Yogafly2

Press Release from my buddy Rupert Murdoch, XIV

as it becomes increasingly difficult to encounter one another in real-time, my buddy Rupert Murdoch wrote the following press release about our once a year lunch engagements.  Thank God I'm taking lessons in bi-location from Padre Pio otherwise I'd never see anyone in my human flesh.  Here's the one single homework assignment from my teacher, Padre Pio: "Pray."  and believe me, I'm on my knees every day.

(PR NEWSWIRE) NEW YORK, NY Dec. 22, 2006 -- New-York based healthcare publicist Rupert Murdoch, XIV announced today in principle a joint resolution with world renown yoga instructor and vocalist Kristina Lanuza in which the two vowed to increase the frequency of their get togethers.

Since January 2005, the two have seen each other but once a month. Mr. Murdoch, who resides in Poughkeepsie, New York but commutes to Manhattan's lower West Side three days a week, applauded the agreement.

"Look, I've never been thrilled with the arrangement of seeing Ms. Lanuza only once a year," Mr. Murdoch said. "The woman is far too enchanting, uplifting, and well, kinda sexy, to see just once every 365 days or so. It isn't right."

While the details of the new agreement have yet to be hammered out, sources believe the two are looking at perhaps a quarterly or a twice quarterly commitment. But such details are difficult to confirm as both Ms. Lanuza and Mr. Murdoch have such busy schedules.

"It's a little tough," Ms. Lanuza admitted. "I'm busy with my songwriting and producing engagements, not to mention my yoga classes and my work in public relations. I also travel. And he's married with a young daughter, so that complicates things a bit. But I'd like to think I'm able to tempt him more than once a year."

"Indeed," Mr. Murdoch replied.

A more detailed schedule of future rendezvous between the two is expected to be signed after their next meeting, as yet unscheduled for the week of January 8 at an undisclosed location.

I love Deepak Chopra from Kristina

Taken from Beliefnet.  Sent to me by soul sistah, go sistah, soul sistah about to be a mom sistah, soul sistah,  Cynthia Arnold Espinal.

Spirituality in a Material World

Called "the poet-prophet of alternative medicine" by Time magazine, Deepak Chopra, M.D., is the founder and CEO of the Chopra Center for Well Being in Carlsbad, California. Dr. Chopra was born and raised in India and came to the United States in 1970 to train and then practice internal medicine and endocrinology. He has since developed his own philosophy of wellness that combines Ayurvedic healing with Western medicine and focuses on a balance between mind, body, and spirit. Dr. Chopra is the author of more than 30 books on a variety of topics ranging from herbal medicine, aging, and meditation, to quantum mechanics, golf, and the poems of Rumi. He spoke with us about his latest work, "The Book of Secrets."

I was surprised by what you wrote about spiritual seeking. You say, "Seeking is doomed because it is a chase that takes you outside yourself." But it seems that some of your biggest fans are spiritual seekers.

You know, we all go through those phases at a certain point. The seeker will realize that what they're seeking is the one who's doing the seeking.

Seeking can become stressful when you apply the same laws that you apply in the material world—hard work, exacting plans, driving ambition, and attachment to outcome. Ultimately spiritual awareness unfolds when you're flexible, when you're spontaneous, when you're detached, when you're easy on yourself and easy on others.
(Read an excerpt about spiritual seeking from Deepak Chopra's book.)

Are there practical steps that people can take to increase their awareness?

Yeah, in the Eastern traditions, those steps have been referred to as the different kinds of yoga. Yoga literally means union, so the yoga of knowledge, which is a scientific understanding of how the universe operates—the yoga of love, which is paying attention to the impulse of love, which is, after all, the impulse toward unity. The yoga of stillness or contemplation or meditation. And also, the yoga of action, the attitude you have when you perform action, when you do yoga in the spiritual worship or when you have the inner conviction that everything you do comes from God, belongs to God and that every breath of yours and every movement of yours is a divine movement of the eternal being, then those are the steps that bring you closer to the supreme intelligence that orchestrates the universe.

Your book suggests our body chemistry can tell us about our consciousness. How so?

Look at the cells and how they function, you see that each cell has higher awareness. It is doing what it does to maintain the welfare of the rest of the body. The stomach cell's not saying, why should I digest food for the heart and the brain? And the brain doesn't say, why should I regulate the activity of the stomach? So they are inseparably interdependent. They have higher awareness.

Each cell has creativity because every time there is a challenge to the body, the body has to come up with a creative solution. Each cell knows how to commune with other cells instantly, both locally and non-locally, each cell is bonded to every other cell, each cell practices what it does with maximum efficiency—it never hoards anything. Each cell obeys the laws of giving and receiving, each cell has awareness of what's happening in the body, and each cell knows the secret of immortality, because even as it dies, it passes on everything it knows to the next generation of cells.

So if you want to look at the human body as an example of consciousness, it's a direct reflection. Consciousness conceives, governs, constructs, and becomes the activity of the body. And in every human body, or for that matter, in every biological organism, there is an inner intelligence that reflects the wisdom of the universe and is, in fact, the ultimate and supreme genius.

You say that our bodies are always experiencing dying–that "Cells are constantly dying and being replaced" and then ask the rhetorical question, so what are we so afraid of? Why do you think the fear of death seems to be built into us?

The fear of death comes from limited awareness. As long as you think of your real self as the person you are, then of course you're going to be fearful of death. But what is a person? A person is a pattern of behavior, of a larger awareness. You know, the two-year-old dies before the three-year-old shows up, the three-year-old dies before the teenager shows up.

So the real you is neither the perceiver, nor the object of perception, but the real you is that formless spirit that is constantly evolving and sometimes even taking quantum leaps of evolution and expressing itself as both the perceiver and the object of perception. And if you can shift your internal reference point from your skin-encapsulated ego to that larger domain of awareness, then you will find that it's your ticket to freedom—that you do not need to fear death because you're already dying every moment to the past.

The fear of death is the fear of the unknown, and yet, the fact is, we live and breathe and move in the unknown all the time. The unknown is from this moment onwards—you're already living there. You have the pretend game that you're living in the known, but the known doesn't exist anymore, it's already gone. Everything you know is about the past. So you have to both intellectually and experientially be willing to embrace uncertainly, ambiguity, and step into the unknown. The known is a prison of past conditioning. The unknown is always a fresh field of possibilities.

Would you equate this constant evolving and recycling with reincarnation?

You can say that, but you know, there's only one "I" in the end pretending to be all these different "I"s so I really don't even believe there's such a thing as a person; there's only the infinite pretending to be a person, as a temporary pattern of behavior. So what does reincarnate is the wisps of memory and threads of desire, born of past experience.

You write that unity, as opposed to duality, is "the purpose of evolution." What do you mean?

The fact that we experience separation is really a perceptual artifact. There's only a single reality that differentiates into both mind and body and then from body and environment. So our perceptual experience of the environment is different than the body, the body is different from the mind, and the mind is different from the soul.

There are two types of ignorance that we come to in this world, one is innate ignorance, which is this perceptual artifact of separation and the other is cultural ignorance.

Just like, your DNA, for example, differentiates into the different cells of your body, your heart cells and your brain cells, and your kidney cells are different in appearance, but not different in their essence. They came from the same double strand of DNA and if I wanted to isolate the DNA in every cell of your body, even though these belong to different organs, I'd get the same information. So the appearance of the expression of the different organs in the body is different, but it's still the same essence. So, too, every observer is a differentiated aspect of a single observer and every object of perception is a differentiated expression of the same observer, because the observer and the observed, the seer and the scenery, the knower and the known are differentiated aspects of a single consciousness. The goal of all spiritual seeking is to realize that experientially and intellectually—but more importantly experientially.

Cultural ignorance is when we take these ideas of duality and then we create institutions around them—so religious and cultural and social indoctrination perpetuates the ignorance.

Do you believe humanity as a whole is evolving toward unity, toward a "New Age," a new level of consciousness on a global scale?

Yeah. I think it would need a critical mass of people to reach a certain level of awareness for humanity as a whole to be affected so I do not know when that would happen. I think the fact that we now have technology, for example, the Internet—Beliefnet, for example—to take information and knowledge and you can rapidly spread it to so many people. That could never have happened say, 2,000 years ago. But today, I personally look at the Internet as the cloning of collective consciousness, our collective soul, it could be much faster than we think it's going to be.

In another interview you said that "religion pulls us apart and spirituality brings us together in love." Do you think that someone who identifies with organized religion can benefit from your books, from this philosophy?

Religious people can only learn from this kind of philosophy if they go to the basic experience of the founder of their religion. And then they'll realize that Christ wasn't a Christian and that Buddha wasn't a Buddhist and Muhammad wasn't Muslim. These people were having the experience of unity consciousnesses and universal consciousness and they spoke of it in words. So if you're a real Christian, you should be listening to what Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount and then you are expressing the universality of spiritual consciousness.

Because if you claim that your religion is exclusive and that your God is exclusive, then how can that God manage the whole universe? We are one speck of dust in probably the junkyard of infinity and there are billions of galaxies with billions of planets and billions of solar systems. We should not diminish the magnificence of God by giving him a sexist male identity, an ethnic background, squeezing him or her into the volume of a body and the span of a lifetime and a regional geography. That's really not paying a pure respect to the magnificence of the Almighty.

You grew up in a Hindu family in India. Do you consider yourself Hindu today?

No. I'm distressed that Hindus can be as violent as anybody else, the only difference is that they're vegetarians.

Would you talk a little bit about your own spiritual practice?

I meditate two hours in the morning and about half an hour in the evening. And I go to the gym for about 1 hour which I consider to be a really spiritual practice as well. And then I have the attitude during the rest of the day that the only step I'm taking that's real is the one I'm taking at the moment, so I try not to anticipate the future or think about the past, but stay grounded in the moment. And those are the mostly, daily practices—meditations, exercise, and staying in the moment. Once every three or four months, I try to take a week of silence in the wilderness and sometimes my family will join me but sometimes I'll do it all by myself.

When I interviewed your son two years ago, he said that two of the qualities that inspired him, of yours were your curiosity and your not taking life too seriously.

[laughs] That's probably true.

Do you think these qualities can serve as spiritual tools?

I think so. I think seriousness is a mask of self-importance and self-importance in turn is a mask for self-pity. So if you're really going to pursue a spiritual way of living in the world, you must be lighthearted and carefree, have humor, be able to tolerate ambiguity and embrace uncertainty, and be forgiving of yourself and everybody else.

Mum's the Word

I just had the most delectable little cup of chrysanthemum tea at Franchia on Park Avenue between 33rd and 34th.  The tea description said something like "for ladies: to calm and soothe anger and frustration."  And after listening to my account balance on the phone, a significant amount of anger and frustration had risen.  And being the yogini that I am, I just watched it all rise, rise, dissipate, rise, rise and dissipate.  After treating myself to some white chocolate and sugar coated pretzels,  the mind and heart decided I should treat myself to Franchia.

As the gods always seem to answer my every plea and prayer - popping out of the menu page at first glance - was the description of the Chrysanthemum tea.  On my way to the Franchia bathroom, which is a delighful little sanctuary in itself where I kneel down and pray for a bathroom like it one day to call my own, I saw the large book where customers leave their comments.  And someone had scrawled, "Your dumplings are delicious."

From my very meditative cushion, I asked for the appetizer collection of Franchia's finest dumplings.  "Steamed or fried?" my waiter asked.  To which my evil dark twin wailed, "FRIED!" and my sweet meditative, angelic twin asked, "which is better?"  The angel of a waiter then said, much to my evil, angry, frustrated twin's dismay, "Steamed."

This is my little shout-out to Franchia.  For only $18.36 before tip, my anger was soothed, calming music settled my heart, my tummy was filled with delectable vegetarian cuisine and my taste buds danced.  Yours could too. 

Sometimes I feel sorry for myself

and then I read something like this, and I know that I have nothing to complain about:

What I've Learned: Sgt. Bryan Anderson

Soldier, 25, Rolling Meadows, Illinois

By Brian Mockenhaupt

This is the gripper. It's like a robot hand, a stronger tool. There's a sensor on the inner and outer parts of my forearm. All I do is pretend my hand is still there and open and close it.

If I want it to close, I make the close-muscle gradually. If I want it to spin inward, I make that close-muscle really fast. This is my baseball mitt, like a lacrosse racket. This is the hook. You can angle it in and out, put a spoon in there or whatever, pick up little stuff with it. My grandpa says, "Why aren't you wearing the hook? It's so much cooler." Well, it scares me. You see a hook and you think, Oh, my God, there's a hook there. I lost my hand! It scares me and other people, kids and stuff. You wear a hand, you look down, ah, it looks real.

This one is my swimming hand, but it's also my sports-activity arm. I have smiley faces on this one because I thought it would be funny. I can play baseball, golf, whatever I feel like. This is a pool-playing hand. You stick the pool cue through the hole and put that down on the table. It's called the Hustler. They have a catalog with all these hands in it. They made this one using a mold of my brother's hand. It has pores and veins and everything. They couldn't use my right hand because it was all f**ked up. I just got a motorcycle hand today, too.

Those are my hands.

I use my right hand and the prosthetic left hand just fine. I get by. This system, with the hand, is like sixty grand. My wheelchair is twenty-five grand. I had the guy who works on the chairs tweak it. I said, "You need to make it faster." He hooked it up to a computer, changed it around, and now it takes off.

When I don't have help, it'll take me ten minutes to put my legs on. The first time I ever did it, it took me an hour.

Five, ten, fifteen years from now, can you imagine the prosthetics they're going to have? They're going to have Terminator sh**, stuff that's not going to come off. It's just going to be your limb. That's what I'm hoping for anyway. I'm doing fine right now. I can wait. I've always been taught in the Army: Expect the worst, hope for the best.

I'm not really going to wear pants anymore unless it's a nice function. It's hard to pull pants over your legs because your feet are straight, and my legs aren't ever going to get cold. And if people see I'm walking with prosthetic legs, they're more likely to get out of my way than accidentally bump into me and knock me down.

I think I have the record for falling in physical therapy, because I try to push myself to the max on these things, and if you're not falling, you're not trying. That's my motto. I don't fall as much anymore, but for a while I pretty much fell a couple times a day.

I've been wakeboarding, water-skiing, jet-skiing, tubing, rock climbing, snow skiing, playing catch with my brother. I try to do the same things. I'm not going to let it stop me. We did a 110-mile bike ride from Gettysburg to Washington, D. C. Sixty miles the first day, fifty miles the second day. Hand cycle, three wheels. I ended up ripping the glove, breaking the hand, breaking the whole socket. I might do it a little differently, but I'm still going to do it. I didn't actually get up water-skiing. I was up for a second then my arm ripped off and I fell.

I went up to Alaska for the National Wheelchair Games. I participated in two events, Ping-Pong and archery, and I won gold medals in both. I love Ping-Pong. Ping-Pong's the sh**. Any real Ping-Pong player will say, No, it's table tennis, it's not Ping-Pong. But I don't care. Ping-Pong. Nobody knows it as table tennis. Most people are going to say Ping-Pong, right?

I used to be a gymnast. I started my freshman year and went to state all three years. Parallel bars, floor, rings, vault, then pommel horse. I hated the pommel horse. I may not be able to do gymnastics like I used to, but I still do little stuff. When I fall out of my chair, I do a handstand to get back in. I lift up my body, push off, and snap up.

Hello? I won a trial gym membership? How did you get my name? You pulled it out of a fishbowl? Do you have any idea who I am? I don't have any legs. And I have only one hand. I lost them over in Iraq. No, don't worry about it. I'm fine now. But I probably won't use it, so you might want to give it to someone else.

I've been here nearly thirteen months. This isn't any way to live for a long period of time. I've had my mom with me the whole time, and that's been great. But we've been in the same small room with just this little burner and microwave. You know each and every little thing that goes on with each other. So I'm ready to go.

Look at all the movies I've collected. I didn't buy them all. A lot of people sent movies because I said I was bored, so they started sending boxes and boxes. I'm a big movie nut. Even before. I like comedies. I like the superhero movies.

I want to be a stuntman. I could be on prosthetics, and they could blow my legs off. They have a harness attached to me, they pull me back, there's blasting caps on my legs, and boom! My legs are gone.

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Go back to school? But if I go back to school, what am I going to do? So I started making a list of everything I really liked to do: Roller coasters. Skydiving. Bungee jumping. All that I could tell from that list was that I'm an adrenaline junkie. I like going fast and doing all that stuff. But I didn't put it together until the first time I was in Iraq. We were watching Titanic, the ship was going straight up, and you saw the guys fall and hit the railing, and my friend said that a stuntman actually broke his leg. Then it was a light bulb. Ding, ding, ding. Oh, my God. That is the perfect thing for me. And now that I'm like this, and I have an identical twin brother who's just as crazy as I am, I'm hoping we can make something happen of it.

When I'm a stuntman, I'll tell them, Get as gory as you can if that's what you're looking for. I don't have a problem with it. I don't have flashbacks. I'm just the same person. It doesn't bother me to see stuff like that -- never really did.

For the most part, I dream that I'm full-bodied. Last night I had a dream I was like this, walking around really good, keeping my head up, not even looking down.

The doctors say some people have phantom feelings, like your legs and hands are still there. They wake up and they can feel their feet. They try to stand up and then they fall. Not me. I have pain, and the feeling sometimes, but not that much. Every once in a while, I'll have an itch on my knee. Mostly it's a tingling in my feet. It sucks.

You have two options once this happens: Roll over and die or move on. I chose to move on. I'm still me. I'm just 75 percent off. Get a great deal on Bryan Andersons this week. You know who actually told me that the first time? My mom. We were in Vegas, talking about T-shirts we should make, and she said 75 percent off. She said, You should get a shirt showing off your personality.

This doesn't define me. It may be how I look on the outside, but it's not who I am. I guess you could remember me easily as being a triple amputee, but it's not who I am, has nothing to do with who I am. I've always been the same person. A lot of my friends were scared with me going into the Army. They didn't think I'd be the same person when I came back. I may not be as immature, but I'll always be the same person. Which is true, I grew up. I make the same stupid-ass jokes, the same stuff to make someone laugh, but I'm just a little bit more responsible.

I was hit on October 23. They call it your alive day. You celebrate it like your birthday. Well, except without the presents. I felt like it was celebrating the worst day of my life. That's just my mindset right now. Why would I want to celebrate the worst day of my life? And they're like, 'Cause you're alive. Okay, I kind of get it. But that still doesn't change the fact that that was the worst day of my life. But it's another excuse to have a party.

There's this other triple amputee that I met here who was hit October 27, but a year before me. He helped me through my hardest times. There's four triple amputees. He was the third and I was the fourth. He's just like me. He has a little bit longer limbs than I do, and instead of him missing his left hand, he's missing his right hand. That's the only difference. I'm right-handed. He was right-handed too, though.

Smoking saved my right hand. I'd be a quadruple amputee if I wasn't smoking. I'd normally have my hands on the steering wheel, but I was smoking, so I had just my left hand on the steering wheel. My hand still got messed up, but if I had my hand down there, I would have been done.

We were laughing and then boom!

I was going really slow at the time. Whoever it was looking out, who armed it, waited for all the civilian traffic to go by. They were aiming for the third truck, so when my front tires rolled over the infrared laser, it exploded. They built it into the cement and painted it to look like the curb and sidewalk. It took most of my front end off instead of going into the cab. But I still had a little extra come at me. My gunner had some shrapnel in his ass. My team leader had shrapnel in his hip and his wrist. I didn't hear the blast. I saw the smoke and the fire come through the door, but I didn't hear it.

The concussion of the blast collapsed my right lung, so it was hard to breathe. I was in so much pain, my body wouldn't even let me feel pain. It's like Icy Hot after the icy part, when it gets hot. That's what it felt like all over my body.

I was lying there. Before I said anything, I wiped my face because I felt blood and the flies were all over, and the first thing I saw was my finger gone. Okay, not so bad. Then I turned my hand over, and the whole thing looked like ground beef. But it still looked all right, kind of. I could see bone. Anyway, while I'm looking at this, I went to wipe my face with my left hand and there was nothing there. Oh, f**k. After that I looked down at my legs, and right as I saw what had happened, my friend grabbed my forehead and pushed it down, hoping that I hadn't seen. But I did. I knew they were gone.

My hand was over on the passenger's seat, and my legs were on the floorboard. It cauterized everything instantly because it was so hot. I bled a little bit, but I think that helped save my life. But I took 120 units of blood by the time I got to Walter Reed, and you only have 10 in your body.

I was awarded my Purple Heart at the hospital in Baghdad. My battalion commander dipped the ribbon in my blood from one of my bandages. Actually, by that time I don't know whose blood was on it. I had so much blood going through me. But it went through my body. I inherited it.

The guy that opened my door and was first to grab me was the driver of the truck in front of me. He didn't know how bad it was because the window was all smoked over. So he opens the door and he's like, Ugh! He ended up saving my life. The doctors said those tourniquets were put on so perfectly, they didn't have to take any more off my legs.

They pulled me out and I was a little disoriented. I made eye contact and I could pretty much see that my guys were freaked out. They all looked like ghosts. Their faces were white. In your squad, you're all best friends, and they were just freaking out. I said, "Oh, sh** I wonder if I'm ever going to get laid again" to kind of make them laugh and get back on track, just to let them know I was still Bryan. That's what I do; I try to make people laugh.

They thought I was going to die, saying, "Hang on, hang on." In my head, I didn't ever have that feeling that I was going to die. And just in case, I kept telling myself, Keep breathing, do the motion, stay awake. It was when I got on the bird that I felt safe to pass out. I woke up at Walter Reed.

But I actually forgot that I'd lost my left hand, because when I woke up in D. C., I went to scratch my face with my left hand. I looked up at the ceiling. "You couldn't have given me a break?"

My mom said nobody's allowed to cry in front of me, and they didn't.

I kind of felt guilty. I feel like I took the easy way out, which I know isn't true, but I wanted to be back there.

I've heard that some of the people here are intimidated by me because I'm a triple amputee with a great attitude. They shouldn't feel that way. Everybody has their own problems. You could be a single amputee but have something else wrong with you. I'm missing my legs and a hand, but other than that, I'm perfect. I'm very healthy. I'm still athletic. You don't have to be intimidated because you think I have more problems than you. It's not true. I don't have many problems. Not anymore. I'm fine. It's just part of who I am, coming from good roots, good parents. I have good people around me. They instilled good values in me, and I grew out of that, manners, holding doors open for girls, being courteous to people, always trying to stay positive.

You know, everyone says I don't know if I could handle that. You don't know until it happens to you. I ask myself, If I lost this hand, too, would I think it was worth living? I don't know. It would be a very, very tough decision. I just don't know.

There's kids at Walter Reed who have had forty, fifty surgeries. I was lucky. I was out of the hospital six weeks after this happened. I say I'm lucky a lot. I'm lucky to be alive. Everybody at Walter Reed sits there and assesses everybody else's injuries and says, "Oh, my God, I wouldn't want to be that guy." I feel fortunate. I may have lost three limbs, but I'm not paralyzed. I can get up and walk. I have both my eyes. Nothing's wrong with my face. And I'm of sound mind. There are a lot of guys who say I'd have rather lost a limb than lost my mind, and I agree.

If you could see all these amputees and the great attitudes most of them have, you'd be shocked. Everybody went through a dark time. Mine was very short, only two weeks, but, for me, it felt like forever. Mine, it really hit me after four months. That's after everything had settled. I was working with the prosthetics. I was having a hard time, even though they didn't think I was, I did. You're your own worst critic. They thought I was doing great for being four months and what I was able to do already. And they're telling me this, and I said, What are you talking about? I'm not even walking for an hour a day. That's nothing.

One day I was in the shower looking at myself, and I kind of lost it a little bit. That's when my self-consciousness really shot up. Dude, nobody wants me like this. It went bad from there. I couldn't sleep. My chest was getting tight, like I was going to have a panic attack. I didn't think I was thinking about it. I just started freaking. I didn't want to be inside. I didn't want to be outside. I didn't want to be anywhere. I didn't want to kill myself, but I just felt like I didn't want to be anywhere. I didn't want anybody to be around me.

I tried to get away from here, just so I could clear my head. Me and my mom spent three days in Vegas. Craps and blackjack, that's what I like to play. The next week we went to Aspen. I was fortunate that my dark period was that brief. That weekend in Aspen really brought me up. That and Percocet. I wasn't really taking pain pills, so I took some Percocet and I felt great, lovely. The doctors put me on Zoloft for a little bit, and I was like, No, that's not the problem. I don't need this. It's not what's wrong with me.

I know people are going to look at me differently. When you're looking for a girlfriend or a boyfriend, you have this mental picture of what you're looking for. And you can ask anybody, and nobody's going to say that they're looking for somebody who's missing three limbs. But then there's some people who get into that position and say that doesn't matter. They don't care about that.

But I'm still self-conscious. I think I look ugly. There's friends that always tell me I look hot.

After so many people saying that to you, some of it sticks. But I still have that self-conscious feeling inside because of the accident. If I had just lost a foot, or if it was both below the knees, I wouldn't think anything of it, but since I'm so high up and missing a hand, too, it's hard for me.

If I'm trying to hook up with somebody, it's going to bother me. And I don't mean "hook up" like one-night stands. I mean get together.

I could be perfectly fine without kids. If my wife wants kids, that's fine, too. It's not an issue because of this. But I plan on wearing my prosthetics most all the time. And if I have those on, I'm not going to be able to carry my kids. I can't really bend over because it'll throw my balance off. So I'm not going to be able to pick up my kids. So you're walking through the park and they don't want to walk, they want to be carried. Sorry, I can't do it. I've thought about that a lot. It's going to be hard.

I think it will be good for my kid to see someone like me, so when they grow up and they see someone like me, they won't make a quick judgment on them.

I'd tell my kids not to join. If they're anything like me, they're not going to like people telling them what to do. Yeah, it's kind of like a job. But in a job, your boss can't tell you when to eat and when to go to sleep. And if you say something wrong, you're not going to lose money, you're not going to get dropped to do pushups. I didn't like that. You can quit a job. You can't quit the Army. And if they insist, I'm going to tell them to go into the Air Force. You can't put that in the magazine. Wait, I forgot, I'm going to be out by the time this comes out. F**k it, balls to the wall.

My brother was a tank mechanic. He joined after me. I told him not to join, but if he did, to make sure he got Fort Hood so we could be together. But we were only together for a little while because I went to Iraq the first time. We're twins. We know each other's likes and dislikes. He didn't like it.

The Army is a good thing. It's for some people; it's not for some people. It wasn't for me. I wanted to get out after my first year. I was in the military police. I didn't like arresting people, didn't like giving people tickets, so I didn't. We pulled over fourteen people one night, didn't write one ticket.

Right before I went into basic training, I dyed my hair white with green tips. I left the day after September 11. I was supposed to leave on September 11, but they didn't let us. The next morning we had to get on a bus; they wouldn't even fly us.

When I rolled over the line from Kuwait to Iraq the first time, and those people were cheering and screaming, that's when I knew we need to help these people. Whether I agree with being there or not, I don't know, but if we pulled out now it would make me raise the questions, Okay, so all those guys who lost their lives and lost limbs, was it for a reason? Did we change anything? Was it worth it? If it is, then great, pull out. If it isn't, then they all just died in vain. I don't know. I can't be the one to sit there looking at the overview and say he lost his life for no good reason.

I think the only time I would agree with war is if there's a childish country that wants to do something really, really stupid and won't listen to anybody. Then it might be worth it.

Even when I was home after the first time, I didn't watch the news. I didn't want to know. You know it's bad over there. You know what's happening. I don't need to sit there and watch TV to be depressed. I watch TV to laugh or be intrigued. I think the news is depressing, so I don't watch it. It's not that I don't care about everybody over there -- I do.

Iraqi police officers have come a long way since I was there last. We couldn't get them to come to work. And when they did, they would come for two hours and leave. When we would ask them to patrol us, they'd do it for twenty minutes, then leave. "We've gotta go eat" or "We've gotta go home." Now they stay at work all day. They're patrolling. They're almost self-sustaining. Almost. If we did leave and pull out, they'd at least have an idea of what they need to do.

I was in a police station one day, sitting at the top of the stairs. There were three Iraqi cops downstairs standing around a desk. I saw this guy walk in and didn't think anything of it. He walks up to them, says, "Allah akbar," and presses the button. He had a vest on under his long robe, but it didn't go off. Those three cops just started beating the sh** out of him. Almost killed him. You should have seen his face when they were done. You couldn't tell it was the same guy who walked into the police station.

I wasn't scared the first time. But the second time, after the first three weeks, then we were all scared. Not scared like shivering-in-your-boots scared, but there was always the tickle in your throat that you knew you were in real danger, that it was just luck. At any moment, anything could happen. We were lucky for ten months. We knew we would get hit. It was always a question of how bad it would be. I never thought it would be this bad.

Whenever I travel and I'm not wearing my legs, they say, "Would you like an aisle chair?" And that's one of those small chairs where they drag you down the aisle and put you in straps like you're Hannibal Lecter. I'd always say, Don't strap me, don't strap me. But they would anyway. So now I just get down and hop to my seat. If I have to go to the bathroom, I'll hop down, open the door, and lift myself up onto the seat.

Some people don't even say, Hey, were you in the war? They just come up and say thank you. I'm sure once I get older, people won't say that. Once the war's over, people won't even think twice about it. They'll just think I have diabetes.

Did it hurt? I'm sure it did, but I didn't really feel it, except for the burning. They say pain is your friend because you know you're still alive. If you can feel it, it's not that bad. If you don't feel it, that's when it's bad.

With all the people that I've met, to be able to see how nice people really are, it's almost worth it. And if I could help anybody, inspire anybody, one person would make it worth it.

I'm being built a house by the Wounded Heroes Foundation. They've already donated me a van. This thing comes off the side of the steering wheel: down for gas, push for brake. Simple as that. I lock my prosthetic onto it and that's it. Now they're going to donate me a house. I told this girl, So you're going to build me this house, can I have some things I want? She said, Like what? Well, I want a basement with a bar. That's going to be like my entertainment area. She said, Yeah, and we'll put an elevator in for you, too. Really? Cool.

Everything that has happened to me since I've been hurt has happened to me because I've been hurt. I got to go to the Pentagon. There's this quarter-mile-long hallway that is just filled with people, and I mean filled with people. There's a little space to go through and everyone is clapping and crying and coming up and hugging you. Okay, that's great. But what about all the people who did the same exact thing that I did that didn't get hurt? They should get the same recognition we do. We all did the same thing. Some people just got the sh** end of the stick, that's all. It's all luck.

I've been getting tats since I was eighteen. I had nine tattoos. After the explosion, I had six and a half. They cut half of one out and put the skin on my hand. I had one on each leg. I have a tribal piece on my right shoulder, intermixed with a barbed-wire band on my right bicep. I have a chain on my left bicep and a bulldog on my left shoulder. On my left chest I have a purple-and-yellow fireball-type thing, and on my back I have a tribal-type thing. On my right forearm I used to have a black widow, but now it's only half a black widow. On my left inner forearm I have the Chinese symbol for life. Go figure.

I'm the type of person who would put my life in front of somebody else's in a heartbeat. I don't know how I got that way. I have great friends -- true friends -- and they help me to be a better person. And I help them as much as I can. I would do anything for them. Anything.

I believe in God, but I wasn't brought up on going to church. I'm not going to say your whole life is planned out for you, but I think there are certain things that are supposed to happen to you, and however you handle that defines you. So this happened to me. I'm not like, "God saved my life" or "Why did God do this to me?" God did this to me for a reason, and I'm still alive, so God knew I was going to be alive.

From every decision you make, you learn something, whether it was the right decision or the wrong decision. I believe everything happens to you for a reason, and it's going to happen to you regardless. So whether I was in Iraq fighting or I was walking across the street and got hit by a bus, it was going to happen to me regardless.

I don't regret anything.

Great Swan - Meetings with Ramakrishna by Lex Hixon

From Chapter 18

Ramakrishna:  The mature spiritual person, one who is truly awakened, need not remain involved in social responsibilities, or religious observances.  The sense that one must, or even can, initiate any action begins to disappear as one realizes that only God acts.  This realization is the final fruition of all aspirations and disciplines.  When the fruit appears, the flower petals fall from the tree.  Passages from holy scripture will flutter away from the mind like petals in a strong wind.  The mantra, the condensed inward invocation of Divine Presence, may blow away, leaving only the primordial resonance - OM OM OM - which is not just a word passed down by tradition but a humming tone at the center of awareness, audible at the core of every sound in the universe.  OM is the open portal to supreme Reality.

How long will it be necessary to practice various levels of religious discipline?  As long as you do not shed tears and feel tingling sensations coursing throughout your body while repeating one of the precious Divine Names, you are still subject to the structures of moral and religious training.  How does a small child learn to wake from a sound sleep in order to use the bathroom?  Until this ability develops, the child must continue to wear diapers.

From Rudrani Farbman, Owner World Yoga Center

From Rudrani Farbman, Owner World Yoga Center:

http://www.worldyogacenter.com

Dear Ones:

A colleague and Yoga teacher trained at the WYC in 1998 sent me this
poem yesterday. I excerpted it and share it as it  captures  my view of
these holidays on the deep down.

  IN 1976, Baba Muktananda  listening to us,  as  100s of us  sing
Christmas carols  in the Ganeshpuri Ashram courtyard in India  on  Christmas
morning, far from home but filled with holiday spirit --said (perhaps astonished
by our feeling) : "Why can't you have Christmas everyday?"


How Far is it to Bethlehem
By Norman Windsor

"How far is it to Bethlehem?"
The traveler called aloud.
"There's nothing much in Bethlehem,"
A voice said from the crowd.
"But if you set upon that road,
You'll need a guiding star
To point your way into the dark
And show you where you are.

Once more he posed his question
To the stranger by the track,
"How far is it to Bethlehem?"
The stranger whispered back:
If Bethlehem is where you'd be,
It's closer than you think.
But subtler than the form of light -
You miss it if you blink.

"It dwells between each moment's breath,
Beyond all space and time.
Observing it's own birth and death,
Advancement and decline."
The stranger glanced across the track
Into the other's eyes.
The traveler just kept staring back
In open-mouthed surprise.

At last he managed some reply,
"If what you say is true, I'd like to ask you how and why.
And who indeed are you?"
"I'm a trappist monk,
I'm a green-haired punk,"
Said the stranger with a grin,
"I'm the corporate face
Of the human race,
And I dwell in everything.

"I'm the touch of dew,
I'm the perfumed hue,
Of a fragrance in the night.
I'm the hot and cold,
I'm the young and old,
I'm the wrong and I'm the right.

"I play every role
In creation's scroll
And I follow where I'm led.
I've been kicked aside,
I've been crucified,
And I've risen from the dead.

"I'm a broker in
The trade of sin,
And the stock is overpriced.
I've known fame and shame,
And they're both the same,
And my name is Jesus Christ.

"You can weep and wilt
And confess your guilt,
You can pray 'til you're black and blue,
But you won't be free
'Til you live in me,
And you let me live in you.

"There's an end to strife
When you flow with Life,
And admit that you don't know.
You can reach the stars,
Lose your prison bars,
Put an end to pain and woe -

"But as for reaching Bethlehem,
You'll never find a way -
For you yourself are Bethlehem.
And it's always Christmas day."


I trust you all filled this holiday with your own  knowledge  and  love

Much love,
Rudrani

a New York City Krishna Das Tale

a la Rob Brezsny

At a concert in California, devotional singer Krishna Das told a story of escorting his revered teachers, a frail old Indian couple, to an acupuncturist in New York. They had to walk through a neighborhood dominated by strip clubs, prostitutes, and drug dealers. Every few feet, a new salesperson approached with an offer of crack, weed, crank, or sexual adventures.

Krishna Das worried about subjecting his beloved guides to such a degrading experience, but they were unfazed. "This is heaven," said the woman. When a surprised Krishna Das asked what she meant, she replied, "Heaven is any place where one's needs can be met."

ee cummings: I carry your heart

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in

my heart) I am never without it (anywhere

I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing, my darling)

I fear

no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) I want

no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart 

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

~ e e cummings

from Nirmala Devi's Daily Inspirations

Excerpt from Finding Your Own North Star by Martha Beck

From the Omega Web site:

David was an attorney with a tax-law firm. It was a good job; the only problem was that David had no energy for it. When I met him, he was so oomph-impaired that he was finishing only about a third of the work assigned to him, and spending most of his nonworking time stretched out on the couch, watching television. David had basically decided to end his law career—I think he came to me mainly for permission to quit—but I was hard-pressed to come up with any ideas about what he might do instead. I was trying to think of a career that would allow him to spend almost all his time napping, perhaps as a subject in an extended study of chronic fatigue syndrome.

But what did David do, the very day he finally resigned from his job? He started jogging, hiking, rock climbing, river rafting, and generally rushing around like a maniac. I'd known for a long time that David had a thirst for outdoor adventures, but I'd thought it was a passion he'd have to pursue through books, movies, and magazines. I had no idea how his energy would skyrocket when he got out of the law office and into the world.

One day, David told me about an experience that convinced him he'd have plenty of energy to do whatever his right life demanded of him. The previous weekend, he'd been hiking with his friend Ben when a massive thunderstorm rolled in, trapping them near the top of a mountain peak. The red rock around them contained so much iron that it drew lightning like a radio tower; this particular area records more lightening strikes that any other region in the United States. Violent, deafening blasts began striking so near David and Ben that they could smell the electrical heat. The rocks became slippery with rain, the temperature dropped drastically, and the probability that the two hikers would fall down the steep mountainside, die from hypothermia, or get flash-fried started to look uncomfortably high. Although David knew they were in serious danger, he found the scene so wild and beautiful that he wasn't afraid.

"I felt something shift inside me, " David said. "It was as though every part of me lined up perfectly. All of a sudden, I noticed that I was moving incredibly fast. I wasn't aware of any effort; it felt like I was gliding over the rocks. Ben is a much stronger hiker that I am, but he fell way back while I found the best route down the cliff. I felt absolutely calm. I knew I couldn't make a wrong step, and that I could keep moving at that pace without getting tired. I've never felt anything like it."

What kinds of activities increase your energy levels? Does being with certain people seem to pep you up? What about places—do you feel perky and energetic near the ocean, at the movies, walking through the mall? Look back over your history, both recent and long-term, to see if you can recall a time of notable peppiness.

Martha Beck is among many renowned faculty offering workshops at Omega's Being Ageless.
She is the author of Finding Your Own North Star, a life coach, and founder of Life Design, Inc., a life-coaching firm that has helped hundreds of clients redirect their careers and lifestyles. She is a columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine and has been a contributing editor to Mademoiselle, Redbook, and Real Simple. She hosts a weekly TV spot, "Ask Martha," on Good Day Arizona. The excerpt above is from the Finding Your Own North Star conference.

Free and Easy

Free and Easy
A Vajra Song

by Ven. Lama Gendun Rinpoche

Happiness cannot be found
through great effort and willpower,
but is already present, in relaxation
and letting go.

Don't strain yourself;
there is nothing to do.
Whatever arises in the mind
has no importance at all,
because it has no reality whatsoever.
Don't become attached to it;
don't identify with it
and pass judgment upon it.

Let the entire game happen on its own,
springing up and falling back like waves -
without changing or manipulating anything -
and everything vanishes and reappears, magically,
without end.

Only our searching for happiness
prevents us from seeing it.
It's like a rainbow which you pursue
without ever catching.
Although it does not exist,
it has always been there
and accompanies you every instant.

Don't believe in the reality
of good and bad experiences;
they are like rainbows in the sky.

Wanting to grasp the ungraspable,
you exhaust yourself in vain.
As soon as you open and relax this grasping,
space is there - open, inviting and comfortable.

So make use of this spaciousness, this freedom
and natural ease.
Don't search any further.
Don't go into the tangled jungle
looking for the great elephant
who is already quietly at home.

Nothing to do,
Nothing to force,
nothing to want -
and everything happens by itself.

From Nirmala Devi's Daily Inspirations

Wildfire Devotion

Never before in the history of the English language have the words "wildfire" and "devotion" appeared side by side. And yet here they are now, together at last, conspiring to convey a subtly spectacular meaning to you. It's time, my dear Leo, for you to practice wildfire devotion: to be both earthy and vehement, to blend incendiary style with deeply rooted commitment, to be as flamingly relentless as a wildfire in your staunch devotion to your future's most potent dream.

- a la Rob Brezsny - week of December 6 Astrology

Embodied Courage

Embodied Courage

The fruits of embodiment, fullness, wisdom, and
compassion do not come without a price. When my
teacher Ajahn Chah was sixty-three he entered a
hospital for a combination of water on the brain,
diabetes, stroke, and heart problems. He was
hospitalized for nine months, in grave pain and often
unable to speak. When he was released the following
year, some of his capacities returned, and he was
able to resume teaching in a limited fashion. I went
to visit him at a temple near Bangkok and saw how
much weaker and older he looked after this ordeal.
I bowed respectfully. At some point in our conversation
I was reminded of how often over the years he had
exhorted us to reflect on the inevitability of old age,
sickness, and death, and noted out loud how they were
now visibly happening to him. Ajahn Chah fixed me with
a piercing gaze and said, "Don't say that so lightly!"

Spiritual dedication gives us no immunity from the joys
and sorrows of life's body. Every spiritual master faces
the difficulties of fatigue, sickness, and death, just as
we do. What dedicated practice gives us are the tools
to awaken compassion and awareness in this human realm,
ways for the heart to hold it all.

Every part of life is a fertile field for practice. Rachel
Naomi Remen, a physician and healer, speaks of sickness
as a gateway, an invitation to deepen our soul's connection
with life. She says the goal of illness is to bring us back
to what is important to us, to wake us up. The point of
spiritual practice is not to wait for illness or death to
awaken us, but to draw on the life and health we have
now to bring peace to our body, heart, and mind. And if
we do not have the courage to enter our body fully, then
life itself may simply insist.

As Marcel Proust reminds us:

* Illness is the most heeded of doctors.
To goodness and wisdom we make only promises;
pain we obey. *


From: 'After the Ecstasy, the Laundry' Jack Kornfield

Free Urban Yogis Bag with $100 Purchase

Urban Yogis Holiday Special:
Buy $100 of Clothing & Gift Items, Get a Free Urban
Yogis Bag

(New York, NY) December 5, 2006 -  Urban Yogis,  the
newest, hip & humble yoga clothing line born in
Manhattan announces its holiday special:  For every
$100 purchase, Urban Yogis will give a free bag.  In
two colors - bright yellow or black with an inspired
illustration of a yogi in a deep back bend, this
cotton tote is a beautiful necessity for carrying yoga
accessories or as a fashion statement. 

Additionally, for the holidays and special occasions -
Urban Yogis has a special line of greeting cards.
Each card presents a drawing of a lively yoga posture
and a greeting such as "Namaste" (I bow to the divine
in you), "Happy Birthday," and "Merry Christmas"
written in script inspired by Sanskrit, the ancient
language of India and yoga.

Designed by Ullasini (a.k.a. Khwan) and illustrated by
Nelson Ng, Urban Yogis greeting cards and tote are
bound to light up the eyes of your favorite yogi.

About Urban Yogis:
www.urbanyogis.com
Urban Yogis is hip & humble yoga apparel born in
Manhattan.  Designed, conceived and brought to you by
founder Ullasini (a.k.a. Khwan), Urban Yogis apparel
comes straight from the heart.  Designed with the
urban, cultured and stylish yogi in mind, its
comfortable cotton ladies and mens' clothing can be
worn in the yoga studio or out and about, as fitness
gear or as outerwear, in a yoga pose or at your desk,
at your gym or at a party.  Inspired by the ancient
practices of yoga, Sanskrit and mantra; created with
the modern lifestyle in mind, Urban Yogis is as loving
as it is fashionable.  A portion of all sales proceeds
is donated to animal rights organizations such as
PETA. 

Kristina Lanuza
Anusara-Style Yoga Teacher
M 917.930.1736
T 212.366.6969
http://www.yogafly.com
yogafly@yahoo.com

Silent Friend of Many Distances

Rainer Maria Rilke

Silent Friend of Many Distances

Silent friend of many distances, feel
how your breath enlarges all of space.
Let your presence ring out like a bell
into the night. 

What feeds upon your face grows mighty

from the nourishment thus offered.
Move through transformation, out and in.
What is the deepest loss that you have suffered?
If drinking is bitter, change yourself to wine.

In this immeasurable darkness, be the power
that rounds your senses in their magic ring,
the sense of their mysterious encounter.

And if the earth no longer knows your name,
whisper to the silent earth: I'm flowing.
To the flashing waters say: I am.

Ananda Ashram - Winter Wonderland

Fellow Anusara yoga teacher Rikard Skogberg and I just spent the weekend at Ananda Ashram.  It's such a wonderful home for yogis and everyone wishing a breath of fresh air, dynamic silence and peace.  We spent 2 days and one night and participated in so many things - meditation, Bhagavad Gita readings, our own practice of Anusara yoga, seva, kirtan with Integral Yoga, a video of Swami Satchidananda, chanting the Guru Gita together, friendship, laughter, music and fun. 

I am moving to Ashram for a bit of time - from January 15 to April or May  to live and breathe the grace of Guruji - Shri Brahmananda Saraswati and to immerse myself in yoga community.  I will commute 5 or 6 days a week to NYC and participate in part-time work-study at Ananda Ashram, and I will meditate, study and practice yoga.  I invite everyone to join me at this idyllic place.

http://www.anandaashram.org

much grace and super abundant laughter,

Kristina

Bikram Yoga NYC Goes Green

The likelihood of catching a bug from your neighboring peace-loving yogi is high in most packed, sweaty yoga studios throughout the flu season.  But at Bikram Yoga NYC's newest Upper East Side location, practitioners have much less of a chance of passing germs through the air in comparison to "blown" air heating systems typical in New York area buildings. 

The new "green" studio utilizes the Enerjoy(R) heating system which creates heat in the people practicing yoga - not in the air they are breathing and that circulates around the room.   The Enerjoy(R) heating system also dries excess moisture (the main carrier of bacteria and germs) and sweat that circulates in the air, providing a more refreshing atmosphere in which to breathe and practice yoga. Its unique "purge" mechanism, removes old, stale air and moves clean, new air into the room.

Built with the planet's and practitioners' total health in mind, recent new moms and business partners Donna Rubin and Jen Lobo just opened the fourth Bikram Yoga NYC(http://www.bikramyoganyc.com) studio in the Upper East Side on 83rd and 3rd Avenue .  In addition to the Enerjoy(R) heating panels, the UES Bikram Yoga NYC studio utilizes "green" building materials such as bamboo and non-toxic paints and has a mat recycling program.

THE HEAT IS ON!
Bikram Yoga NYC Opens Upper East Side Studio
November 15th at 83rd Street & 3rd Avenue

---FIRST MANHATTAN YOGA STUDIO TO GO GREEN--

( New York , NY ) –November, 2006 - Bikram NYC owners
Jennifer Lobo and  Donna Rubin, who first introduced
Bikram Yoga to New York in 1999, are
opening their fourth NYC location at 173 East 83rd
Street (corner of 3rd Avenue ) on November 15th
2006.  The first eco-friendly yoga studio of its
kind,  Bikram Yoga NYC East Side studio is opening in
response to more than 2,000 enthusiastic emails
requesting a studio on the
Upper East Side .

Bikram Yoga is a style of yoga developed by Bikram
Choudhury and consists of a sequence of 26 yoga
postures and two breathing exercises
done during a fast paced, 90-minute workout in a room
heated to 105°F.

The heated room warms up the entire body enabling
participants to work deep into muscles, tendons and
ligaments and helps to eliminate
toxins, improve circulation and significantly reduce
the risk of  injury. Tailored for the Western person
who typically endures an aggressive lifestyle, Bikram
Yoga is an invaluable source of health
and well-being both for the mental and physical state.

Among many of its incredible benefits, Bikram's
scientifically formulated series works to regenerate
tissue and alleviate, chronic ailments including back
pain, thyroid issues, diabetes, and various heart
ailments.

The new Bikram Yoga NYC Upper East Side studio is
housed in a spacious 4,000 square foot loft space and
designed with the eco-conscious
consumer in mind.  A state-of- the-art sustainable,
radiant heating system made from recycled aluminum
will heat the workout rooms
utilizing a substantially lower wattage of energy. 
Earth-friendly materials such as non-toxic paints are
used throughout the studio and bamboo flooring and
seating are featured in and around the hot rooms and
all in-house towel cleaning will be done with
eco-friendly detergent. The spacious workout rooms
boast high ceilings, beautiful
windows and an abundance of natural light.   From the
first step into the new studio, clients are greeted
with a welcoming spa-like décor
that will encourage health and well being for
themselves as well as the planet.

"We were looking to provide a space where both our
regulars as well as our new Upper East Side clients
will enjoy a stimulating, healthy
workout; maintain a sense of community and belonging;
and feel good about eliminating stress on the
environment," says Jen Lobo,
co-founder, Bikram, NYC. "After receiving so many
requests for an east side neighborhood studio that was
so different from anything that currently existed, we
feel we have found the perfect location for many New
Yorkers to enjoy."

Donna Rubin, a former ballerina and Broadway dancer
and Jennifer Lobo, former Communications Director of
IMG, the largest sports marketing company in the
world, were the first to introduce Bikram to Manhattan
when they opened Bikram Yoga NYC on Eighth Avenue over
7 years ago.

Since then many of their student and teacher disciples
have followed suit to open select locations throughout
Manhattan . As the original
New York studio owners, Rubin and Lobo also have
studios in Midtown, Upper West Side , in the Flatiron
district as well as in Baltimore , Maryland .

Bikram Yoga NYC Upper East Side studio will also
feature a massage room for post workout cool-downs, a
retail shop area for the latest
trends in Bikram yoga wear, along with ultra modern
male and female dressing rooms complete with showers
and relaxation area. The new Upper East Side location
will offer 8-10 classes per day. The seasoned
instructors, many of whom were professional Broadway
dancers, singers and actors have all received 500
hours of training in the Bikram
technique.

To kick off the opening Bikram NYC is offering a Free
Posture Workshop to anyone who signs up at the new
studio during the first month for
three months or more. The special Opening Price is
$1200 for a yearly pass ($200 savings. Good for UES
studio only) In addition, new students purchasing a
yearly pass will receive 12 free guest passes  ($23
value each).   Special opening discounts will also be
available on other packages.  Bikram Yoga Upper East
Side is proud to donate a portion of the paid opening
week registration fees to the Central Park
Conservancy.  Additionally, The Bikram Yoga NYC Upper
East Side studio is adding a recycled mat program;
students can bring in their old
mats and receive a $5.00 discount off a new one during
the studio's first month open.

For more information or to register for classes, call
the new studio  at 212-288-YOGA (9642)

or visit www.bikramyoganyc.com

Kristina Lanuza
Anusara-Style Yoga Teacher
M 917.930.1736
T 212.366.6969
http://www.yogafly.com
yogafly@yahoo.com

GreenDimes: Social Consciousness with a Twist

ELECTION DAY MAY BE OVER, BUT CONSUMERS CAN STILL VOTE WITH THEIR DIME
-- The Launch of GreenDimes Offers Social Consciousness With A Twist--

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA, Nov. 9 -- "Do you give a dime?!" That's what founder Pankaj Shah of GreenDimes, the newly launched consumer lifestyle company focusing on social responsibility and planet do-gooding wants to know. GreenDimes, a membership driven organization connecting like minds with a variety of programs intended to help people while helping the planet, officially kicks off with the "Stop Paper Junk Mail" initiative. The service is aimed at eliminating paper junk mail and reducing the amount of environmental damage it causes -- all for a dime a day.

As part of the "Stop Paper Junk Mail" initiative, GreenDimes will relentlessly work to remove members from databases of major direct marketing companies and bring an end to most of the paper mail typically received each day. GreenDimes instructs these companies not to sell, share or trade personal information and checks up on them regularly to ensure members stay off of lists.

Simple and cost effective, GreenDimes offers three types of memberships: Seedling, $3 per month plus credit card fees; Sapling, $36 per year; and Tree, a lifetime association for $360. Membership does have its privileges. Not only does the inaugural program help save trees, each month GreenDimes plants a tree for every member in an effort to grow forests and help slow down global warming. As well, their reforestation partners work in the local communities around the world to keep people productive on their lands, preserving their traditional livelihoods and cultures for generations to come.

"We feel the way to have positive and measurable impact on the planet is to empower the individual," says Pankaj Shah, Founder and CEO of GreenDimes. "I started GreenDimes because I passionately believe we can simultaneously improve our lives and the planet by doing little things. It takes 100 million trees and 280 billion gallons of water to produce our country's junk mail each year. In reality, people have typically not opted in to the vast majority of junk mail, but now they have a way to opt out. This is a chance for all of us to start making a big difference."

In perfect time for the holidays... Give the gift of a dime-a-day and help drive deforestation and water waste away with GreenDimes.com. Members can purchase "green" gifts through the New Year: "Sapling," or "Lifetime" memberships that offer the recipient the same program benefits as the sender. All recipients will receive email notification that they have been sent a GreenDimes.com holiday gift. As soon as they click accept, the wheels are set in motion to eliminate their junk mail and trees are planted in their name.

Throughout the year GreenDimes.com will introduce other beneficial, good-for-the-planet programs enabling members to actively participate all for a dime a day.

About GreenDimes GreenDimes is a consumer lifestyle company focusing on helping members to do little things that will collectively make a big difference on the environment. GreenDimes was born when founder and CEO Pankaj Shah, of wireless, broadband and mobile technologies fame, briefly retired after several successful companies. He quickly became acquainted with the mountainous amount of unwanted junk mail that filled his home mailbox on a daily basis. In the meantime, he was toying with the idea that social good and capitalism could indeed coexist. This became the perfect opportunity to find out. www.greendimes.com

GreenDimes is set to start an environmental evolution - one dime at a time.

PR Contact:
Cheryl Roth/Mara Engel 1-212.253.0474
OrganicWorks Marketing
Cheryl@organicworksmarketing.com

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