Happy Holidays!

Thank you for sharing your ideas and wisdom about ‘How you stay healthy’. Did you know that you can view some of your responses on the website?

As the holiday season approaches, I’d like to express my gratitude to you for playing your part in making this world a more loving place. Love and Light to you on your Path!

May I encourage you to celebrate!

Celebrate Life without a reason to. Laugh, play, give thanks and hugs, and be happy. Without a reason. Don’t let any reasons limit you in the expression of your divinity.

Here’s a story about celebrating life.

I am excited to be visiting San Diego in January. Would love to see you at the workshop at Prana Yoga Center on Saturday, January 17, 2009. It’s been a long time. This is a good time to reconnect for us if you are in town.

The workshop is called “Ashtaspanda Yoga: Yoga of Healing Rhythms”. It is truly a transformational system of yoga to create healing at the cellular level. It is both dynamic (rhythmic) and restorative. Click on the link for details.

Below is Yogi Mir’s response to some of your recent questions. Here’s more yoga questions answered.

What do you think the most accessible and simple practice there is to be in the present moment without conditions, expectations or judgments?

There are many wonderful practices to be in the present moment: gardening, nature walks, yoga, dancing, wind surfing, and playing sports.

However, the most accessible and simple practice means that anyone can do it. Wind surfing is certainly not very accessible for most people.

So here it is. The simplest and most accessible practice of how to be present is mindful breathing.

Here is why:

1. Breathing is always in the present moment. It cannot be in the past or the future.

2. Mindful breathing can be practiced by anyone alive, even in a limited circumstance, like in a wheelchair.

3. One doesn’t have to ‘work’ to create the breath. The breath just happens. All we need to do is notice it. For example, a mantra has to be ‘chanted’ or ‘said’; a meditation image has to be ‘maintained’ in the mind’s eye; and a particular thought or idea has to be ‘cultivated’. The breath requires no such extra effort. If one can breathe, one can be present.

What is the simplest method of breathing that is most helpful for this presence process?

A relaxed and steady breath.

Choose one aspect of the breath that can be focused on: the sensation of the breath as it enters and exits the nose, or the subtle sound of the breath, or visualize the breath as a healing vapor flowing in and out as if you are drinking an elixir of health through the air.

However, Yogi Mir’s favorite technique: The Raft and the Breath Wave. This involves focusing on the smoothness, the fluidity, and the uninterrupted flow of the breathing process, with the raft of your awareness riding the wave of the breath. The details of this practice must be shared in a personal one-on-one setting. If you are interested, please contact Surya and he'll take you through the process.

New Year's Celebration Coming Soon!
January 1, 2009
Sun Salutations at Roslindale Yoga Center (aka Quantum Rhythm Yoga)
Thursday 1:00 – 4:00PM
Come and join a few other Boston yogis to greet 2009 and send out our positive thoughts for the coming New Year.

San Diego Visit!
Saturday, 1/17, 10:30 – 12:30PM
"Ashtaspanda Yoga - Balance your energy, raise your vibration, evoke transformation in this 2-hour yoga class”

Hope to see you soon on either Coast.

If you have a question or comment, Ask Yogi Mir, and you will get it answered in the next issue of this newsletter.

Love and Light,
~ Yogi Mir
(translated from Siberian by Surya)

Surya's Yoga DVD