Warm Dharma Flow Yoga
Theme: The Big Fish

Mantra
I stop chasing.
I start noticing.

Opening Story

When I was a boy, my grandfather used to take me fishing along a canal in the Everglades.

We fished with long cane poles.

Like most kids, I couldn’t sit still.

I’d move.

Recast.

Change spots.

Fidget.

Every few minutes I’d say, “There’s no fish here.”

And every time, he would smile and say softly,

“You’re never going to catch a big fish if you don’t stop moving.”

At the time, I thought he was talking about fishing.

Now I realize he was talking about life.

Sometimes we move too quickly.

We force.

We chase.

We keep looking for the next thing.

And in all that movement, we miss what is already trying to find us.

Rumi said, “What you seek is seeking you.”

But that only works when we stop chasing and start becoming available.

Tonight’s practice is about patience, presence, and the quiet trust that what you are looking for is already moving toward you.

Topic 1 — Stop Chasing, Start Noticing

Short Talk

Many of us spend our lives chasing.

Chasing answers.

Chasing approval.

Chasing happiness.

Chasing the next better thing.

But the more we chase, the more restless we become.

Buddhist teachings remind us that much of our suffering comes not from what we lack, but from our constant grasping.

Yoga teaches us to notice instead of chase.

Notice the breath.

Notice the body.

Notice the moment.

Peace does not arrive because we caught it.

Peace arrives because we finally stopped scaring it away.

Call to Action

Tonight, notice where you are chasing. Then soften, breathe, and become available.

Metaphor — The Canal Bank

In that canal, the fish may have been there the whole time.

But my movement, my fidgeting, my impatience — it disturbed the conditions.

Life can be like that.

Peace may already be near.

Clarity may already be forming.

The answer may already be rising.

We only need to stop long enough to receive it.

Quotes

“You only lose what you cling to.” — Buddha

“To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders.” — Lao Tzu

“Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.” — Pema Chodron

“Suffering usually relates to wanting things to be different than they are.” — Allan Lokos

“The goal of yoga and meditation is not to control your thoughts, but to stop them from controlling you.”

Topic 2 — Patience Is Not Doing Nothing

Short Talk

Patience is often misunderstood.

We think patience means doing nothing.

But real patience is active.

It is staying present.

It is preparing.

It is listening.

It is trusting the timing of life.

A fisherman is not doing nothing while he waits.

He is watching the line.

Feeling the pole.

Reading the water.

Remaining ready.

Meditation is much the same.

We are not escaping life.

We are becoming quiet enough to meet it wisely.

Call to Action

This week, practice one moment of patient attention instead of rushing to the next thing.

Metaphor — The Photographer Waiting For Light

A photographer cannot force the sunrise.

They can arrive early.

Set up the camera.

Choose the angle.

Wait with full attention.

And when the light appears, they are ready.

Patience does not mean passive.

Patience means prepared.

Quotes

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” — Lao Tzu

“Patience brings roses.” — Czech Proverb

“Start by doing what’s necessary; then what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” — Francis of Assisi

“If you are facing in the right direction, all you need to do is keep on walking.” — Buddha

“One conscious breath in and out is a meditation.” — Eckhart Tolle

Topic 3 — Worry Disturbs The Water

Short Talk

There is a saying I love:

“Worrying is the worst use of our imagination.”

Worry does not clarify. It obscures.

When we overthink, replay fears, and fight against what is, we cloud our own perception.

The answers seem to disappear.

The clarity seems to disappear.

The peace seems to disappear.

But they have not gone anywhere.

We just can no longer see them.

Meditation does not create peace.

It removes what was blocking it.

Call to Action

Tonight, when worry appears, ask yourself:

“Am I solving something, or am I just shaking the globe?”

Metaphor — The Snow Globe

Think about one of those snow globes.

You shake it, and the inside becomes a storm.

The little scene disappears completely.

Now simply set it down.

Without any effort, without forcing anything, the snow begins to settle.

The trees reappear. The house. The detail.

Everything was there the whole time.

Nothing was created. Nothing was destroyed.

The mind works the same way.

When we worry, replay fears, and fight against what is, we shake ourselves.

Meditation is simply the act of setting ourselves down and allowing everything to settle.

The clarity was never gone.

We just forgot how to be still.

Quotes

“If the problem can be solved, why worry? If the problem cannot be solved, worrying will do you no good.” — Buddha

“A quiet mind can hear intuition over fear.”

“Grant yourself a moment of peace, and you will understand how foolishly you have scurried about.” — Ancient Chinese Proverb

“We cannot see our reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.” — Taoist Proverb

“Meditation is to be aware of what is going on.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

Topic 4 — What You Seek Is Seeking You

Short Talk

Rumi said, “What you seek is seeking you.”

But that does not mean we sit back and wait for life to magically happen.

It means we stop forcing and start becoming available.

We create the conditions for what we seek.

If we want peace, we practice peace.

If we want love, we practice openness.

If we want clarity, we create stillness.

The things we want most often arrive when we stop chasing them.

Call to Action

Ask yourself:

“Am I chasing what I want, or am I creating the conditions for it to arrive?”

Metaphor — The Puppy

Have you ever noticed what happens when you try to get a puppy to come to you?

The more excited you become, the more they run away.

You call louder.

You move faster.

You chase.

And suddenly it becomes a game.

But when you sit quietly and stop chasing, something interesting happens.

The puppy wanders over on its own and curls up beside you.

Peace can be like that.

The harder we chase it, the farther away it seems.

The moment we become still, it often finds us.

Quotes

“Allow the waters to settle and you will see the moon and the stars mirrored in your own being.” — Rumi

“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.” — Carl Jung

“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.” — Carl Jung

“Quiet the mind, and the soul will speak.” — Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati

“Silence isn’t empty, it is full of answers.”

Topic 5 — The Big Fish Is Peace

Short Talk

Maybe the big fish is not success.

Not certainty.

Not approval.

Not getting everything exactly the way we want.

Maybe the big fish is peace.

The peace that comes when we stop running from this moment.

The peace that comes when we stop needing every answer today.

The peace that comes when we stop disturbing our own mind.

My grandfather’s lesson was simple:

Stop moving long enough for life to reveal itself.

Yoga teaches the same thing.

Stop chasing.

Start noticing.

Let the breath bring you home.

Call to Action

Before the holiday tomorrow, take one quiet moment — no phone, no news, no rushing.

Just breathe.

And let yourself be exactly where you are.

Metaphor — Remembering A Name

Have you ever tried hard to remember someone’s name?

You know you know it.

The harder you think, the more frustrated you become.

Then later, while driving, walking, or doing something completely unrelated, it simply appears.

The answer was there all along.

Your mind just needed space.

Some answers arrive the same way.

Not through force.

Through stillness.

Quotes

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust

“Being mindful means taking in the present moment as it is rather than as we would like it to be.” — Mark Williams

“Now is the future that you promised yourself last year.” — Mark Williams

“You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.” — Pema Chodron

“When you own your breath, no one can steal your peace.”

Savasana

As you rest here, let the body become quiet.

Nothing to chase.

Nothing to force.

Nothing to prove.

Feel the breath moving in and out.

Simple.

Steady.

Enough.

My grandfather thought he was teaching me how to fish.

What he was really teaching me was how to wait.

How to trust.

How to be present.

How to stop chasing every ripple on the surface and let life unfold.

Maybe what you are seeking is already moving toward you.

Maybe clarity is forming beneath the surface.

Maybe peace is closer than you think.

Let the mind settle.

Let the body soften.

Let the breath remind you:

You do not have to chase every answer.

Sometimes when you stop chasing, everything finds you.

Closing Mantra

I stop chasing.
I start noticing.