Faith

Well I've finally given in to the fact that I do indeed have a head cold.
I've been in denial for a few days thinking it was just allergies. But, it is not.
So today I am making lots of hot tea with Ginger, drinking emergenC and going to use my netipot (which I should have been doing since the beginning of the season)

I can tell my body is now officially worn down; but my brain has a huge to do list and so many things I want to accomplish. Oh well, the body wins in this one.

Last night my husband & I did go to meditation with Bhante. There was a larger group last night which was wonderful. But the room was very cold (or it could be that I was getting worse)

We had a very long seated meditation (about 2 hours with one break) and Bhante was very talkative last night. He actually answered some questions I have had in my mind lately; which is always suprising when he does this.

For our training we have to do a book review on a "breathing" book not on our required reading list. As there are not a ton of pranyama books or breathing books available. My husband recommended one by Thich Nhat Hanh; Breathe, you are alive! I wasn't sure if this would "qualify" as breathing book. It is definitly a book about mindful breathing and meditation rathern than Pranayam. But we are reading a very in-depth book on Pranayama called The Breathing Book by Donna Farhi

Also, for my training we are required to read another Yoga book that isn't in our required reading & do a book report on it. I have read many yoga books; mostly on Asana.
I recently picked up Living your Yoga; Finding the Spirtual in Everyday Life by Judith Lasater, Ph.D., P.T.

We have read many articles by Judith as part of our Training. I've liked them very much so decided to look her up. I was lucky to find this book at a local store; I've only seen this book online.
So I decided to do my book report on a yoga related book that is not asana. Since there are so many and really; writing a book report on an asana demonstration book would be boring to write & read!

There was a paragraph I really liked:
In verse twenty, book one, of the Yoga Sutra, Patanjali states the importance of faith to spirtual practice: shraddha-virya-smriti smadhi-prajna-purvaka itaresham, or "Wholeness is preceded by faith, energy, mindfulness, union and awareness." The practices of yoga, which include poses, breathing, meditation, and self-awareness techniques, are difficult in and of themselves. It is also difficult to practice consistently in the midst of our busy lives. In order to commit ourselves to practice, we must have faith that they will be fruitful and accomplish their intent, which is to help us turn toward ourselves and recognize our essential wholeness.

I am enjoying this book. It is different "yoga" book. I had several to choose from but for some reason this one seemed to fit for this training.