- Books on My Shelf 2013
Welcome back to SunnyRoomStudio. This week, from my shelf, I selected a book by Steve Ross: Happy Yoga — 7 Reasons Why There’s Nothing to Worry About (2003, Regan Books of HarperCollins).
I discovered Steve’s hour-long yoga program in 2006 when it was on the Oxygen channel about 6 a.m. He played great music, some that could even get you going when you really wanted to go back to sleep. Eventually, I learned the routine he and several students were doing each morning (yes, it took a while!), and have never stopped. I’ve paused at points (for a few weeks), but otherwise, his yoga routine is still intrinsic to my week.
But I didn’t know much about yoga when I discovered this program, so when I found Steve’s book, I immediately wanted to read it.
- Yoga, like many popularized terms, is easily dismissed by those who don’t understand its physical, mental, and spiritual potential.
Here, for example, is the dedication from Happy Yoga: I dedicate this book to the eternal conscious bliss from which all creation arises.
That statement alone makes me want to read his book. Again. And again.
And who among us couldn’t benefit from learning why there is nothing to worry about?
“Problems arise when you think an unpleasant feeling or character trait is permanent–
which it never is. It only lasts as long as you insist on reinforcing its existence
by thinking about it and holding on to it. If you think you’re not in control of
your thoughts, who do you think is?” ~ Steve Ross, Happy Yoga
In a wonderful section called Inner Yoga, Steve writes about the things “your analyst probably won’t tell you.” It is well worth the entire book.
In a very realistic way, he explains that we are not riddles to be figured out. We are “eternal awareness infinitely connected to all that is.”
And when we quiet the mind through yoga or meditation, the body’s energy begins to flow. What had seemed like a “problem” was merely a fleeting thought, one we can release.
- It’s a matter of raising our awareness to the level of spirit.
I agree with Steve that “the world is not a sensible place on almost any thinking level.” Yet, there are people who spend a fortune–in time and resources–in some kind of perpetual “analysis” or “therapy.”
But he’s not convinced of its usefulness.
“Often analysis is a slow and very expensive process of learning how to live with and integrate nonsense.” It also “stimulates the intellect.”
Of course.
As Eckhart Tolle has pointed out: we are a world “addicted” to thinking.
We “think” too much; we think obsessively; we think when we are tired, wide awake, half-asleep, walking, running, cooking, shopping, driving. We “think” we can “think” our way through life, never digging deeper into the mysteries of existence.
“Contemplating the grave disorder of the world and the mind
won’t free you of the lunacy of the human condition.” ~ Steve Ross, Happy Yoga
According to the author of this wonderful book on my shelf: even if you get close to understanding the human condition that doesn’t mean you will become sane yourself. “It only means that you might be able to function comfortably in a madhouse.”
- The yogi’s aim is transcendence — pg. 159.
If you want to know more about yoga … its many levels of usefulness … this is a great book. The author looks at life through the lens of spirit, instead of through the limitations of a popularized culture. You’ll want to study it cover-to-cover to get the most out of it. And to understand his message fully. ~dh
Thanks for visiting SunnyRoomStudio: a creative, sunny space for kindred spirits.
Looking for book suggestions?
I maintain an informal list here in SRS. See top menu or click here.
See you again Friday, November 15th, as our 3-month review of books on my shelf continues.
I hope you are also digging into the books on your shelves. Dusting them off. Opening to page “whatever.”
Sit down, read your favorite chapter. Read the first page, the last page.
Journal about your discoveries. A book is just a book until you read it for the second time.
Enjoy the journey. ~ dh
