Under a Red Roof

I first saw Wayne Dyer on PBS when they were advertising for his special about The Power of Intention. Something about the commercials really turned me off, so I didn’t watch the show or buy the book.

I guess it must have been a couple of years later when the show for his next book Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling came on the air. Like the first time, I was resistant, making sure I kept away from PBS the first night it was aired. However, rather surprisingly, when I turned on the television on a lazy Sunday afternoon and saw that it was on, I kept watching.

I enjoyed what I heard. Like the title, I actually felt inspired and a bit awed, expecially about the butterfly story (you’ll have to read it – I’m not spoiling it). So, I told Gregory, “I think I might buy that book. It sounds like it might be what I’m looking for in my life right now.” He was less sure, but I tend to be the first in our household to jump on any sort of exercise or self-help bandwagon.

Here’s what convinced us both:

Have you ever seen Angel Cards like the one above? They are small, probably 1″x 2.5″, and have a word or phrase with a drawing of an angel (or angels) in some corresponding way.

We first saw them at our naturopath’s office. Each patient drew a card at the beginning of their visit for something to ponder in the waiting room. We liked the idea of the cards, so Gregory bought us some (in French! They’ve got them in many languages :).

In a strange coincidence, or maybe not, the card I drew on the Monday after viewing the program was Inspiration (insert weird sound effect here). You bet your booty I bought that book at the first opportunity, and, of course, it changed my perspective about the world and my life in a very profound way.

I first began practicing yoga about eight years ago. I dabbled with different videos and “live”classes, but was never very serious, at least, not until I discovered Shiva Rea.

My introduction to Shiva Rea was with the Yoga Shakti video on Amazon about two years ago. I was immediately intrigued by the possibility of creating my own practice by selecting from the different series of vinyasas on the yoga matrix. Since then, I have also added the Fluid Power Vinyasa Flow and the Creative Core Abs to my collection. Each DVD gives me myriad possibilities for my practice, including degree of difficulty and length.

However, the best part about the videos is Shiva herself: strong, graceful, and powerful. She radiates peace, love, and joy. I find myself inspired by her, learning to approach yoga in a completely different way by connecting my practice and my life. Before Shiva, I was “doing” yoga, but here, I feel myself evolving and actually “being” each of the asanas, all while growing stronger, too. It is really quite wonderful.

It is funny, too, I created the title for this entry before deciding that I wanted to include a picture of Shiva, so when I did my Google search, I found her website and it is called Shiva Rea: Yoga as Conscious Evolution. Kind of an interesting coincidence isn’t it? Her presence in my life extends far beyond my practice.

Who knows? Maybe one day, we’ll even meet. Until then, thank you Shiva. Infinite blessings upon your path…