C.M. Rivers

"The point of being an artist is that you may live." ~ Sherwood Anderson

  • The Illusion of Separation

    Ubuntu is an ancient South African term meaning “connectedness to others”.  It points to the human virtues of humanity and compassion. Yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning “union”, “connection”, or “to join”. Between all the reading I’ve been doing and my recent journey into yoga teacher training, I have noticed an idea that comes up… Continue reading

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  • Siddhartha Considers Emotion

    “He pondered this feeling which completely filled him as he slowly made his way.  He pondered deeply, sinking down into the depths of this feeling, as through deep water, until he reached the point where the causes lie.  For to know the causes – so it seemed to him – that is what thinking is. … Continue reading

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  • Weather Report

    To better understand nature you need to spend some time in it alone, observing.  The more you do this, the more quietly aware you’ll become of what is happening there – the order, science, art, survival. The same applies to one’s body and mind, habits, tendencies, perpetual states, thoughts that come and go, emotions that change and pass.  The solid and fluid.  The… Continue reading

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  • Tree

    The next time a storm comes, set your eyes upon a tree.  The branches toss and turn, flail and bend – and wisely so, for what happens to things that don’t bend? But then, beneath the boughs and limbs, the trunk.  And beneath that pillar of power and stability, the roots – firmly fixed to the earth.   Continue reading

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  • Darren Main on the Source

    “If you’re able to keep returning to your focus point (in meditation), you can move still deeper into the mind and experience the true Self, because underneath these three basic levels of consciousness (conscious mind, semi-conscious mind, unconscious mind) there is a fourth.  For simplicity, I’ll refer to it as the source.  It’s important to… Continue reading

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  • Quote from Iyengar

    “Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured, and endure what cannot be cured.” B.K.S. Iyengar Continue reading

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  • Say Yes

    Originally posted on C.M. Rivers: Say yes to storms, stillness, success, failure, silence, noise. Yes to high winds, bitter cold, sweltering heat, crushing loneliness, joyful connection, isolation, liberation. Yes to the broken and the unbreakable.  Yes to the shaken and the unshakeable. Say yes to danger, safety, pain, pleasure, exhaustion, energy.  Yes to the suffering you’ve known… Continue reading

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  • Light My Way

    Originally posted on C.M. Rivers: May my heart light my way.  May it come into a place not unlike the narrow line that exists between water and fire, a pocket of stillness where both forces are within reach.  Then I could learn their ways, how to call on them, how to let them enter me,… Continue reading

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  • Quote by Matt Licata

    Enter deeply into your neurosis, your anxiety, your panic, your confusion, your suffering, and your fear – get to know it’s textures, qualities and fragrances, and allow it to take you into the secret chamber buried inside your own body.  For within the mandala of tender ripe aliveness there are jewels beyond the mind.  –… Continue reading

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  • Quote from Darren Main

    “As a modern yogi, the key to finding peace through yoga is to keep coming back to the practice.  It doesn’t matter how often we get distracted by the ego, or for how long we play the ego’s game.  The only thing that matters is that we return.  Eventually the pain of living under the… Continue reading