I once heard my teacher Dharma say that during childhood/adolescence/teenage years, we work off a lot of old karma. Those years can be full of frustration as a result of inability to express ourselves, make our own decisions, or be fully understood by those around us. This perspective gave me a newfound compassion for the young and understanding of their sometimes questionable choices. It also gave me the opportunity to look back at my own youthful transgressions with less judgement. And who knows, maybe in 15 years, I'll be looking back on my life now wondering what the heck I was thinking, but I am trying to get better. ;)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Shakin'
I recently watched a Ken Burns documentary on The Shakers, a 200+ year old Christian sect that is known for their exquisite (but unadorned) craftsmanship, humble devotion, and their "wild" dancing (which gave them their commonly-used name over the actual "United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing"). The Shaker religion was founded by a woman and worship a God that was equal parts male and female. Men and women play an equal role in the church and in society. The Shakers were celibate, acquiring members through conversion or adoption (though adoption of orphans by religious groups was banned in the 1960s and this practice ended). At their height, there were over 6,000 members in the US and now there are only 3. "The Last Shakers" live in Maine. People drawn to this way of life were truly devotional. Their hard work was for God and others. Bhakti and Karma.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thanksgiving Morning at Yoga Trek
This year's Thanksgiving morning class at Yoga Trek was so much fun to teach and such a beautiful practice to witness! We had a wonderful group and a very full studio. What great energy and what a perfect way to start off a day that can be chaotic for so many people. Thank you ALL for coming and contributing to the experience. I hope to see you again really soon!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
A Humanitarian Argument for a Plant-Based Diet
This was a tough one to write, but given the many people who remain unconvinced as to the benefits of a vegan diet because they consider themselves humanitarians first, I was prompted to write this piece. A vegan diet benefits us ALL. You can do more. We can all do more. (For example, I could have written more!! This piece doesn't even get into the environmental impacts of animal agriculture which are huge and tragic and impact us earthlings immensely.)
A shift towards a vegan diet is not fully about the rights of animals, but also those of us humans. The mechanized process that brings us the bacon (literally, as it were) also involves human cogs. These human beings involved in the slaughter of animals for food day in and day out are desensitized and dehumanized. Their jobs involve the repeated and brutal slaughter of unwilling, fully aware and resistant victims. A pause of empathy or compassion creates a slow-down in the line and in production, so these natural human emotions must be shoved down, repressed, and forgotten. The animals slaughtered are viewed as products and nothing more. No high-volume, mechanized slaughter can be performed with compassion (and, I'd argue, no slaughter at all can be compassionate based on the very nature of the act). The built-up frustration, anger, and sometimes drunkeness of the workers is taken out on those most vulnerable, adding to the horror of their impending deaths, and surely leaving behind psychological scars on those who commit these acts. In the book Slaughterhouse, one worker is quoted as saying, "Animal abuse is so common that workers who've been in the industry for years get into a state of apathy about it. After a while, it doesn't seem unusual anymore. Animal abuse is so commonplace nobody even thinks about it."
In communities where slaughterhouses open, crime rates have been shown to increase. This violence and apathy makes it's way out from behind the walls of the animal agriculture infrastructure and into the lives of the husbands, wives, and children of these workers. Into the community. Into the homes and lives of those who have done nothing else but lived in a town where a slaughterhouse has set up shop.
Think of these people as children. These workers were not born with the instinct toward this inhumane treatment of their fellow being, but the cruel, fearful, and painful work environment has made it's mark. Either that, or some other horrific life experience has led this person to seek out a situation where they can take out their unresolved emotions on those who are defenseless (were the victims human, or even those animals we call "pets," this action would be considered predatory). If not one of these, then every single animal agriculture worker in the world who routinely commits acts of abuse against these animals is what... pathologically insane? If that is the case, then why are we content to eat their victims?
The cruelty against the animals who become our food extends too to those who are used as machines to create our food. Dairy cows are artificially inseminated so that they can remain constantly pregnant and capable of milk production. They will, however, never see a bull in their lives. The semen used to impregnate them is collected by human hand. This process, while clearly sexually abusive to the animals (the machine which is used to impregnate cows and pigs is sadly and accurately called by the industry itself the "Rape Rack"), is degrading to the human beings who do this work to survive.
And how could a job like this allow anymore than just that? Basic human survival. While many of us have jobs that are slightly less than satisfying, compare your "boring desk job" to one where you are paid to kill, torture, and rape living beings capable of fear, pain, and horror. What healthy personal satisfaction comes from a job like this? A paycheck and the ability to provide? Perhaps, but shouldn't we aim higher? As consumers, we have the ability to create a marketplace where we support industries that employ our fellow human beings to do ethical, humanizing, fulfilling work providing a product that does not stem from fear, hatred, or frustration. Where our dollars are not funding the continual downgrade in both animal and human rights. It IS possible and you are even more instrumental than you think.
A shift towards a vegan diet is not fully about the rights of animals, but also those of us humans. The mechanized process that brings us the bacon (literally, as it were) also involves human cogs. These human beings involved in the slaughter of animals for food day in and day out are desensitized and dehumanized. Their jobs involve the repeated and brutal slaughter of unwilling, fully aware and resistant victims. A pause of empathy or compassion creates a slow-down in the line and in production, so these natural human emotions must be shoved down, repressed, and forgotten. The animals slaughtered are viewed as products and nothing more. No high-volume, mechanized slaughter can be performed with compassion (and, I'd argue, no slaughter at all can be compassionate based on the very nature of the act). The built-up frustration, anger, and sometimes drunkeness of the workers is taken out on those most vulnerable, adding to the horror of their impending deaths, and surely leaving behind psychological scars on those who commit these acts. In the book Slaughterhouse, one worker is quoted as saying, "Animal abuse is so common that workers who've been in the industry for years get into a state of apathy about it. After a while, it doesn't seem unusual anymore. Animal abuse is so commonplace nobody even thinks about it."
In communities where slaughterhouses open, crime rates have been shown to increase. This violence and apathy makes it's way out from behind the walls of the animal agriculture infrastructure and into the lives of the husbands, wives, and children of these workers. Into the community. Into the homes and lives of those who have done nothing else but lived in a town where a slaughterhouse has set up shop.
Think of these people as children. These workers were not born with the instinct toward this inhumane treatment of their fellow being, but the cruel, fearful, and painful work environment has made it's mark. Either that, or some other horrific life experience has led this person to seek out a situation where they can take out their unresolved emotions on those who are defenseless (were the victims human, or even those animals we call "pets," this action would be considered predatory). If not one of these, then every single animal agriculture worker in the world who routinely commits acts of abuse against these animals is what... pathologically insane? If that is the case, then why are we content to eat their victims?
The cruelty against the animals who become our food extends too to those who are used as machines to create our food. Dairy cows are artificially inseminated so that they can remain constantly pregnant and capable of milk production. They will, however, never see a bull in their lives. The semen used to impregnate them is collected by human hand. This process, while clearly sexually abusive to the animals (the machine which is used to impregnate cows and pigs is sadly and accurately called by the industry itself the "Rape Rack"), is degrading to the human beings who do this work to survive.
And how could a job like this allow anymore than just that? Basic human survival. While many of us have jobs that are slightly less than satisfying, compare your "boring desk job" to one where you are paid to kill, torture, and rape living beings capable of fear, pain, and horror. What healthy personal satisfaction comes from a job like this? A paycheck and the ability to provide? Perhaps, but shouldn't we aim higher? As consumers, we have the ability to create a marketplace where we support industries that employ our fellow human beings to do ethical, humanizing, fulfilling work providing a product that does not stem from fear, hatred, or frustration. Where our dollars are not funding the continual downgrade in both animal and human rights. It IS possible and you are even more instrumental than you think.
Karma Yoga - November Newsletter
Here's a little something that was written up for the November Newsletter. Enjoy!
Karma Yoga, the action of giving back, is one of the many paths to liberation and is discussed flawlessly in the eternal classic, The Bhagavad Gita. In this text, Krishna (as a manifestation of the divine) explains that our attachment to our actions keeps us bound to an unending cycle of karma creating repeated births, deaths, and misery as we reap the seeds of our previously selfish actions. The only way for us to end this suffering is to end these attachments.
Our attachments are many. We're attached to comforts, to our families, to our possessions, to our titles, our ideas about ourself, and even to our spiritual practices (including yoga). A yoga practice based exclusively on the physical aspects can lead towards self-indulgence as we fixate on our newfound skills, our abilities, and other related obsessions. Resist the urge to pamper the ego and instead, try to exchange these thoughts for others - a mantra, a prayer, something devotional (this can be a non-secular devotion). It requires a concentrated effort to adjust the workings of the mind, but it is not impossible. Shifts come little by little and stick with us if we make the effort to catch ourselves "in the act" and redirect to something that is deeper and ultimately more rewarding.
It is for this reason that work without expectation is so beneficial. If we can do for others, without reservation or hesitation, and without the expectation of any reward whatsoever (this is a hard one - no thank you, no feeling of personal satisfaction, nothing!), then we are performing Karma Yoga. Even as we lessen these attachments (this is not an over night practice), we begin to see the true benefit and purpose of our work. We are a part of the bigger picture. We see something that needs doing and we do it. Tough, but ultimately, a practice that can be rewarding on the deepest levels imaginable (or currently unimaginable) as we explore below the surface of our Selves.
"But verily, the man who rejoices in the Self and is satisfied with the Self and is content with the Self alone--he has nothing for which he should work. He has no object to gain by what he does in this world, nor any to lose by what he leaves undone; nor is there anyone, among all beings, on whom he needs to depend for any object. Therefore always do without attachment the work you have to do; for a man who does his work without attachment attains the Supreme." - Krishna speaks to Arjuna in The Bhagavad Gita
Karma Yoga, the action of giving back, is one of the many paths to liberation and is discussed flawlessly in the eternal classic, The Bhagavad Gita. In this text, Krishna (as a manifestation of the divine) explains that our attachment to our actions keeps us bound to an unending cycle of karma creating repeated births, deaths, and misery as we reap the seeds of our previously selfish actions. The only way for us to end this suffering is to end these attachments.
Our attachments are many. We're attached to comforts, to our families, to our possessions, to our titles, our ideas about ourself, and even to our spiritual practices (including yoga). A yoga practice based exclusively on the physical aspects can lead towards self-indulgence as we fixate on our newfound skills, our abilities, and other related obsessions. Resist the urge to pamper the ego and instead, try to exchange these thoughts for others - a mantra, a prayer, something devotional (this can be a non-secular devotion). It requires a concentrated effort to adjust the workings of the mind, but it is not impossible. Shifts come little by little and stick with us if we make the effort to catch ourselves "in the act" and redirect to something that is deeper and ultimately more rewarding.
It is for this reason that work without expectation is so beneficial. If we can do for others, without reservation or hesitation, and without the expectation of any reward whatsoever (this is a hard one - no thank you, no feeling of personal satisfaction, nothing!), then we are performing Karma Yoga. Even as we lessen these attachments (this is not an over night practice), we begin to see the true benefit and purpose of our work. We are a part of the bigger picture. We see something that needs doing and we do it. Tough, but ultimately, a practice that can be rewarding on the deepest levels imaginable (or currently unimaginable) as we explore below the surface of our Selves.
"But verily, the man who rejoices in the Self and is satisfied with the Self and is content with the Self alone--he has nothing for which he should work. He has no object to gain by what he does in this world, nor any to lose by what he leaves undone; nor is there anyone, among all beings, on whom he needs to depend for any object. Therefore always do without attachment the work you have to do; for a man who does his work without attachment attains the Supreme." - Krishna speaks to Arjuna in The Bhagavad Gita
Monday, October 10, 2011
Occupy Yourself
The most contentious form of energy (and after all, it IS just another form of energy) is money. Think of every single dollar you spend as a vote. Where does it go? What are you most enthusiastically supporting by voting for time and time again? Basic living expenses sometimes require us to pay up to those "big corporations," but what necessities are actually "basic"? Do we need that cable package (sure, they may call it "basic," but really)? Do we need to turn on every light in the house at once? Does our food need to come pre-prepared, over-packaged, and de-nutritionalized or can we return to a more basic, sustainable diet at a lower cost to ourselves and the planet? Can we shop locally and support small business rather than supporting the rate-cutting big boxes? Can we think of purchases as investments in the recipients of our votes (and ourselves with quality products and experiences) and not as a scramble to hoard every penny?
Additionally, should we spend our evenings and weekends rapt in self-absorbed leisure, or should we make some investment in passing along our good fortune to those who have less by giving some small amount of what we have to those causes that stir our souls (and oh, they're out there)?These are, none of them, criticisms. They are tools that we can all use to shift gears in our own thinking about the way in which our energy is currently expended and the ways in which we may find a desire to make a change. We are not powerless, we are empowered every day by our ability to choose. Only you can decide where your line is drawn, but every movement towards your best self is one that benefits not only you, but those around you and those around them and those around them and those around them and those around them... by the ripples of careful and conscious consumerism that you've begun.
Indeed, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." (Margaret Mead)
(Photos courtesy of Truth Control, which has been documenting the occupation of Chicago. Please share this site. It is being updated regularly!)
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Portland VegFest 2011
This past weekend I found myself back in Portland for this year's VegFest. For two days a wonderful group of vegans, vegetarians, and our friends took over a section of the Portland Convention Center and the city's many veg-friendly establishments. In the past four months, I have been fortunate to have made four trips (yes, one a month) to Portland and have fallen in love with the city and it's ultra-friendly inhabitants. With no more trips planned there this year, I will definitely be missing it! However, this last trip for VegFest really packed in so many reasons why I love the city. I saw so many people who were strangers four months ago, but who I now enthusiastically call friends, I visited some of my favorite businesses, and I even had the opportunity to spend time with some of the real veg pioneers who have been making vegetarian food business a reality for over three decades!
So, it was total icing on the cake that I had been invited to speak about The Yoga of Veganism at this year's VegFest. It was a thoughtful, inspiring, and dedicated group who attended the Saturday 11am talk. I was so touched to run into the talk's attendees throughout the weekend to hear how the teachings of yoga have impacted their lives. I hope that everyone I met will continue to keep in touch in some way and that I will see you all again!
Below, you can find an edited video with some parts of the talk given at VegFest. This talk included so much that is so close to my heart. Please enjoy!
So, it was total icing on the cake that I had been invited to speak about The Yoga of Veganism at this year's VegFest. It was a thoughtful, inspiring, and dedicated group who attended the Saturday 11am talk. I was so touched to run into the talk's attendees throughout the weekend to hear how the teachings of yoga have impacted their lives. I hope that everyone I met will continue to keep in touch in some way and that I will see you all again!
Below, you can find an edited video with some parts of the talk given at VegFest. This talk included so much that is so close to my heart. Please enjoy!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
2011 Chicago Walk for Farm Animals
Yesterday I had the great fortune to participate in the 2011 Chicago Walk for Farm Animals. These nationwide walks benefit Farm Sanctuary organization, who advocates for the treatment of our forgotten brothers and sisters living lives of confinement away from our eyes. I was unable to stay for the entire event, as I had to teach the regular Saturday morning class in Oak Park, but I was able to show up early and lead a short yoga session at the beginning of the day's events. It was a ton of fun with a really enthusiastic group of participants. It's not everyone who will go out on a Saturday morning and do yoga (some for the first time ever) on a patch of wet grass in Lincoln Park!
When I arrived at the usual Saturday morning class, I had to mentally change gears. I almost couldn't figure out how to teach this group of students sitting patiently in a studio... no one was even dressed as a pig! Over the course of the short previous yoga session, that had come to look quite normal. Funny how the mind works.
This event also marked the debut of my newly-purchased Flip camera which I intend to use often now that I have it! There are so many things that I want to make videos of. The above is my first attempt at video editing. Many thanks to my friend, Mark, took much of the yoga class video. I think I learned a lot making this and have ideas about what to do differently next time.
Thank you all for coming out and participating and, most of all, for acting as voices for the voiceless! And thank you to the organizers who invited me and to the many friends who recommended me for the duty!
Friday, September 9, 2011
EZ 2B Anti
Every day we hear of people who are doing "good." They dedicate their lives to a passionate, bitter fight against this world's evils. This is a wonderful thing... or is it? It's truly a small issue of our own motivation that determines whether our paths as activists are sustainable.
When we direct our energy towards fighting against something, no matter how wrong we perceive it to be, we're draining ourselves. We're maintaining a negative focus. We see the world as "us vs. them", as full of evil, or as something that needs to be fixed. We risk becoming immersed in this negative worldview and our reaction against this perceived evil becomes the driving force behind our actions. We become overwhelmed by the mounting injustices that we struggle against and we burn out.
As hard as the negative and unjust can be to ignore, a shift in perspective can greatly improve our motivation to bring about change. Do things FOR others. Instead of fighting against the oppressor, be the voice of the oppressed. Share your gifts and see the changes that come about in the lives of those who are touched. We cannot help everyone in the ways we envision, but those that we do help are forever changed and that change affects us all. A shift in the global attitude starts with one individual. Perform your service for the good of all, without attachment or desire, and see how your flame burns brighter as a result.
Though it may not appear that way, everything is already perfect. The wheels of karma are spinning and things are playing themselves out exactly as they should be in order to balance out all deeds from the past. Your karma may or may not be to make great changes in the lives of others in the way you've imagined, but continue on your righteous path knowing that your thoughts, attitude, and actions influence change all around you in ways that are both subtle and monumental.
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” Dalai Lama XIV
Friday, September 2, 2011
Going Beyond the Pets
Somehow, people have come to know that I teach Doga and I get requests from time to time to teach at special events and fundraisers for pet rescues. The whole Doga thing started in the first place when my friends at One Tail at a Time rescue asked if I could come up with a Doga class as a fundraiser. I figured that I was already doing plenty of yoga with dogs around in my own home that I might as well learn to invite them into a few poses. It was a success and now the requests come in from all over the city.
One request last year was for an event in a city park. It was a dog-themed event with dog-themed vendors, rescues, and more. All of them in some way touting the benefits of a healthy relationship between you and your pet. While I taught at this event, to my left was a tent cooking and selling bar-b-qued animals. So here I am trying to encourage people to connect with the animal at the other end of the leash (which was one of the goals of the whole event, responsible pet care) while this tent is serving up the cooked flesh of animals that are not all that different than the dogs we're there to celebrate. Another Doga event I was invited to teach, which I turned down, was for a monthly class followed by a social bar-b-que. Connect with this animal as your trusted friend and devoted companion, but butcher another and call them dinner? Where is the disconnect, my friends?
Yoga teaches that all beings have a divine spark. A part of them that is exactly the same as any other being. Yoga practice leads us to a place where we can discover that spark in ourselves and eventually, in everyone else (including our pets, animals formerly knowns as "food", and insects). The ethical rules of yoga become easy to follow when we look at others and see ourselves or our loved ones. When I look the expressions and behaviors of a cow or a pig or a sheep, I see my beloved dogs and cats. I see animals that want and deserve compassion and dignity. They do not deserve to exist as nothing more than a commodity. As Sri Dharma says, our compassion must extend "beyond the pets." This practice is yoga.(Photos by Alyse at Out-U-Go Chicago and my partner, Dan.)
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Introduction
I am Nicole Sopko, a yoga student who is always learning and a yoga teacher who is eager to do what I can to enable others towards the goal of yoga. I have been practicing yoga since sometime in 2003 when I joined a gym and popped in to my first class. Having never been an "athlete" of any kind, I was somewhat surprised how at home I felt in the yoga postures. Over time, the passion for practice grew and I attended a 200 hour teacher training with the intention of learning as much as I could about yoga. What I learned, was that despite being formerly terrified of speaking in front of groups of people, this yoga stuff was just too good to keep to myself! So, I began teaching at the studio where I did my training as well as a few gyms. After my training, I continued to explore the world of yoga taking workshops with respected teachers and reading many many books on the subject in an effort to figure out the deeper part of the practice that I could sense, but could not yet access.
At some point shortly after becoming a "yoga teacher," I ventured to New York City to check out a real teacher there by the name of Dharma Mittra. I didn't know at the time how it would change my life, but that first class was mind blowing. Dharma was speaking what appeared to me to be the clear truth, backed up by his many years of practice. I felt transformed. I would spend years traveling to NY as I was able in order to study with Dharma. I would get on the train/plane/automobile with a mind full of questions, but as soon as I was seated in front of the teacher, all of the questions disappeared. I was always at perfect peace in Dharma's presence.
Some time later, I enrolled in and attended Dharma's 500 hour teacher training, which was the best choice I could have made, especially at that time in my life. Through Dharma's generous teachings, I have learned much about yoga and most importantly, have learned the critical importance of living yoga as daily life. There should be no interruption between the attitude on the mat and off. Yoga gives us the ability to sit quietly and find opportunity for deep reflection, which can answer all of our questions and quell our doubts, giving way to a more peaceful mind and a more compassionate existence.
This blog is a place to attempt to share experiences that touch me and yogic teachings as I understand them. I humbly offer the fruits of this labor to you, whoever you are, and to the divine spark inside of all of us who I hope will guide this project as it progresses.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Doga Fundraiser for One Tail at a Time
You may know that I share my life with rescued dogs and cats. Pets are such an important part of our families and our lives and it's really necessary to take the opportunity to bond with our furry best friends. Even better that we could donate the proceeds from this class to One Tail at a Time rescue!
Thanks so much to Yoga Tree for donating the space to hold class, to the ladies from Fido To Go (Chicago's Premiere Gormutt dog food truck) for stopping by with treats afterwards, and to Heather at One Tail at a Time for bringing it all together! Love to all of you!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Vegan Cooking & Yoga Retreat
What a wonderful time we had on retreat at the beautiful Stronghold Retreat Center in Oregon, IL held from Friday May 20 through Sunday May 22, 2011! Despite the prediction of storms, the weather was perfect and our diverse group of both the yoga- and vegan-curious assembled for a weekend of fun, connection, and delicious vegan food! It was a wonderful time with a great balance of free time and activity with lots of opportunities to ask questions about cooking, yoga, and more. Many wonderful connections were made and I hope to see you all again in the future! This retreat could not have been possible without the dedication of my fellow retreat hostess, Chef Kim Gracen, of the world-famous Chicago Diner. I hope that we can do it again sometime! (See more photos on Facebook!)
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your inspiring talk during the retreat.... linking yoga with veganism! You did this in such a sweet, gentle way... I know everyone agreed with your approach and loved it! It was a Treat of a Lifetime to be there!" - Tina C.Friday, April 8, 2011
Yoga for Students at OPRFHS
One of my regular yoga students, who is a high-school teacher, kindly invited me to give a yoga demonstration and class to the World Cultures class at Oak Park River Forest High School. Having almost no experience with teaching a classroom full of teenage boys (which this class mostly consisted of), I as unsure about how the day would go and was actually pretty nervous. In the end, we all got along great and had a great time, even doing a partner pose together without too much resistance!
Before Savasana (final resting pose), I advised the students that this would be the most difficult pose, as it requires complete surrender of the body and the mind. After a fully silent 5 minutes, we released the pose and the difference in the students (and the surprise of their teachers) was evident! What a fun group! Thanks so much to Marci for giving me the opportunity to come out and share yoga with the students!
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