I’ve been taught that the purpose of yoga is to prepare the mind-body for meditation.

The purpose of meditation is to open one’s Self to insight.

An insight brought to my attention recently by my yoga teacher, Cathryn Gunnerson, comes from one of her teachers, Erich Schiffman.

“You are not God, but God is all there is of you.”

My favorite yoga video is taught by Erich through his student Ali McGraw. It’s called Yoga Mind & Body.

Erich is 6 foot 4 inches tall. He has long hair and a hippie vibe. The more I listen to him, the more I hear what he’s saying and the less I judge his vibe.

I’m going to try this audio file as a way to experiment with meditation/Quiet Time.

Before the meditation time, he says, “You only exist because God is being you. You are not God, but God is all there is of you.”

If I am thinking there’s something wrong with me, then I am thinking there’s something wrong with the way things are. It’s an inaccurate assessment. I will suffer.

Not because life is suffering, but the way I am doing it is suffering. Suffering is feedback that I can respond to by being attentive.

That’s why meditation is so useful.

My breathing is happening right here where I am. It is where the Totality is appearing as me. By being attentive to my breathing I am coming closer to a clearer assessment… to the Truth of who I am. The Universal I am. Therefore I am less self critical.

To be alive makes it my job to do Yoga – which is living in the Knowing that I can trust myself; and that I am not God, but God is all there is of me.

Love & Light,

Valerie