New Website

WE ARE MOVING TO A NEW WEBSITE: https://www.yogaforthespirit.org/

Dear yogis,

I have some exciting news! I now have a new and dynamic website called Yoga for the Spirit at https://www.yogaforthespirit.org/. Ok, of and itself that may not sound too exciting, but what it will allow me to do moving forward is very exciting...

From this platform I will be able to offer a greater variety of workshops and retreats, including multi-day retreats to deepen our practice. I will also be able to produce some large scale events where I can bring renowned master yoga and meditation teachers right here to Houston to help expand our understanding. In addition, in the coming months I am planning to put together some YouTube videos of complete yoga practices and short meditations that you and others can access through the website from your home, or from wherever you happen to be in the world.

This is the vision I have for the future of our sangha - our family of spiritual seekers.  I hope you’ll join me on this new adventure!

The very best way to stay connected is to subscribe to the website through the Contact page, or by clicking here: https://www.yogaforthespirit.org/contact/. Once subscribed, you will receive bi-weekly email posts of wisdom tradition quotes and their sources from our current classes; which will give you the opportunity to dive deeper into the teachings. In addition, you will receive timely updates on class schedules, such as class cancellations, as well as new announcements for special events. If you have already subscribed to my previous website, your subscription will be moved automatically to the new site, so no worries.  I will be retiring my old website, http://dominiquesieglaff.blogspot.com, at the end of this week.

Moving forward my emails to you will look a little different. They will mirror the look of my website and will have the title Yoga for the Spirit. But at the end of the day, it’s just me sending you a message in fancier clothes.

Thank you so much for your kindness and support all these years.

Namaste,

Dominique

 

PS. Check out the photo slideshow on the Classes page, you might just see yourself practicing yoga!

New Opportunity

"In Zen we have a saying that if you haven't seen somebody for two minutes, don't assume he or she is the same person.  Maybe that person has changed, or maybe conditions have changed.  The important thing is to see what I can do now.  If you and I are not bound by our past conditioning, we can see things afresh.  Then every moment contains a new opportunity."

- Bernie Glassman


Hi yogis!

I will be teaching my annual Thanksgiving night yoga practice from 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm at the Council on Recovery (303 Jackson Hill St., Room A116).  Please feel free to bring friends and family to join us for a gentle practice and meditation to end our day of gratitude on a sweet note!

Also, please check out my new website at https://www.yogaforthespirit.org/.  I will be transitioning to this new website this week.  Thank you!

Namaste,
Dominique

I am

"A lot of people try to counteract the ‘I am not good enough’ with ‘I am good enough.’  In other words, they take the opposite and they try to invest it.  That still keeps the world at the level of polarities.  The art is to go behind the polarities.  So the act is to go not to the world of ‘I am good’ to counteract ‘I am bad,’ or ‘I am lovable’ as opposed to ‘I am unlovable.’  But go behind it to ‘I am.’ I am. I am.  And I am includes the fact that I do crappy things and I do beautiful things and I am.  That includes everything and I am."

- Ram Dass

Hi Yogis,

Next Monday, October 29th at 7:30 pm is our Yoga Class Field Trip to see a Sacred Chant Concert with internationally renown artist Snatam Kaur at Unity of Houston!

Each person wishing to attend is invited to purchase a $35 ticket in the "Balcony H & K" section.  We will meet at 7:00 pm in front of the main entrance doors of Unity of Houston (2929 Unity Drive, Houston), near the check-in area.  We can then all sit together as a group in the balcony and enjoy this exquisite opportunity to chant from the soul with one of the best Kirtan artists in the world!  If you would like to come, please click on this link to find out more and purchase tickets:
https://tickets.brightstarevents.com/event/snatam-kaur-houston-texas-2018

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.  I hope to see you there!

Namaste,
Dominique

Seeds

"When you plant seeds in the garden, you don't dig them up every day to see if they have sprouted yet.  You simply water them and clear away the weeds, you know that the seeds will grow in time.  Similarly, just do your daily practice and cultivate a kind heart.  Abandon impatience and instead be content creating the causes for goodness, the results will come when they're ready."

- Thubten Chodron

Our Love

"Everything terrible is something that needs our love."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Acceptance

"Performing an action in the state of acceptance means you are at peace while you do it.  On the surface, acceptance looks like a passive state, but in reality it is active and creative because it brings something entirely new to the situation.  That peace, that subtle energy vibration, is consciousness.  Bringing acceptance and joy to the things you do is the only thing you can truly take responsibility for, which also happens to be the one thing that that really matters: your state of mind.”

- Jack Kornfield

Hi Yogis!

We are having a Yoga Class Field Trip to experience a Sacred Chant Concert with internationally renown artist Snatam Kaur at Unity of Houston on Monday, October 29th at 7:30 pm.

Each person wishing to attend is invited to purchase a $35 ticket in the "Balcony H & K" section. We will meet at 7:00 pm in front of the main entrance doors of Unity of Houston (2929 Unity Drive, Houston), near the check-in area.  We can then all sit together as a group in the balcony and enjoy this exquisite opportunity to chant from the soul with one of the best Kirtan artists in the world!   If you would like to come, please click on this link to find out more and purchase tickets:
https://tickets.brightstarevents.com/event/snatam-kaur-houston-texas-2018

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.  I hope to see you there!

Namaste,
Dominique

Negativity

"Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of **** and not be squeamish about taking a good look."

 - Pema Chodron (And this is a Buddhist nun!)


Hello yogis,

Please join me for our new Yin Yoga Class at the Council on Recovery (303 Jackson Hill St.) on Tuesday nights, from 7:15 pm - 8:15 pm!  This class will replace our previous Tuesday, 12:00 pm Hatha Yoga Class.

In this new class, Slow Stretch Yoga for Awakening, we will shift our perspective and awaken to new possibilities through meditative contemplation with the body, mind and spirit. I hope you'll join us at the end of your Tuesdays to stretch, meditate and decompress; oooommm...

Namaste,
Dominique

Expression

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost.  The world will not have it.

It is not your business to determine how good or bad it is, nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions.  It’s your business to keep the channel open.”

- Martha Graham



Hello yogis,

I'm happy to announce that I will begin teaching a new Yin Yoga Class at the Council on Recovery (303 Jackson Hill St.) on Tuesday nights, from 7:15 pm - 8:15 pm THIS WEEK, August 21st! This class will replace our previous Tuesday, 12:00 pm Hatha Yoga Class.

In this new class, Slow Stretch Yoga for Awakening, we will shift our perspective and awaken to new possibilities through meditative contemplation with the body, mind and spirit. I hope you'll join us at the end of your Tuesdays to stretch, meditate and decompress; oooommm...

Namaste,
Dominique

Genuine Happiness

“The tremendous danger is that this belief – that genuine happiness comes only from pleasant feelings – becomes a strong motivation to stay closed to anything unpleasant.  But by staying closed to all unpleasantness, we also stay closed to our own wellspring of compassion.”

- Joseph Goldstein


Hi Yogis,

I want to invite you to join myself and your fellow yoga class mates for a Sacred Chant Concert with internationally renown artist Snatam Kaur at Unity of Houston on Monday, October 29th at 7:30 pm.

Each person wishing to attend is invited to purchase a $35 ticket in the "Balcony H & K" section.  We will meet at 7:00 pm in front of the main entrance doors of Unity of Houston (2929 Unity Drive, Houston), near the check-in area.   We can then all sit together as a group in the balcony and enjoy this exquisite opportunity to chant from the soul with one of the best Kirtan artists in the world!   If you would like to come, please click on this link to find out more and purchase tickets:
https://tickets.brightstarevents.com/event/snatam-kaur-houston-texas-2018

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me.  I hope to see you there!

Namaste,
Dominique

P.S.  I will be out of town from Friday, August 10th - Friday, August 17th.  I do have subs lined up for the majority of the classes, but for the members of the Harriet and Joe Foster YMCA: please call ahead to make sure there will be a sub for your Monday and Wednesday night class.  Thank you!  

One Instruction

"To live consciously you must have the courage to go inside yourself to find out who you really are, to understand that behind all of the masks of individual differences you are a being of beauty, of love, of awareness.

When Christ said, 'The kingdom of heaven is within' he wasn’t just putting you on.  When Buddha said, 'Each person is the Buddha,' he was saying the same thing.  Until you can allow your own beauty, your own dignity, your own being, you cannot free another.

So if I were giving people one instruction, I would say work on yourself.  Have compassion for yourself.  Allow yourself to be beautiful and all the rest will follow."

- Ram Dass

Solving Problems

"The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them."

- Albert Einstein

We are it

- “Ultimately there is light and love and intelligence in this universe.  And we are it, we carry that within us, it’s not just something out there, it is within us and this is what we are trying to reconnect with, our original light and love and intelligence…. So do not get so distracted by all this other stuff… really remember what we are here on this planet for.”

- Tenzin Palmo


Hi yogis,

I will be out of town from Sunday, June 24th - Thursday, June 28th on vacation.  I will resume my classes on Friday, June 29th.  Have a great week!

Namaste,
Dominique

Always at Home

“We can travel a long way and do many things, but our deepest happiness is not born from accumulating new experiences, it is born from letting go of what is unnecessary and knowing ourselves to be always at home.”

- Sharon Salzberg

Gifts

"Welcome the view that the things which you think are wrecking your life – like your thoughts and emotions, or illness and death – are actually gifts for your transformation… Whether life presents us with a pleasant sound or an unpleasant sound, a pleasant smell or an unpleasant smell, a pleasant thought or an unpleasant thought, it’s sheer delight because instead of identifying with the experience, we simply touch it and let it go.”

- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Light and Love

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.


Hi Yogis,

Our retreat is right around the corner and there are only a few spots left?!  Please feel free to share this event with friends and family.  I look forward to having you join myself and our special guest, Dr. Alejandro Chaoul!

Namaste,
Dominique

Exploring Our Multi-Dimensional Selves - A Yoga and Meditation Retreat:  Saturday, May 19th  10:00 am - 4:00 pm

The Council on Recovery - Hamill Foundation Conference Center
303 Jackson Hill Street, Houston, TX 77007

https://28052.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-pages/yoga--meditation-retreat---may-2018

Trust

"It is the continuing work of life: of learning to trust that the universe is unfolding exactly as it should, no matter how it looks to us; learning to appreciate that each of us has a part in nurturing this interconnectedness whole and healing it where it is torn; discovering what our individual contribution can be, then giving ourselves fully to it.

Demanding as that sounds, it is what, in the spiritual sense, we are all here for, and compassionate action gives us yet one more opportunity to live it.  It is an opportunity to cooperate with the universe, to be part of what the Chinese call the great river of the Tao."

- Ram Dass


Here are a couple of wonderful events coming up in May!

Mantra - Sounds into Silence:  Saturday, May 12th at 3:00 pm

Regal Houston MarqE Stm 23 IMAX &RPX
7600 Katy Freeway, Houston, TX 77024

To reserve your seat please go to:  https://gathr.us/screening/22773

Exploring Our Multi-Dimensional Selves - A Yoga and Meditation Retreat:  Saturday, May 19th  10:00 am - 4:00 pm

The Council on Recovery - Hamill Foundation Conference Center
303 Jackson Hill Street, Houston, TX 77007

Please join myself and special guest Alejandro Chaoul, PhD!
https://28052.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-pages/yoga--meditation-retreat---may-2018

Alive

“The meaning of life is just to be alive.  It is so plain and so obvious and so simple.  And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”

- Alan Watts

Exploring Our Multi-Dimensional Selves - A Yoga and Meditation Retreat:  Saturday, May 19th  10:00 am - 4:00 pm

The Council on Recovery - Hamill Foundation Conference Center
303 Jackson Hill Street, Houston, TX 77007

Please join myself and special guest Alejandro Chaoul, PhD!
https://28052.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-pages/yoga--meditation-retreat---may-2018

In Training

“You and I are in training to be conscious, to be conscious and compassionate in the truest, deepest sense—not romantically compassionate, but deeply compassionate. To be able to be an instrument of equanimity, an instrument of joy, an instrument of presence, an instrument of love, an instrument of availability, and at the same moment, absolutely quiet:”

- Ram Das

Exploring Our Multi-Dimensional Selves - A Yoga and Meditation Retreat:  Saturday, May 19th  10:00 am - 4:00 pm

The Council on Recovery - Hamill Foundation Conference Center
303 Jackson Hill Street, Houston, TX 77007

Please join myself and special guest Alejandro Chaoul, PhD!
https://28052.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-pages/yoga--meditation-retreat---may-2018

Dust

"The heart is like a mirror. When we dust it off, we are able to see ourselves. The dust is all our stuff - guilt, anger - this stuff is reflected back to us.  Practice removes the dust from the mirror of our hearts."

- Krishna Das


Hi Yogis,

It's time for our lovely annual Yoga and Meditation Retreat right here in Houston!  This year you're in for a special treat as we take a deep dive into "Exploring our Multi-Dimensional Selves". This one-day retreat is based on the Yoga Koshas: the five fundamental layers of our being. Come and enjoy specific yogic practices for each Kosha, including Tibetan Yoga and Meditation with accomplished international teacher Alejandro Chaoul, PhD, on Saturday, May 19th at the Council on Recovery's Hamill Foundation Conference Center.  Please click on the link below to find out more. I hope to see you there!

https://28052.thankyou4caring.org/pages/event-pages/yoga--meditation-retreat---may-2018

Namaste,
Dominique

P.S.  Please check out the "Upcoming Events" Page for more community events we can share together!

Honesty

"I believe we are obliged to tell the truth.  Telling the truth is a way we take care of people.  The Buddha taught complete honesty, with the extra instruction that everything a person says should be truthful and helpful."

- Sylvia Boorstein

Temple

"Your daily life is your temple and your religion.  Whenever you enter into it take with you your all."

- Kahlil Gibran

The Dalai Lama's Morning Prayer

May I be a guard for those who need protection,

A guide for those on the path,

A boat, a raft, a bridge for those who wish to cross the flood,

May I be a lamp in the darkness,

A resting place for the weary,

A healing medicine for all who are sick,

A vase of plenty,

A tree of miracles.

And for the boundless multitudes of living beings,

May I bring sustenance and awakening,

Enduring like the earth and sky,

Until all beings are freed from sorrow,

And all are awakened.

- The Bodhisattva Prayer for Humanity, by the Indian Buddhist sage Shantideva, 700 AD 

The Net

"The real world is beyond our thoughts and ideas; we see it through the net of our desires, divided into pleasure and pain, right and wrong, inner and outer.  To see the universe as it is, you must step beyond the net.  It is not hard to do so, for the net is full of holes"

 - Sri Nisargadatta

Promises

"You have made very deep promises between your Soul and your Self.  Now is the time to carve your place into the memory of this planet earth and serve this promise.  May your journey complete its way to your destiny.  And may you understand the preciousness of your own life."

- Yogi Bhajan

Hello again Yogis!

Due to the continuing inclement weather, on Wednesday, January 17th the YMCAs of Houston will wait to open until noon.  As far as I now know, we will have yoga class at 7:00 pm on Wednesday night at the Foster YMCA.  Please check back for updated info regarding the weather and yoga classes.  I hope you enjoy this peaceful night, and stay warm!

Namaste,
Dominique