UN environment report: Humanity is putting Earth, and itself, at risk

The human population is living far beyond its means and inflicting damage to the environment that could pass points of no return, according to a major report being issued on Thursday by the United Nations.

Population growth and unsustainable consumption have resulted in an increasingly stressed planet where natural disasters and environmental degradation endanger millions of humans as well as plant and animal species, the report said.

The report, which is prepared by 388 experts and scientists, as the broadest and deepest of those the UN has issued on the environment, and called it "the final wake-up call to the international community."

Read on.

lesson in volunteerism

SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Dust off every disaster plan from Washington to San Diego, scrutinize them to your heart's content, and it's still unlikely you'll find mention of the emergency services provided by Shary Shores. Shores, a volunteer registrar at San Diego's evacuee shelter, has appointed herself the shelter's "hugger." Every person she signs in gets a warm, heartfelt hug.

Having lost her own home to foreclosure in March, Shores says she has empathy for the suddenly homeless. Her embraces may not be government-sanctioned, but they are appreciated.

"I can't tell you how many people say 'Thank you. ... I needed that,'" Shores said.

ANA FORREST: Tapping into Energy that Brightens You Inside

Ana comes to DC's Down Dog Yoga in December for a series of workshops. In anticipation of her arrival, the renown yogini spoke to us about obtaining contentment and exhilaration in a challenging yoga practice, finding and losing (and finding) your center, and more..........

Most people can depress themselves quickly with their internal dialog. But they don't know how to work the other end of the spectrum. "Can you get turned on? Can you get ecstatic? Can you get excited?

What I'm working to bring to people's attention is the habitual thinking that keeps them stuck in their pain; in their suffering; in their blindness; in their injuries and diseases; and in their lousy relationships to themselves and to others.  A lot of it is going on at a subterranean level.  There is so much energy that is used up by that stuff! Tuning inward and starting to get skillful at stopping it - it's kind of like plugging a leak.

Part of getting to the ecstatic realm is learning to work in an energy efficient way, not struggling. And it is 1,000 percent breath-related. I work with a really intense, deep breath. Staying connected to the feeling of the breathing is a big piece in shifting out of the old paradigm and into a newer one. We have to pour ourselves out of the ruts in our yoga practice in order to play on the ecstatic realm and on the breakthrough realm.

Accomplishing the poses - yeah, that's cool. But there's something else available entirely - using the pose to generate the energy necessary to heal an area. That's a total reframing. Or using the pose because it puts you on an uncomfortable edge and on that edge is some treasure that you can learn about yourself. But every pose also generates its own - I call them "pose nutrients" - exquisite and unique energies.

Read the full interview here!

Dalai Lama Recognizes Work of the Washington Humane Society

Photo By: Zaid Hamid

Dalai Lama on Stage at our Event

Friday was a remarkable day in the life of the Washington Humane Society (WHS). His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who was visiting Washington, DC to accept the Congressional Gold Medal, made a visit to N Street Village for a special event held in conjunction with the Washington Humane Society.

The Washington Humane Society and N Street Village, a nonprofit social service agency for homeless women, have partnered to create a unique volunteer program which benefits both homeless women and homeless animals. The women from N Street volunteer weekly in the Washington Humane Society shelter in an internship program with specific goals in mind—helping to care for, rehabilitate, socialize and train the animals, while gaining valuable experience.

All of us from WHS were honored and humbled to have this tremendous opportunity to meet with the Dalai Lama and hear his heartfelt remarks on the importance of compassion to animals and to one another. The Dalai Lama is emblematic of unity and compassion, and it meant a great deal to us that His Holiness chose to recognize our programs as well as the precious animals in our care.

The Dalai Lama spoke for twenty minutes on the potential expressions of compassion in our daily lives, and offered advice and teachings which served as an inspiration for all who attended. If you would like to hear the Dalai Lama's remarks for yourself, Fox WTTG has posted his remarks online, click here to listen.

The Washington Post gave a fantastic recount of the event, click here to read the article, as did Washingtonian Magazine, click here for that article. Pamela Sorensen of Pamela's Punch gave a wonderful personal recap as well; click here to read her touching remarks.

Stories from the frontlines

I recently came across a great blog written by a soldier and his experiences on the front lines in Iraq. His first-hand perspective is compelling and the story needs to be told. Check it out at: http://armyofdude.blogspot.com/

Some excerpts:

President Eisenhower warned of the growing military industrial complex in his farewell address. Since Dick Cheney can now afford solid gold oil derricks, it's safe to say we failed Ike miserably. After losing two friends and over a dozen comrades, I have this to say: Do not wage war unless it is absolutely, positively the last ditch effort for survival.

I was a struggling senior in high school when the invasion took place, and I supported it. I was mesmerized by the way we raced across the desert and took Baghdad in less than a month. War was a sleek, glossy commercial on TV, and we always won at the end. It's easy to be for a war when you have absolutely no connection with it. Patriotism lead me to believe what we were doing was right and noble. What a difference a deployment can make.

The public can do something about this. It doesn't have to be a hopeless cause forever. Write your Congressmen, go to a rally, read as much as you can about Iraq to see it for what it is: a place men go to lose their minds and their lives. And most importantly, love your children. Teach them that war is not honorable, it's no plaything cast with an indifferent hand. It's the most terrible thing man ever brought to the world. My generation didn't learn from Vietnam, but the next one can learn from us. The memories and spirit of Chevy and Jesse compel you, America. Do not forget your fallen sons.

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For everyone else, the nature of this war prevents the public from a full grasp of understanding. In airports and in living rooms, you can see for yourself the effect in the eyes of a soldier at war for fifteen months at a time, hidden behind a smile that conceals a secret: you'll never quite understand what we did there.Like Atlas, we carry the immense burden of the country on our shoulders, waiting for the day seemingly long into the future when the American people say, that will do.

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This was taken on a rooftop during a firefight on March 24 in Baqubah. One guy lost a leg up to his knee and another lost a foot in an IED blast that day. Talk about sacrifices! Out of seven Americans on that rooftop, one is going to reenlist!


http://armyofdude.blogspot.com/

cats bringing heart to iraq

Nine Lives:  What Cats Know About War
By JOHN F. BURNS
A reporter adopts cats to reconnect with life amid unremitting death.

 

Joao Silva for The New York Times

NOBILITY Iraq's strays inherit land said to have given rise to all domestic cats.

 

Check out the author's website!   http://thecatfromhue.com/

Dalai Lama Returning to DC!

Dalai Lama to Visit DC Next Week
Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Washington Post

Thousands of Buddhists from around the world are expected in Washington next week, including some of the most senior teachers in Tibetan Buddhism as well as devotees arriving on all-night buses, to see the Dalai Lama receive the Congressional Gold Medal, the United States' highest civilian honor.

Advocates close to the exiled Tibetan spiritual and political leader say the award, which will be presented next Wednesday in the Capitol Rotunda, is the most significant tribute to the Dalai Lama since he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. President Bush will attend the ceremony, the first time a sitting U.S. president has met in public with the Dalai Lama, whom Chinese officials consider a secessionist agitator for his work to give Tibetans more autonomy.
Read on

Metropolitan Memorial Church 3401 Nebraska Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016 An evening of chanting, meditation and music with Krishna Das and Sharon Salzberg.	Monday October 15, 2007 7:30 pm Concert - More info
Washington National Cathedral 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, DC 20016-5098 Participating in the Pray for Peace Benefit Concert Namgyal Monks will be chanting in the Prelude Prayer Ceremony	Tuesday, October 16, 2007 6:00pm Prelude Prayer Ceremony 7:30pm Concert - more info

FLOW Studio featured in Yoga Magazine!

My yoga studio is featured in Yoga & Joyful Living!

How Green is Your Studio?

Natalya Podgorny

As the Green Yoga movement spreads across the country, let us all pay proper attention.

Flow Yoga Center, Washington, DC

Offering classes in a range of styles from Vinyasa to Jivamukti, Flow has extended its existing eco-friendly elements such as bamboo and Marmoleum floors, low-flush toilets, and recycled doors into a new expansion just completed with the help of both a green architect and a LEED contractor. Every time you buy a 20-class pass, they plant trees with Trees for the Future, and 6 percent of their earned income goes to other charitable causes. 202.462.FLOW

Prestigious prize awarded for cruelty

A British scientist whose pioneering research led to the creation of legions of "knockout" mice that are genetically modified to develop human diseases was awarded a Nobel prize yesterday. By knocking out specific genes, researchers have designed mice that develop a range of medical conditions including cancer, cystic fibrosis and atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. The first "knockout" mice were created in 1989. They have become a standard research tool in labs. Read the full story here.

With this award, our society is further reinforcing the paradigm of exploitation. We continue to believe that humans are the most important species and thus are justified to  use and abuse all other species for our own benefit. The argument for this testing on mice is that it gives researches "unprecedented insight into how some of the most debilitating human diseases progress in different tissues and organs over a lifetime, and have proved invaluable in testing new drug therapies." But at what cost? This short-sighted thinking has led us to our current disastrous state of humanity. We know that every action has a consequence.....and the consequences of exploiting other creatures for our own selfish gains WILL come back to us. Karma is a reality and we cannot escape from the negative impact of subjugating and torturing less powerful creatures. We may find new drug therapies that heal certain diseases in the short-term, but in the long-term we are damaging our spirits and souls. That is certainly not a price I am willing to pay.

Army Enlists Anthropology in War Zones

The Pentagon may be getting smarter...........it has set up the first ever "Human Terrain Team" which is an experimental program that assigns anthropologists and other social scientists to American combat units in Afghanistan and Iraq. So far, the team's ability to understand subtle points of tribal relations has won the praise of officers who say they are seeing concrete results. Read on.

An Afghan boy at a medical clinic set up by American Army medics and an anthropologist in the Shabak Valley in Afghanistan.

Manorama on YouTube

Watch clips of our beloved Sanskrit guru, Manorama, here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qtH4cjJamQ

 

Interview with BKS Iyengar

Yoga master BKS Iyengar, or Guru ji

Guru ji started practicing yoga to cure his own illness, tuberculosis. But a fortuitous meeting with violinist Yehudi Menuhin in 1952 opened his doors to the West. He simplified complex yoga asanas, or poses, and performed thousands of demonstrations for the benefit of his new audience, transforming a mystical secret practice into a science, therapy and art accessible to everyone. The focus is on precision and proper alignment of the body.

Now 88 years old, Guru ji presides from his institute in Pune, India where he still supervises classes. Students come from all over the world to learn what has been branded "Iyengar yoga," a term he himself does not like to use, but a trademark with a huge following. Yoga and the commercial world surrounding it is now a multibillion-dollar industry, courses come in various styles and names, but the pioneer of it all, Guru Iyengar, prefers to keep it simple. We meet at his prestigious institute in Pune.

Read the interview or watch it here!

Meditation for peace and democracy in Burma today.... 5pm

If you've been saddened and angered by the images and stories coming out of Burma in recent days--of monks, nuns and laypeople peacefully marching for freedom and being shot down, arrested, tortured and disappeared by the military regime--please join us for a Meditation for Peace and Democracy in Burma today, Thursday, October 4, at 5 pm the Burmese Embassy (2300 S Street, NW, near Dupont Circle).

There will also be a large rally this Saturday at the Burmese Embassy, beginning at noon, and marching to the Chinese and Indian embassies. Please join us and spread the word.