Freedom's Blog Part 2 - Whoosh! Letting the Freedom Wave Roll

Riding the Freedom Wave

The Freedom Wave is a natural counter balance to the MOM, More-of-Me Wave. Our thoughts diversify on the wondrous MOM Wave. MOM is natural force which helps us compose love and order, or lesser stuff. We craft our ideas into reality while riding of wild MOM Wave as discussed more fully in Part 1 of Freedom’s Blog.

The Freedom Wave’s job is to decompose less useful forms so there is space for new growth. When we align with nature’s plan to clear out the cob webs, it is best done minus complaints. Whatever we accept we get to go beyond. When we stop resisting this leads towards peace, a state Buddhists call the void or emptiness. When we are open to playing with both waves, as the need arises, a sense of harmony is felt. We are more able to act in accord with the creative laws that govern the universe. Cooperating with the movement of life encourages synchronistic events to occur. Riding both waves is in balance is a lot like captaining a ship poised between waves and wind. I will elaborate more on “Shipology” in a later blog.

Wouldn’t it be nice to ride The Freedom Wave with grace, ease and trust; allowing change to wash through our lives without clinging, begging for mercy, throwing hate darts or screaming mutiny? It is easy to love The MOM Wave, look at all the great nurturing stuff she brings us! When there is More-of-Me who is complaining? But when MOM’s partner the Freedom Wave takes away – Ouch! So why does the universe have to play take away? The force of the Freedom Wave is a big burley bear to hug no doubt, cute in concept, but in person, we sense its’ big claws and teeth. Life can be scary if we stay in the dark.

I am learning how to ride my ship of body/mind on the rise and fall of the MOM and Freedom Wave so I may better enjoy every magical moment. My imagination can travel to the edge of time and beyond. My eyes were opened reading a fascinating book called The Tree of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar, a modern day Yoga master. Iyengar is also a spokesperson for the ancient sage, Patanjali, who wrote The Yoga Sutras. The tree plan unveils a recipe for keeping your ship on the UP and forward track and balancing the effects of the elements of wind and waves so to speak. The UP-beat heart has the impetus to laugh a little, generate a few nice hormones and keep the course for freedom’s gate. The tree formula has eight steps.

Tree Tech Practices

The tree of yoga is an old formula, thousands of years old, for spiritual achievement. It is a map of how to navigate this world and steer clear of obstacle-making on the path to enlightenment. There are eight steps or limbs on this road to freedom’s gate. The tree is an organic model of how the body, mind and heart become one with the universal pulse, the MOM and Freedom Wave. I can look back in my life and see the effects of ignoring Tree Tech wisdom. Stalled energy resulted. Adherence to the 8 point tree plan is what I now use to remove knots in my body and mind. A knot is a place where life and consciousness flows but not awareness.

The Winning Recipe: (more interpretations on these aspects to follow in future blogs)

The Eight Limbs (Astanga) of Yoga from The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali
Patanjali – 500 B.C. Indian sage, scholar, yogi, dancer, philosopher & doctor
The eight limbs are explained in detail in The Tree of Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar

The SEED of The Tree of Yoga is the Soul, the indivisible spark called Atman in Sanskrit.
Its’ house is in the human body in the heart center.

1. Yama – ROOTS OF TREE
• Non-violence - Ahimsa
• Truthfulness - Satya
• Non-stealing - Asteya
• Moderation in sexuality & relationships - Brahmacharya
• Non-covetousness or greed – Aparigraha

2. Niyama – TRUNK OF TREE
• Cleanliness of body/mind - Sauca
• Contentment - Santosha
• Tapas - Fervor on subject, practices aimed toward liberation, heat
• Study of the Self – Svadhyaya (& sacred texts)
• Surrender to God - Isvarapranidhana (offering fruits of labor)

3. Asana – Yogic Postures – LIMBS OF TREE

4. Pranayama – Breath Regulation – LEAVES OF TREE

5. Pratyahara – Sense Regulation – BARK OF TREE

6. Dharana – Focus & Concentration – SAP OF TREE

7. Dhyana – Meditation & Reciprocation - FLOWERS OF TREE

8. Samadhi – Liberation & Complete Absorption in the ONE

The Goal of Yoga is the state of Samadhi – various levels of -
SAMADHI - ONENESS OF BODY/MIND/SOUL - THE FRUIT OF TREE

The Tree of Yoga –by B.K.S. Iyengar - Pg 3 – Chapter: Yoga is One
“The science of yoga helps us to keep the body as a temple so that it becomes as clean as the soul. The body is lazy, the mind is vibrant and the soul is luminous. Yoga practices develop the body to the level of the vibrant mind so that the body and the mind, having both become vibrant, are drawn towards the light of the soul.”


Chant - Ready, Set, Go or Know, Flow, Grow!

I found that the tree model, a familiar symbol, helps me to memorize the methodology of yoga. Tree Tech lessons are well suited for practical applications in dealing with all manner of relationship, money and health challenges. I match up my experiences by the tree template and examine my actions. If I want to create or dismantle something, first I set it UP in my intention. I imagine that both waves cooperate with my request, to both spin their magic through me. I chant - ready, set, go or know, flow, grow NOW!

The natural components of the tree, the roots, trunk, limbs, leaves, bark, sap, flower and fruit grow and change a little each day just like we do. Each day, the sun shines and the earth supports us with gifts of nature. We all have equal opportunity to grow. With our thoughts, words and deeds, we chose to either add or detract from the UP and forward growth of our tree. Down energy slows us down, whereas UP energy accelerates more UP!


Healthy Roots = A Healthy Foundation

An inventory of our roots is the most fundamental of all the Tree Tech practices.


Tree Tech 101 – The First Root of Our Tree
Yama #1 – Ahimsa – Sanskrit for Non-Violence

Non-violence is an art worth mastering. When we keep our agreement to love and honor our self in our thoughts, words and deeds we practice the core of the non-violence art. Healthy roots must be established first, otherwise we will see our violence manifest and craft more obstacles and knot-making. The five root practices listed are called the Yamas in yoga and Ahimsa is the first root discussed in the classical yoga tree model.

To disassemble violence against self, those thoughts and actions which reject and punish self need to be exposed. Ahimsa acts like a lynch pin. Once we begin to master non-violence, our defensive shields and those aggressive or passive aggressive strategies tend to pop up so we can see them. As we break free of ruts, the flow increases. We get used to higher velocity. Knowledge of our purpose, the intelligence from our soul can get through to our conscious attention.

Adherence to Ahimsa - Tree Tech 101

Ahimsa, non-violence is both a fundamental causative principle in our life, shaping everything we touch, and an under-pinning of our behavioral complexities. Disconnection and fear is the “root of the root”. Love, respect and acceptance of our self prime the pump of the creative well within. Violating self-love and siding with self-neglect or self-loathing is the core origin for all manifestations of spiritual dryness. The seat of our own awareness, our soul, this indivisible awareness with the total vision, the seed in our tree story, is our own inner hero. In The Yoga Sutras, how the mind first subdivides and creates its own obstacles is explained clearly in 196 aphorisms. For me reading the sutras lit flaming torches on the road to freedom. Our demanding ego, a shadow of the real self, is the cause of the real drag in life. It slows down forward thrust and increases our addictive need of and enslavement to this world. The world is wonderful, but not so when we have forgotten our true nature and let ego call the shots. For when we resist either the flow of the MOM or Freedom Wave, when we resist and say NO to our very own life creations, we reject self. Thus energy stalls and slips down. This is against self, this is violence. We can stop such nonsense once we see the game.


Promises, Promises – The Honor of Our Word

The ultimate promise to self is to allow our soul seed awareness to fully incarnate into the body and mind. The luminosity of the soul may cause intense feelings of radiation within. Some feel heat, sense a warm fluid moving within or see light. Sometimes I do too. Now the body moves with greater grace. These warm feelings help provide impetus to keep UP and find the keys to access our wishing well, our font of all good to come. Our heart of infinite gold rewards us when we open. As we soften, this flowering offsets the rigors of the upward climb, our spiritual journey. The Yogis call this heart juice, nectar. We need the hearts energy to sustain UP drive.

When we honor and keep a firm commitment to know, flow and grow beyond whatever illusions enslave us, regardless of what comes up, we culture self-confidence. In life we are likely to come face to face with challenges that sprouted from our less-than-loving thoughts. Yet the practice of non-violence, of self-love, self-communication and self-acceptance form this powerful foundation of self-reliance and inner strength. When our foundation, our promise to love and honor our self is solid, our roots can drink deeply. Then we are open to receive. By pausing to breathe deeply, by practicing the tree of yoga and by studying ourselves we transform. Plucking apart negative thoughts before we express them begins to break the pattern. The defensive egoic formulas that fuel down loose power. Down begins to turn to UP! If you are excited by this then perhaps your wonderment factor is already twirling you UP the cosmic slide! Good work.


Exposing the Ego Song – Anytime but Now!

What tools can we summon to expose the ego song? The ego likes to look good and tends to mask its destructive underlying motives. We are either 100% committed to live up to our word or willing to slip slide through life, looking for “outs” - justifications. An agreement represents the honor of our word and the power of our commitment is a tap root which supports and feeds the growth of our tree towards freedom. Being impeccably responsible and trusting in our own self-worth is the basis for creating freedom and prosperity. Forgetting significant agreements or allowing reasons, accidents, sickness or circumstances to unilaterally shift the rules is generally the slid/slide work of the egoic mind. Violating promises and commitments undermine our own self image – these actions are against self and therefore are violent. If agreements are broken regularly, we loose trust in our word to get the job done. Have you ever argued for your own limitations? It is an illusion that circumstances dictate our life, health, relationships or professional status. Our ego mind is a song, a voice that puts ideas in our head. It invents creative ways to get out of commitments. It’s a misuse of the MOM Wave. We are divinely gifted with free will and can use it for good or not. Now, we can select the high path, the tree tech path to reverse all downward spins and lighten UP!

Harmonic Alignment = Freedom!

I find that the more integrally I operate without what I call Hit and Run Tactics, the games my lost child plays when it is scared, the more energy I have for fun. The more fun I have the more I hear the freedom song of my soul. In this flushed abundant state, I now and only now, can cope with the take away factor of the Freedom Wave. In this exuberant wide open place, I begin to figure out how to use the dismantling process without hurting myself or others. I ponder Ahimsa and ask for clarity within if I get into a jam of any sort.

When I am in harmony, I have both Wave reigns in my hands, to create More of Me and the Freedom to give UP! The seed of my soul thrills in taking the MOM and Freedom Wave ride to higher and higher octaves. The more I stay UP on my wave, thrilled with the day, balanced and joyous, I falter less and thus wave friction is reduced. Growth is fun! Harmonic alignment is possible! The Tree of Yoga and The Yoga Sutras explain systemically how to remove the causes of obstacles. Yoga leads to Samadhi – Sanskrit for a state of harmony.

Yes Listening

The YES form of listening is a disciplined approach to hearing that can attune us to know the richness of our inner landscape, the magical dream world I call Wowland. As we become free to journey to Wowland throughout our day and night, synchronistic events are drawn forth more frequently. We catch glimpses of this juicy heart place leading to freedom’s gate where the egoic walls melt and the fluids run clear. Yes, we taste the salt of high adventure and smell the wind of relief. Maybe we cry, or dance and celebrate. Whoosh! we let that Freedom Wave roll. We let go! Now we can make more fun. We say YES, I am ready! Now, ready, set, go. Now, go - know, flow and grow.

And please remember to love each other UP! …..Oh, that is Part 3…to be continued.