The Observer Effect

In 1909, Geoffrey Ingram Taylor, a British physicist, devised the famous Double Slit Experiment and began a revolution in the way we view ourselves in the universe. The bottom line of his experiment was that the mere presence of consciousness in a room- people- affected the way the quantum particles (the stuff the world is made of) behaved.

On February 26, 1998, Taylor's experiment was repeated by scientists at Israel's Weismann Institute of Science. Not only did they confirm that our world is affected just by observation, but they discovered that "the greater the amount of 'watching', the greater the observer's influence on what actually take place."

The most important advice I can give to a Yogi on the mat and in life is to pay attention.

Class Schedule Change Announcement

As some of you may know Padma is in Canada getting her 500 hour Yoga certification so her Friday 9:05 am class is postponed through August 5. She will be back teaching on Friday August 12.
thanks!!

The Appropriate Use of Power: The Pentagon Papers

Dr. Daniel Ellsberg was a top US military analyst in the 1960s working under then Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Because of his very high security clearance, he had access to a top secret Pentagon study on the Vietnam War. After reading the study, it became clear that the government had lied and was currently lying to both Congress and the US public about the circumstances that led to the start of the war and the longterm goals for that war. There was also a high level coverup regarding the reporting of the number of casualties on both sides and the updates on US progress were deliberately misleading. Dr. Ellsberg was at the peak of his career but risked everything, even life in jail, to make copies of the report and send it to members of the Congress and several leading newspapers. Then President Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called Ellsberg the most dangerous man in the US and recordings of White House tapes show that Nixon was livid with Ellsberg and was out for serious revenge. Ellsberg was tried for treason, but was set free with a mistrial verdict because the Nixon government was found to be guilty of illegal breakins and wiretapping throughout the case. (This apparently set the standard for the Nixon administration's future ethics.)

I love a story where one ordinary person understands their power and in doing so changes the world. The very, very sad part of this story is that even when the Pentagon Papers were published for the whole world to see, President Nixon was reelected by a landslide and the Vietnam War raged on for another 5 years.

Earth element energy is about finding your personal power. Earth energy is the slow, patient strength of a dandelion pushing its way up through a sidewalk to reach the sun. It is a sustainable strength that is in it for the long haul and is integrated into daily life. The Earth represents power that is grounded. When we see wrongdoing, it is Earth element that gives us the strength to speak up and take righteous action, no matter what the consequences.