Friends,
I've launched scottmooreyoga.com! There you can stay up to date with all the goings on, my writing, retreats, new exciting offerings.
Thanks!
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
What Pierced My Heart At Sunrise
I just had an incredible weekend at Wolf Creek Outpost,
conducting my latest yoga retreat. The fall leaves were exquisite. The yoga
practices and meditations we did on the deck were decadent. I’m always so
charged when I come home from these retreats.
On Sunday morning, as we were sitting in the woods near the
ranch, solo in meditation, I felt like I belonged to a monastery. I and a few
other choice souls were scattered across the landscape, sitting in silence as
the expectant sun crept over the eastward mountains. A stone was my zafu, the earth
my zabuton. Instead of saffron robes, I was wearing hunter’s orange—after all,
it was the opening weekend for the deer hunt. While I’m slowly attempting to raise the light
of my consciousness, I’d prefer that my illumination come slowly through a
lifetime of work, mediation, and love, like the early morning light beginning
to crown the mountains, rather than meeting the infinite with a quick bullet
from a misguided hunter. But the neon orange vest and dorky hunter’s cap,
complete with a virile buck embroidered on the front (sportsman soft-porn),
seemed the perfect habit for this weekend monk.
The sun slowly bloomed over the caps of the mountain and I’m
sure every plant animal and mineral on that mountain paused, just like me, to
take in the daily miracle of that priceless sunrise. Then suddenly the quite
perfection of the morning air was torn with a gun shot. Deer were on the move
and hunters were taking notice. Earlier while in my open-eyed meditation, I noticed
four or five deer tenuously crossing the canyon road several hundred yards
below seeking the water of the creek. The explosion of the rifle brought my
senses to full attention. It dawned on me that maybe an early morning sunrise
sit in the woods on opening weekend of the deer hunt isn’t the wisest idea,
even if we are sporting safety vests and the like. Yeah, that’s the clarity
that came to mind. But something else too. At that moment, the mass of
knowledge and experience we’d received regarding our hearts purpose, this
retreat’s focus, in the form of yoga, conversation, meditation, a sweat lodge,
nature, food, laughter and fun, all struck me like a bullet as if some cosmic
hunter had placed me in their cross-hairs and put a slug right through my heart.
With my mind alert, my senses active, and my heart
listening, noted to myself what I’d learned so far at this retreat:
1.
We must know ourselves. Yoga and meditation are
an awesome way of doing that.
2.
We must then understand the gifts of our hearts and
offer them to the world also as a gift, even if no one is pickin’ up what we’re
puttin’ down.
3.
Like the fox in The Little Prince says, “One
only sees clearly with the heart. That which is essential is invisible to the
eyes.”
With that, I stood up and started to gather my little flock
of weekend monks silently back to the safety of the ranch house and a warm cup
of coffee. And as I walked, my gaze on my feet on the earth, I prayed for all
those deer out there that nothing more than a beautiful sunrise would pierce
their heats that day.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Learning To Be Lost
Paris.
Rush hour. I was on a crowded bus, daydreaming. Someone bumped into me,
breaking my reverie. "Excusez-moi," a man said happily. "Pas de
problem," I responded and looked up to see a blind man with a wide smile
groping his way, inch by inch, toward the front of the bus. He spoke to
the driver and a moment later the bus made an unscheduled stop. The
blind man offered a heart-felt "merci" and he tenuously felt his way
down the bus stairs to the busy street. A walking stick would not have
helped in this concentration of people. He stepped brazenly and alone
into the rapid current of foot traffic. After a few steps, just enough
to avoid the bus he stumbled up onto the sidewalk, stopped, lifted his
bright face upward, and asked the deaf ocean of people if there were
anyone who could might point him in the right direction. Immediately a
lovely and stylish woman materialized from the busy crowd, a complete
stranger. The woman gently touched the blind man's arm, wrapped her
other hand affectionately through his bent elbow, and the two of them
made a quarter turn. Then the two strangers set off together across the
crowded Pont Neuf, talking and laughing as naturally and casually as if
they were on a date, strolling toward the opera matinée. The smile on
the blind man's face never once strayed as if he had expected this woman
to be right there when he stepped off the bus. He had set a date with
destiny. As I sat in the bus again staring out the window, I wished that
I could somehow, magically hear their conversation as they dissolved
into an ocean of people.
I
think about that experience sometimes. Sometimes, I feel like I'm
stumbling through life like a blind man, walking around busy streets,
tripping off the bus, bumping, into the sidewalk, and graciously, not
without some self-deprecating humor, asking humbly for some kind soul to
give me direction, to hold my arm and steer me to the other side of the
river, over the bridge. And sometimes I think, "don't give me the
answers right away. Nor give me back my sight. At least not yet. Let me
be blind, if only for a while, so that I may learn to feel my way, so
that I may learn to ask for help and know of something deeper within, so
I may learn to trust my deepest hearts direction. Let me look inside to
find my vision."
To
find my way I close my eyes, like the blind man I suppose, and look
inward. I find my way onto my yoga mat and mediation cushion and by so
doing I hope to find my way. There, I discover a faith inside that says
that what's more important than figuring out the specific details of my
life, my true work lies with first coming to know my deep inner-Self.
That's true sight. I see that I must learn to feel with my heart and
trust that feeling and not just intellectualize each direction. Armed
with inner sight and feeling, all of the details and particulars of my
life will naturally grow and evolve as they should. I can go on blind.
My gut tells me to go ahead and make my plea to the Universe against the
din of the world and ask for what I want, where to go, and what to do,
and then watch to see what emerges. It tells me that I must learn to be
lost, to ask directions, and ask permission. I must risk a little. I
must keep my heart open and ask myself regularly how my heart feels. I
have faith, just like the blind man, that by feeling, I will find my way
to where I need to be and that along the way I should expect something
lovely.
I
hope you stumble onto your mat this week and find some inner vision.
Let's expect something lovely as we move blindly through this life
together, arm in arm like we're heading to the opera matinée.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Chubby Hula Dancer Returns!
I've
got wheels again! So, as you may or may not know, almost a month ago,
my truck Nina was stolen literally right before my eyes. In fact, I was
almost run over in the process. It was a surreal moment for sure. And
during the past several weeks I've been so touched by how many friends
have stepped up to offer help, loan me a car, offer me a ride, or simply
share the story with me.
For example, my good
friends Christy and Brian had two cars. For the last year they were
experimenting with only driving one of them. Their other car, a 2001
Subaru Forester, needed some work on the clutch and had therefore been
sitting in an auto-cocoon in their driveway. After a year of not using
it, they decided that they didn't need it and offered it to sell it to
me. I agreed to pay for the repairs and for the car and just like that, I
was rolling again. This all happened last Tuesday. I'd been rolling
around in my dad's truck for the previous two weeks. My dad also helped
me get the Subaru from my trusty mechanic, Peak Performance, he sat at
the DMV with me while I registered it, and then accompanied me to the
Red Iguana for Mexican food, because everyone who just got a new ride
deserves killer Mexican food. I brought the Subaru home and parked her
in the driveway and what really made the experience complete is when I
put another 1" sticker on the back. This is the same sticker I had on
the back of my truck that reminds me that my greatest journey I will
ever travel is the journey
to know myself. Then! she really felt like part of the family. I was so
happy to have a ride again, and one that rolls very nicely: she's got
low miles, clean interior, AC, cruise control, the whole bit. Plus,
every time I drive it, I remember the generosity of Christy and Brian
and I feel something good has happened in the world.
And wouldn't you know
it, last Thursday morning, just two day after I started rolling around
in my sweet Forester, I received a phone call from the police department
informing me that they had found my truck! They asked me if I could
come right then and pick it up. It wasn't far away, stashed in the
parking lot of an apartment complex on Redwood Road and about 600 South.
I was at 9th and 9th. I told them that I was
literally about 5 minutes from jumping in and teaching my Thursday
morning 10:15 am Restore class and that there was no way I could come
right then, but that I'd be free in about an hour and a half. They
informed me that they had called the fingerprinting team who needed to
dust it before they could release it to me anyway and that if I called
back as soon as I was done with my class, there was a possibility that
I'd avoid having to pay tow and impound fees. See, in order to protect
my vehicle from whomever stole it, the police have to tow it from where
they found it and impound it so Truck Thief can't come and move it
somewhere else. The down side is that I have to pay for tow and impound,
usually runs around $200.
So, as I'm teaching my
restore class, I had a really difficult time concentrating. Questions
like, "What kind of shape is my truck in? What did they take?" and "Does
it even run?" were swimming in my head. After class, I called the
police department back and told them that I was on my way. They informed
me that they had already called the tow truck but if I got there before
it did, I could avoid the hassle of dealing with all of that. I learned
how speedy my Subaru can be as I broke a few land speed records to get
there. Just as I showed up, the tow dude was literally hoisting my truck
onto the back of his truck. I approached the tow dude and explained the
situation. He basically said that he'd been given orders by the cops to
hoist my car and nothing but that officer can stop him from taking it. I
tried to explain and even tried to call the officer back to have him
explain the situation but my phone, you see, is in hospice-it's on its
way out from this world and will soon go to cell phone heaven and in its
demented state it decided to spontaneously power down and not allow me
to make any phone calls. This happened right at the crucial moment when I
needed to call the cop. In complete frustration I told the tow guy,
"Fine! Tow it and I'll meet you at the impound yard and talk to your
boss."
I
bizzed over to the impound yard where the tow truck was heading and
entered into the make-shift office, a long narrow room with dirty
carpet, a couch that looked like it had been towed from off on the side
of the road, and a large television blaring loud day-time TV
commercials. I explained to the rather apathetic man behind the desk my
plight that I didn't want to have to pay the $200 for something that the
police said I could avoid. He said that there was nothing he could do
so I asked to talk to his boss. I called the number and Boss said, "Let
me make a phone call." Five seconds later the phone in the office where I
was standing rang. It was Boss. He told Mr. Apathy to impound and
process my car. Thanks. Mr. Apathy also told me that I couldn't just pay
the fee and roll away. Besides, I didn't even know if my car rolled. He
told me that I'd need to go to the DMV to get an impound release form
then bring it back to the impound yard, pay the fee and then I could
take the car. Such bureaucracy!
I left my truck at the
impound yard and rolled away fuming mad. I had another corporate yoga
class to teach so I made arrangements with my good friend John to pick
me up at my house after my class and take me to the DMV and then to go
and get my truck outta hock. We spend an hour or so running around and
attending to the minutia. Once I'd retrieved the necessary forms, paid
the fees and received the keys for my truck, it dawned on me that I
hadn't seen the inside of my truck. I wasn't sure what they'd stolen,
what condition it was in, or if the truck would even start.
The front console was
torn up a bit, the result of stealing the car stereo that wasn't working
anyway. I think there's a special pawn shop for car stereos that don't
work, very valuable in certain markets. They had ransacked everything
leaving it a mess. I opened the shell and looked in the bed and saw that
they had stolen my yoga mat and Seneca's yoga mat, cuz thieves need
centering to reevaluate the direction of their lives. Then I looked on
the dash. No Chubby Hula Dancer! They'd stolen the Chubby Hula Dancer
who happily danced for me on my dashboard. Bastards!
I put things basically
back together the best I could and then started her up. Even before she
was stolen, Nina sounded pretty hard thanks to her rusted out muffler
and non-existent tail pipe. But now as I fired her up, now she sounded really
tough. But at least she ran. So I waved a thank you to John who sped
away from the impound lot and I drove straight to my trusty mechanic,
Peak Performance. They kindly looked it over and informed me that Truck
Thief had stolen the catalytic converter
because there is some precious metals in there, like palladium, the
same stuff my wedding ring is made of. I decided not to wait and drove
directly to the muffler shop and asked them to please hook me up with
another catalytic converter and tailpipe, all of which was going to cost
me around another $450.
I took the bus home
feeling sorry for myself after such an emotional and harrying day. But
as I was walking home from the bus stop I couldn't help but think of all
the people who had helped me out. I thought of everyone who had wished
me well and offered condolences and an understanding moment of
bewilderment after seeing my ride stolen. I thought of Nan who loaned me
her car for a few days, and my dad, retired now, who let me tool around
in his truck for almost two weeks. I thought of Brian and Christy who
gave me a screaming deal on a new ride. I thought of how nice it was to
ride my bike places. I thought of how nice, accommodating and
professional, Peak Performance had been to have fixed my new ride and
advise me on my old one. I thought of John who helped me out by running
me all over town, who had shown up on my door steep the day Nina had
been stolen asking if there were anything he could do, like run errands
or just offer a listening ear. I thought of the cops who'd found it and
who despite everything really had an air of generosity in their tone.
All of that. My pity party didn't last long in the face of all that
generosity and good will.
So, on Saturday, I rode my bike from the Avenues down to 3100 South and
State to pick up my car from the muffler shop. I put my bike in the
back and drove away, quieter than ever I can remember her sounding,
feeling like this truck hasn't run this well and sounded this good in
several years. And even though I knew it would add to the rust, I
decided to go against protocol and give Nina a bath. I took her to the
car wash and spent the better part of an hour cleaning her inside and
out. I wanted to get the kidnaped feeling scrubbed off of her. It was a
little traumatizing to see my fingerprints still smeared on the dirty
window on the driver-side from where I'd tried to hold on as the guy was
literally stealing my truck from my own hands. You see, I caught him in
the act but not fast enough to stop him from bolting off and almost
running me over in the process. I reassembled the dash, the result of
ripping off my stereo. Then, other than the hole where my stereo used to
be, everything was back to normal. Better than normal, really. And
surprise, surprise, as I vacuuming under the seat guess who I saw hiding
under there? Well, none other than Chubby Hula Dancer! She may look
large and lumbering but remember how well that dancer can move.
Apparently, from what I can deduce, sometime during her kidnapping, she
used all her strength to unstick herself from the dash and jumped down
to hide under the seat. I
picked her up, brushed the dust off of her blue plastic grass skirt and
placed her redemptively back on the center stage of the dash. As I dove
away from the carwash, without a song on the radio (without a radio),
just the smooth purr of a well-exhausted engine, I felt that everything
was right in the world. And despite the lack of music, Chubby Hula
Dancer began to dance happily, reminding me that somehow, every moment
is an opportunity for celebration.
Whoever stole my truck,
my stereo, my catalytic converter, and my yoga mats also gave me
something in return. Something very small but unspeakably valuable.
Resting in the seat next to the dismantled dash and various trash, was a
blue rubber bracelet honoring the tragedy of the Boston Marathon
bombing. Fascinating, right? What he gave me was hope. Yeah, this
bracelet reminds me that despite any tragedy or fiasco, ranging from a
bombing to getting your ride stolen, human beings have an amazing power
to come together and to show love and support to one another in the face
of hardship. I roll more smoothly and with more ease after all this
truck stealing business. Now, there's a hole in the dashboard where my
stereo used to be. In that void I put that reminder bracelet and it
fills me with the memory of how good people can be. Despite everything,
getting my car stolen has shown me that yes, there are some careless,
rude, and probably desperate people who might steal your ride simply for
the low-hanging fruit of parts and almost worthless stuff inside, but
that there are dozens more people who will freely give of their love,
help, and support quicker than you can say "hotwire my ride." This
experience of getting my truck stolen has reinforced my faith in people
more than tarnished it. And even though the whole thing cost me around
$1500, I'm the richer for it. I'm rich in the form of friendships, love,
and support. I'm rich in the mere experience. The story itself makes me
rich. And now I own TWO cars. I think I'll give Seneca the Subaru.
As we practice yoga, we
look inside and hopefully what we see is a being filled with love and
light. My hope is that we understand our own brightness and then spend
our energy shining our light into the dark corners of the world. My
invitation to you is to choose some way to shine your light to others
today. Send a text and let someone know you're thinking about them. Drop
off some of your garden's bounty to a neighbor. Offer to help someone
out on the side of the road. Understand your light and use it to
brighten everything around you.
Who knows, maybe I'll recognize my yoga mat under someone else's feet while teaching one of my yoga classes.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Rebuilder's Manual
Rebuilding Manual
Step 1. Put out any fires that are still burning
Step 2. Practice forgiveness as the key to allow forward
movement.
Step 3. Allow for new possibilities without the story of
the past to jade the future.
Whew! I’ve come home from my retreat to Greece and my
following honeymoon with a lot on my mind. I’m coming home feeling like I am
truly being reinvented. It feels really, really fresh, like I’m still sitting
on the neighbor’s lawn, my face black with smoke and soot, my old house just burned down. In fact, the house is still
smoldering and smoking but that old thing, that old life, old bachelorness, that
old business, was razed. To. The. Ground. There is only one, exciting thing
left to do and that is build a new life forward. And while this is scary, I
feel like I’ve got a lot of possibility to mold the future.
The Shivanataraj is the statue you often seen in a yoga
context. It’s a depiction of the Dancing Shiva and process, one
that will probably happen several times in my lifetime. I guess this makes me
feel better, like all of this is expected. The Shivanataraj statue shows Shiva’s
many arms and legs gesturing in the dance of all this continuous change while
wreathed in flames. I think Shiva was the original Burner. And despite all the craziness,
despite the all the change, despite the fact that Shiva’s hair is on fire, Shiva’s
gaze is calm, steady, forward. Shiva even has a calm little smile on his face
like this is just another day in the burning universe.
So, in a meditation recently I received some divine guidance,
instruction that seems absolutely perfect for me in my life, like a manual to
start to rebuild. First, I need to acknowledge what’s happened, good and bad, put
out some of those cinders that are still burning. Next, I learned that in order
to move forward, I have to take a good hard look at where I might be holding
onto anger, resentment, fears, and grief and practice forgiveness. Finally, I’ve
got to allow for new birth and not allow the past to impede the possibilities
that are already starting to bud.
That’s my list. What’s yours? Cuz really we are all
somewhere in this process of birth, sustaining, death, disillusion, and
rebirth. What are the things you need to do, need to avoid, need to plan for in
this life that is burning in this moment.?
And finally, while our universe is spinning and we are
all dancing around with our hair on fire, may we keep our steady gaze forward,
centered in our most divine Self and the Divine, whatever form that may take
for you.
This weekend I’m in Lander Wyoming for a weekend of
workshops. Join me! We will road trip, it’ll be fun. I’m starting at Centered
City Yoga with my regular schedule starting Monday, August 4th. I’ll
be at a wedding for a dear friend Monday evening but you can catch my 6 am
class on August 4th! Best time of the day to practice, I tell you
what.
Thanks all. It feels great to be back!
Scott
Monday, June 30, 2014
A New Era
These past few weeks have been all over the place for me. It’s
been a practice for me to stay centered when so many things are changing in my
life. I think it’s easy to identify with the thing you do (read: teaching yoga)
and when that changes, even just then venue, it becomes quite humbling. I like
the word humble because the root of the word refers to returning to the dust of
the earth, back to your roots. I’m experiencing a wonderful opportunity to reinvent
myself in some crucial, important, and exciting ways.
Last year, when I planned my yoga retreat to Greece, I leave
this week, I scarcely could have picked a better time to get away and take some
time to air out the mind and soul. Little did I know last year, what would be
transpiring this year with the closure of my studios and a new marriage and wow,
how things can change in a year! I’m planning on a few weeks to allow the
practice of meditation, yoga, stories and myth, and a heap of sunshine, to work
its wonders on my soul. Did I mention that I’ll be on my honeymoon soon after
the retreat? There’s nothing like love to put what matters most front and
center in your life.
So yeah, I’m co-hosting this trip to Greece with my dear
friend Kim Dastrup, but I’m expecting that the practices and teaching will offer
me great insight into what the next era looks like for me.
I want to share this retreat with you (sorry, the honeymoon
is private J).
I’ll keep you joyously involved by including in my weekly newsletter, a message
regarding some of the themes and photos as they happen on Facebook and Instagram
and the like. Please join me! Join me as we visit the ancient cities of Greece and
through practice, mediation, and a study of history, apply that crucial motto that
spoke to Socrates on the plaque above the temple to the Oracle at Delphi: Know
Thyself. I encourage your insight and feedback so others can benefit from your
experience, knowledge and insight as you interpret the messages based on your
life. And if it didn’t work out for you to come with us this year, start
thinking about it for next year.
I’ll be back toward the end of July and I’ll be teaching a
weekend workshop in Lander Wyoming at Ananda Yoga August 1-3. Join me. I’ll be
starting classes with full gusto on the week of August 10th at
Centered City Yoga. I’m really excited about my future and the new life that is
starting to sprout in my own body/mind/spirit.
Scott
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times.
Chuck
Dickens really knew what he was talking about. My business is folding.
That’s a mess. I’m going to be married to the most wonderful woman in
the world in about three weeks. That’s bliss. I feel like at any time I
should be hearing the announcement, “Please keep your arms and legs in
the ride at all times.”
It’s
times like these that I gotta remember to keep my center, that my daily
practice is critical. I also need to remember that it’s part of the
practice to fall out of the pose once in a while, whether the pose is
tree pose or running a biz pose. Like Leonard Cohen says, “there’s a
crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” Nothing has to be
perfect. I gotta breathe and keep my center through it all, the bliss
and the mess.
It’s
nice to remember that even though things are really crazy, part of the
practice is to take care of myself in little ways like going to a yoga
class, going on a run, or going on a walk with my love in the twilight.
Thanks
to so many wonderful friends and students, to all of you, who have
wished us all well during this transition. I am very moved by all of
your kindness.
Here’s to another week!
I'm
still available to teach private sessions, Girl's Nights Out, and
corporate gigs. I'm even doing a few Skype sessions of both Yoga Nidra
and Asana. Things aren't so crazy that I don't have some time to do what
I love the most, teach yoga. Contact me if you want to set something
up.
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