Robins Dancing in Late Winter/Early Spring

My Reiki teacher writes, "When we practice meditation, we dance with the Universe..."

I say to my own students - when we do spiritual practice - Reiki, healing energy, yoga, meditation and/or prayer - we dance with the Divine...

My Reiki teacher reminds us, that when we are in that state of "Mu" - a Japanese word meaning emptiness, and of the void, we can dance freely...

I say - that when in that state of emptiness, also known as kenosis - Greek for the "self emptying" that Jesus did on the cross in the Letter of Paul to the Philippians, we can only be filled, and thus can only dance...

After a silent yoga practice of timed poses with the few souls that braved the weather, I go for a walk in the little more than an inch of snow that covered the bridges and pathways on my walk. Several times I see robins with their blood orange bellies, dancing here and there on the ground on a morning is that is barely two days before the Vernal Equinox, heralding the beginning of spring. On this day, winter finally gives up its ghost to a triumphant spring...

"In the depths of winter

I finally learned that within me

there lay an invincible summer."

~ Camus

I observe the robins at play and every once in a while, one seeks out a perch on a branch from which all is easily surveyed. I watch one lone robin stray off the beaten path, and shortly find it happily splashing around in a creek under the footpath of a wooden bridge.

"When spring returns,

the earth becomes a child

who recites poetry."

~ Ranier Maria Rilke

Robins herald the promise of new beginnings. They stimulate new growth in us and remind us to believe in ourselves. And if we do, obstacles will fall by the wayside...

I am totally surrounded by beauty - the kind that is only visible to one whose heart has been broken open and whose soul has been torn asunder in utter and total desolation, desperation, and nakedness. In the depths of winter struggling to resist the marching avalanche of spring exploding with nascent blooms and vibrant colors, pain and sorrow cannot but shrivel and wane - like this mere dusting of snow that will not endure for more than a couple of brief hours. And for all else that remains unforgiven and unhealed and that is deeply troubling and hurting within, I am reminded, as the good nuns once taught me, to simply "offer it up." I tell myself: "Let your soul dance like no one is watching and drive all that does not serve out of you, like St. Patrick drove vipers out of Ireland!"

Yes, I say to my students this morning, that when they practice - they too dance with the Universe - they dance with the Divine. And so we practice together, holding our bodies steady in poses while our spirits soar to the joyous singing of birds outside the window.

I remind them also of a wonderful maxim immortalized in the movie, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel:"

"Everything will be alright in the end.

And if it is not alright,

it is not the end."

I share that this quote reminds me of sitting in Julian of Norwich's cell nearly 26 years ago, and "hearing" her whisper into my ear, during a particularly trying period in my life that "all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well!" It is something a dear friend and I remind each other during particularly trying times...

The sun always rises. Spring never ceases to arrive. A page is always turned. A empty glass is filled again and again. There is within each and every one of us not only an invincible summer - but an eternal spirit that cannot be held back or contained for it chooses to rise again and again - to dance with the Divine...

(***For the link to the blog by my Reiki Teacher, Frans Stiene where his teachings are referenced:)

http://www.ihreiki.com/blog/article/dancing_with_the_universe