The notes below are designed to give prospective readers an idea of what to expect from the book, and to aid in making a decision on whether to buy it.
Journey Into Power, Baron Baptiste
General Notes
True faith: Letting go of effort and trusting. Melting into new reality.
Unlearning: Believing heart and not social conventions.
Breathe and detoxify.
Un-attachment gives you inner peace.
Gratitude.
Engage abs and more.
Planting seeds for a season not just a day.
80% of yoga from psychology, 20% from body.
Surrender not difficult when we see that what is within us is already perfect.
What you focus on you create.
Stop trying to fix yourself and just be yourself.
Live your life authentically and try not to react to everything.
Yoga is a lab for the ultimate awakening. Your edge. 90% of thoughts are recurring, 10% are new.
Smile to yourself. Laugh inside.
Strain is trying too hard. Your ego is in with too much ambition creating imbalance. Where can I struggle less and let go more?
Alignment start with the base. No struggle in neural alignment. Line up energy patterns.
Use every part of your body but don’t overuse any of it.
Never snap-release out of a pose. This causes injury.
Pillars of yoga
Breath. Ujjayi: soothing, rhythmic, oceanic quality.
Heat. Sweat to remove toxins.
Flow. Absence of resistance. Mediation in motion.
Drishti: gaze. Fuse your eyes on one point to slow the mind. Let eyes be soft and tender. Balance comes from a calm, non-reactive mind.
Uddiyaaa: core stabilization.
8 principles for setting up the edge
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We are either here now or nowhere. All life occurs in the present. Your breath anchors you.
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Be in the now and you will know how.
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Growth is the most important thing there is. Grow or die. Anger does not help.
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Exceed yourself. Find yourself. If you do what you’ve always done you will get the same results. Surrender!
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In order to heal you need to feel. Backbends fear of past, hips are storage houses. Chest opens, floods you with sorrow or joy.
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Think less, be more. Bumblebee should not be able to fly but they just do. Take your brain out of it. Cultivate ‘let go’ muscle.
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We are the sum total of our reactions.
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Don’t try hard, try easy. Hard has stain and struggles. Willpower comes from your intellect, but soul-power comes from the infinite universe. Relax, breathe, and surrender. Take your poses seriously but take yourself lightly.
Sequencing
Integration: Presence
Sun Salutation: Awakening
Warrior Series: Vitality
Balance Series: Equanimity
Triangle Series: Grounding
Abdominal Series: Stability
Inversion: Rejuvenation
Hip Series: Opening
Forward Bending: Realization
Surrender to Gravity: Deep Rest
Frequent mistakes
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Believing your doubts. We are like clay; we can reshape ourselves and transform into things.
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Despising the days of small beginnings. It’s a blessing to be an infant with an open mind.
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Embrace tradition over intuition. Teaching is problematic when we prescribe that there is only one way to do things. Your intuition is ALWAYS right. Always.
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Not recognizing that the price is the process. Does not matter how far you get into a posture but does matter that you use the posture to explore your mind.
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Falling into the trap of comparisons. This is not a competition. Appreciate where you are and be secure in yourself.
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Not seeing that less is more. You may gain more by backing off. Inner peace is the only goal.