Awakening Ganesha

 July 1, 2005                       Monthly  Newsletter                                                  Volume 8  

Namaste,                              

   This month we welcome the International Yoga College back for their Summer module with Rama Jyoti Vernon and faculty July 7-11. For more details go to www.internationalyogacollege.com. The following weekend there will be a Conflict Resolution: Peace Strategies - Individual to Global with Rama and her husband Max Lafser July 15-17th. This is the third in a series. Newcomers are welcome and can join the workshop. We also have Jay Schwed back from California to play the singing crystal bowls while Kathleen Bryant leads a restorative yoga class. We have one Hatha yoga class on July 4th led by Ildiko - please join us if you in town or send your guests. Have a wonderful summer month. Stay cool!

Congratulations to the graduates of our June 2005 class!

Danae Robinett

Jennifer Lampe

Janet Muse

Kevin Afuso

Belle Starr

Heather Robertson

Tim Page

Sallie Thurman

Desiree Ryman

Luanda Fiscella

Paul Chacon

 Pomp and Ceremony - Beyond the Everyday

by Lionheart, Temple Cat

What is ceremony?

Ceremonies have been conducted from the beginning of time to commune with and draw upon spiritual powers and presences. You cannot have magic in life and the miracle of manifesting one's heart's desires like catching 3 lizards in one day without the harmonious exchange between humanity, cats and other orders of life. A ritual made sacred is ceremony- a pattern of sound, color, movement and intent that creates this liaison.

Preparing for ritual or ceremony

Preparing for ceremony involves all aspects of one's being. Prior to ceremony, the body should be properly cleansed by taking a bath. Baptism in water isn't necessary and spit baths are fine. Stay present and focus on breath awareness as you groom,washing behind the ears and whiskers with particular attention to be paid to one’s paws and feet... Or a dust bath is also acceptable to bring out the sheen or shine of one’s hair or fur.

Setting an Intention

In ceremony one consciously connects to the energies and divine beings of nature and the stars and planets at a particularly auspicious time and harnesses it to an intention or reason for holding the ceremony. Sometimes taking a cat nap can clarify through the dreamtime just what it is that you really want. Then set an intention mentally through pictures for example seeing a flock of sparrows napping underneath a bird feeder. Or write your vision down using present time, describing what you want to manifest and then sign it with the date, time and paw print for your signature.

Making an Offering

It is customary when asking for assistance small offerings of goodwill are made at the end of ceremony: donations, flowers, fruit, snails, small lizards, etc.  Birds with feathers are highly prized.

Ambaya's Corner....Practical Ayurveda

..This month wanted to share my friend’s personal experience with Ayurveda, so that you may gain insight as to what is possible if we follow some very basic Ayurvedic principles.

"Wow -- Ayurveda has changed my life! I came to see Ambaya to talk about my body being out of balance -- I was 50 pounds overweight, bloated, with a perpetually red face, poor digestion and no energy. Ambaya did an evaluation and it was the most amazing thing -- each time she pressed my pulse points, I could feel my body acting like a computer and releasing information to her. I have never felt anything like it.

 She put me on a tri-doshic diet to balance out all three doshas during a three hour session in which she explained Ayurvedic principles and how they apply to the human body and how all food is medicine. Well, I did what she said, and I lost 9 pounds in a week! It was incredible! I lost the bloatedness and the redness, and I didn't even have to take my powerful antacid medication (which I previously would have been sick without).

 It has been approx. five weeks and I have lost almost 25 pounds and three sizes and look and feel great!!! I have great energy, I look healthy (my face is not a big round red ball anymore) and I am not hungry, even though it seems like I hardly eat anything at all (in Ayurveda, you eat only what your cupped hands will hold). I see it is a much more moderate way of handling food than our "super-size" American culture. My hypoglycemia and blood pressure worries are over.

 I now ride my bicycle 5 miles a day and know I will remain with these principles the rest of my life. In the first few weeks when I was "testing" Ayurveda by eating junk food, I would get sick and feel the toxicity of it. Now I know what "real" food (in Western minds) does to my body, and it is not good. I also now understand why sometimes my muscles ache and my joints pop -- it is because my Vata is too high, and I eat foods to calm it down and bring it into balance.

I went to Ambaya for a short-term solution and found a way for health the rest of my life."

Margo Mateas

Sedona, AZ

7 Centers Yoga Arts

Upcoming Yoga Training and Special Workshops

Teacher Training Alumni News

I just completed a 10-day Vipassana Sit.  It was phenomenal to say the least and the "surgery" a smashing success.  I feel wonderful.  Thanks so much for introducing me to this spectacular form of self-healing. I love you cats and hope all is well with you.

Thanks again,

Stacey Northrup - Class: May, 2002

I started my business, Journey To You, in October of 2004 and began teaching at an elderly home. I'm still teaching there and really enjoying it. Plus, I'm teaching at 6 different gyms in the Boston area. In March, I signed a lease and started renovating a studio in downtown Boston! May 21 was the grand opening and one of the coldest, wettest and darkest days of May! So, I'm teaching yoga, offering meditation classes, Reiki Sessions and Reiki education.

Barbara Borman, RYT
President, Journey To You LLC
www.journey2u.com

Class: June, 2004

We love hearing from our students. What's new in your life? Are you teaching? Would you like to share something about your journey that might inspire others or help you reconnect with your classmates? Send us a note, and we'll pass it along. If you'd like to share your email address with former classmates, contact Sydney, and she'll help you keep in touch.