A beautiful way to bring in the new season of change.

A must experience for yoga and meditation teachers.

DATE: March 13, 20 & 27

TIME:  9am – 12noon

LOCATION: kitsilano area,  please email for exact address to:  omhelpers.blogspot.com

COST:  $120.00

INFO:  For more details please contact: Lipe @ vianalipe@yahoo.com

So often I have students approach me with comments like; “do you think my yoga practice is improving” or “I have been at this for months now and I am not seeing any changes” or “how long do you think its going to take me to achieve xyz postures.

To be honest, the list of questions and comments go on and on.  And please let me be the first to tell you, I did the same thing when I first started many years ago on my spiritual yoga journey, I am sure I drove many of my yoga teachers crazy with my relentless inquisition. Funny though, when I look back at a few wise teachers, they essentially said the same thing and it was not much.  Here are the oldies but goodies that still apply to all of us today. “Be patient”, “Be kind” to yourself and others and “It takes time.” I know, nothing magical as you might have been expecting, but what the heck I am a realist and I have gone through this many times just like you. If you are looking for a quick fix, or a magical pill, you’re not going to find it here.

Now lets take a person that has been living with chronic pain for many years and only after several weeks or months, they have suddenly increased their depth of breath, have less tension in their back and shoulders and are now feeling less stress at work. Lets understand something here; our bodies have millions of functions going on at once that we are for the most part completely oblivious to. And how amazing this machine is, that it still gets up in the morning, takes us to and fro where ever we wish to go and do all the wonderful things we get to do.

So lets look at a few other powerful subtly examples and the importance of it in achieving the grand. If you are a musician, you understand that it is the fine-tuning of the instrument that produces the most beautiful clarity of song. If you are an athlete, you understand that it is the more precise that is the most victorious. Think about it, in chemistry, water (under normal pressure) will not boil at 99.9 degrees Celsius, but raise it to 100 degrees and the water begins to boil. Water will not freeze at .05 degrees Celsius, but will turn to ice at 0 degrees Celsius.

It is very common for us, including myself to disregard the subtle changes in our quest for the grand. We are often reminded that “every journey begins with one step”, yet when it comes down to it we often want to just be at the end of our journey even though we truthfully just began. It is the subtle, not the grand that determines the nature of our environment. The more sensitive and appreciative we are of the subtle changes in our life on and off the mat, the greater joy, prosperity and health we will have in our lives. So as you go about your daily life, acknowledge the small changes that occur and always remind yourself to appreciate the subtle.

Insights are Divine messages sent by the Gods. They are meant to guide us on wherever we have to go and whatever is to be done. They are deep perceptions that do not pass through the biased mind, so the ego cannot touch them. Insights are those spontaneous understandings and comprehensions that lead to the next step that needs to be taken.

Insights come to our Internal Consciousness from the Eternal Consciousness. They arrive in the physical body through the crown, pass by the third eye and get delivered as a message in the heart. This is why insights do not need thought processes to make sense. They come decoded in a way that you get what you have to get and there is no need of thinking about it. They give us the opportunity to “listen to our heart instead of our mind”.

The issue is that many of us choose not to trust insights; instead, we turn the ego-istic mental schemas on to fall into the mind’s traps. Overtime the connection between the Eternal Consciousness and Internal Consciousness seems to fade away and become very weak.

The practice of Hatha Yoga (asanas and pranayama) helps us to shut our mind up and assists us with the reconnection with our Internal Consciousness. The discipline of Bhakti Yoga (devotional practice) will reconnect the Internal Consciousness with the Eternal Consciousness.

In reality, no reconnection is done since the original connection has always been there. What the constant practice of Yoga does is to clean the channels, so the connection can be perceived, and through its discipline and determination not let the link to be lost, so messages can be clearly delivered.

by Lipe Viana. Visit and Comment: omhelpers.blogspot.com

Happy new years to all.

This is the time of year, in particular where we start to think of our intentions for the new year and  what we would like to manifest. I too have been mulling about this word and what it means and how i think i would like to see things unfold. Don’t we all.

But lets be honest, if all we are doing is setting up the supposed right mind set, focusing on the right intentions in the right way at the right time with the right ritual, then all we are doing is setting up the ego to get what is wants all the time.. So wouldn’t you say that this is a bit unbalanced, more like “magical thinking.”

Perhaps we could set the notion of intentions as a part of a natural unfoldment process instead. Whether it be at the beginning of your practice or at the beginning of the new year, whatever it is,  set it as an entry point. So that over time, through our experiences in the process, our intentions transform, almost get re-adjusted. The more we tap into our body wisdom, work with our heart intelligence, tap into our deeper layers of the heart/mind intuition, often we are surprised of what the ego doesn’t know about ourselves and our process.

This is what is truly at the heart of a contemporary  natural maturing spiritual practice. If we allow there to be a dance between our intentions and the process, something new will be revealed. Enjoy the process!

Much peace always,

t xo

It’s one of the most highly intelligent forms of physical exercise that not only brings deep understanding and awareness to the physical self/body but also brings clarity to the mind giving you a greater sense of peace.

With daily practice, one will experience greater strength in the overall body, balance and coordination with subsequent feelings of transparency, and of being more sensitive.

Yoga can also bring a spiritual and emotional element to your life. It requires that you focus exclusively on the present moment.

Remember, no matter how often you do yoga, you cannot hope to prevent or heal your health problems without making other lifestyle changes. If you practice yoga, but continue to eat poorly, get very little sleep or stay in abusive or stressful relationships(personal or business), chances are you’ll continue to get sick.

Think of your yoga practice as a mirror to your soul and a prescription for healthy action.

There are no promises that yoga will fix all your ailments weather it be physical, mental or spiritual, but yoga will change your life!