NEWSLETTER - APRIL 2024
Dear One,
It’s spring-cleaning time! And with this lovely spring energy you can do it.
Drink filtered water first thing.
Walk.
Eat some raw green salad before a meal.
Go to bed early. (If you do this, you will have plenty of time for
Get up early. this suggested programme.)
Daily practice including twists and inverted.
Figure of 8 breathing.
Meditation.
You will find it quite changes your attitude for the day.
The Study Society folk asked for a talk on Life. It occurred to me on the flight back from Australia that there is no life. It’s all in our minds. It’s a dream and that we are the authors of that dream.
We are that conscious being that has made this universe up, all of it, 100% including our body and mind. The problem is we have forgotten that we are awake and when we self-realise / wake up, out of the dream the dream stops, because it’s a dream.
Just like a dream at night when we awake, it’s gone. But the good news is that we can hear the voice of truth in our dream, like a mother’s voice comforting her child who is having a bad dream. She might say “it’s only a dream, wake up darling” and when the child hears the mother’s voice, she awakes, and the dream is no more.
Dreams have a beginning and an end. Birth and Death.
To the enlightened soul, death is just of the body.
Upon death our body and the transient universe drops away. What bliss to be freed from our body-world, our attachments, our thoughts. But we don’t have to wait until the body falls apart to experience this freedom. When we awake out of our dream, we realise that we were free all the time.
The body world was all in our imagination.
Can we give complete attention to what we are doing? It does not matter what we are doing, simply concentrate, one pointed attention. Like a cat watching a mouse hole. When this happens, we are at one with whatever it is and ourselves, it is like a continuous mantra. Bringing us back to the Here and Now, out of our dream world.
My friend was staring at a bottle of apple juice – for a long time. I asked what was up. She said “it says ‘concentrate’.”
It’s good to be around someone who loves their work and is able to keep their attention, not captured, and yet one pointed on the job.
An example of “captured” attention would be the absent minded, yet brilliant professor, focusing on his work and not noticing that his clothes are all in tatters.
Do what you enjoy most. Be happy.
Love you one and all,
Ruth
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There are 2 places left at Aura Soma, so if you’ve been thinking about it, now is the time to book!
From Thursday 27th June – Monday 1st July at Dev Aura LN9 6QL - A fine, spacious, light country mansion set in beautifully landscaped gardens. In the nearby fields herbs are grown for their healing oils and bio-dynamic properties.
We are delighted that Narain, formerly an Ishaya Monk, is joining us in person again, to share his knowledge. He has a gift of revealing, in his simple way, the truths of yoga. The truths that lie beyond the physical aspects.
There will be a talk, class, and meal on the day of arrival and departure.
Our next Yoga Day is Wednesday 24th April.
Take a further step into the peace and quiet of the mind through the practice of asana, pranayama, and meditation.
Working on our weak links until they become our strengths.
Yoga Days 2024
Wednesday 24th-Apr, 8th-May, 5th-Jun, 10th-July, 11th-Sept, 16th-Oct, 13th-Nov, 11th-Dec
Yoga at Hawkwood, Painswick Old Road, Stroud, GL6 7QW
Thursday 27th – Sunday 29th September
Don’t miss out on Hawkwood, if you can’t manage the weekend then come along for an evening or weekend.
Saturday evening 5pm – 8.30pm - Class, supper, and talk – ‘The Power of Yoga’
Sunday day 9.45am – 4.15pm - Classes, talks, breathing, and mindfulness. Includes meals.
To enrol on this weekend please contact Hawkwood directly 01453 759034 / info@hawkwoodcollege.co.uk or book online at https://www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk/event/ruth-white-yoga/
If you are paying for a term or retreat, please email to let the office know, so that we can keep track. Thank you to those who already do this!