BarefootAndUpsideDown

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | February 19, 2010

Death reminds me that there is really only one way to live. From the heart of love.
Returned last night from burying Mom in North Carolina. A devoted Catholic, Priscilla Lasecki Kieber embodied the heart of bhakti yoga.
Whether she was sitting on the beach, enjoying the beauty of the rolling oceanic waves, preparing cake for a [...]

Category: Life, Poetry, Spirituality, VIDEO THURSDAYS | 9 Comments »
Tags: bhakti, compassion, death, Henri Nouwen, Kahlil Gibran, love, Poetry, Priscilla Lasecki Kieber, the Beloved

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | January 29, 2010

Yoga Sutra 1.13 : tatra sthitau yatno’bhyasah
Bernard Bouanchaud’s translation: Persevering practice is the effort to attain and maintain the state of mental peace.
Patanjali tells us here that practice IS the effort to maintain inner peace. I’ve often wondered how I could maintain anything when I am twirling off into anger, or joy, or sadness, [...]

Category: Meditation, Spirituality, Sutra | 2 Comments »
Tags: awareness, emotions, Eve Ensler, Meditation, Yoga Sutra

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | October 22, 2009

What is it that I am waiting for? Why do I think I am not good enough or strong enough or smart enough or beautiful enough or kind enough? Why is the ripeness, the fullness of my existence so difficult to accept?
Why do I think someone is more ~ or less ~ then my self? [...]

Category: Life, Poetry, Spirituality, VIDEO THURSDAYS, journaling | 7 Comments »
Tags: gratefulness.org, Gratitude, Jane Hirschfield

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | June 18, 2009

You don’t need to espouse Buddhism or Hinduism or any religion at all to practice yoga and meditation.
However, we can learn much from the Buddha’s life and the practices he developed and incorporate them as a means of deepening our own spiritual journey.
Here is the fascinating story of Siddhartha’s life from the BBC and Discovery [...]

Category: Meditation, Peace, Spirituality, VIDEO THURSDAYS | 2 Comments »
Tags: buddha, buddhism, Clive Maltby, Focus, Lumbini, Meditation, mindfulness, obstacles, practice, Siddartha, the life of the buddha, video

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | June 11, 2009

Poetry can be used as a wonderful tool for your meditation. There is a layer of a good poem that is “off the page.” When I teach poetry, I ask my students to try to understand, not only the literal interpretation of a given poem, but also whatever levels they find off the page.
Often, we [...]

Category: Poetry, Spirituality, VIDEO THURSDAYS, journaling | No Comments »
Tags: "Only Breath" "Say I Am You", Anoushka Shankar, Eleni Karaindrou, IshqDaFakeer, Jallaludin al Rumi, Meditation, mystical poetry, rahmama2, reading poetry, sufism, video

carolyn aka LaughingYogini | March 18, 2009

Today’s post comes from blogger, twitter-friend, yogini, coach, mom, and gratitude chick, LaSara. She posted it on Mar. 13, 2009.
Catholicism influences my practice and teaching in many subtle and grand ways, hmmm — food for another post!
Anyway, I am honored to reproduce La Sara’s thoughts on Lenten practices here. Be sure to check [...]

Category: Life, Spirituality | 2 Comments »
Tags: Catholicism, gratitude chick, LaSara, Lenten, observances