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Time for a Christmas Meal!

12/10/2014

Hi all! So, it's the festive time of the year and we are so happy to say that our Christmas meal for this year is happening again. As usual, we will be meeting for a delicious vegetarian feast on Monday 15 December from 7:15 onwards at the Egg Cafe, Newington Street soon after the last meditation session of the year (6-7 pm in 17 Rodney Street).

This event is not exclusive to just members so anyone wanting to join in, just drop by and enjoy the festive feast with us. We look forward to seeing you!

When: Monday 15 December from 7:15 onwards
Where: Egg Cafe, Newingston Street, Liverpool L1 4ED
Who: Everyone welcome!

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How Meditation Made Me Wealthy

6/26/2014

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I am a Brit living in America who came here with starry eyes looking to make a career in the entertainment industry. Like many other wannabes, I moved to LA and began to look for work of sourcing talent as an agent, and trying to keep the bills under control. I was broke, very broke most of the time. Situation got so bad I seriously thought about catching a plane to go back home and live with my parents. Around that time, my good friend Lily from CIS chatted with me often about keeping the faith. She regularly spoke about how meditation helped her in difficult times so I decided to give Patanjali meditation practice a go.

Not sure if you know how big 'get rich quick' dream is in the US. Every other day you hear about 'million dollars working from home', the 'techniques' to make money flow to you, the 'law of attraction' - used to made me cringe. But as meditation began, something changed. The basic principles of the Yoga Sutras (pretty strange to an atheist at first) kinda made me want to give it a go. Like, thinking that I am me, but am not just my body. Sort of a bigger, safer place where I am bigger than my body and the all the crap that was going on around me was not supposed to get to me that much.

Sooo, what happened? For a month, nothing. I decided to give myself one last shot, and stayed around on a loan. In my head, if I am bigger than all that is around me and if there is this amazing power that can help me find the right way, OK - let's find a way. I didn't stop working or looking of work. That would have been VERY lame. Like eating a sandwich and hoping things will happen on their own. They don't. But I became a lot more intuitive, great ideas started coming to me. I was a happier person who began meeting happy people and was thankful for everything he had - living in a land of opportunities like LA and my ability to give my dream a shot - seriously how many people get to do that?

One evening, I realised I had been stood up by a client (he ended up going to another agent) and I was sitting in this bar, thinking of going home. That's what my frustrated mind wanted to do, but the other side asked me to breathe deep, sit at the table and drink some water. As I sat blinking at nothing, in ten minutes, a young man walked to me looking for an extra chair. He ended up having to sit next to me and turned out he was looking for work and was auditioning for the same thing I was going to put my client (who did a no show) forward for. He was looking for an agent, and I said, I'd take him on. He auditioned and got the part next week.

One thing led to another and I met a great bunch of amazing people in a few weeks. If something didn't feel right, I didn't go ahead with it no matter how good the prospect looked on face value. Six weeks later, I had my second client off working in Hawaii and the money got transferred to my account, getting me out of the overdraft. Just. Rest is history. In sum, what changed? My perspective I guess. Life is bigger than the years we spend on Earth and Patanjali was a very cool dude to understand that.

We are not supposed to be sick and broke. Real spirituality is living your life to the fullest and helping others live to the fullest, enjoying every moment of it. I am a very wealthy man today not because I have money, but because I have a lot of money, but also people who can be part of my experience to enjoy it and to keep the cycle of giving going - giving happiness to other humans, animals, the planet - anyone and everyone. Isn't that what life is all about?

Alex.

courtesy: freedigitalphotos.net

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For Distance Learners of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

5/15/2014

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"Here's a photo from a Yoga Sutra session, thought I'd post it here to help any distance learners!" - N Vyas

If you want to join a Yoga Sutra Session, just click here, or alternatively contact us for distance learning.

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How to be Simple

5/14/2014

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Many of us live complicated lives as it has become unavoidable given the demands of the modern living. Living with simplicity carries different meanings to different people. Generally it would be interpreted as doing the essentials, having a comfortable living space, time and money for doing what is really important and what you enjoy. This is more evident in the elderly when they naturally start to have different priorities, having had the experience and understanding of a considerable length of time. For them, creating time for things they love to do and spending time with people they love becomes a bigger priority.

Speaking of lifestyle choices, it amazes me how supermarkets are shelved with huge number of products, which we don’t really need. One can spend ages choosing between one brand and another. Would simplicity not be buying what has the least ingredients, or more raw fruit & vegetables for our daily meals? Knowing and enjoying what you are cooking and eating has its own thrill. Do you really need that hair product? Or would it not be better to embrace your natural hair as long as it is clean and healthy?

Be aware of the impact of what you buy and do has on the environment and people around you. It’s shocking and worries me how many clothes are thrown away everyday and how people buy so may of them. Clothing items have become disposables like plastic bottles. It’s better to buy something that is long lasting that you really like and value, to get the most out of it. Recycling clothes among friends or family is a good idea or go ahead and be creative - make that shirt into a new top! By only using what I really need of the earth’s resources by maintaining a balance simple, comfortable living brings joy.

Another good way to describe a 'simple' lifestyle is one that doesn't burn us out too much. We may feel like there is a lot to do and we try to get things done efficiently by doing multiple things at the same time. However when doing this, full attention and energy is not being put into the task at hand as our attention is divided. Hence we may not be putting our best efforts into something. Furthermore, we are not completely present in and aware of what we are doing, unable to enjoy the moments of our life fully each time.

It’s good idea to listen to what’s around us, to be more aware and present of our surroundings. When was the last time you listened to a warm chatter of many people in a coffee shop? Heard the birds sing, wind blow, people laugh? Music is all around as, we just need to listen harder or ditch our earphones for a moment.

A good way to start living a simple life is to clear up some clutter - as the saying goes, a tidy house, a tidy mind. We can be more open to intuitive ideas and inspirations when we have a clearer mind. A clear mind will go a long way when we are faced with difficult situations in life. Simplifying our lives will give us more time and space for more important things like peace and love.

- Saraswati Patel

Saraswati is a student and an active member of CIS, who enjoys the nature, photography and meditation.

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Time for a Christmas Meal!

How Meditation Made Me Wealthy

For Distance Learners of Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

How to be Simple

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