Because the mind tends to only know two ways of thinking, to move towards something we like or to move away something we don’t, we try to push away things we no longer want. Trying to push or pull at life is like trying to move mountains. Sooner or later we end up exhausted and come to realize that there is a force in life that is much greater than our limited ego or will. Whether we end up flat on our backs with a broken heart, a massive cold, a lost job or just plain wrung out from too much effortful living, the wise words “let go” or “surrender” start to come to mind.

For this reason, this April issue is all about spring cleansing and getting rid of excess. Please find here articles that are geared to inspire you to feel light in body, mind and spirit and be active stewards of our beautiful planet.

We are pleased to feature in this, our quarterly double issue, our special guests: environmental activist Emily Chartrand, Aymeric Maudous, founder of the Arcadia International Environmental Film Festival, and music industry mogul Tom Silverman and his groundbreaking New Music Seminar.

Enjoy!
Parvati

Parvati Devi is the editor-in-chief of Parvati Magazine. In addition to being an internationally acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer, she is a yoga teacher and holistic educator, having studied yoga and meditation since 1987, and developed her own yoga teaching style called YEM™: Yoga as Energy Medicine. Her current show, “Natamba”, brings forward a conscious energy into the pop mainstream.

The ancient text called the Hatha Yoga Pradipika speaks of sukha-sthira, finding a balanced yogic state that is neither just relaxed nor just alert, but a union of the two. Artists, dancers, athletes and business people have expressed finding that balanced flow when they experience peak performances. In that flow, the individual has tapped into a much greater whole. There is no defensive holding on to the ego. One has surrendered to ride within a force that is much greater than the limited sense of self.

When we are stressed, our field of perception narrows. This is a remnant of our past need to run for our lives when chased by a lion in the jungle. This focus serves our need to survive. But when habitually used as a day-to-day stress response, the narrow sight means we often tend to miss a lot.

By allowing ourselves to let go of the fear of the proverbial jungle lion (be it our boss, our partner, our parents or whatever we fear), our field of vision expands and we see more fully. In so doing, we tap into a greater field of possibility and flow within a greater whole. In this way, we have access to more options, more choice, and more power.

As we learn to let go, we may find that the phone call we had anxiously been waiting for suddenly happens or cash for an outstanding bill arrives at our door. We may see the broken step on the stairs and avoid a painful tumble. As we let go, we get out of our own way and learn to receive the support that inherently exists within nature.

Part of our human journey is the return to that One state, that flow, that sense of being rooted, vital and expansive within an intelligent whole. We tend to see ourselves as separate, either by expressing wanting through “craving this” or “repulsed by that”, or by altogether feeling fundamentally disconnected and alienated from all that is. It seems these extremes are deeply buried in our psyche, part of the human condition. As we move through life, we learn to meet the moment as an opportunity to purify our perceptions and eventually transcend the trickiness of our ego so that we may rest in the fullness of who we are. And who are we anyway, if not ultimately one with all that is, a playful expression of the Divine?

Next time you feel the impulse to rush to your next meeting, or feel that feisty urge that wants to make you right and others wrong, or you want to push through to the next to-do item on your agenda without really meeting the task at hand, remember that tiny cocoon and know that you are one and the same. In every moment, you are cradled by an immense love that fully supports you through whatever life process you are experiencing. That love is always available, 24/7, unconditionally. It is our human birthright.

Parvati Devi is the editor-in-chief of Parvati Magazine. In addition to being an internationally acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer, she is a yoga teacher and holistic educator, having studied yoga and meditation since 1987, and developed her own yoga teaching style called YEM™: Yoga as Energy Medicine. Her current show, “Natamba”, brings forward a conscious energy into the pop mainstream.

Most of us are plagued with a deep, pesky thought of “not enough”. We want more stuff to try to fill an inner void we cannot place or satisfy. We try to do more to impress others, unconsciously still seeking approval from our parents, teachers, or caregivers, afraid that we will not be loved.

Mildred Norman was an American pacifist, vegetarian and peace activist. Born on a farm in New Jersey, she felt an inner call in her midlife to simply walk for peace and listen to God. In 1953 she adopted the name “Peace Pilgrim” and walked across the United States for 28 years. Her only possessions were the clothes on her back and the few items she carried in the pockets of her blue tunic which read “Peace Pilgrim” on the front and “25,000 Miles on foot for peace” on the back. She was backed by no organization, carried no money, and never asked for food or shelter. She vowed to “remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.”

I love her inspirational teachings. She offers much insight on how to live with complete integrity, true simplicity and utter faith. In one of her few printed texts, she says, “Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.”

Peace Pilgrim goes on to say, “The simplification of life is one of the steps to inner peace. A persistent simplification will create an inner and outer well-being that places harmony in one’s life.”

Why not slow down? We rush ahead to conquer tasks, missing the sweetness of this moment. This moment comes only once in all of eternity and then it is gone, never again to be. In our attachment to the past and future, we miss the fullness of what is now. When we slow down, we see that we have been missing the divine in what is, and what is, is a reflection of our true nature.

We need to question if all that we have stacked on our to-do list is really what we need to be doing. Often that which we feel we need to do masks what we are truly called to do. We can hide in business and never slow down enough to find out what makes us tick, what brings us joy and who we truly are. Being busy helps us avoid our fear of not feeling we are enough.

So when is enough enough? Go through your to-do list and make sure that what is on your list is truly essential. Ask yourself, “If today were my last day, what would I feel the need to do?” Do you have a bucket list? If not, start one and begin integrating the things on that list into your life.

Of course, we all have bills to pay. We must care for our necessities. But if we get mired in these and mistake them for what is most important, we lose the fragrance of life. If we saw a flower only for its stem and petals, we would miss the best part, the sweetness of its perfume.

Choose actions that build a balanced life between necessary tasks, like paying your taxes, and living, like smelling the flowers and fulfilling your bucket list. If your life is all about the taxes, you will feel taxed. If you are all about fragrance, you will lose your ground. Find balanced wholeness and approach each task with equal importance, seeing it as a reflection of the divine. Ideally, the necessary tasks will begin to feel just as much of a joy as smelling the flowers.

Parvati Devi is the editor-in-chief of Parvati Magazine. In addition to being an internationally acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer, she is a yoga teacher and holistic educator, having studied yoga and meditation since 1987, and developed her own yoga teaching style called YEM™: Yoga as Energy Medicine. Her current show, “Natamba”, brings forward a conscious energy into the pop mainstream.

Even as you do the same pose over and over, remember that each practice is entirely unique. It is a new moment. It is a new and fresh experience. As you breathe and move in and out of poses, consciously thank your muscles for stretching. Thank your bones for bearing weight. Thank your organs for doing their work. Thank your body for being such an amazing vehicle for your spiritual journey while on Earth.

Your body is just a temporary sheath and not who you are. It is yours to maintain, but it is not “yours”. This is important to remember, as it is very easy to be attached to our form, and forget that our true nature is formless, one with infinite consciousness.

Give thanks for the very gift of breathing, the gift of even being able to move. These are things we take for granted. Bringing our attention to them helps us remain humble, open, honest and true and remain present in the awesome gift of this body and this life. This brings yoga to life.

Cultivate the practice of sending love and gratitude to your body at all times, whether you are walking down the street, waiting for a bus or doing a yoga class. The practice of yoga, developing a deepening sense of rooted interconnection, is everywhere and always. Let the practice of sending love to your body become a part of your daily routine.

EXERCISE:

Find a quiet place where you can lie on your back, uninterrupted. Place one hand on your tummy and one hand on your heart. Then feel your body touch back. Feel your body touching your hand. Feel the relationship there. Then send gratitude to your body. Allow gratitude to fill you up, like a liquid light quenching a deep soul thirst. Thank all your body parts – your brain, your eyes, your mouth, your heart, your lungs… Go into as much detail as you like. Give thanks and receive the gratitude. Take as many opportunities as you can to sincerely thank your body for all the hard work it does, so you may evolve while you are on this planet. Wow!

Parvati Devi is the editor-in-chief of Parvati Magazine. In addition to being an internationally acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer, she is a yoga teacher and holistic educator, having studied yoga and meditation since 1987, and developed her own yoga teaching style called YEM™: Yoga as Energy Medicine. Her current show, “Natamba”, brings forward a conscious energy into the pop mainstream.

As we go within, we will likely come up the ongoing thoughts from our personality and ego that are like busy little workstations on the go. Once we allow this internal noise to settle, we find the wisdom of the body and our soul that provides essential teaching for our spiritual path and our evolution as yogis.

Several years ago, at the end of teaching a yoga class in my Montreal studio, a student came up to me and asked, “Who is your yoga guru?” My immediate answer arose spontaneously. “My body,” I replied. I went on to explain that by listening to the wisdom within my body, I was able to go deeply into my yoga practice by allowing knowledge from within to rise into consciousness. I found that the learning I did through respecting my body’s innate voice was much more potent than externally imposed, cerebral or textbook learning.

As a practicing yogini and meditator, I know that the body is intelligent. If we try to move into a yoga pose “from the outside in”, thinking of what it looks like and trying to replicate “over here” what we see “out there”, we can experience inner resistance in the form of tension, discomfort or even pain. But when we allow a yoga pose to flower from the inside out, we learn to honour an already present, natural intelligence.

When practicing, we learn to quietly and lovingly witness where our body holds tension, which becomes our humble teacher showing us where we store unconscious thoughts and energies that no longer serve. When we give our body intelligence the respectful space it needs to be heard, we let go of the illusion that our egos are in control. We become guided by a most potent, natural, divine force, which then has the room to express itself through us.

If we are willing to listen, we will see that our bodies talk. We hold memories within our cells of past experiences, unfulfilled desires, painful events, wishful hopes and soul-directed dreams. Our bodies are like archaeological sites that reveal the stories of our lives. When we listen, we can see that our bodies are full of hidden treasures, stories that are held from the past or yet to be born in the future.

Parvati Devi is the editor-in-chief of Parvati Magazine. In addition to being an internationally acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer, she is a yoga teacher and holistic educator, having studied yoga and meditation since 1987, and developed her own yoga teaching style called YEM™: Yoga as Energy Medicine. Her current show, “Natamba”, brings forward a conscious energy into the pop mainstream.

Thoughts are also a continuous internal dialogue all of us engage in, the meaning and emotional associations of one thought triggering the next, usually without us being consciously aware of the process.

There is nothing wrong with thoughts, per se. However, excessive thoughts, just like other excesses in life, deprive us of the much needed mental rest and relaxation. We tend to live out of the Head and deny ourselves the bliss of living from the Heart. Another important issue to consider is how many of the thoughts we think are positive, supportive of us and how are they serving us. The next issue is how to deal with the thoughts that do not support us, that do not serve us and that are not positive.

Yoga psychology explains that our Karma – specifically the ‘Samskaras’ portion of our Karma – forms the grooves along which our thoughts flow. Every person’s personal Samskaras are formed from the memories of the past. These Samskaras usually compel us to think in the same pattern over and over again without us even realizing it.

Yoga philosophy says one of the most effective ways to calm the mind and its chatter and master the thoughts is meditation. Meditation can shift the mind from a state of distraction to one of deep concentration. A growing body of modern research corroborates this method of mastering the thoughts, which was discovered by Yogis of ancient times. A recent study conducted by Massachusetts General Hospital has shown that meditation produces changes in various areas of the brain, including growth in the areas associated with memory, empathy and stress regulation. Meditation is proven to increase the production of feel-good hormones and support our immune system.

Well-known social scientist Edward Carpenter says, “If you inhibit thought and persevere, you come at length to a region of consciousness behind thought and a realization of an altogether vaster self than that to which we are accustomed.”

In meditation, we disrupt the unconscious chain-like progression of thoughts by focusing on a specific object of attention. The object of attention could be an image, the breath or a sacred sound. Well-known meditation guru Deepak Chopra says, “In the practice of Primordial Sound Meditation, the object of meditation is a mantra that you repeat silently to yourself. A mantra is pure sound with no meaning or emotional charge to trigger associations. It allows the mind to detach from its usual preoccupations and experience the spaciousness and calm within.”

These days many techniques of meditation are available to us. For the visual learners — artists, painters or designers etc. — meditation involving visualization is often recommended. Auditory learners and those who connect easily to music or ambient sounds can harness the power of sound through mantra meditation techniques. The high-energy, restless types might benefit more from walking meditation or meditation in motion.

The Spring is almost upon us. Most of us like to engage in spring cleaning our homes, garages and storage areas, get rid of the excess stuff we accumulated and enjoy the resultant lightness of space and spirit. This is the perfect time to set up a regular meditation practice, cleanse the excessive thoughts and enjoy the resultant lightness of mind. Good luck!

Acharya Ram is a Yoga philosopher, Kirtan leader, Sanskrit teacher and Sitar artist. Ram belongs to the spiritual lineage of Dattatreya and his spiritual Guru is Sri Ganapati Sachchidananda Swamiji of Mysore, India. Based in Toronto, Canada, Ram travels all over North America and India teaching Yoga Philosophy and Sanskrit, conducting Kirtan and Mantra chanting sessions, training Kirtan leaders, performing and teaching Sitar. Ram’s core values are ‘authentic tradition’ and ‘modern presentation’ in all areas of endeavor. Ram is known for his impressive ability to teach even the most intricate texts of Yoga in an easily understandable manner, using modern presentation tools and current examples, making the learning experience enlightening and fun at the same time. His Sanskrit courses entitled “Sanskrit the fun way” are sought after for their relevance to the Yoga world and orientation to the native English speakers. Ram’s Sitar music is highly applauded by many Yoginis and Yogis for its soothing, meditative quality as well as its calming effect.

1. Find a quiet place to lie on your back, so that you can relax without the risk of falling asleep. Bend your knees and place your feet flat on the ground, hip width apart, so that your breathing is easy, deep and relaxed.

2. Breathe into your belly, allowing the rhythm of the breath to bring your mind deeper into this moment, into your body, into the feeling of the here and now.

3. Go deeper into yourself and feel the connection your body has with the floor. Then feel the connection your breath has with the outside air and how it flows into your body. Know that the air you breathe that feeds your being is also connected to all of life, all animals, all humans, all things alive.

4. Take a moment to feel that interconnection between you, life and all things. Feel the immense possibility of life itself. Allow your being to expand, to open to this life force that is in you, around you, everywhere.

5. Stay rooted in your body by still feeling the ground, your breath, and include the expansive awareness you also feel. Allow yourself to open to receive this possibility in this moment, feel it in your breath and in your cells.

6. While maintaining that presence, say to yourself:

I am supported. I am open, ready and willing to receive support. I am. I am. I am.

Feel that truth in your whole being. Repeat it as though you are feeding your cells with its lush, rich expansiveness. Repeat it until you truly feel it. Then say:

I am open to abundance. I am open, ready and willing to receive abundance. I am. I am. I am.

Feel that truth in your whole being. Repeat it as though you are feeding your cells with its lush, rich expansiveness. Repeat it until you truly feel it.

Keep going, making statements that feel expansive and that are about yourself. Keep the focus within and on yourself, not on another. Focus on the positive possibilities of being you, not on wanting to change either your own or someone else’s impossibilities. Be present with the possibilities of the now. Change happens exactly where you are.

Parvati Devi is the editor-in-chief of Parvati Magazine. In addition to being an internationally acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer, she is a yoga teacher and holistic educator, having studied yoga and meditation since 1987, and developed her own yoga teaching style called YEM™: Yoga as Energy Medicine. Her current show, “Natamba”, brings forward a conscious energy into the pop mainstream.

We have all heard of the health effects of positive self-talk, but how do we stop the voice of negative chatter within?

I am not sure it really is about stopping it, but more about redirecting our attention elsewhere. The mind chatters. That is what it does. When we pay attention to and strive to push away negative thoughts, they resist and get stronger. What we resist persists. Instead, we need to pay them no mind and instead focus our attention on cultivating a positive inner dialogue.

What we say to ourselves and others affects our health. Just as our body reflects our thoughts and feelings back to us, what we think and feel plays a huge role in our health. If we are willing to hear what our body is saying, we have a powerful ally in our health and spiritual growth. If we are willing to hear what we are saying to our body as well, then we have a winning combination for long-term health and wellness.

Edgar Cayce, the famous channel, tells a story that clearly illustrates the connection between our thoughts and our health. Each day on his way into his office, colleagues asked a man how he was feeling that day. Each day, the man happily replied, “Never better!” One day, as an experiment, a group of colleagues decided to each reply to his jovial “Never better!” with, “Really? You are looking pale and ill!” By lunchtime, the man had to go home, having suddenly come down with the flu. He had not been sick in years.

When we say to ourselves, “I feel sick and I suck”, we are affirming and hence creating that reality. When we say, “I am well and it is a beautiful thing”, we are creating that instead. The thing is, wellness comes from resting in the totality of the whole. That is, not pushing at things we don’t like or pulling towards us the things we do. We need to practice non-resistance to what is. When we say, “I am well” but really are feeling and believing in “I am sick and I suck”, we will remain unwell, because we are beating ourselves up by giving power to negative beliefs.

Developing positive self-talk is not all about letting go of the negative tendencies, but rather being really honest and letting go of the fight we likely have with what is here, right now. Gratitude and a feeling of abundance arise when we are in a place of acceptance of what is. If we allow ourselves to see without judgment that we do have harmful tendencies, and when we let that tendency rest within the whole, we can focus our attention on cultivating positive self-talk while being compassionate for our tendency for negative self-talk. We accept our shadow while we cultivate our inner light.

Just as we cannot just cut off our head when we have a nasty and achy head cold in order to feel better, we cannot just cut our thoughts off so they don’t exist. They are part of our energy system – for now. As we focus on the possibilities in this moment, whatever this moment brings, we begin to let go of our attachment to our negative self-talk, so that our positive self-talk can grow stronger.

Parvati Devi is the editor-in-chief of Parvati Magazine. In addition to being an internationally acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer, she is a yoga teacher and holistic educator, having studied yoga and meditation since 1987, and developed her own yoga teaching style called YEM™: Yoga as Energy Medicine. Her current show, “Natamba”, brings forward a conscious energy into the pop mainstream.

Our body is the very same stuff of which nature is made. Organic, imperfect yet completely wise, it exists within an intelligent whole, constantly seeking balance. I celebrate the divine body in my song Sanctified Skin:

My body is my temple.
I play inside.
It is so peaceful and even quite sublime.
I am an earthly traveler making peace with my tribe.
I wear this human spacesuit where spirit can find
The light that shines within
Sanctified skin.
My body is no sin,
Sanctified skin.
I celebrate my sanctified skin.
Love emanates through my sanctified skin.
Life gyrates behind sanctified skin.
I breathe it all in.
And life begins!

The body is a place where we can grow quiet and celebrate the divine, as it is a reflection of the divine. Like a “human spacesuit”, we borrow it briefly while we are here so it may house our soul’s voice and reminds us of our evolutionary path.

A woman came to me once for healing work. She had pelvic pain, and wanted relief. When I tuned in, I saw a rape that she had experienced. I saw too the inflamed rage she still felt because of it. Her pain was letting her know she still had deep, unprocessed emotions. She had not moved through the horror of the incident, nor had she seen any possibility for forgiveness. Full of rage, blame, resentment and shame, she did not know how to deal with these emotions, so she packed them away and tried to move on. But her body pain was keeping her honest, letting her know she still had not healed, nor had she learned what she needed to learn through the incident.

Once she was willing to listen to messages within her body as the voice of her soul, she saw that she needed to confront her violator and the family members that were silently witness to the crime. Her soul was speaking through her body letting her clearly know that she had unfinished business on her personal healing and spiritual journey. Once she followed through what she needed to do to heal, her symptoms ceased. She also was free from the entangled, emotional grip of those who were involved, and was able to pursue with confidence a much happier life.

There are several wonderful authors and healers that offer guidance in understanding messages from the body, such as Louise Hay’s classic “You Can Heal Your Life” or her “Heal Your Body” or Caroline Myss’s “Anatomy of the Spirit”. Though I highly respect the guidance these teachers offer, I found for myself that they offered a point of view, rather than law written in stone.

As I deepen my relationship with my body and learn to understand my body language, I learn skills to understand a very rich, multidimensional language that has roots right to my soul. I encourage you to tune in and learn your own unique body language, the one that only you can truly know.

Illness comes as a knock at our consciousness door from the voice of our soul. It may be saying that we simply need more rest. Or we need to be more honest with our self or with others. Or perhaps our body is showing us in no uncertain terms that we need to live a radically different life. When we take the time to listen, our body will let us know in which way we are out of balance with nature and what steps we need to take to regain total health and happiness.

Parvati Devi is the editor-in-chief of Parvati Magazine. In addition to being an internationally acclaimed Canadian singer, songwriter, producer and performer, she is a yoga teacher and holistic educator, having studied yoga and meditation since 1987, and developed her own yoga teaching style called YEM™: Yoga as Energy Medicine. Her current show, “Natamba”, brings forward a conscious energy into the pop mainstream.

It also means the first time we may need to shed our winter clothing and expose our bodies to the masses. How do you feel about that? Do you say “bring it”? Or does it cause panic? “What if someone thinks I look fat? Or worse, flabby? How will I endure?” Will you spend the next four months strategically planning how to avoid all situations where you may have to show your belly, thighs, arms?

Luckily for you, girlfriend (or boyfriend), you have more than enough time to firm up and feel more in flow about your body. Guys, you have more muscle and respond to workouts faster, but women are softer so it all works out! In the big picture, it will do you well not to care so much what others think — but that is another article!

Spring is an awesome time to release and purge excess from our lives. It’s a fabulous time to clean out our closets, drawers, cars and even end relationships that are toxic and no longer support who we are and wish to be, as we expand and move forward. 2012 is a year like no other. The speed of energies moving into the planet now, are like no others we have ever experienced on earth. Use them to your full advantage. Know your desire and set forth the energy to create what you want. No other time in history has been as powerful. Harness these energies and create your ideal health and vitality like ever before.

In Part 2, I will share some action steps to help you move forward into a healthier, more peaceful and energetic existence in 2012 and beyond.

Sandra O’Brien is mother to the world’s three most fabulous children. She is also a Law of Attraction Life Coach, Personal Trainer, and Reiki healer. She is creator of the Bootcamp Goddess system, a female fitness program to blowtorch body fat, sculpt sexy lean muscle and empower women everywhere to be the best version of themselves, inside and out. She enjoys the ocean, fire walking, reading, long walks, meditation, men in linen shirts and a full moon.