My Silver Yoga Anniversary
[gallery ids="7022,7175,7202" type="rectangular"]Last week, on February 1, during a chakra breathing session up the hill, tears of gratitude came to my eyes as I realized that it was twenty-five years to the day since I first encountered yoga.I've told this story many times so won't dredge up the specifics here. Suffice to say I was in the seventh grade and discovered the treasure of hatha yoga in a paperback book. I remember the date was February 1, since the book had a 28-day program to follow and February conveniently had 28 days that year (1993). I've been hooked ever since and bow with the utmost gratitude and respect to the countless generations of yoga teachers who've passed down the dharma teachings which have enabled me and so many to evolve into better, more flexible, strong, balanced, sane, happy and kind people.Life has been exceptionally intense and challenging thus far in 2018, and we're only just getting started. The flip side of this intensity can be rewarding gratification for being able to handle our ever-evolving, moment-to-moment experiences with grace and patience and/or buckling under the pressure and spinning out into emotional meltdowns.
The practice of yoga, specifically asana (poses), pranayama (conscious breathing) and dhyana (meditation) empowers me to invite in more grace, patience, presence, and compassion instead of desperately turning to addictive substances and behavior patterns in an attempt to escape (not to say this hasn't happened in recent history).
"We all love our own melodramas. We each have one. Everybody thinks they're somebody doing something, or somebody thinking something, or somebody wanting something: "I've gotta have sex tonight or I'll die." "I'm so lonely!" "I can't meditate!" "I'm so high!" We all get so involved in our melodramas, so busy thinking we're the actors, so busy thinking we're doing it all - and it's really all just this lawful stuff running off. How funny!But in order to see that, in order to begin to appreciate the lawfulness of the unfolding, we need to develop a little perspective. It can be a nice meditation to take a seed, and put it in a bit of earth. Put it on a kitchen window sill, and watch it grow into a plant, into a flower. Just observe it everyday. Use that as your daily meditation exercise; see the way the whole process unfolds." ~ Ram Dass
Intentions for today and the coming weeks and months of internal work:
- Clear away the obstacles and hindrances lodged in my energetic field (especially those I feel blocking my 2nd and 3rd chakra energy centers) in order to be of greater benefit to all beings, including Mother Earth and myself.
- Take back my power.
- Call in strength, independence & interconnection, clarity and creative inspiration.
- Continue growing into a more present, kind, compassionate, patient and loving human BEing, mother, partner, daughter, sister, friend and member of Team Love (which is always accepting new members, as the apt bumper sticker of a tuk-tuk driver reminded me the other day).
- Forgiveness Practice:
- For whatever harm I have caused others, may they forgive me.
- For whatever harm others have caused me, may I forgive them.
- For whatever harm I have caused myself, I forgive myself.
- Show me the way.
- I am ready to receive.
I love you; thank you; Amen and Namaste.