Author: Jivani Lisa

I'm a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and National Certified Counselor (NCC) who loves all things spiritual. Find me on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/JivaniLisaDYoga
Spirituality

Lahaina’s Banyan Tree

Jivani Lisa

I still have such a love for Hawaii; I lived there for over nine years. I’m just heartbroken over the fires that have destroyed Lahaina on Maui: a town full of such beauty and history. Dozens of people have died, hundreds of structures have been destroyed, thousands of people evacuated. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be there. Some dramatic online videos are available showing people slowly driving through roads with fire all around them.

And since I have always loved trees (they were my first connection to Spirit as a child), I must say I’m so sad over the scorching of Lahaina’s famous banyan tree brought from India (the birthplace of Yoga) in 1873. People in Lahaina are unsure whether it will survive. Earlier this year, the town had a 150-year “birthday party” for the tree. The tree had grown to the size of an entire city block! If you’ve never seen a banyan tree, it puts down roots from its branches which can become additional trunks of the same tree. I remember walking around underneath this fascinating tree in the 1990s. I’d never seen anything like it – so full of beauty and Spirit. I imagine many people over the years experienced times of profound meditation under this sacred tree.

My heart and my prayers are with the people of Maui during this most challenging time.

Lahaina’s banyan tree

Photo from https://www.mauiinn.com/module/news/30555/what-are-the-top-things-to-do-in-lahaina-maui

Vibrant Health, Yoga

Styles of Hatha Yoga

Jivani Lisa

Nowadays there are many varieties of group yoga classes offered in recreation centers, yoga studios, gyms, and other locations. The word “hatha” is often used to refer to these physical classes in a general way. “Hatha” is a Sanskrit word that literally means sun-moon. The practice is designed to engage the body in a balanced way using opposites (sun-moon) such as right/left, up/down, forward/backward to help maintain physical health and well-being.

Prospective yoga students often feel stumped about the wide variety of names used for group classes. How to decide on a class that would be most appropriate for one’s needs? Here is a useful guide I designed for my university students:

— Gentle classes may be called Intro to Yoga, Beginners, Gentle, Hatha, Chair Yoga or (the most gentle) Restorative Yoga.

— A focus on deep stretching is called Yin Yoga (based on Taoist Chinese practices).

— Moderate intensity classes may be called Hatha or Slow Flow Yoga.

— Intense classes may be called Flow, Power, Vinyasa or Ashtanga Yoga.

I recommend a variety of styles depending on what you need each time you practice. For example, sometimes you need to be challenged, and sometimes you need to take it easy and de-stress. Private sessions can be a wonderful way to get exactly what you need each time you meet with your teacher.

Please use my Contact Page to ask questions or share your concerns. Namaste….

My Slow Flow Yoga class at Onelife Fitness, Norfolk

Spirituality

Blind People & the Elephant

Jivani Lisa

I love the metaphor of the elephant and the blindfolded people (or blind men) who have never seen an elephant. This story originated in India over 2,000 years ago as a way to illustrate our human tendency to assume that our own subjective experience of a thing is all there is to it. In the spiritual realm, the elephant represents God or Ultimate Reality or Higher Consciousness (whatever you wish to call it) and the ways humans argue about what that is and how to describe it. Basically, there IS an Ultimate Reality, but no one has ever experienced the totality of it and therefore, can never describe it accurately. So… let’s stop arguing and actually listen to one another. Let’s give people space to experience what they need to experience to grow and develop their own Being.

Peace to all!

More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant

Spirituality, Yoga

Sadhana: The 6 Branches of Integral Yoga

Jivani Lisa

Join my In-Person 18-hour training — Sadhana: The 6 Branches of Integral Yoga (July 22-23, 2023), Hampton, Virginia. Register by July 10th to enjoy the early bird discount.

Register here: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/asp/main_enroll.asp?fl=true&tabID=8

In this weekend session (Saturday and Sunday, 9:00AM-6:00PM), we will dive deeply into the six branches of Integral Yoga (karma, bhakti, jnana, raja, hatha, japa), learning how to utilize them in our own lives as yogis and yoga teachers. When we have a solid personal practice, we present ourselves as whole and authentic in the world. This course will include presentations, discussions, journaling exercises, and physical (hatha) practice including meditation. The session is open to yoga teachers (for continuing education credit) and anyone who is interested in the subject matter. Join us!

Spirituality

Bearing Good Fruit

Jivani Lisa

There are religious fundamentalists and ultra-conservatives in every religion. They are quite convinced they’re the only ones who are “saved” while everyone else is an outcast and doomed. Most religious believers (in every religion) are NOT like this. On the contrary, they are filled – or aiming to be filled – with love and compassion and wish to share this love with others. God (or whatever you wish to call It) is Love. Therefore, a person who does not exist as a loving presence in the world has not truly experienced God (or whatever you call It).

Jesus, the Christ, put it like this: “By their fruits you will know them.” (See Matthew 7:15-20.) Trust your gut, your heart. If you feel judged rather than loved and welcomed, look elsewhere. Mostly, look within your own heart – where Love, Light, and Peace always exist somewhere deep inside. You can learn to contact and trust this place deep within you. All the practices of Yoga are meant to help us find and live our lives from this place. And from this place, we can become the bearers of good fruit.

Peace to all! OM… OM… OM…

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Pexels.com