Yogi Jeff

May Newsletter

Jeff — Mon, 16 May 2011 15:19:48 +0000

I’ve been busy, I’m sure you have too. The last few weeks I took some time to balance the my life and went back to LA and Kauai for some re-balancing with family, friends and nature. LA/American life compared to Swiss/European life is always something I compare since I travel back and forth so much. It always depends on where I focus my attention and look for the beautiful. Here is a link of some photos of Kauai and Joshua Tree. Allow yourself to take in the beauty of the pictures. I am sure your health will improve and you may plan a holiday.

The big news this month is my new website. yogijeff.com

Now more friendly and informative, with a pages for schedule, photos retreats and more.

Always with love and the intention to uplift

Jeff Fisher

Yogijeff

April Newsletter

Jeff — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:05:53 +0000

I offer your these flowers…similarly, yoga offers beauty inward and outward, for our body and soul. What keeps me practicing each day is the fact that when I don’t I am out of balance. My flower dies…aches and pains. You know what I mean? Balance with our bodies takes getting into a habit each day and doing some kind of yoga practice. Yoga is different than jogging or other types of exercise but it also enhances them! I love to climb, surf, snow board etc. because of my yoga practice I am actually better at these sports.
But how do we take care of our soul? Our soul, the part of us that wants freedom, creativity, to taste the newness of life, to smell the sweetness of spring, hear the quiet at dawn or the simple knowing we are all connected and not separate from nature.
Yoga, all it’s variations, is the way to increasing our freedom. Just doing yoga releases creative energy to try new things. You know how good it feels after a yoga class! All parts of you are open: mind, body, heart and your soul. I wonder why people stop practicing yoga regularly? There are those days, but it shouldn’t be weeks. If I haven’t seen you for a while let me know what’s up? It’s spring time and we should have fun practicing together either in class or at the lake, on retreat but somewhere. See you soon.
Lot’s of love
Jeff

March Newsletter

Jeff — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:04:45 +0000

You may wonder why I chose the ✡ symbol. Many people associate this as the Star of David. A symbol used in Judaism, also named the Shield of David. The hexagram, two triangles placed in relationship with one another has been used in many traditions including yoga. The picture you see here is the heart chakra, anahata, within it is ✡. The downward facing triangle represents shakti as she descends downward, this represents spirit . The upward facing triangle is also shakti but represents shiva, the aspect of life that is constant, firm and steady. I chose this symbol to represent the process of yoga, for each time we descend inward to our hearts, meditate, we connect more to our soul. We all know what it feels like to be connected to our heart, body and soul. And when we are the outward vision of our lives shifts and becomes a play of creation, fueling even deeper exploration inward and outward.
Everyone I meet these days is shifting and changing, yoga helps us make responsible choices, and create a balanced life style. I look forward to walking the line of balance, falling off and getting back on with you.
…Inner Sanctum ✡ Outward Vision…

Jeff Fisher

February Newsletter

Jeff — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:38:02 +0000

January, the first month of 2011, has quickly passed. As we inevitably age what keeps us young? The physical body feels young with pleasure, old with pain. Hatha yoga, which most of us associateas yoga, is only one of the paths in tantra yoga. Yoga paths divide the study of the many philosophies of yoga traditions into bhakti, jnana and kriya. Bhakti yoga is associated with chanting and devotion to god from the heart. Jnana yoga is the knowledge of the complexity and interconnectedness of yoga philosophy. And kriya or karma yoga ranges from selfless-service to rituals to the spontaneous movement of the inner shakti. Ultimately, all 3 paths cannot be separated. Just like you can’t separate your head from you heart, your heart from your body etc.

Why do we practice yoga? To have fun, to enjoy being flexible and strong, learn how to heal the body of pain? Or to sit for meditation longer, to purify the body, to have an inner awakening? I sayYES to all of these. But there’s more.

Creating an Inner Sanctum is part of the theme this year. My experience is the more I focus on inner practices; qualities of patience, trust, truthfulness, discrimination and joy arise. We’ve heard the body is the temple, and Inner Sanctum is the hrdyam, the sacred place built because of your efforts. The heart, mind and body communicating together create the Inner Sanctum. This sounds like yoga to me!

A high life quality is how much you love yourself, know yourself, exercise and actively practice doing it. Hatha yoga helps us have a better quality of life. It make me enter my heart, mind and body simutaniously.

So what makes me young? Discovering the more. How much better can life get?

Let’s make our world become the reflection of the time we spend actively with devotion, creating our Inner Sanctum. Let’s go for it! Nothing to loose…!

January Newsletter

Jeff — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 18:41:29 +0000

The last 2 weeks of December I embarked on the Pilgrimage to India knowing transformation would happen. As if 2010 wasn’t enough change already! 2010 has finally past, and now 2011.Personally, 2010 marked an end to my living relationship with my wife, Daniela and Raphael, her son. We have grown in between the painful cracks of separation like light shinning through the temples. Each in our own way, and I’m happy to say we still share moments together and maintain appreciation, fondness and love for moments shared and future.During the Holiday, the pilgrimage took me to the 6 Muragan (son of Shiva) Temples in Tamil Nadu, India with Dr. Douglas Brooks and 25 other pilgrims. Taking a pilgrimage is about finding what you are made of and God. Whats is God? I looked into the eyes of God, and found Her within the thousands of other pilgrims, and symbolized by the hundreds of deities who stared back at me. Opinions about God create a healthy difference in you and me, yoga is this relationship, the conversation of sharing our inner contemplation and learning and yoking it in the world. As Douglas says, “We are different but not separate”.
The practice of darshan, seeing is the pinicle of the pilgrimage. Seeing God in nature, the inner sanctum of a temple, the eye of a villager, is a daily, sometimes yearly pilgrimage, private and personal, shared for the joy of being seen and seeing God. I must admit when a local villager looked into my eyes with deep purity, curiosity and admiration I felt exposed and vulnerable. It broke me down.

Traveling through India in a bus of 25 Americans is a journey itself. My mind on a ride of past, present and future impressions, feelings and thoughts both comforting and challenging. Their darshan was my enlightenment. Upon entering the inner sanctum of the temples, to have darshan, to see, the deity, the refection of my projection, many emotions arose. Anything I wished to project onto and into the moment I could. The choice was mine. Many times, I was touched, my heart opened. Other times, I was more impressed by the bhramis’ chanting or the eyes of other pilgrims shinning with devotion, longing and prayer. And honestly, other times the dry doubter inside would say “What am I doing here?” “Whats this all about.” “This is crazy.”

Finding God, how we turn inward to create a sacred life, is a pilgrimage to our heart. With a continuous reflection inward our inner sanctuary becomes the crystal prism our outward vision is a projection of. God wants to see Us as much as we want to see God. The lover wants to see You as much as You want to see the Lover.

This year my intention to share with you:

Inner Sanctuary ….. Outward Vision

Let’s celebrate life today and comfort each other when needed
with love, Jeff