2012~Bringing it on!

The year of 2012 is not playin', as our ancestors have been reminding us for many years! And yet, a part of me that knows that this year IS, in all actuality, playing -- in exactly the ways that it's promised.

Events in the Anusara world have unfolded on the grand stage of life for all to see over the past few weeks. It's been such an intense time on every level for so many, especially because the way things unfolded could have been a lot more life-enhancing (and that's a huge understatement). I certainly wish things had played out in a completely different manner, one that was perhaps not so public or so graphic, for that matter. But here we are in 2012, and the rule book is continuing to change with the times. 

A part of me still feels the need to write the following, so I will. John Friend taught me so much of what I know today about being both a strong student and a strong teacher of yoga, and I am and always will be hugely grateful to him for everything I've learned studying with him. Anusara Yoga's method, teachings, and the Universal Principles of Alignment are a testament to the great therapeutic benefits of what awesome alignment and action can create in the body, mind and heart. These, as well as the level of refinement they invite each student to investigate, and the unique spiritual meaning each person gets to bring to life through his or her yoga practice, makes the science and art of yoga deeply rich and fulfilling.

Yet, here we are in 2012, where there are seemingly no holds barred! I say seemingly because this is the Universe, and I do believe that there is order in the events we're observing and taking part in. My astrology teacher Steven Forrest has said that this year, and the future in general, is bringing more of what we are already beginning to see happen: the work of Neptune -- the spiritual, meditative, mystical work, that which connects us to the divine force -- is becoming intertwined with that of Pluto -- the Kali work, as we'd say in yoga, or that of the shaman, who goes way below the surface to uncover and face what's been hiding out there for longer than one may have imagined. Pluto work is about the practice of sva-sva-vimarsha -- of becoming super self-reflective, turning the light of awareness back on oneself, going deep within, and owning whatever one finds. This work asks people to look inside and to face some of the most intense fears they've carried with them in this lifetime. It's like sitting down to meditate, and being whisked into a dream of your most intense fears surrounding you from all sides (Pluto is the Lord of the Underworld), yet making the choice to see each of them, to listen to them, to feel the pain they hold, and to do this while maintaining a steady connection to the Light and sanity of yourSelf the entire time. Not the most pleasant thing in the world, but valuable for so many reasons! Valuable because there's great personal power and insight to be gained here, and because it takes being human and the capacity to heal to a whole new level.

While the process is painful, heart-wrenching, intense, and humbling, it also invites practitioners to become more courageous, empowered, steady, and wise. And as more people take the time to truly put their yoga and meditation practices to work, using the skills they've gained along their long paths of studentship, the vessel for transformation is made stronger so that the process can take place at a deeper level. What we are capable of navigating now is certainly not what we were capable of 3 years ago. And that's the beauty of the whole process, when it is really working. Neptune informs Pluto, and vice versa.

It has inspired me to see a greater number of people hearing the call to look inside their hearts and affirm the voice of Truth that lives there through the Pluto process of clearing out the gunk that's been in the way. And perhaps there was just a little here and there that was keeping them from doing what they knew was right for them from the deepest place, but it cloaked the way no less. These people are my heroes & heroines: those who are willing to really see, feel, hear what's inside, and to act in accordance with this. Although we each find something different, it's the process that counts. And, just as importantly, judging someone else's process based on what you yourself have discovered only makes the water murkier. Taking energy that could easily be used to transform oneself and misplacing it by focusing on someone else for awhile because it's more comfortable or easier only keeps the person who's wanting to grow in a holding pattern. 

Here we're invited to a level of refinement in how we choose to see others...rather than thinking that someone should have a different opinion than what they do, we can choose see them for who they are (we're all so similar and simultaneously so very different) and the ways in which they are growing and transforming themselves. As my astro teacher reminds us, we all have Pluto in our charts, but for the majority of us, it's in a different sign, making the aim and strategy different, and in a different house, making the terrain quite different. This is what I find so beautiful about what we're going through individually and as a community: I get to see my friends and community members, some who have very different opinions than I, doing valuable, real work that invites them to more of their burgeoning potential with each day. And this is incredible. I commend each one for the courage they bring forth from within themselves.

While we continue to delve into our own hearts and shadows, bringing light to all that we uncover, we gain a little piece of our souls that we had left behind in other spaces, other times. This is the gift of actually doing what Pluto invites us to. I truly wish this for all of us during these intense times. May we choose through this revelatory process to align with the Truth we hold inside, living with integrity in the world in the ways we best are able to, and may our own capacities to uphold the Truth expand.