Mandala Workshop to surrender to the Divine

I’m inspired by the wonderful group of woman who attended the Mandala workshop. There was a lot of excited creativity and connectedness to each other and the divine. Thank you all for the peace, compassion, harmony and joy you brought into this circle!

In Sanskrit surrendering to God or the Divine means Ishvara Pranidhana and it is the last Niyama of the observances of the eight limbs of yoga Patanjali. It brings all the Yamas, the moral disciplines and restrictions and Niyamas together and into the light. To surrender means to love with devotion and to let go of ego driven activities, honoring the divine spirit within.

To truly understand my path of yoga and transformation is to find unity, truth and healing within. I start each day by getting up in gratitude, then reminding myself to practice the Yamas and Niyamas. I aspire to approach myself lovingly, at every moment. I try to accept, take responsibility for my actions, forgive and ask for forgiveness, then continue to serve and manifest. I approach my meditations with great energy, to surrender to the Divine within.

Our work begins by practicing the Yamas on and off the mat. They are broken down into five insightful understandings: Ahimsa - non harming and compassion for all living things, satya – commitment for truthfulness, astaya – non stealing, brahmacharya – moderation and sense control, aparigraha - non possessiveness. The Niyamas are the suggestions of how we treat ourselves and how we approach other people. They are saucha - purity, santosha – contentment, tapas – passion and zeal, svadhyaya – self study and then ishvara pranidhana – surrender and celebration of the spiritual. Bringing awareness to all these devotions, we are able to transform ourselves to positive human beings. We notice the spark and energy flow within and around us to also help other people to achieve a state of being with devotion to God, Buddha, Jesus, the divine spirit or nature itself.

If we practice surrendering to the divine, we will experience a transformation to peace, clarity, truth and true love.
Love Sonja

I feel my oneness with you, Father.

With your grace, o God, I perfect my body and mind,
that in their harmonious instrumentality,
I feel your presence within me. The glory of spirit abides within me.
Dear Lord, your energy charges my body and mind
and your spirit abides within my soul
I feel your glory registering your infinite immortality in my body,
mind and soul.
Paramhansa Yogananda

Santosha - Contentment

The real meaning of santosha is to accept what is.

Here in the west we are faced everyday with material things. It creates desires, greed, jealousy, and unhappiness. We have a tendency to give in to cravings for material goods to fulfill our desires. There is fear among us that we are not good enough for each other and there is competition between people which limits the love to live in harmony.

How are we able to be truly happy and feeling content if we are suffering, in the mind and body? How is it possible to practice santosha if we are faced with challenges like abuse, illness or death?

Practicing contentment brings us in the very moment of our being. Feeling content in beautiful moments is easy and brings us closer to our own light. But we still struggle and face setbacks in moments of fear, hatred, jealousy, pain. If we start accepting life as it is and not comparing ourselves with others we can find inner peace and true happiness. Contentment comes from the inside out and not from the outside in. Being on the mat everyday helps me to practice awareness and find santosha. Knowing that just the way I am, being grateful, accepting me as whole, is enough. Seeing myself as a spiritual being and finding gratitude for my life, is enough. This does not mean that I don’t struggle and it is the practice which keeps me in the moment of my being. If I am grateful for each brief time period, I will be able to accept life as it is. I am giving grace for each moment even the one’s which seem impossible for me to withstand. It allows me to find and see the light inside myself as well as in others.


The greatest inner tranquility comes from developing love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being. Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts our mind at ease. It helps remove our own fears and insecurities and gives us strength to face obstacles - it is the ultimate source of success in life."

~His Holiness the Dalai Lama

A NEW BEGINNING

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look at the closed door, that we don’t see the one that has opened for us.”

Helen Keller

I love to listen to the sounds of birds in the morning…it is such a gentle and beautiful way to wake up. I go outside with bare feet and walk through the moist grass and am able to take in the beauty of this small portion of the world. Everything seems to be perfect, the sun is shining through the woods and is slightly caressing my shoulders, the flowers are opening their eyes, the leaves on the trees still have little droplets of water on them. I am able to close my eyes and sit still for a while…listening to the outside sounds and to my mind. Practicing Shaucha, purity of mind and body is once again my intention this week. Letting go of self criticism, fear, anger and judgment is my desire. To be able to heal, to be free and accept what is.

Teacher training is over and it is a good feeling. I will miss all the beautiful weekends with my friends. On this part of our path together we experienced a great transformation and a unity as a group. Though we are pulled in different directions and there is diversity among us, we have the same goal. We wish to see our light, our truth, the love, peace and wisdom within. As one door closes another will open. It is a new beginning and we have to take the knowledge and wisdom we have gained and impart it to those that will share our journey with us.

Love to all Sonja

Mandala Workshop to invoke the Power to heal

Today I am in deep gratitude for all the people from the Hawthorn Cancer Institute, who attended the Sacred Mandala workshop to invoke the power to heal. It was an adventure for most of them and they participated in their own willingness and abilities towards their healing. I felt the camaraderie between them and it created a special energy, an energy filled with love and compassion. They felt safe and content amongst each other. As we meditated everything fell in place, and if there were any doubts or fears, it was released. I felt the sadness though from two woman who needed surgery the next day. The closing meditation was very beautiful and we all were very connected to each other and the source.

I came up against my own fear, self consciousness and perfectionism just a few days before the workshop. This created low energy and stifled the flow of the preparation. I meditated to find light and truth and to receive a symbol to create a Mandala before the workshop. Then I got this bird with big wings, which was flying towards the light. At that moment my fear lifted and it was replaced by pure joy and love. Birds mean freedom for me, freedom to fly and be free. To be free from suffering and not being contained by illness, or sadness. I knew then again that it is my journey to dedicate my life to help others, to find their truth and light inside. To find their voice so they can feel safe on their own journey. So they will notice their own transformation and change of energy when they are ready.

Mandala Workshop invoking your inner light

In preparation for my Mandala workshop to invoke the light I sat in silence for a long time and received this beautiful symbol.

There is so much radiant light coming from the inside! This Mandala represents the Koshas, which are our different layers of our bodies. Our physical body, the very outer layer, seems so big. Is it even possible that this light can get trough all those layers? Is it possible to send this light and love to the people we love? Why is it then that we hurt even the ones we say we love? Where is the light then?

As I ponder about those questions, I look at the Mandala and know we are all light beings and we are all connected with each other. The only separations are our minds, and it is not with our light that we hurt each other it is with our minds. We are holding on to unnecessary patterns which cause our sufferings. If we can let go of fear, hatred, jealousy, greed and competition then we will be able to focus more internally.

In this Mandala the largest outer layer represents the physical body. I think because most of us pay more attention to the very outer layer than to the rest of our body. It is what we see and what we know. With the practice of silence we learn to pay more attention to our next inner layer the energy body. We are able to listen more and bring more awareness to our being. The next layer our mental body provides us with is more awareness to our thoughts and emotions. In the next layer we are able to witness the transformation of the higher mind and develop understanding of wisdom and intuition. The bliss body, our most inner layer is true joy and peace. The light within is where we connect to our true source. It is this very light we are all longing for, which frees our minds from suffering.

The light and love during this Mandala workshop has truly been shining! I am in deep gratitude for all the participants for their light and peace.

Namaste

"Loka samastah sukhino bhavantu."

May all beings discover peace, love, and true happiness.

"I long to accomplish a great and noble task,

but it is my chief duty to accomlish small

tasks as if they were great and noble."

-Helen Keller-

Maintaining focus towards small acts of kindness and love towards others and myself attains clarity and cultivates patients, harmony and balance.

In a morning meditation, towards creating a Mandala, I received this turtle symbol. Turtles take their time to go from one destination to the other and have a calming, relaxing effect on others. They take their time and still reach their goals and end up where they need to be. In this moment of stillness I knew that I have to slow down, be more patient and take one step at the time. I know that, in this process I'll find the strength, power and joy to accomplish small tasks, returning to the love and kindness, also towards myself.

Peace and Light

Monday February 15.

Explore daily the will of God.
C.G. Jung

My intention today is acceptance…..accepting what is, my life, my challenges and every moment. I feel freedom and peace growing inside, a positive gift for my spiritual growth.
Life embraced me with big arms as I came back from Mount Madonna. I started to approach everything with a different energy, more compassion and love. This inner light is always with me and I can always see it in everybody else. As I sat in the airports and waited for my plane, I observed a very high stress level in many people. So I just closed my eyes for a moment and send those people good energy.

Today I allow myself to stay in stillness a bit longer than usual even though I still have to prepare for my next yoga class. I recognize I always have a choice……a choice to accept or to suffer……




Tuesday February 16.

Breathing in, I know I’m breathing in.
Breathing out, I know I’m breathing out.
-Thich Naht Hanh

Every day I get newly inspired by my students!

Being on the mat creating healing in the body and mind, finding a sacred place to be, to let go and just be. As we practice on the mat we dive deeper into our soul, finding oneness with what is. In the willingness to let go and releasing the chattering in the mind, doubts, fears and judgments, we learn to listen closely to our true inner voice, the voice of wisdom and truth.

The practice last night was so beautiful! Not because I was teaching and it had nothing to do with the sequence as well, no, it was purely the love and energy which was released by my students. The practice flowed and the whole room was glowing. They were radiating the heat and light, flowed easily from one pose to the other in alignment with mind, body and spirit. I’m very grateful for my students and their lights.

Peace Sonja

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Mahatma Gandhi


In the service of truly giving, is a selfless act without expectations of receiving something in return, it keeps us grounded and in the present moment. Also in this understanding I send out light, love and compassion to everybody in need.
As all my flights were canceled last week I ended up in Monterey, a beautiful small town in CA. It was a true gift to spend this day in stillness at the beach. As I listened to the sound of the ocean I found myself in a state of bliss. This silence in my mind was a real remedy of healing. Tears of gratitude for the beauty of this moment flowed effortlessly down my cheeks. I sat in stillness for a long time………….
Then I created this sand Mandala.
Love and Peace