September, The Time of Harvest 

 

Recently, I visited my Aunt Catherine’s home place.  Her home and farm were across the road from where I grew up.  My first cousin walked us through the home (“big house”) that was built the year before he was born.  He is 87 and was born in that home.  He is in the process of renovating the big house and wanted to “brag” to my sister and I about his accomplishments.  He’s very proud of his work and should be. 

When we walked in the door, the memories came flooding in and continued as we entered each space, each room.  And while I’m writing this, I am still shaking my head in disbelief as to just how small the rooms are now.  It was the “big house,” the biggest on the farm.  And yet, it has become so much smaller than I remember when I was a little girl visiting Aunt Catherine and Grandmother Ritchie.  When I spent time there, I learned so many lessons, big lessons like how to fish, put a worm on the hook, gather eggs, cut the grass, pick blackberries and avoid getting stung, make a wool suit (jacket and all), tool leather, and I had the amazing experience of drinking my first chocolate milkshake.  This list is brief…they taught me so much more. 

Being in a family of farmers and experiencing those opportunities was an extraordinary gift that continues to give.  Each season brings these gifts to mind.  It’s September and the transition begins as we close summer and evolve into fall. It’s the time of harvest and a time of reflection of all that has been accomplished.  I invite you to pause and consider a time, person, place when you learned something new or a lesson that is still a cornerstone for who you are, and to spend a moment in gratitude for what you were taught.  Each lesson is a facet that glows in the radiance of who you are and who you are continuing to become.  You are exquisite.

Now

 

Now is all we have.

We can plan, make decisions, rush ahead in our mind

So fast it all is a blur.

Or

Be here

Still, for a moment

And watch the snow in the glass globe settle.

Watch the thoughts and words drift away.

Stay here in now... for a little while.

In Between

     

In between . . . 

             Christmas and New Year's

    items on your to do list

    day and night

    poses on the mat.

In between, a pause is available.  

What do you do in between?

Within this moment, you can be as long as you desire.  

A moment when you become one with the pause.

Capture the stillness.  Notice. . . behind the stillness is balance.  Balance is where equanimity  resides.

So in this time between the holidays, I am reminded to pause and embrace the equanimity that is available.  

So pause.  Be still.  Be present for this moment.  Take it in and absorb all that is available for you.  

Be in between, before going to the next.

What are you practicing...on and off the mat?

What are you practicing in your body?
How are you holding your body?
Are you clinging or letting go?

What are you practicing in your breath?
How are you breathing?
Where do you feel yourself breathing?

What are you practicing in your thoughts these days?
Are they caring thoughts filled with compassion and
Butterfly wings fluttering through your mind?

What are you practicing in your thinking this moment?
Is it necessary to think this right now?
Is it true?
Is it kind?
Does it serve you?
Are you thinking too much?  Too fast?

What are practicing in your wisdom mind?
Are you dwelling here enough and
Discovering the abundance of wisdom within you?

What are you practicing in your way of being these days?
Are you rushing from place to place or thing to thing?
Are you cutting people off?
Are you generous and allow others to go before you?
Do you share and freely offer your portion of what's given?

What are you practicing in your spiritual self; in the space where
Your true essence dwells?
Can you linger here awhile?
Feel the auspicious essence of you.
The essence of starlight and all that is exquisite;
Grace, Love, Bliss.
Be here, in this space.  Practice.
Practice seeing You in you.

2018

Journal Entry, 1/1/2018

I avoided this all day.  "This" is taking time to pause, mediate and journal.  I avoided it… doing everything but sitting and then writing.  Avoided beginning again.  Avoided by cleaning the kitty litter, putting away Christmas decorations, watering plants, cleaning, and writing checks for paying bills.  This last one required that I write my first 2018. 

However, the first writing of 2018 was on a check and not in my journal.  And this helped me to get on my mat…to pause, to meditate and to write.  The writing of the new year makes it real.

2018.  There are lots of curves and rounded lines with no angles.  Maybe this portends a smooth ride for this year with a chance to see ahead since there are no corners.  Yet, there are loops and circles to navigate where you begin and return to where you started, allowing second chances and a third, if needed.  There is one single line to remind us of the oneness of it all.  And, infinity is there as well, so we remember that we are boundless…we are limitless.

2018.  I’m excited about all the possibilities, the infinite options that are available to each of us.  We have this breath and each breath to connect and allow the unveiling of within.  And the within is endless.  Explore You in 2018.

Walking On Glass

Watching the praying mantis walk across the window; she on the outside, I’m on the inside; I had a perspective unique to more typical points of view.  She seemed unaware I was so close and yet, she seemed to look right at me.  She seemed to see me, too.  Her delicate steps and swaying movements to counter the wind blowing against her fragile body were remarkable to witness.  Perfect balance.  She glided along as if skating so high above the earth. 

I remember years ago walking on the Skywalk, a glass walkway 4,000 feet above the Grand Canyon.  At first, walking alone in the middle. Then quickly recognizing my uncertainty and need to hold onto the rail.  Stepping so very carefully with great care.  We wore cloth slippers over our shoes so not to scratch the glass walkway.  This added to the feeling of vulnerability and desire for secure footing.

Our life experiences and the unexpected surfaces upon which we find ourselves may sometimes feel as if we’re walking on glass.  We know we need to tread carefully while we renew our balance and sure footing.  So how?  What allows for strength to emerge when all seems so breakable? 

Watching the praying mantis, I witnessed her strength at holding on.  She moved slowly, yet she was persistent in her efforts.  She adjusted to the pressures of wind as she stepped precisely and accurately. 

As I ventured along the Skywalk and holding onto the rail, I realized the unsteadiness in my legs and feet matched my uneasy breath.  I paused…waited for my breath to still and calm, and then legs and feet to steady.  Then I moved on.   

What allows for strength when all seems so breakable?  For me, breath is key.  With breath, the steadiness returns.  With breath, uncertainty transforms into knowing.  Vulnerability lessens as confidence emerges with each breath and each step forward.   Move with breath... allow the breath to bring clarity and strength as you walk each path… glass or otherwise.

No Shoulds

Should I?  It should be this way.  I shouldn’t do that. 

The psychologist, Albert Ellis, suggested to his clients, “Don’t should on yourself or others.”

The inner chatter and ongoing conversations within are filled with shoulds about the past, present and future.  We create the story about how things were, how things are supposed to be, and how things are going to be.  Expectations of the way things should have been and should be are layered over past, present, and future experiences. 

Yoga dissolves the mental chatter and ruminations.  Yoga teachings in Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutras 1:1 – 1:4 reveal that with humility and practice, we calm the chatter within and join the stillness of the present moment.  We unite breath and movement, we connect our mind and heart, and we yoke awareness to this moment.  We discover and remember who we are and what is true for now.  Stillness and Grace emerge and we know all is right. 

That’s another reason I practice yoga.