Aligning with Grace

Tomorrow, it will be 8 weeks since I had surgery, and just as long since I've "officially" taught a yoga class. In the time since, I've had several weeks of down time to recuperate, sleep, and read, and the last few weeks, I have been furiously cleaning, purging, simplifying, and letting go of mementos, family heirlooms, and all sorts of things I've held on to for one reason or another. Energetically, I am being called to be in a different place. Correction: I AM in a different place and vibration, and everything around me needs to reflect this. Tomorrow, I will also sub for the first time since my classes came to an end with the spring session. It will be a way to test the waters, stepping into the current of grace once again, though I have really never left it. And so, I will "end" a session that I did not teach, with my eye on the fall session right around the corner. While I feel like a banshee, madly doing all I am at the moment, I also kno...

We live in very interesting times indeed... So we are told, by intuitives, psychics and scientists alike... On Tuesday, I literally "felt the earth move under my feet," as Carole King once sang - and was ready for "the sky to come tumbling down," as I ran to the basement in a state of confusion, once I fully realized what was going on. My son reminded me, the basement is for tornadoes. You run outside if there is an earthquake. And truly, I've been through them before, but not in at least, three decades... This earthquake was significant, because I live in Virginia, about an hour from the epicenter. The quake registered a 5.9, and was felt up and down the Eastern seaboard. Today, we prepare for what may be the worst hurricane to hit some areas in decades. Is there a hidden message in all of this? Many can be drawn, but this simple quote that Marianne Williamson posted today, says it all for me: ‎ "When in the midst of outer chaos, se...

Today, devout Hindus celebrate "Janmashtami " - the birthday of Lord Krishna , a most beloved deity, who gave us the gift of yoga and its enlightening practices... I thought of this, as I carried Grace, my kayak, down to the river this morning. It was breezy, and the beginning of a busy day for me. The waters were very choppy and I paddled vigorously upstream until I reached the point of the first island. This is an area I have not revisited for almost a year and half. I saw a number of noble blue herons, and one actually "waited" for me at the boat launch, when I was coming out of the water, and then flew upstream, where I had been. While I was out on the water, I reflected on the writings of Yogani , which can be found on the Advanced Yoga Practices website. This wonderful teacher has chosen to disseminate many esoteric yogic and meditation teachings - that were previously passed on from teacher to student - in order to make them more accessible to the gener...

It's been a quiet week of deep interior cleansing - on emotional, spiritual and physical fronts... I prepare for my first and long overdue colonoscopy later this morning. But I have also cleansed myself of possessions - as I engage in the process of divesting myself of long held things which I now choose to give away - weeding out half of my closet and drawers, and even selling a substantial percentage of my gold jewelry. Some of these pieces were passed down to me by my grandmother, but somehow, I sense her urging me, that it is time to let them go. I realize later, that I chose to sell these items on the very day that was the 16th anniversary of her passing from this life into eternity. Somehow, this incredible woman of faith reminded me, that we cannot take anything along with us on our ultimate journey. I wish to do nothing more and nothing less - than to simply, lighten my load... And my reduce my footprint as well... I have said to many, that my surgery has ha...

The days ebb and flow, like the tide, slowly, and gently... Life has truly slowed down to the crawl of each present moment and there is no place and no time where God is not... I enjoy my days, filled with so much freedom, and devoid of commitments... Rumi's wisdom, comes to me from across the ages, speaking to my heart, acknowledging that the current rhythm of my life is healing and what is needed. I enjoy each breath, and a new lease on life, and taste freedom in each breath, and in each moment spent in the company of friends, loved ones, and whomever the Spirit sends: "The motion of the body, the inhaling and exhaling, comes from the spirit... When you are not with close friends, you are not in the Presence... Be a pilgrim to the kaaba inside, and Mecca will rise into view on its own..." These words come to me in the early morning, and I carry them in my heart, as my husband and I go to explore Euro Cafe, with our various Sunday papers....

I come into the river because I am cleared for all activities, having made a recovery nothing short of remarkable, barely a full month after surgery... I come into the river because I can and because I want to...The river calls me... I come into the river to align more deeply with grace... I don my "Aligning with Grace" cap, and haul Grace, my trusty kayak, that has seen me through depression and tremendous growth these last few years - navigating me through the rough waters of isolation and connection - steering me through waves of grief and death and subsequent rebirth - and together we launch into this river that has been a silent witness to it all... I come into this river much sooner than I ever could have imagined, with an incredible lightness of being and soul, and float in the stillness for a while. I drink in the silence, interrupted occasionally by a bass flapping as it happily jumps out of the water, and a blue heron flying over me, once more biddin...

I drove over to the other side of my beloved river this glorious Sunday morning for a yoga class for the first time - not quite three and half weeks after surgery. I was going to observe a class taught by a wonderful Inspired Anusara Yoga teacher. I did not think I would actually do all of the class - perhaps just some poses here and there. It was a Level 1-2 class that ended up being perfectly sequenced for me, and consisted of very basic poses that we worked very deeply. After all, what is advanced yoga? Just the other day, I read this quote on Facebook by Lois Nesbitt , who was my own assessor and mentor in my certification as an Anusara Yoga teacher years ago, and who currently serves with me on the Anusara Yoga Curriculum Committee: "Advanced poses do not make an advanced yogi. You have to work this thing from the inside out. Otherwise, head for Cirque de Soleil." And this coming, from one of the most advanced practitioners that I know! So, we worked as advanced yogis...

This morning, after a long walk, I went down to the river in my crocs so that I could step inside and wade for a while. I knew that doing so would be immensely "grounding" and healing, and it was the best that I could do for now, until I am cleared for kayaking again. As I made it down to the boat ramp with a cup of coffee in tow, I met a really elderly woman coming out of the river herself. She immediately lit up a cigarette, and we struck up a conversation. I could tell from her speech and her gait, that she had perhaps suffered a stroke at some point, and yet here she was, hauling her ocean kayak out of the water. I apologized for not being able to help her, but almost immediately, a wonderful man came to this woman's aid. He was accompanied by two rambunctious Jack Russell dogs - who proceeded to happily dash into the water and splash about. This woman, truly weathered by life and who knows what else, still had a gleam in her eye. We talked about the river, kayaking, ...

A new month arrives and with it the opportunity to start something new, and leave other things behind... In a few short weeks, the school season will begin once more, and summer will gradually fade into fall, which is one of my favorite times of the year. Today, I received two separate messages about kindness. It was a reminder to me to be more mindful of the opportunities that come knocking on my door to exercise more kindness. And so, I share them here with you, in hopes that you too, may be moved to extend kindness to others throughout this month. Kindness: Pass It On! Give a flower. Eat with someone new. Listen with your heart. Visit a sick friend. Offer a hug. Give an unexpected gift. Make a new friend. Pick up litter. Say "hello." Call a lonely person. Open a door. Help carry a load. Plant a tree. Pass a kindness on. Buy someone's meal. Cheer a friend. Thank a teacher. Give blood. Read to a child. Do one kind act every day. Leave a thank you note. Offer your seat. T...