​Life is hard, and sometimes I feel like I’m on repeat. I was struggling today, wondering when the last time I thought things were going smoothly. There always seems to be something tugging on my joy. The Ancient Yogis knew life was difficult, and that’s why they developed Yoga, a system of practices to relieve us from the suffering of life. Yes, even back in 1500 BC, life was tough! There was no internet, cell phones, social media, online dating, etc., but everyone still had the same problems. This realization gives me a pause but also promises a better future.
As women, we have different struggles, but guess what? So did our predecessors. Back then, women were prohibited from practicing Yoga. That is until Tara, the first female Buddha awakened the world to the fact that women are spiritual beings. I’ll share my path to Tara in another post, but here is her story. To read more about her I suggest you check out Rachael Wooten’s book, The Liberating Power of the Female Buddha. So, back to Tara’s story. A remarkable woman named Wisdom Moon was so devoted to her spiritual practices that a group of monks noticed her. They talked and then told each other she should transform herself into a man, to become a Buddha. She met all the different requirements of becoming fully enlightened.
Can we stop for a moment and contemplate that part of the story? If a group of men said something like that to me, I would instantaneously realize that I wasn’t even close to enlightenment. But Wisdom Moon was far more advanced in her devotion and let the monks know she would become a Buddha and wouldn’t have to change into a man. And so, she did; she became Tara, Mother of all Buddhas! That story has always inspired me to continue my Yoga path. Rachael has a wonderful compilation of Tara’s meditations on her YouTube channel. I invite you to explore.

​I wondered how many of you waver in trusting yourself. I got a puppy this year, and he’s almost 6 months old. I had been considering getting another dog since my beloved Remington passed away. I had abundant trust in myself that I could handle a puppy and thrive in training him. Last night, I felt defeated because my puppy was, for lack of a better explanation, being a puppy! You could say that my confidence had bottomed out, but as I contemplated today, I realized I didn’t trust myself. I reached out to my cousin, who has experience training her dogs and referred me to a few online training programs. When I was supposed to be meditating this morning, I was watching a training video on YouTube. I’m smiling now because this is a significant example of trusting myself. I’m going off on a brief tangent, but I’ll return to this story. Sometimes, our attention is in other places for a reason.
If you’re a mom, grandmother, career woman, entrepreneur, or domestic goddess, you have responsibilities. If something is looming in your mind, sitting and meditating is going to be tough. I trust myself enough to know that I can pause the meditation, take care of business, and get back to the moment I can lose myself in no thoughts. That’s because of the repetition of meditating at the same time in the morning for the past 4 years. Ok, back to trust, or should I say on with the trust?
After watching the video, I remembered the previous times I trained my 4-year-old Labrador retriever. I remembered how to do some exercises, so I tried some with my dogs. It worked, and they had fun. Then, we all got back to meditation. On my morning walk with the dogs, I listened to a podcast whose guest talked about using multiple tools for emotional well-being. I considered what I did to help myself. I texted my cousin, watched a YouTube video, tried some games with my dogs, meditated, and then went on a long walk, and now I’m writing about it. That’s six techniques for managing my emotions and deepening my spiritual connection with the world around me. Remember when I suggested setting a time for meditation and repeating it? If not, click on that link to read my post. The basis of Samadhi, or the highest state of consciousness, is meditation! You don’t have to be an expert; just start. 

​I was thinking about ways to engage my readers in developing their spiritual side. I thought about what most people say when they answer the magic wand question. What would you change if you could wave a magic wand and create the perfect life? Most say, win the lottery, have millions of dollars, or have all my bills paid. Could spiritual wealth be the magic wand that changes your life in the ways you want?
You may not know, but I have a farm. The path to the farm is another story for another time, but you could listen to my podcast episode, How Covid Knocked Me off My Hamster Wheel, to hear it. The guy who delivers the animal feed to my farm said he wanted to make $100k annually. He explained that he wanted to be able to take care of his family while he was young enough to work hard. I asked him if he could take care of them now; did he have a house, food, heat, clothes, and other necessities? He answered yes. He said he wanted to build an addition to his home and do some upgrades. My mind went back in time to when I built my first house. The payment was $800/month, and at the time, I could save quite a bit, even on a teacher’s salary. But as time passed, we decided to build a bigger house in a better location. My point is that no matter what the circumstances, we always want more.
What about our spiritual development? Do we always want more from our relationship with the Divine? Maybe spiritual wealth is where we should invest. The average life span in the US is 77.5 years, but how do we measure our time in eternity? I might be getting too deep into this, so let’s keep it simple. If we have a goal of enjoying life and gaining an understanding of who we are, we need to build our spiritual wealth to get there. Yoga is a practice that can help us to feel inner peace, develop compassion for others, and connect with the divine spirit within. If we invested in practicing Yoga as we invest in our occupation, that peace and relief from suffering could come quickly. How much time will you spend on Yoga and building your spiritual wealth? How much time can you invest in the process as we move into the new year? Think about it and write down a few sentences explaining your commitment. Need help on this part? Let’s look at steps for developing a habit.

​Pay attention to this one! For those out there who claim to be Yoga experts, I’m not. Before I started writing this book, some people had said, “She shouldn’t write that book!” Why? Probably because the thought of me writing a book about Yoga sparked anger in them. Maybe they’ve spent years perfecting their crow pose, or perhaps they studied under a famous Guru. They might have a Yoga business and don’t want others to know that poses aren’t the magical factor. I’m here to say that whatever your stake in the Yoga world is, embrace it. My book is about becoming an expert in how Yoga changed my life; that is what I hope reading my book can help others to do. When I took courses in Shamanism, the teacher said a Shaman would never call themselves a Shaman. At first, I wondered why, but then he said that others who had the benefits of the Shaman’s work could call them Shaman. That makes sense. If you have a favorite Yogi who has helped you somehow, then embrace calling them Yogi. I have a person who has helped me, and I’ll share a story about him.
When it was time to write my PhD Dissertation, I thought I had the perfect plan. I submitted my prospectus, which the program director quickly denied. I wanted to research Yoga as a Women’s Population Health Intervention, but the problem was that there was no Public Health research on Yoga. I had two professors assigned to my dissertation committee, and one of them wrote her dissertation on Exploring Yoga as a Holistic Lifestyle for Sustainable Human and Environmental Health. Other than that, nothing substantiated my project. I searched everywhere, looking for just one public health article on Yoga, and then I found it! Yoga Research and Public Health: Is Research Aligned with The Stakeholders’ Needs? By Avinash R. Patwardhan. I didn’t know who he was, but in my mind’s eye, I saw him doing Yoga research in some remote area of India. I rewrote my prospectus based on his article’s recommendation that more public health research on yoga should be done. My prospectus was approved! When my dissertation was completed and published in November 2019, I got a message from Dr. Patwardhan. He wasn’t far away in India but nearby at George Mason University. Long story short, we met and have since become friends. I call him Yogi.

​​According to the Yoga Sutra, Chapter One Verse Two, the ancient yogis described Yoga as containing fluctuations in the psyche. Each part of Yoga is meant to calm the mind, heart, body, and spirit. The goal is to focus on God when suffering comes our way. Finding comfort from the Divine within can be easy when we are calm. But in times of heightened emotions, what is our default mode? I think about the acronym HALT: don’t let yourself get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. My Aunt used to tell me that when I was going through tough times. Why do those things matter to our well-being and to make it through the day? Why is it so hard to calm our minds, heart, and body today? Let’s break it down into the parts of HALT. Today, we will focus on H or hunger.
Hunger can drive us to do things we wouldn’t normally do, but food can also do that. Like many products on store shelves, Ultra-processed food contains more chemicals than nutrients. You may not be aware that those foods are designed to keep you eating. When you tear open a bag of something crunchy, salty, maybe orange in color, your tastebuds come alive. Have you ever craved that kind of “food”? That craving is what the chemicals are meant to do. So, eating ultra-processed foods creates the H in Halt! Even after learning this, I still buy crunchy, colorful, bagged items now and then, but awareness is the first step to overcoming. We can overcome hunger by reminding ourselves to eat food close to its natural state without processing. What a topic to discuss during the holidays, right? It can explain why we may feel down after eating sugary, chemically enhanced treats during celebrations. Go for the homemade versions of those foods, for sure!
Yoga Sutra Chapter One, Verse 30, tells us that overindulgence is one of the distractions of our psyche. We can go back to the breath to help us, but again, it takes practice. Do you remember when I said that the magical factor in Yoga is YOU? You have the power to change things and can also influence that power with awareness of the foods you eat. If you missed the big reveal, read my previous blog posts, starting with the breath. Practice is the way we can help ourselves! Here’s a video from Dr. Andrew Weil on a short-breath meditation. Try it and let us know how you feel.

​The first time I remember feeling gratitude was around 1983. I was in high school and grateful for my physical health. My Aunt had developed muscular dystrophy, and I saw how simple tasks became more challenging for her to accomplish. While I was able to help her, I was also thinking about my ability to move efficiently. As an act of appreciation for my physical health, I decided to pursue bodybuilding as a sport in college. I didn’t want to take my muscles for granted. At that time, gratitude wasn’t trending as a technique for staying healthy. There was no internet in 1987! Even years later, I didn’t understand the full impact of gratitude. In my late 20s and early 30s, the gratitude journal became popular when a TV talk show host boasted of its benefits. So, I bought a notebook and wrote five things I was grateful for daily. It wasn’t long before I ran out of things to write about. I had been feeling lonely and sad during challenging times in my marriage. The gratitude journal wasn’t giving me the happiness I was looking for. I hadn’t connected my appreciation for physical health in the 80s with gratitude. At that time, I was hyper-focused on what I didn’t have.
Years later, I heard a podcast guest explain gratitude differently. The expert said to think of your life without the person, place, or thing. At that moment, it hit me, and a flood of gratitude filled my heart. My home, my family, my dogs—the list could go on and on! Suddenly, gratitude came quickly to me. I had unlocked the healing power of gratitude. The Ancient Yogis knew how vital gratitude was for life. Yoga Sutra Chapter 2, verse 42 says from contentment, unsurpassed happiness is attained. I agree with that statement. Living in appreciation can bring unsurpassed happiness if we can get to the point of genuine gratitude.
Try this gratitude activity. Think about your life now and pick a person, place, or thing to contemplate. Maybe it’s a pet or a loved one. Then, consider how your life would be without that person or pet. Now consider all the joy and love the person or pet brings you. Write a few statements about the feelings and experiences. Notice the happiness your thoughts have generated in your heart, and remember that joy throughout the day. Tomorrow, choose something different or maybe the same focus of gratitude. If you like, share your experience with us on our Facebook page.

There are two ways to go in an elevator: up or down. Even on Level One, there may be an L or even an LL button to press. It was 15 years ago that I was on the LL of my life. I reached a point when I had to stop and figure out how to move forward. Let me preface that statement by saying not all parts of my life were spiraling downward. I was successful in my job, and I had a beautiful home. My family loved me, and I had a loyal friend who stayed by my side. I didn’t know what Yoga was then, but I had always loved self-help books and read many. I had a solid grasp of my belief in God and Christianity; I had read the Bible from cover to cover and knew of the mystical power of the words. Despite all that going for me, I struggled with what to do next. I decided to take one year for self-reflection. Within that year, I told myself I would stay home with no big plans other than introspection for answers to my questions. I replayed my life when specific memories would pop up. I thought about the decisions and choices I made. It wasn’t long before I realized I was responsible for my suffering. Others may have contributed to the pain, but I chose to stay in the circumstances. That was a powerful recognition that changed my hopelessness to hopefulness. Why? Because I remembered my power to choose. Small decisions over time got me to that point, and the same would happen moving forward. I would pay attention to the small choices!
So, what did I want in my life? I think many of us struggle with that question. What would it look like if you could wave the magic wand and have the perfect life? My next step was to figure out what that new ideal life looked like. The latest version of my life would need to be very different from what I spent the past years envisioning. There would be no children, maybe no spouse, but something I wanted. I needed a paradigm shift in what I thought I needed for a happy, successful life. It’s easy for me to say now, but at the time, it felt like death. I realized that each decision I made in the past was about wanting love and joy in my life. That’s where I would start to rebuild. I had always supported myself through my teaching career and thought moving to higher education could be the answer.
I decided to go to Salisbury University on the Eastern Shore to learn how to be a professor. At that point, I had achieved more successes in my career; I was a National Board-Certified Physical Education teacher, I had overseen every type of school committee, I had started writing grants, and I was a wellness chairperson for years at my school, but I was ready for new challenges. When I went to Salisbury University, the dean of the health and physical education department told me to get my PhD in some kind of health topic. Whether it was health, public health, or community health education, if I had my PhD, I could write my ticket to any higher ed job. I drove home thinking, “I don’t want to do that. I can’t drive to a university three times a week and do it all summer to get my PhD.” That was the summer of 2010. By December 2012, I was enrolled in a PhD in Public Health; I was confident in earning degrees and teaching. Public health was a bit out of my scope as a teacher, but it was challenging, so I knew it would be interesting.
As time went on, the coursework became more intense, and I spent nights, early mornings, and weekends sitting at my computer reading research articles and writing papers. That’s when I became a morning person. For most of my teaching career, I was running late for work. Getting up early was a struggle, and I didn’t change that until I needed more time in my day. This was also around the time that I found Yoga! Remember my story of having chronic pain and finding the yoga magazine at the Physical Therapy office? That was at the same time I was deep into the PhD coursework. Did I have time to add one more thing to my schedule? I found the time! When there’s something you want to learn, you can carve out time in your schedule to do it. You may have to wake up early, or in my case, 4 AM. My desk faced east with a fantastic view of the Patuxent River leading out to the Chesapeake Bay. I watched the sunrise in the early mornings while I worked on my computer. This new habit changed my life. Check out my morning light meditation if you missed it.
In Yoga, watching the sunrise connects us to nature’s cycles, welcoming the new day, aligning our body’s cycles to nature, and sparking the creative spiritual power within. I watched the day turn from darkness to light and used that time to write. After earning the title Dr. Lisa Clow, I continued to wake up early, but instead of studying, I was meditating. Yoga Sutra Chapter 2, verse 1 tells us that the activities of Yoga are self-discipline, self-study, and dedication to the Lord. Remember when I thought I couldn’t do Yoga? If you ever thought you couldn’t, I hope this post has awakened a spark in you to try it!

When I say the magical factor in Yoga is YOU, it is your connection with the divine spirit within you. I learned the song “This Little Light of Mine” as a child. We sang it in Sunday school, and we even had movements using our fingers as a candle burning in our hearts. As a child, I didn’t realize that was the divine spirit inside of me. The Christian Bible tells us to be a vessel for God and to let Jesus live in our hearts. These ideas are part of our creative imagination that helps us see the divine within us. We imagine the light shining brightly, sending love to the world.
Tibetan Yoga has a practice called Guru or Deity Yoga, where the light from the Guru shines into your body and then out to the world. In Deity Yoga, one uses creative imagination to see oneself as the Deity, sending light out to the beings in the universe. The light is the power within us that helps us heal, connect our mind and body, and connect to others. In the post, Here, Right Now, I wrote, “The Ancient Yoga text, the Sutras, gives specific instructions for stopping the distractions that cause us suffering. Yoga Sutra Chapter 1, verses 32 to 34, tells us to lengthen the exhale and hold out the breath. Yoga Sutra, Chapter 1, verse 36, tells us we could also focus on that light free from sorrow. This sounds like the light I learned about in Sunday school.
Let’s try connecting with the light. While sitting in a comfortable position, feel your breath coming into your nose and filling your lungs. Let the breath go out of your nose, and notice the pause between breaths. Try that a few times until your focus is on you. I like to use at least five breaths, but you can practice that simple breathing for as long as you want. Let the attention move to your heart. You can put your hands over your heart in the middle of your chest or just think about a warm, glowing white light coming from your heart. Imagine the light reaching your arms, legs, fingers, and toes. Fill your back, belly, shoulders, and head with the light, imagining your entire body filled with the warm, white light from your heart.
As your body shines with that light, ask your divine self what you need to know about your body. I like to write down what comes to mind. If you want, you can ask again: what else must you know about your body? You may be wondering how you know the thoughts are from the divine inside of you or just your mind. One hint is that the divine power works in a positive nature. In other words, if the thoughts are negative, they aren’t from the divine.
Next, imagine the light healing your joints, organs, and tissues. You may notice a temperature difference in parts of your body, tingling, or a sense of energy moving. If you feel tightness or pain, take a focused breath in and out through your nose and shine the light brighter in that area. Use your creative imagination to let the light work the healing power in your body. When you are ready, let the light return to your heart; place your hands over your heart if you want. Thank you for spending time paying attention to the divine inside of you.
After meditating like that, I think about what happened and how I felt. Writing about your experiences in a journal can help you become familiar with the practice and allow you to reflect. I like looking back on journal entries to see similarities and differences in my experiences. You can also let us know how it went on our Facebook page. Check out other meditations on our website: https://www.drlisaclow.com/

You may be confused about why I say Yoga isn’t about the poses; it’s about You. Ancient Yogis taught that to be in Yoga or joined together, one should train the mind and heart. The instructions include both the conscious and subconscious portions of our mind. We’re on autopilot when we aren’t present or in the here and now. Have you ever been lost in thought when you were driving, and then when you arrived at your destination, you didn’t remember the trip? Your subconscious mind was telling your body what to do. The subconscious mind takes control when you aren’t mindful of your daily life, but how does it know what to do? This is where science enters the picture. Remember the All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten poster? That poster’s creators explain Kindergarten learning as how we live the rest of our lives, and they are partly correct. Researchers identified early learning up to age seven as the subconscious mind’s programming. So, where do we learn our programming? You guessed correctly, from our parents! The saying, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree has meaning. Want to poke the bear when you and your loved one are arguing? Tell them they’re acting just like their mother or father. I’m not sure why this makes us so mad, but I’ve found that I’m more like my parents than I thought. One day, I was talking to my mom on the phone, and she was eating a snack of cheese and crackers. It wasn’t the highly processed ones, but the cheddar cheese you slice and saltines. She said she had some potato salad with it. Suddenly, I realized why I liked the food I liked; I wanted cheese and crackers with potato salad.
 If we want to break free from our programming, we can, but it takes time to repeat the new thoughts or behaviors we want to adopt. There’s a fast-track way to change things called self-hypnosis, which I’ll describe in a future blog post. Mindfulness takes on a new level of importance when you consider that it can get you what you want and change your can’t to can. Our Yoga practice is essential to this process, and it goes back to breathing. Paying attention to our breathing is one of the easiest ways to bring us into the present moment and awaken our consciousness. Whatever your goal is, you need your consciousness to get there. If you allow your subconscious mind to be your guide, you’re letting whoever programmed you take over. And it’s not just our parents who program us. Think about who influences a child younger than 7 years old: church, school, grandparents, neighbors, childcare workers, TV, and more. We’re like sponges just soaking it all in, from infants to children.
Since breathwork keeps us in the moment, we should practice daily. Picking a specific time for practice is a great way to make it a habit. Remember when I mentioned that you should practice breathing when your day isn’t stressful? For me, that’s during the early morning before the demands of the day beckon. I get up early before the sun rises but if that is intimidating to you, try this morning light meditation. Watching the sunrise can become something to look forward to. Plus, when we expose our eyes to morning light, we help to regulate our circadian rhythm for a good night’s sleep. After trying the meditation, visit our Facebook page and share your experiences.

I wrote about ten versions of the first sentence of this post. I can take many different directions on this subject, but I decided on one: here and now is a safe place to be. I’m not talking about therapy, time for reflection, dreaming of the future, or hoping for a better outcome. What I mean is the moment-to-moment living we all do. I often find myself lost in thought; sometimes, I think the thoughts aren’t mine. Maybe I’m picking up on other people’s emotions or residual energy that lingers. We’ll talk about energy in another post. I heard a podcast several years ago, and the expert said that living in the past is depression and living in the future is anxiety. I thought about it and kind of agreed.
Ancient Yogis spent hours in the wilderness, forests, caves, or anywhere else they could be alone. They knew the healing power of living in the moment and that it was hard to do around other people. I remember returning home from teaching and trying to stay in the present moment instead of dwelling on the day’s events. Stopping those never-ending thoughts can feel impossible. I would do a walking meditation, where each step I would say, “Here, now.” Sometimes, it worked, but other times, I couldn’t break free from the emotions. I found an ice bath helped with very stressful times. Nothing brings you to the present moment better than a tub of 32-degree water! PS, I took a few Wim Hof workshops before the full-body submersion. I don’t suggest just jumping in without some preparation.
My point is that while we think living in the present moment is a given, we’re often far from it. This is where practice is helpful. Tibetan and modern-day Yoga start each session with breath, connecting the yogi with the here and now. We practiced breath meditation in the last two posts. If you missed those posts, scroll down to check them out. Sometimes, doing Yoga means just staying with the breath; depending on your day, you may need more time. Sometimes, just one breath can snap us out of a downward spiral, like in my rollerblading story.
Existing here and now connects us to the world. Have you ever had a dog that knows it’s dinner time? It’s amazing how in tune animals are with the present moment. The dog won’t let you think of anything except the food bowl! Observing animals and nature can teach us how to bring our awareness to the current time. Have you ever been chased down by a mama turkey when you accidentally got too close to her baby chick? Probably not unless you have a farm, but you’ll be here now and wish you had paid attention.
The Ancient Yoga text, the Sutras, gives specific instructions for stopping the distractions that cause us suffering. Sutra Chapter 1, verses 32 to 34, tells us to lengthen the exhale and hold out the breath. That’s the first option suggested for relieving suffering caused by the human condition. A technique I learned in Yoga teacher training included noticing the space between the inhale and exhale and slowly lengthening that space. This mindful way of breathing brings us equanimity. Mindfulness and equanimity describe the practice and development of inner peace. With awareness of the moment, we can make better decisions, see the situation for what it is, and connect with our spiritual nature. Practicing being present in the moment is more manageable during a calm, quiet part of your day. That’s where you can start. As you get used to using your breath to help you focus, try doing that in a more stressful time. Below is the walking meditation I mentioned. Here’s a link to the recording. After trying the meditation, go to our Facebook page and let us know how it went!
This meditation can be used during a walk or by envisioning. If you cannot walk for safety, physical, or emotional reasons, you can receive the benefits of this meditation through envisioning. Consider what your body would feel if you were moving. Think about the opening and closing of the joints, the contraction and extension of the muscles, and the breath flowing and oxygenating the cells. Instead of seeing yourself walking, feel yourself walking to get the full effects of the vision.
As you begin your walk, notice the tempo or timing of your steps. The rhythm of your steps may change, and the pace of your inhale and exhale may shift. All is accepted in self-love and care.
As you step on one foot, think about the word HERE. In the next step, think of the word NOW. Now and then repeat HERE, NOW.
Choose a pace and pattern that soothes your mind, body, and soul.
Your foot approaching the ground is the future, moving toward your goals
Your foot on the ground, the present, HERE, NOW
Your foot leaves the ground, the past, leaving the past behind on each step of the walk.
On the inhale, think, HERE
On the exhale, think, NOW
HERE
NOW
HERE
NOW
Continue with your walk until you are ready to end this meditation
Knowing that you have received the full benefits of spending time here and now
Namaste