Support and Inspiration

I cannot even imagine my early days of practicing yoga without the inspired reading material I was taking in. I read the Bhagavad Gita, The yoga Sutras, Autobiography of a Yogi, Miracle of Love and a large collection of books on the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. Those words filled me with awe and reverence for Presence, Truth and Consciousness. Study of the yogic teachings and scriptures is essential for fueling a practice that will last. Otherwise your life is tugging you in every other possible direction and it is easy to get lost, to forget why you came, to give up the practice in lieu of a dream world of your own making.

The other thing I did a lot was I kept a journal and in it I wrote quotes from the books I was reading, along with questions and epiphanies I had. I also took the liberty to color, draw, scribble or otherwise add design to my journal pages. Today there is no shortage of great yogic writings online and in bookstores and magazines. My favorite website these days is Stillness Speaks. Check it out. There you will find my teacher Francis Lucille along with other great teachers of consciousness. You can see videos and read words of wisdom there. But don’t forget the classic greats like the yoga sutras. Even if you don’t fully understand them, read them. I have read them many times because each time I do, my understanding is entirely different than it had been a year or two prior so I am able to digest and utilize that much more of it. But in order for that to happen, you have to start. Then you can create your own collection of words of wisdom gleaned from books, videos and your own epiphanies.