An Alison Miller Blog

This evening during yoga class at the Maui Studio,  I brought up the topic of addiction and devotion.  On the surface the two may appear very similar.  However, under the surface the differences are very clear.  Addiction is the motivation to seek to gain something outside oneself whereas devotion is to seek to evolve something within oneself.  One leaves us feeling empty and the other guides us to connect to that which is full inside ourselves already.  Devotion is not a quality we commonly see highlighted in western society.  More often our addictions are glamorized.  Whether it be relationship, food, money, beauty etc., it seems media offers endless solutions to fill these addictions.  Where it is not often we find  commercial promoting the  long lasting impact of breathwork  or meditation, unless specifically sponsored by an organization offering these experiences.  Why is that?  What would happen to our society if we stopped engaging in addiction and started living from devotion?

Technology amazes me.  Living in Maui, floating on a rock in the middle of the sea and still global teachings reach me.  I have been enjoying the Oprah Winfrey Soul Series.  Oprah  recently stated, during her unprecedented 10 week interview series with acclaimed author Ekhart Tolle, “I don’t think there’s anything more important than awakening now and knowing what your purpose is.”  Ekhart Tolle responded:  “Yes. And the answer may not immediately come. A very important part of asking life, so that you can be ready to receive the answer, is to practice inviting moments of stillness into your life so that you’re not continuously absorbed in the incessant mental noise that we call thinking; most of which is unnecessary and repetitive.” This is yoga. Learning to still the thoughts.

So what do we do to change from a life of over-scheduling our time, over-spending, eating poorly, and worrying about what will happen next in our lives? How do we move from living in a world of what if’s?  When there is news of financial crisis on every news channel, radio station, and newspaper and the emotional upheaval invoked is relentless.  How do we experience the stillness within, where all solutions are found, during this time?  It begins with simple steps. One of which is eating differently.  Eating for our awakening.  Nutrifying the natural intelligence in our cells is a critical part of our personal and planetary transformation. We have been duped by large corporations and media for generations promoting foods and substances that dumb us down, numb our creativity and annihilate our full self expression. All of which are the necessary tools to navigate current change.  I ask you to ask yourself this question. What if you were born for this time?  Are you fully living the gifts & talents that are meant to reveal through you? What if you were born for this time?  What if now is the time to face your fears? What if the world outside is the world inside you?  What if your expression is the wing upon which the world awakens? Like the caterpillar changing into the butterfly….

Many people who refer to Maui also refer to Maui as the mother.  Mother Maui.   Seeking a place of refuge, to people from around the globe, Maui offers solace, grace, and love in the expression of her natural beauty.   While the world changes, economies hiccup, environments uproot,  neuroses rise, markets crumble. There is a prayer that I offer:  “Divine mother, teach me to stand unshaken amidst the crashing of breaking of worlds.” The practice of yoga is to live within the solid partnership with the center of your soul . It is here where we can take refuge. When the airline tickets are to costly to travel take an inner journey to connect with your unshakable ground.

The waning moon over Maui is shining bright tonight.  A tropical breeze blows gently and misty clouds are dancing in the sky.  After leaving this evenings kirtan, devotional singing, event I caught a glimpse of the moon framed by the rocking frawns of the resident palm trees.  Doing a yoga of their own, balancing and breathing, I stopped in my tracks and asked my friend, “how blessed are we?”.  In all honesty I really had to ask.  Because sometimes the mind can forget to connect the miraculousness of daily nature.  Through our regular yoga practice we begin to become more sensitized to our environment and then remember we too are a part of nature.  Yoga draws us back to a place of living from our own true nature.  In some odd, magical and scientific way all the twisting, turning and pretzel like manuveurs we do, land us back onto the powerful strip of knowing which exsists beyond all time and embodies all beings into Oneness. Who would have thought a sequence of postures could excavate our ego’s so pointedly. Leaving behind the world of should’s, the drive for external validation, and the misplaced value system of a materially driven society to birth a new world, a new paradigm where we understand our purpose in life is to shine like the beams of a moon.  As naturally as this light falls to the earth is as naturally as we are designed to move through the world in our daily life.  What a thought you were born to be as the beam of light is to the moon?  Hmmm, things to ponder on this moonlit Maui yogi night.

I was in the locally famous cafe, Anthony’s, of Paia, Maui last week. While waiting in line for my scrumptious blueberry smoothie, I overheard two gentlemen speaking. The conversation was highlighting, largely, the increase in cost of shipping of goods to Maui. The undertone of the overall conversation was one of dread and unhappiness. Whether it was the flooding of sugary blue that entered my belly or simply years of training to be self-reflective I had a flash of insight during there conversation. I created a movie screen in my mind. I could see the joy of these men. I saw them laughing and talking about what they were happiest about. I imagined a yoga retreat of an instantaneous nature descending upon them. Providing the feelings of being relaxed, inspired and deeply connected to their best selves. Now, keep in mind, the unassuming cafe patrons had no idea what I was creating in my mind. Yet, there was an immediate lift in their tone and the first gentleman, who had a daughter, was suddenly disctracted by her request for a blueberry smoothie! He laughed and smiled and the conversation changed direction. A short and sweet story to share the way we can uplift ourselves and each other - retreating to the yoga of the mind. Can we twist the neural pathways of our perceptions like we twist our limbs like pretzels? Can we hold the vision of others as their radiant, happy selves even when they, themselves, are feeling otherwise? Give it a try. Next time you hear a conversation of an unenlightening nature add your yoga of the mind and enlighten the conversation, silently to yourself, notice what happens! Love to hear your results.

Yoga is a scientific system that approaches life uniquely and powerfully. We
can see the principles of the yoga practice demonstrated in nature. Imagine
yourself walking through a lush Maui bamboo forest while observing the
trees, waterfalls and flowers. Now imagine you can see beyond the surface of
these natural wonders. Imagine seeing the root system of the symphonic
bamboos, seeing the smell of the fragrant ginger flower petals or imagine
the feeling of being immersed below the bed of the waterfall streams. All of
these imagined experiences draw your consciousness into a union with that
which exists beyond the human eye, yet can be felt through the senses. Yoga,
like nature, has many parts, when observed, reveal a world that can be
experienced deeply yet is not initially seen at first glance. It is a
practice that requires time, dedication and consistency. The fruits of the
practice are in the devotion. A forest grows in a steady slow nature, as
does a yoga practice. A flower blooms to give the gift of fragrance. Yoga
asana births a fragrance of light that shines through the human skin.
Waterfalls flow giving movement to pools of water and giving us the gift of healing and pleasure. Practicing yoga one experiences a flow that feeds our soul and gives our soul a land in which to swim.