What Remains

"Let what comes come.  Let what goes go.  Find out what remains."

- Sri Ramana Maharshi


Hi Yogis,

I am back from my whirlwind holiday trip to Sedona and Tucson, Arizona to visit family - a wondrous experience!  We are back on schedule now here in Houston, with my first class back being tonight, Wednesday, December 28th at 6:30 pm at Foster YMCA.  There is no 1:35 pm Yoga Class at Weekley YMCA this Saturday December 31st, as the facility is closed for New Years Eve.  Other than that, all other classes will take place as scheduled 😊.  I look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Namaste,
Dominique

Fully Human

“For human beings, the most daunting challenge is to become fully human.  For to become fully human is to become fully divine.”

- Fr. Thomas Keating


Happy Holidays Yogis!

I will be out of town for the holidays from December 20th - December 27th.  I have found some great substitute teachers for our yoga classes.  There are, however, a couple of classes that as of yet are still not covered.  Please call the YMCA's to check whether or not they have been cancelled before leaving for the following classes:

Weekley YMCA:

12/22 - Thursday 10:30am–11:30am - Yoga
12/27 - Tuesday 5:30pm-6:30pm - Beginner Yoga

Foster YMCA:

12/21 - Wednesday 6:30pm-7:30pm - Yoga - Slow Deep Stretch 

12/26 - Monday 6:30pm-7:30pm - Yoga I - Holistic - CANCELLED

And great news!  Deva Premal & Miten, world renowned Kirtan Singers, are coming to Houston to perform a concert at Unity Church.  Here are the details: https://tickets.brightstarevents.com/event/dpm-houston-texas-2017

Have a great holiday season!

Namaste,
Dominique

Happiness

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

- Mahatma Gandhi



Happy Holidays Yogis!

I will be out of town for the holidays from December 20th - December 27th.  I am working hard to find you some great substitute teachers for our yoga classes.  If you're staying in town, I hope you will continue with your practice.  Yoga and meditation are so helpful in reducing our stress and reminding us of what's really important - Have a great holiday season!

Namaste,
Dominique

Investigate Yourself

“You are your own teacher.  Looking for teachers can't solve your own doubts.  Investigate yourself to find the truth – inside, not outside.  Knowing yourself is most important.”

- Ajahn Chah

Let go

"For a mind obsessed by compulsive thinking, grasping and acting, you should simplify your meditation practice to just 2 words; 'Let go'”.

- Ajahn Sumedo

Relationships

"In our relationships how much can we allow them to become new, and how much do we cling to what they used to be yesterday?”

- Ram Dass

Freedom

-“The boundary to what we can accept is the boundary to our freedom.”

- Tara Brach

Asmita

Drg darsana saktyoh ekatmatevasmita

False-identification is confusing the nature of the seer or Self, with the nature of the instrument of perception.  In other words, false identification happens when we mistake the mind, body, or senses for the true Self.

- The Yoga Sutra by Patanjali, Book 1I, Aphorism 6

Please join us for Yoga and a Movie on Thursday, October 6th at 6:30 pm at the Council on Recovery!

This FREE/donation event is open to the public and will start at 6:30 pm with a one-hour outdoor yoga practice in the Courtyard (weather permitting), followed at 7:45 pm by the award-winning documentary, Happy, about the science of happiness in Room A115.  Here is the trailer for the the film: http://www.thehappymovie.com/.

We will share potluck snacks and drinks during the movie (if you're so kind as to bring something?), plus the pleasure of great company!  I hope to see you there.

Namaste,
Dominique

The Council on Recovery, 303 Jackson Hill Street, Houston, Texas 77007

Hridaya

“Even so large as the universe outside, is the universe within the lotus of the heart. Within it are heaven and earth, the sun, the moon, the lightning, and all the stars. Whatever is in the macrocosm is in the microcosm also.”

- Chandogya Upanishad (8:1:3)

Please join us for Yoga and a Movie on Thursday, October 6th at the Council on Recovery!

This FREE/donation event is open to the public and will start at 6:30 pm with a one hour outdoor yoga practice in the Courtyard (weather permitting), followed at 7:45 pm in Room A115 by the award-winning documentary, Happy, about the science of happiness. Here is the trailer for the the film: http://www.thehappymovie.com/.

We will offer light potluck snacks and drinks to share during the movie, plus the pleasure of great company! I hope to see you there.

Namaste,
Dominique

The Council on Recovery, 303 Jackson Hill Street, Houston, Texas 77007

Mental Attitude

"Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked."

- The Yoga Sutra by Patanjali, Book 1, Aphorism 33


If you are interested in learning more about the Yoga Sutra with down-to-earth advice and commentary, I highly recommend the translation by Sri Swami Satchidananda.  Cheers!

Expansion

     "An aging Hindu master grew tired of his apprentice complaining, and so one morning sent him for some salt. When the apprentice returned the master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in a glass of water and drink it.
     'How does it taste?' the master asked.
     'Bitter', grimaced the the apprentice.
     The master chucked and then asked the young man to take the same handful of salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake. The apprentice swirled his handful of salt in the water, and the old man said, 'Now drink from the lake', which he did.
The master asked, “How does it taste?'
     'Fresh', remarked the apprentice.
     'Do you taste the salt?', asked the master.
     'No', said the young man.
     At this the master sat beside his serious student who so reminded him of himself, and took his hands, 'The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less.' he said. 'The amount of pain in life remains the same, exactly the same.  But the amount of bitterness we taste depends on the container we put the pain in.  So when you are in pain, the only thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things... Stop being a glass.  Become a lake.'"

- Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening



Dearest Yogis,

I will be out of town from August 10 - 16.  I have substitute teachers lined up for all my yoga classes except for Saturday, August 13 at 10:30 am at the Council on Recovery.  Unfortunately, this class will be cancelled.  I look forward to seeing you when I return!

In the mean time, there is a wonderful Yoga Nidra workshop taking place at the Yoga Institute in Houston this weekend (August 12 - 14).  I have taken a workshop under Amrit Desai, the father of Kamini Desai, who is leading this event.  These are true yogis.  For restoration and renewal, I highly recommend this workshop.  Here is the website: http://www.yogainstitute.com/relaxing-into-life.html.  Be well my friends!

Namaste,

Dominique

Peace

"Do not create obstacles for others' happiness.  Peace is not the absence of violence, but rather the presence of compassion."

- Excerpt from a talk by The Dalai Lama

Health & Wholeness Yoga Retreat Video 1

Hi Yogis,

I'm happy to share with all of you the first installment of videos from our June Health & Wholeness Yoga Retreat.  This video is comprised of "The Science of Hatha Yoga" discussion we had in the morning.  I based this talk primarily on William J. Broad's book, The Science of Yoga; The Risks and the Rewards.  I hope you find the video helpful and informative!

Health & Wholeness Yoga Retreat Video 1 - Science of Hatha Yoga Discussion

Namaste,
Dominique

Yin Yoga Wisdom Quotes

Hello Yogis,

I want to thank each of you who came to the Health & Wholeness Yoga Retreat and helped to make it such a lovely day!  We are still working on editing the video taken during the morning session of The Science of Hatha Yoga and The Wisdom of Meditation.  We'll have that video link ready for you soon.

In the meantime, I'm happy to share with you the Wisdom Quotes I used for our blissful Yin Yoga for Wholeness practice - enjoy!  Thank you so much.

Namaste,
Dominique

"The place where you are right now God circled on a map for you

wherever your eyes and arms and heart can move

Against the earth and the sky, the beloved has bowed there--

The beloved has bowed there knowing

You were coming…"

-- Hafiz

"Just sit there right now.

Don’t do a thing.

Just rest.

For your separation from God is the hardest work in this world.

Let me bring you trays of food

And something that you like to drink.

You can use my soft words as a cushion for your head. "

-- Hafiz

"The breath flows in and just before it turns to flow out,

there is a flash of pure joy -- life is renewed.

Awaken into that.

As the breath is released and flows out,

there is a pulse as it turns to flow in.

In that turn, you are empty.

Enter that emptiness as the source of all life."

-- The Radiance Sutras

"Having loved enough and lost enough,

I’m no longer searching just opening,

no longer trying to make sense of pain but trying to be

a soft and sturdy home in which real things can land.

These are the irritations that rub into a pearl.

So we can talk for a while but then we must listen,

the way rocks listen to the sea.

And we can churn at all that goes wrong

but then we must lay all distractions down

and water every living seed.

And yes, on nights like tonight I too feel alone.

But seldom do I face it squarely enough to see

that it’s a door into the endless breath that has no breather,

into the surf that human shells call God(dess)."

- Mark Nepo

"Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error!—

that a spring was breaking out in my heart.

I said: Along which secret aqueduct, Oh water,

are you coming to me,

water of a new life that I have never drunk?

Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error!—

that I had a beehive here inside my heart.

And the golden bees were making white combs and

sweet honey from my old failures.

Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt—marvelous error!—

that a fiery sun was giving light inside my heart.

It was fiery because I felt warmth as from a hearth,

and sun because it gave light and brought tears to my eyes.

Last night as I slept, I dreamt—marvelous error!—

that it was God I had here inside my heart."

--‐ Antonio Machado

"It happens all the time in heaven

And now it is beginning to happen again here on earth

When men and women who are lovers

And men who bring each other joy

And women who lead each other towards the light

Will often get down on their knees,

And with tears in their eyes

Will take each other by hand and say

My darling, How can I love you more dearly?

How can I be more kind?"

– Rumi

Aging

-"We each have a chronological age, the age listed on our driver's license; and our biologic age, the age of our cells. Chronological age is meaningless. There are people in their 60's who have the biologic age of someone at 40. And the reverse can be true as well. Yoga has been scientifically proven to reduce the bio markers of aging, lowering our biologic age."

- Interview with Christiane Northrup, M.D.

Karma Yoga

"Karma Yoga is the yoga of action. It purifies the heart by teaching us to act selflessly, without thought of gain or reward. The first step of Karma Yoga is to free yourself from attachments by developing a witness consciousness.

Gurdjieff talks about the different 'me's' in our lives. The 'me' who sets the alarm clock at night, and the 'me' in the morning who says, 'who in the heck set the alarm clock?'  And we have 1,000s of 'me's'. But there is one 'me' who watches all the other 'me's'. That's its only game; its not trying to change any of the other 'me's, its not judging them, its not evaluating, it's just noting. That witness is your centering device."

- Excerpt from lecture by Ram Dass


Please join me for The Health & Wholeness Yoga Retreat on Saturday, June 25th at the Council on Recovery (303 Jackson Hill St., Houston, TX 77007).  I hope to see you there!

Namaste,
Dominique

The Health & Wholeness Yoga Retreat

Hi yogis!

I would like to personally invite you to our new Health & Wholeness Yoga Retreat on Saturday, June 25th at the Council on Recovery (303 Jackson Hill St., Houston, TX 77007).  This experiential retreat will focus on the science behind our yoga and meditation practices so we can learn how to best use our practices to create good health and a wonderful sense of wholeness and well being.

Please see the following link for more detailed information:  The Health & Wholeness Yoga Retreat

I hope to see you there!

Namaste,
Dominique

Unconditional Love

"Unconditional love may seem beyond our reach, but it is the same compassion we feel when our heart goes out to someone on the evening news who is experiencing misfortune. When that wave of compassion and love comes from the depth of our hearts, it is trans-formative and healing. Pure love only sees what unties us as one humanity.”

- Deepak Chopra

Dharma

“It is better to do your own Dharma even imperfectly, than someone else’s Dharma perfectly,” 

- Bhagavad Gita

This implies that even though you may sometimes stumble along the way, it’s important to live in your own truth instead of trying to be someone or something you’re not.  When you’re in your Dharma, you receive support from within.  You develop an inner knowing, your life becomes less of an effort, and your actions become spontaneously correct both for yourself and for the world around you.

Benefits of having a Sangha

"Taking refuge in the sangha means putting your trust in a community of solid members who practice mindfulness together.  You do not have to practice intensively—just being in a sangha where people are happy, living deeply the moments of their days, is enough.  Each person’s way of sitting, walking, eating, working, and smiling is a source of inspiration; and transformation takes place without effort.  If someone who is troubled is placed in a good sangha, just being there is enough to bring about a transformation."

 - Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Master

Conscious Beings

"Whether you are a parent or a teacher, anything; whatever your gig is, the only thing you can offer to another being is your consciousness. You are an environment for everyone you meet, in which they can become as conscious as they are ready to become. Offer your most conscious being to others."

- Ram Dass

Simplicity

"I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the Source of Being."

- Lao Tzu, Father of Taoism and author of the Tao Te Ching

Serenity

“We are not going to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves and feel free as birds.  We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil. Serenity is contagious.  If we smile at someone, he or she will smile back.  And a smile costs nothing. We should plague everyone with joy.  If we are to die in a minute, why not die happily, laughing?"

- Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras

Breathing and Being

I think most of us wish we could be more present in our own lives and feel a greater sense of peace and joy.  Engaging in a regular yoga and meditation practice can help us cultivate these qualities.

In our yoga classes together we will move through our practice with a meditative awareness, bringing mindfulness to each posture.  We will also experience the powerful effects of traditional yogic breathing, body locks, mantras, and kriyas.  We will learn how to live a more awakened life by reflecting on the wisdom tradition teachings from ancient sages such as Pantanjali and Buddha, to modern day teachers such as Ram Das and the Dalai Lama.  In each class we will explore how we can apply these teachings to our yoga practice, and to our every day life.  

The physical benefits of yoga have been well documented in scientific studies and medical journals.  Our classes take our yoga practice to the next level; working with not only the body, but with the mind, heart and spirit to help us live an enlightened life.  This is the way yoga has been practiced for centuries, and we continue in this time honored tradition.  Please join me for our next class!