Danielle Hougard

To be in the moment, with an open heart and mind, expressing and enjoying my self fully- this is my intention.  I am a student and teacher of Anusara Yoga and the first principle of the universal principles of alignment is to open to the divine as it lives in our heart, our mind, our body, -to honor the life force that gives us the power to be this unique expression.  We set an intention to help us align with our hearts desire and the asana practice becomes the tool for the body to open, the mind to still, and the self to be born, fresh, every moment.  The pose is the art, the expression, the celebration.

My experience of Miksang  is this similar universal concept of aligning with  the divine, the divine being- what is all around us.  By opening our eye and aligning it with the heart, we truly see what is there and intimately show through our photos, what is here, inside us.  In miksang, it is the exercises that prepare us and create the discipline from which the eye and heart can align leaving the mind still.  The intention,  a grounding force in the exercises,  allows the seeing to come more freely from what is, rather than a projection of what we want or what should be.

Being in the moment is not creating the moment but recognizing the completeness  of the authentic self and enjoying meeting it anew with an element of surprise.  The camera is the tool, like the body in yoga, that with a simple understanding of how to use it, can help express the art, the heart, the quality of the person in the moment.  I am grateful to my teachers John Friend and Michael Wood for helping me to see myself and love all that I see.

Danielle Hougard
December, 2006

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