Yoga Pool Party Time!!!!

I wanted to share some new awesome photos from our Bhakti Yoga Shala Teacher Training, Spring 2012!!!  Included here is Tadasana/Kirtan day, Acrayoga day plus our beautiful sunny day by the pool!  So happy to be sharing this beautiful journey with you all :)

Oziris, David and I at Tadasana Yoga Festival's 12 Hour Kirtan at Bhakti Yoga Shala!!

YTT beach day picnic!

John, Sonia, Jazmine & Jessica!

Hard to tell but that's me cheering on sweet Jessica (center photo) who daringly jumped headfirst into the freezing Pacific and checked off her bucket list! :)

Jessica and Victoria!

AcraYoga day: Flying Pose! (combines: Acrobat, Thai massage and Yoga)

Flying pose with Govindas spotting Rob and John!

Flying Whale Pose with Laura, Pamela & Victoria... such lovely heart opening pose!

Pool Party getting started at my house with Jazmine, John and Tony and some YUMMY guacamole made by Alexis!

John, Tony and I!

Victoria fixin' some fresh watermelon. Yum!

Oziris so happy by the pool :)

Julia you are awesome!

Brave, first one to jump in!

Oziris the monkey man makes some waves!

All of us Bhakti Yoga TT's together!

Enjoying the hot tub after cannon balls in the cold pool!

xoxoxo

Alexis on the rope swing!

that's me going for it, ha!

so happy to be there!

Laura looks so excited!

weeeeeeeee!

Valentino, a true entertainer at heart...

captures the moment perfectly!

Cawabunga Tom!

Kalidas and I doing some final touches on our kickstarter video for our new and upcoming DOCUMENTARY, titled "LA SADHU." so excited to be working on this!! more on this to come SOON!!!!

I've had SUCH an amazing and beautiful experience so far learning, getting to know and bonding with everyone at Bhakti Yoga Shala Teacher Training, Spring 2012.  All of you are such beautiful gems inside and out! This is such a sweet, awesome, fun and positive time of growth through our devotion, love and joy.  Our yoga practice is such a gift that has brought us together.  Feels like home!

Namaste <3

New Spring Chapter: Yoga Teacher Training!

It has been a great day so far! Woke up very leisurely on my day off, close to 11am, and had no guilt about it either. Yesterday was such a nice yet extremely loooong day and that was running on only four hours of sleep, so I felt no shame in catching up on my sleep this morning. Also I intentionally made no plans today because I precisely wanted no obligation to anyone else except myself today and the things I want and also need to do. Today has been a day of tending to me and getting some much needed R & R.

First I'd like to share that I officially began my Yoga Teacher Training two weekends ago at Bhakti Yoga Shala with the great and inspiring Govindas as my teacher!


It is an especially blessed and wonderful opportunity because I was able to work out a Yoga work trade with Govindas to help him with his own personal projects and also as an assistant to him during this Yoga Teacher Training program. Essentially what I am doing in exchange for taking this training, is:

1. taking really detailed notes of everything that we do and talk about during the entire program (which is awesome because it means I am invested in being the best student I can be! :) 
2. I am to bring my camera with me to each class and shoot anything that is especially interesting, such as Govind-das talking about a really interesting topic, the students doing various “asanas” (physical Yoga poses), etc. In the future, Govind-das wants me to put together both a promotional video with short interesting clips edited together with music for both his studio – Bhakti Yoga Shala, and for his Yoga Teacher Training course as well. 
3. I clean up around the studio before/after our classes, light candles, sweep floors, etc.
4. Anything else he may need! 

Govindas is very busy as an owner of Bhakti Yoga Shala, as a Yoga teacher, along with leading our Yoga TT happening now and a future one abroad, as well as a Kirtan music touring around the country (and abroad I think), writing a book and being a husband and father – Wow! And I thought I was busy, haha! Anyway, this is a really wonderful opportunity that I have right now and I just feel so blessed to be going deeper on my spiritual path and learning a lot more about Yoga! I have been wanting to do this for almost two years now, and have always thought about becoming a Yoga teacher. Who knows, in a year from now, maybe I will be teaching some of you dear people Yoga!?

Ganesha statue in Bhakti Yoga Shala studio

Anyhow, when I woke up this morning, I did part of the homework Govindas gave us to do this week. I built myself a little makeshift alter and meditated for about thirty minutes. We were told to only do five minutes, but again today has been about leisure and an easy pace, so I took my sweet time. :) One of the students had asked if it was alright if we make a temporary sort of alter where we build it and take it down each day. Govindas said yes, of course. So I was encourage by that to set up my little alter right next to the gorgeous pool in our backyard. Ever since we moved into this gigantic mansion as house-sitters several months back, I have mostly been drawn to the backyard space and the pool and trees. Maybe because it has officially been turned Spring, and also because we are set to move out in May, I realize I don't have much time left to enjoy this pool and backyard, so I m led to soak up as much time and pleasure as I can while we are still here. I grabbed whatever I could find easily accessible that would fit in my makeshift alter. A beautiful dark wood candle holder with an Asian clay Buddha face glued to the back that my dear friend Sara gave to me for my birthday years ago in college. A long brass cross necklace Nate gave me when he first moved to California. A gorgeous floral and vintage style collage cylinder art piece my sister gave me for Christmas. A tiny wooden box with an owl carved into the top that I gave to Nate for Christmas. Four freshly picked white roses off one of the rose bushes in the backyard. My yoga mat. My gloriously beautiful large-sized “Great Yoga Retreats” picture book Nate got for me. My new "Bhagavad Gita" book I just got for Yoga TT (a translation of the original Yoga texts).

It also dawned on me that every element from the “Five Great Elements of Ayurveda” were all around me, awakening my senses: 1. Earth (the grass and earth beneath me and trees around me) 2. Water (the pool) 3. Fire (the lit candle) 4. Air (the air around me and breath in me) 5. Ether (the mental and emotional space this meditative practice gives me).

I set up the alter around one of the corners of the pool, the sunshine glistening through the large tree onto the aqua blue pool. The soothing sound of the babbling baby waterfall coming down from the hot tub onto the pool calming my mind as I sat in the half lotus / Suhkasana (easy sitting pose) on my yoga mat facing my alter, the pool and trees my backdrop.

For a few minutes I based in the warmth of the sun, the soothing sounds of running water and the birds with their melodious chirping and the breeze rustling through the trees all around me. My senses were in heaven. The first page I flipped to in my "Great Yoga Retreats" book by Angelika Taschen, was a girl in white robes sitting in lotus pose on the edge of a gorgeous aqua blue pool somewhere in southeast Asia with palm trees around her and a half Buddha/half mermaid carved into the edge of the pool. It looked like a postcard for serenity. I found it striking how similar I look to this brown-skinned Asian girl with long black hair. I smiled.

Govindas said we could outwardly or inwardly chant or sing one of the mantas we learned. The tune of "Shanti, Shanti, Shanteeeee-eeee-eei," played in my mind, so I started singing that, simultaneously practicing my best “Ujjayi” breath (also known as “Ocean breath”) while I chanted. After sweeping up my hands towards the sky during an inhale and pressing my palms together into a prayer pose, and on my next exhale letting it first fall to the crown of my head, then my Third Eye, then to my lips and finally resting at my Heart chakra. My spine was tall and my mind felt clear. After this mantra I tried the simple “Om” chant a few times. After a full inhale I started chanting the sound 'Aaaaa,' transitioning into 'Auuuuu' then ending with 'Ommmmm.' This tri-fold sound is associated with the trinity “Brahma – Vishnu – Shiva.” “Brahma” means God as Creator and is the first sound 'Aaaaa.' “Vishnu” means The Preserver (or Sustaining Energy) and is the second sound 'Auuuu.' “Shiva” is The Destroyer (or Dissolving Energy) and is the last sound 'Ommmm.' Then, I actually surprised myself by remembering the “Guru Invocation Chant” we learned in Yoga TT this weekend! Even though I couldn't remember the tune of the song I made up my own melody which ended up being quite fun! :)

Namaste <3

After all of this meditating and chanting by the pool in the glorious sun I felt completely relaxed, recharged, energized and ready for my beautiful day to begin. I rode my bike to the grocery store and stuffed all my groceries in the basket attached to the back of my bike. Since it was a Whole Foods in Brentwood, with BMW's and Lexuses rolling by, I noticed a couple of onlookers at my concentrated effort to cram all of my stuff into my basket so it would all fit and nothing would fall out on my way back home. The greatest thing was noticing it but not being afraid of what anybody thought of me. In fact it was quite joyful realizing what a silly hippie I probably looked like with my two pigtail braids and my basket on the back of my bike. HA!

Nate got me this GORGEOUS electric ENELOOP bike for my birthday :)

As I started riding home, I felt overcome with a joy to be alive and to be feeling really comfortable in my own skin at this lovely point in my life. I also was thinking about how happy I am to get to spend most of my day off today with Nate (we are going on a date later tonight :). His birthday is coming up next week so I asked the lady working in the Whole Foods “Body department” what kinds of things I could get for him that weren't too “girly.” She chuckled and asked “Well how comfortable is he with girly kinds of things?” We both looked around the entirely girly section of the store filled with handmade soaps, scented lotions, soy candles and eco-friendly makeup. “Well, he's pretty comfortable with his feminine side if that's what your asking,” I said. LOL. She pointed me to a gorgeous bag of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt Massage Stones that you can heat up and use to massage your sweetie into blissful relaxation. 'Perfect gift!' I thought. “Yes, I'll take it please!”

Halfway home from the store, I spotted my sweetie walking down the sidewalk, completely barefoot and adorable. “Babe! What are you doing walking down here barefoot!” I asked, so happy to see him just when I was thinking about him and his birthday. “I was worried about you. You were gone for so long.” Awwww what a true sweetheart I have. We walked back to the house – he walked my bike with all the groceries in the back – and just talked about life. It dawned on me this weekend during my Yoga TT that many of the virtues stated in the “8 Limbs of Yoga (or 8 Steps) have coincidentally been happening in my life for the last few months. Nate asked me what was that. Well after reading the incredibly life-changing book I picked up at Whole Foods called “The Food Revolution,” by John Robbins, we became vegans in January. Although we have cheated and had some cheese (Yummmm. Cheese.), we have stayed pretty consistently vegan. And the first thing in the 1^st Limb of Yoga – part of the “Yamas” (Universal Morality) – states “Compassion for all living things.” This is why traditionally Yogis have always followed a purely vegetarian diet.

Then just two days ago, I had a needed talk with Nate about being happy with what we have. Even though we don't always have that much money and not that much time, we can't take for granted how lucky and blessed we are to have each other. To have found true love.

My favorite picture from our Save the Date engagement photo shoot - Photo taken by Odd Hynnekleiv :)

This is a HUGE lesson for me. In a world where advertising and commercials and billboards tell us what we should desire, it can become easy to think that if we just have this thing or that thing, we will finally be happy. But this just isn't true.

LA billboard

Later that day, I had an amazing class with one of my favorite Yoga teachers, Shari Goodhartz, about the virtue of Contentment, meaning being happy and accepting exactly what is available to us right here, right now and not trying to push our boundaries to attain more that we can really handle. She was specifically talking about our Yoga practice and being OK if we couldn't go quite as deep or far as we wanted; sometimes that extra inch of flexibility or advanced pose just isn't available to us at that moment. And that's OK. The beauty of Yoga is we only need to focus on what is happening right here, right now on this mat. No need to compare ourselves to the guy next to us. This practice is not a competition. It's a unique spiritual experience. And I've been realizing this is so true in my life as well. We can spend so much time and energy seeking to “keep up with the Jones'” as they say, but what we often end up with is unhappiness and wasted energy that way. As it turned out, after realizing this great truth the other day, I found out yesterday in my Yoga TT with Govindas, “Santosa” (Contentment) is the second truth of the 2^nd Limbs of Yoga, called “Niyama” (Personal Observance). Coincidence? I think not :)

I believe synchronicity is being weaved into the fabric of my life now. I just feel so blessed to see this unfolding like a blossoming spring flower while I am embarking on a deeper level of my spiritual path during this Yoga Teacher Training. As I continue doing this for the next two months, I intend to keep observing, writing and sharing what keeps unfolding on this beautiful journey into my heart.

Namaste <3

Cassie

(PS: I wrote this yesterday, but had too much fun going out on my date with Nate last night so am only now getting this up here today :)

Date Night!!!

A Day at Home

Watching my love leave as I watched from through the glass door and through the gated driveway I felt that familiar feeling I remember feeling so poignantly when someone I really loved had to go as a child.  This bittersweet feeling... No... I don't want to be here without you.  I love you.  I don't want to miss you.  My heart hurts when we are apart.

And maybe it's because we've both been so busy.  Busy-ness really does have a way of catching up with you, after too much time of neglect, you're left with a stinging longing in your heart.  To spend more time with the one you really love, doing the things you really love.

I had another strange notion as I looked out and saw the beautiful, graceful branches of green extend out from the large tree in the front yard.  When I find myself alone I often find friendship - kinship - in nature.  With the trees and their kind branches offering hugs of support, their sturdy trunks offering hope and strength, their roots offering a feeling of grounded-ness and safety... Trees throughout my life have always been there to let me cry for whatever I was grieving for or missing in my life, as well as offer love, guidance and a sense of playful joy.

And then the beautiful sun.  The play of light dancing through the trees and touching my face and eyelashes with such bright and warm kindness.  A good minute in the sun's glory can quell almost any sadness I may feel.

They say sometimes, your heart has to be vulnerable in order to open and let in the love. Sometimes a good cry is the best form of therapy because it truly cleanses the soul.  I needed a day to come down from the busy-ness and spend time at home, savoring the time I had with Nate, before he had to go, as well as basking in the light and sweetness of nature around me.  I needed some time to process what is happening in my life at the moment and be tender with Nate and with myself.

The words Nate spoke before he left play in my mind... Even though we might be apart physically, I will always be here with you for the rest our lives.  You are never alone. I am always here with you...  We hugged a giant hug.  Hugs are awesome.  They are able to go beyond words and speak of the deep love that make two hearts in love inseparable.  I am so happy to have found the love of my life that I will be marrying in less that five months <3 <3 <3

Exploring Nate's favorite hike down to the Oswald Beach in Oregon

Cuddling in the roots of a giant moss-covered tree on the coast of Oregon <3

The Power and Beauty of a Japanese Garden

Nate and I visited "Gardens of The World" in Thousand Oaks, CA, with his history of landscape architecture class the other day.  I was immediately drawn to the last garden we saw, the Japanese Garden.

picture from http://www.gardensoftheworld.info/Index.cfm

I was drawn to the organic lines curving here and there.  The rich experience.  The sense of an unfolding and unpredictable journey this garden beckoned me on as I entered it's little threshold.  At the entrance were two adorable bonsai tree arrangements - one I believe was maple and the other, pine.  You could just imagine little people going there to take a peaceful nap under the sweet shade of that tiny tree.  As you walked the winding, rambling path you entered a gorgeous Japanese Pagoda with beautiful lanterns hanging from the top. 

Cascade at Nanzen-ji garden in Kyoto [Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

Then a baby waterfall leading down rocks to a gorgeous pond complete with lily pads and koi fish.  These lovely fish live to be about 60 years old! Quite amazing.  Then there are all kinds of different sized rocks placed around the whole garden, lending a sense of stability and balance to the viewer.  Across the pond from the Pagoda is a thicket of luscious bamboo, providing great shade to the garden.  The cool, breezy air that comes off the top waterfall cools me down in this hot desert land.  The different kinds of plants and flowers all flow effortlessly into the next patch of species.

View of Suizen-ji, a miniature mountain resembling Mount Fuji [Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

picture from http://www.gardensoftheworld.info/Index.cfm

This garden is in such stark contrast to the rest of the western, European style gardens.  While the main element I see in the French, Italian, Spanish, American gardens is perfect symmetry with bold straight lines and axises and a dominant "look at me!" sort of statement, this little Japanese garden is so subtle in contrast.  Tucked away in the inner most corner, it feels perfectly balanced yet asymmetrical in design.  It was also interesting to note how unassuming this garden was in comparison to the other gardens.  The other gardens could be seen bold and clear from further outside the garden (before entering).

The north garden at Ninna-ji in Kyoto, a classic promenade garden 
[Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

[Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

However this Japanese garden was somewhat hidden and could really only be experienced upon entering it.  Unfolding like petals opening in a lotus flower, there were layers to be peeled back as you walked further into the garden.  The experience was rich with these layers and quite thrilling in its unpredictable, hidden and meandering nature.  All of its subtle power and energy really only occurs inside of the garden, looking out, in contrast to more western style gardens, whose majesty can definitely be admired at from the outside, looking in (just think Versailles, France).  Two opposite styles or philosophies - both profound and powerful - in strikingly different ways.

Gardens and palace of Versailles in 1746, by the abbot Delagrive [Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

Bird's eye view of the gardens of Versailles. 19th century. [Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

I am instinctively drawn to this style, this school of thought, this philosophical approach to gardening, art and even life.  I mean neither style is really better than the other.  They both serve their function and purpose very well.  It's just that the more Western style denotes aspects and values of great structure, order, symmetry, power and man-made manicured nature, which I believe is held predominantly and conventionally in our modern, American, western world.  Just look at conventional schools of thought, education, art and design.

A winding stream at Mōtsū-ji garden in Hiraisumi [Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

With its organic curves (versus straight lines) and meandering walkways and seemingly "random" placement of objects, plants and elements (such as rocks and water) - everything feels so very natural and effortless.  Although the amount of "effort" and "thought" put into it might very well have been a great deal more than in the more conventional Western style of gardens.  To create straight (or curvy) lines, points of axis and control where the eye is drawn to is a key aspect in any style of art or gardening.  However the way in which this occurs can be night and day.

"Moonlit Landscape With A View Of The New Amstel River & Castle Kostverloren" ca. 1647, 
by Aert Van Der Neer, Dutch, Oil on Panel [Cassie Goodluck's photo taken at The Getty Center, 
Los Angeles, Ca.]

My mom, an artist her whole life, always preferred and taught me, her young and aspiring artist, the art of "Asymmetry," with an eye for creating a "sense of balance" on the canvas between objects, and veering away from the "boring and elementary" use of symmetry.  She simultaneously taught me to direct or encourage where the eye is drawn on the canvas - to the most important focal point(s).  This is the work of every artist in conveying meaning and structure without obviously or forcefully telling them how to interpret what they see.

Carefully positioned stones around the pond in Ritsurin Garden. 
[Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

In this way, the Japanese garden was subtle yet very powerful and affected me on a much deeper and more soulful way.  With the European style gardens - it was a much more immediate response upon entering - "Oh, OK, I get it - my eye looks at that most elevated point of convergence where all the straight lines are pointing."  And from far way in an ancient town in Europe, this makes perfect sense.  The points of power - these are the focal points in which the eyes is drawn to.  Culturally, this can determine places of importance - either religiously sacred or politically powerful.  It demands respect and a sense of awe.

Bassin de Latone – Latona Fountain with the tapis vert and the Grand Canal in the background [Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

Yet in nature and in the more Zen, Eastern style of art and gardening, this doesn't seem so apparent or obvious.  And being obvious does not appear to be valuable neither desirable in this kind of art or design.  Instead, a more subtle, natural power of the whole experience, seems to be encouraged.

Saihō-ji (Kyoto), also known as the "Moss Garden", begun in 1339 [Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

In a much more curvy, flowing, organic and circular fashion as opposed to lines, geometry and linear logic, one gathers a full and complete experience only as one enters, meanders, contemplates and finally exits the garden.  As I am learning, this Eastern style is related to the great spiritual beliefs in the flow of Chi (or energy).  The flow, harmony and balance created is what matters.  This is sacredly held dear to Eastern cultures and what is so delicately created and portrayed in just about every aspect of their daily lives.  There truly seems to be an art to living and to every other aspect of life... eating, cooking, presenting food, placement of objects (feng shui), holistic medicine (holistic=whole person), art, gardening and even serving tea!  I believe there are very subtle yet powerful tools to be learned in this kind of special and enlightened art that can be applied to all aspects of living, especially gardening.

Murin-an in Kyoto [Public Domain Image c/o WikiCommons]

This Japanese garden affected me deeply.  I realized it had real potential for revitalization and healing for the human spirit, mind and body.  I think Nate and I creating one of these little, hidden gems nestled in our future home, and possibly in the homes of others - perfect for contemplation, tranquility and meditation - is definitely in order...