Class Theme: The Currency of the Heart

Mantra: “May my heart grow richer than my pockets.”

Opening Reflection

“Life is strange. You arrive with nothing, spend your whole life chasing everything, and still leave with nothing. Make sure your heart gains more than your pockets.”

Tonight, we explore what it truly means to live richly. The Buddha taught that craving and attachment are the roots of suffering. We spend so much of life accumulating—things, titles, approval—yet real abundance lies in how we love, how we serve, and how deeply we are present.

As we move tonight, let each breath be a gentle reminder that the greatest wealth is already within you: your peace, your compassion, your ability to love.

Topic 1 – Navigating Life’s Pressures

Metaphor: The Pressure Cooker

When life heats up, we often want to release the steam by reacting. But like a pressure cooker, when used with awareness, that same heat can transform raw ingredients into something nourishing.

Reflection:
Life’s pressures aren’t meant to break us; they refine us. Each mindful breath becomes a release valve. When we stop reacting and begin responding, transformation unfolds naturally.

Quotes:

“You are the sky. Everything else—it’s just the weather.” – Pema Chödrön

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“This too shall pass.” – Buddhist Proverb

Topic 2 – The Light You Tend

Metaphor: The Lantern in the Storm

A lantern cannot illuminate the path if its keeper neglects the flame.

Reflection:
Self-care is not indulgence—it’s maintenance of your light. The more we tend our own flame, the more we can guide others through their darkness. When we practice yoga, it is not to perfect the pose but to polish the lantern of our heart so it shines clearer.

Quotes:

“Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you.” – Katie Reed

“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” – Jean Shinoda Bolen

“To keep the body in good health is a duty, otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” – Buddha

Topic 3 – Unmasking the Gift Within the Challenge

Metaphor: The Locked Door

Obstacles are locked doors, but every challenge carries its own key—hidden in patience, humility, or surrender.

Reflection:
In Buddhism, it is said, “The obstacle is the path.” What seems to block our way often becomes our greatest teacher. Sometimes the universe closes a door, not to punish us, but to guide us toward where we are meant to grow. The lock is not denial, but preparation.

Quotes:

“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill

“What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.” – Tim Ferriss

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius

Topic 4 – The Wealth of Needing Less

Metaphor: The Empty Bowl

In Zen, the empty bowl represents humility and infinite possibility. It’s not the full bowl that nourishes us most, but the one with space left inside.

Reflection:
True wealth is not about having more—it’s about needing less. The Buddha taught that desire fuels suffering, and contentment ends it. When we release our grip on wanting, we rediscover the quiet joy that was waiting underneath.

Tonight, breathe into simplicity. Empty your inner bowl of comparison, clutter, and grasping. In that space, there is peace, and in that peace, true abundance.

Quotes:

“Contentment is the greatest wealth.” – Buddha

“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” – Socrates

“Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.” – Rabbi Hyman Schachtel

“The more you know yourself, the less you need.” – Eckhart Tolle

Topic 5 – When Possessions Begin to Own Us

Metaphor: The Golden Cage

A golden cage still keeps the bird from flying.

Reflection:
Possessions are cunning. At first, we believe we own them, but if we’re not careful, they begin to own us—our time, our thoughts, our peace. We start serving the things that were meant to serve us.

Yoga reminds us to practice aparigraha, non-attachment. Use what you have, love what you use, and let it go when it’s time. The lighter your heart, the freer your spirit.

Quotes:

“It is not the man who has too little, but the man who craves more, that is poor.” – Seneca

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

“The things you own end up owning you.” – Chuck Palahniuk

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci

Closing Reflection

As we rest in stillness, remember that everything you accumulate in life—possessions, achievements, titles—will one day be left behind. But the kindness you’ve shown, the compassion you’ve cultivated, the peace you’ve shared—those ripple endlessly.

The Native Americans remind us that we will be remembered not by what we owned, but by the trails we leave behind for others to follow. So walk gently, love deeply, and leave paths that lead to light, kindness, and great adventure.

When you leave this world, may your heart be full, your spirit light, and your legacy one of love.