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Hello!
Wookie really was an inspiration--how excited and fully invested in life she is. I can tend to get a little jaded or cynical, or maybe it's just bored sometimes, so having Wookie to remind me of what is truly going on keeps me on center. That said, there's nothing like hitting the road--even for a short trip to the beach--to help snap things into perspective and inject the invigoration of new places, people and adventures into life. Boyd blogged about the RV trip on Blogger. Check it out. We've just about completed our feng shui makeover of our product shipping center--new storage cabinet, new table, and a fresh coat of bright yellow paint. We had the house painted, too, trimmed the big trees, and spruced up the front yard. It all feels so much better now! I highly recommend using a feng shui consultant. They can pinpoint problem areas, and turn you on to fun remedies and projects. Until next time... In vibrant health,
Shay Arave, President
My Beginning Yoga Experience Revisited
The Growing Mind-Body Debate in Medicine
The Body Spiritual
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We spent a few days RVing on the Oregon Coast this past month. What a great way to wind up the summer. It was wet most of the time, but mild temps and stunning scenery. We took along our teddy bear-faced black and white Llahsa Apso, Wookie, who thrived and reveled in the new environments-- thrilled to be experiencing new smells and sounds.
Since writing my original article in 2003, I have continued with my Bikram Yoga practice mostly diligently, with occasional weeks off for band touring over the years. Some weeks I'll go to class once or twice, other weeks all seven days, and not once in the over 2000 yoga classes I've taken have I ever not been glad I went. Some days I may not feel like going at all, and chances are those are the days I get the most out of it. Although I still have not achieved the full expressions of the 26 postures, it is not about going further in the postures anymore (although, of course, you try)--it's about focusing on and communicating with my body. The body can (sometimes excrutiatingly) mirror back to you your thoughts, attitudes and emotions, and you realize how these mind-artifacts get stuck sometimes in the body tissues, and how they can throw you off your center. And, sometimes, it seems like doing the postures with somebody else's body. 
The exploding field of mind-body medicine is proving in laboratories around the world that the mind creates the conditions of the physical body--not the other way around. Where it was once thought that the brain causes us to think, it is now known that the brain is simply responding to thoughts. Brain chemicals are created and released into the body as a result of thoughts--not the other way around. One of the biggest studies in mind-body medicine is around stress. How a person responds to stressful situations, or how a person perceives their life as stressful, affects the immune system, hormonal balance, and digestion. A person's mental and emotional state is the sole precursor to physical changes in the body. 
During my short 58 years walking this strange yet familiar planet, I have had it continually demonstrated to me that everything is energy. My body is energy, the house I live in is energy, the car I drive is energy, the pets I feed are energy. And, as I continue my walk, more frequently am I reminded that my decisions, thoughts and emotions are also energies that interact with the energies of outer "things." So it's obvious where this goes: I create my life--everything from seeing the flowers in my back yard, to playing a gig in a band, to kissing my girlfriend--everything I experience is something I caused. I've pretty much spent my entire life so far trying to find exceptions to this truth, and just when I think I have one, it evaporates like a wisp of a cloud. 
