I had the great privilege of studying with Sensei Wataru Ohashi (the founder of the Ohashiatsu Institute and Method of Shiatsu) from 1997 – 2005, and he was one of the most influential people in my life, and one of my greatest mentors.

A LESSON ON GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT!

Swami Rama once said that the body will only open up as much as the mind will open up.

Interesting thought.

Yes, our attachment, even to our thoughts, can translate into rigidity in the body. There’s even some data to suggest that one of the things that prevents people from losing excess weight is because they are holding onto difficult emotions, painful memories, rigid ideas, old, even ancestral thought patterns.

There is a practice in the yoga tradition of waking up each morning and asking ourselves,

“What can I die to today?”

So what does that mean?

It means, what can I release, what can I detach from, what can I let go of in my life, whether that be particular thoughts, certain behaviors, physical possessions, expectations in relationships, expectations in any area of our lives, specific plans, 5 year plans, 10 year plans, grudges, sorrow, pity, anger, sadness, happiness, etc.

Most of my life I have waited much too long to make the necessary changes that would have made my life better in a timely fashion.

Too long I’ve not heeded the following piece of wisdom from the Taoist philosophers.

There is a Chinese proverb – “Fish cannot see water, human beings cannot see Chi.”

I love burritos. Everything you want in the meal in one complete package.

And it just wouldn’t be the same if you left out the Guacamole, or the Salsa, or the Black Beans, or the Carnitas, or the fresh Lettuce and diced Veggies, or the Mozzarella Cheese. If you left out any one ingredient, it just wouldn’t be the same.

And if I understand the Buddha correctly, this is a perfect analogy for our lives.

We all want it.

We all run towards it.

We all run away from it.

We all need it to flourish.

What is it?

Connection.