly grasp the material world, and keep us in a feeling of fear and lack.  Our consumptive culture encourages this.   The antidote is to give.

That welling up you may feel, that’s your heart chakra activating.  Let the feeling wash over you and live in abundance.
 

Perhaps you really need that favorite item for your holiday dinner.  Then choose something else, but practice giving until you can sense no hesitation at all.   In Yoga philosophy this is called Daan.  Freely giving, freely living from your heart.  It is the only way to lasting happiness.  Happy if the market is up 600 or down 600.  

 In every moment, each and every breath, we have the option to skim the surface of life, or to live deeply.  Your choice, give the pasta, or give from your heart. 

Sometimes, we’ve only got energy to skim, to just get by.  What does that tell us about how we’ve been living?  Together we can build sustainable lives, where we have energy to share.  The answer is usually doing less, but with more heart.  Keep practicing.

I’m clinging to a jar of organic almond butter.  Will it make it to the benefit on Saturday?

check the yoga events page to see our holiday offerings