Author: Shelley Lowther

  Free yoga tastings . . . Savor the flavor . . .   The teachers of One Yoga Sanctuary, located at 73 Sea Island Pkwy. in Beaufort, are hosting ONE YOGA FEST,  a day of free and varied yoga and movement classes for all level practitioners on Saturday, April 4, from 8:30 am – 2:30 pm.  

I consider myself lucky to be able to train with Baron Baptiste as often as I do. One of my favorite things are the aphorisms he often shares with his trainees – I call them BBs. The current BB I am sitting with is one that I need to be reminded of frequently:Be a warrior, not a worrier.

“When someone shoots an arrow at you, don’t be there.”My teacher Baron Baptiste reminded me of this Zen proverb last month standing on a beach in Maya Tulum.

   Psst. The universe is working for you. You don’t have to believe that. You don’t have to believe in good or evil for them to exist. But what’s possible if you believe it? I recently realized that if I pay attention, I can see and feel the universe working for me. You can call it God, Buddha, Allah, or Spirit, but if you pay attention you will find a divine grace in your corner.

As human beings, we are more alike than we are different. No matter what our social or economic status, at our core, human beings all experience the same range of emotions. Yet almost from the womb, we strive to distinguish ourselves from others. In our quest for success and happiness, we risk falling into the trap of comparison.

  Are you grateful?   Do you cultivate an attitude of gratitude? This year, I have noticed a trend on Facebook where my friends are posting something that they are grateful for every single day. Instead of waiting for one appointed day to express gratitude for things large or small, they express gratitude for something every single day. I have seen some amazing posts.

I recently attended goal setting training, and learned a simply yet staggeringly important truth. Everything after “I am” creates.* We create our lives.   Every single aspect comes from us.  What we think, we become.

   Have you ever heard the saying, “We become what we judge?” When we judge someone, our behaviors begin to mirror what we judge.  For example, if you judge someone for a prejudice, you become prejudiced against them.  You may have started from a place of moral righteousness (caution!  warning!) but you eventually become the very thing you resent.

“Preach all the time, sometimes even with words.”  Baron Baptiste said it, and I even have the tee shirt.  The words are easy, but sometimes the practice is more challenging.

Very often when I tell people who do not practice yoga about Africa Yoga Project, I am asked a fair and honest question: “Don’t kids in Africa need food more than they need YOGA?”