OBSTACLE 8

Karma Yoga gives us nine obstacles to overcome, so that we might have in our lives, vitality, happiness and peace. The first is ill health. The second is boredom. The third is self-doubt. The fourth is distractions and carelessness. The fifth is feeling heavy and burnt-out. The sixth is having cravings and desires. The seventh is doubting one’s progress. The eighth obstacle is getting caught in the illusion of life. It means to have a false impression of life as being a certain way, a false sense of security and a false sense of importance. Everything in the world is real. It is all here for our growth and evolution, but we forget and believe that acquiring things of the world is why we are here. The material world is not what defines us. It is what we do with the material world and how we let it, or let it not build character, values and virtues. The only thing that is permanent is what you cultivate within. Money, health, happiness possessions and relationships, come and go, but the virtues you build within last lifetimes. The world is real – how we perceive the world is the illusion. So, work to develop virtues within. Know the world is real and then use it as a great opportunity to build a balanced, strong, flexible and peaceful character and you will overcome the obstacle of illusion. Takes work to separate yourself and see the world for what it is– an opportunity - that’s karma let’s get to work. END: Know the world for what it is. Everything in it is real and ever changing. Nothing in life is permanent except that which you cultivate, hold onto, and feed within. Wealth, material things, world peace, technology are all constantly changing. It is up to us to see the world as a great opportunity to make both our lives and the world at large a better place. When you can do this, you overcome the obstacle of illusion. EGO: Flip your palm up and extend the index finger – the symbol of the ego. The ego is the part of us that identifies with the world. The maya, or the illusion is in the mind. The mind gets scattered and cluttered with citta (mind stuff). This drags us into believing the illusion - to have a false impression of life as being a certain way, a false sense of security and a false sense of importance. Pull your finger in and place the thumb on top. Surrender to your soul. The whole point of life is to bring together in perfect harmony the material world and the soulful world. We are here to work the mission of the soul, which basically is to overcome the four great passions and the nine obstacles, and then find peace. The world is not an illusion. It is real and it is here for us to experience and gain knowledge of our true being. Truth is not something we can intellectualize. It must be live, experienced and understood. The truth is the world is not an illusion. The illusion is in our perceptions. Overcoming this and all of the nine obstacles will bring prosperity to your life. Namaste~ may you walk the path of life with health, happiness and peace. Doctor Lynn For books, classes, course and private consultations http://www.doctorlynn.com

OBSTACLE 7

Karma Yoga gives us nine obstacles to overcome, so that we might have in our lives, vitality, happiness and peace. The first is ill health. The second is boredom. The third is self-doubt. The fourth is distractions and carelessness. The fifth is feeling heavy and burnt-out. The sixth is having cravings and desires. The seventh is doubting one’s progress. This means to question, or compare our lives to others. Here we might question whether someone is more successful, smarter, or more soulfully evolved; have they made more progress in life than we have? We live in a world where it can appear that others are more successful and moving down life’s path at a faster pace. We doubt our progress. Have you ever questions where you are, or what you are doing with your life and wondered if you were on the right path? This is a biproduct of the obstacle of self-doubt. When you doubt yourself, you doubt the progress you’ve made. Karma however teaches us that we are all on our own individual paths and the markers of the material world are not an indicator of how far we have progressed soulfully. The soul is here to turn deceit, greed, anger and pride into truth, generosity, kindness and humility. Awareness of this and taking this direction puts you farther down the path than someone who is ignorant, or unaware of what progress really means. This does not mean that you cannot be wealthy and powerful. Its’ what you do with your energy that is the true marker of progress. Regardless of where you are if you are honest, generous, kind and humble you are making progress in life. Takes work – that’s karma - Let’s get started. END: Everyone faces doubt in varying intensities—from a subtle whisper to a loud emotional shout. Doubt however, can remind us to go back to our most basic truth—love. Where there is true love, there is no doubt. Doubt can teach us a thing or two about ourselves and the world. We have an opportunity to see where we lack trust and, as such, can make a different choice. When we become aware of doubt, we connect to a deeper part of our being—a place of stillness and peace. Here we connect with the soul or our essence and it is here that we truly discover our progress along life’ path. Trust and love yourself, be honest, generous, kind and humble and you will make tremendous progress in life. EGO: Flip your palms up and extend the index fingers – the symbol of the ego. Doubt at its core is a fearful emotion. It is the ego shouting at us to take charge, as it fears not being accepted or being rejected, and not being loved. It doubts its own self-worth and questions its progress. Pull your index finger in and place your thumb on top the symbol of the soul. When we surrender to the essence of our being, our soul, we discover that each path is unique. Comparison and competition do not fit into the soul’s mission. The soul is here to help us quiet the mind and to see the world for what it really is- an opportunity to discover trust in ourselves, generosity, kindness and humility, and when we discover this we have no need to doubt ourselves, or our progress. Namaste~ may you walk the path of life with healthy happiness and peace. Doctor Lynn For books, classes and consultations: http://www.doctorlynn.com

OBSTACLE 6

Karma Yoga gives us nine obstacles to overcome, so that we might have in our lives, vitality, happiness and peace. The first is ill health. The second is boredom. The third is self-doubt. The fourth is distractions and carelessness. The fifth is feeling heavy and burnt-out. The sixth is having cravings and desires. To begin with there is nothing wrong with having desires. We are hardwired to seek pleasure. Without this we could not survive. We all desire to live a better and healthier life. But when desires become obsessive and lead to cravings that distract us from our karmic work, they become an obstacle in the way to living a successful life, which means to have health, happiness and peace; body, mind and soul. When we have cravings and desires, they bind us and drive us to satisfy them. Once satisfied we become somewhat peaceful until the next craving, or desire arises. This keeps us in the perpetual cycle of discontentment. Karma teaches us to work on disciplining the subconscious mind so we might draw into it the thoughts found in the conscious mind. Here we are able to produce genuine contentment and peace. How? Quiet the mind and observe. The whole point of karma is to learn to be content and at peace with what comes into your life and what goes out of your life; while observing and learning life’s lessons. When you have genuine happiness that is not attached to anything you control cravings and desires, and this allows you to control your life. Nothing in the world binds you. Yoga reminds us control the citta in your mind and you control everything. Let’s get started… END: Desires and cravings distract us from doing our karmic work which is to learn to be content and at peace with what comes into your life and what goes out of your life; while observing and learning life’s lessons. Be content with who you are; body, mind and soul. Contentment is an inner peace independent of any external force. It means to be independently happy and satisfied no matter what enters, or exits your life. When content you are at peace with yourself. When at peace with yourself and the world it’s easy to find satisfaction. EGO: Flip your hands up and extend out your index finger the symbol of your ego. The ego wants acceptance and importance. It sees those who have powerful titles and expensive cars and house as more important than it and so it craves these things. It believes that these things symbolize acceptance, happiness and success. And although power and wealth can make it appear that one’s life is more important and easier in the end, we take none of this with us. Pull your index finger in and place your thumb on top- surrender to your soul. When you have true contentment and happiness within you have connected with your soul. Here it matters not what comes into your life or what leaves your life. The soul finds joy in experiencing all of life for it knows that if you can be content and at peace with your life, as it is, you will find the joy that comes living a satisfying and successful life. Namaste~ may you walk the path of life with health, happiness and peace Doctor Lynn For more classes, books and consultations http://www.doctorlynn.com

OBSTACLE 5

Karma Yoga gives us nine obstacles to overcome, so that we might have in our lives, vitality, happiness and peace. The first is ill health. The second is boredom. The third is self-doubt. None of these leads to happiness, fulfillment and success. The fourth is distractions and carelessness. When we are distracted, we are often careless and both of these leads to mistakes, injuries and poor judgement. The fifth is feeling heavy and burnt-out. We all have these feelings of exhaustion, stress and overload from time to time so karma reminds us to pay attention to these feelings; slow down, bring some balanced peace and tranquility back into your life so you can avoid the obstacle of becoming burnt-out. It’s hard to be energetic, enthusiastic, happy and focused when faced with obstacle of feeling heavy and exhausted. So, lets’ take some time and work on being present, balanced, tranquil and peaceful. END: the basis of life is energy and it is what we do with our energy that determines whether we survive or perish. To overcome heaviness and becoming burnt-out we need to balance our energy body, mind and soul and that means to find harmony. It is so easy to get caught up in the dramas and stressors of life and let them lead us to exhaustion. But the irony of life is that for all our outward strivings and all the dramas, in the end, the sum total always adds up to zero. We take none of the dramas, problems and stressors with us when we depart this world. What we do take is the compassion, understanding and ability to observe and let go, remembering that life is all about experiences and how we use our energy in each of these experiences determines whether we live a life of harmony, or one strife with the heaviness and dramas that lead to becoming burnt-out-out. Being burnt-out is truly an obstacle when it comes to being healthy and finding, peace, and harmony. Let go, observe and find harmony. EGO: Flip your palms up and extend out your index finger; the symbol of your ego. The ego is constantly striving to excel, to be important and to consume. It wants acceptance and love. All of this comes from the citta, or the perceptions we hold in our mind. Pull your finger in and place your thumb on top and take a moment to surrender to your soul. Take a deep breath – let it go. The soul sits back and watches the basic mind, the ego, or the “I” with its feelings of wanting to be important and being right. Once you begin to control the “I” and see it for what it really is; desire, cravings, distractions, worry and self-doubt you can begin to take control over your thoughts knowing you can change them as you will; you are not bound by the dictates of the outside world. There is nothing wrong with the world. It is there for you to use it. You can make it a peaceful harmonious place, or a heavy, dramatic and exhausting place, depending upon your approach. If you can control your mind, you can control your energy and when you control and direct your energy you can create a world of harmony and balance – that is the antidote to being heavy and burnt-out; a obstacle worth overcoming. Namaste~ may you walk the path of life with health, happiness and peace Doctor Lynn For more classes, books and private consultations http://www.doctorlynn.com