NicolePresents.com

“The word Karma is derived from the Sanskrit Kri, meaning ‘to do’. In its most basic sense karma simply means action, and yoga translates to union. Thus Karma yoga literally translates to the path of union through action. However, in Vedantic philosophy the word ‘Karma’ means both action and the effects of such action. Karma Yoga is described as a way of acting, thinking and willing by which one orients oneself toward realization by acting in accordance with one’s duty (dharma) without consideration of personal self-centered desires, likes or dislikes. Acting without being attached to the fruits of one’s deeds.”{Wikipedia}

In the spirit of giving and Karma Yoga,  myself and a few friends have signed up to do Yoga in the name of charity raise money for  Off the Mat and Into the World through YogaAid at the Wanderlust Festival.

The Yoga Aid Challenge is to complete a 2 hour extreme Yoga practice whilst also supporting great causes!

Please support me and my team “Shakti Shakers” by making a donation to this great cause and help me to make a difference with this Challenge! Here is the link to our site:

http://yogaaid.com/nicoledoherty

My New Favorite Yoga Sutra:

Let me preface this by saying that I’m in love with so many of the Sutras especially now that I have such a deeper understanding of them.  I think I am understanding them now, not only because of my YogaWorks teacher trainer, Jeanne’s incredible explanation of them, but in tandem for the past year, I have been doing work with Ester & Jerry Hick’s Law of Attraction, Eckert Tolle and several other profound Universal teachings. What I have known from the start and what keeps getting reinforced is that all the magical and amazing teachings have the same universal message, they are just packaged in different ways, as Jeanne mentioned last week.

Right now, Sutra 2:33 “Vitarka Badhane Pratipaksa Bhavanam” really resonates with me.  For the past year, I have been putting this practice to use described and packaged in a similar way, called “pivoting” through the teachings of Abraham and the Law of Attraction.

Every time a negative thought comes up, there is an effort to replace it with a better feeling thought or as stated in this Sutra a positive and opposite thought.  At first, I thought this practice was a game that put everyone in denial and that basically it was a big lie. But as I started to understand this process, not only did I realize how many negative thoughts I had, but that the lies were really the negative thoughts.  Most of the thoughts we have that come up in negative land are lies we’ve created about ourselves, about how life might turn out, about how others might perceive us, but very little of it is actually true.  They are disempowering thoughts based in worry, mistrust, fear and misperception.  I realized that most of my thoughts started in this place and that it was hard to transcend them.  What I thought might be an easy game to play, became one of the most challenging areas of my life. Every day now, I spend time watching these thoughts as they come up and try to minimize them and turn them into opposite, positive thoughts.  I love this game. I feel that it has changed my life and I am so excited that I am improving on this and know welcomingly that I have a quite a long road ahead.

Recently, I posted a quote on FaceBook that I found in our philosophy manual from the Upanishads that drives home why this concept is so important.

“Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions.  Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits, they become character.  Watch your character for it becomes your destiny”.

Through all of these teachings, it is very clear to me that we create our own environment, our own reality and we choose how we wish to live each and every moment.  And if we can break down our lives to single thoughts throughout the day and start to consciously choose positive ones over negative ones, we can live extraordinarily powerful lives that not only benefit our own well being, but everyone that we come in contact with.

“Vitarka Badhane Pratipaksa Bhavanam”