Aligning with Grace

Sometimes we are meant to be placeholders in time or in space...   Some of us are here to anchor energy and/or to send and shine light wherever it is needed...   It implies that one must constantly practice non-attachment and let go of expectations and we constantly receive invitations to do so through various life experiences.   When I visited the river early one morning this week, a dense fog blanketed the water's surface. As I prayed and meditated - bit by bit - the fog lightened and released it's essence into the sky. It was only then that the brilliant blue sky revealed itself in all its magnifence, occasionally punctuated by powdery white clouds.   There is much I could share about this week. It has been full and rich and not without its blessings and challenges. And throughout all of my experiences, I was granted profound insights... For example, I realized that often when we give of ourselves, our time, and resources, we do...

" There are moments you remember all your life." This is one of those moments." ~ Barbra Streisand, Yentl There are moments in your life when profound insights arrive unbidden... There are times when you are granted clarity... There are times when you are unexpectedly able to see your way through things, and everything makes sense... On my walk today, I suddenly realized, that even when we feel most apart from others, we are still one with them. This realization came as I crossed over from a path onto a bridge, and glanced down at words recently inscribed on a wooden plank: " You shall never walk alone." Yes, even when we feel most estranged from others - and feel most pained - whether that pain is rooted in a "real" or imagined slight, or event - or a misperception - we are not apart from them and their soul essence. Even in that experience and moment, there is a fundamental unity perhaps occluded, waiting to be discovere...

Earlier this week I posted this ancient Sanskrit poem to Facebook. I have used it on many occasions in my yoga classes as a reading. It reminds me of the importance of staying present. And mindful. Each and every day... That is not to say this is an easy task. But it is one I strive for. Yes, today, and every day - look to this day and the many gifts it brings you. Strive to see the extraordinary enshrouded in the ordinary. And the sacredness in the mundane. Blessings are truly everywhere! "Look to this day for it is life the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the realities and truths of existence the joy of growth the splendor of action the glory of power. For yesterday is but a memory And tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a memory of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day...." ~ ancient Sanskrit poem ~

I go down to the river on the first free morning and day I've had in a while... The fall season has been gently ushered in by forces unseen and the air is cool and crisp... I have been brought here by the urge to do both - Loving-Kindness meditation and a Gratitude practice, in thanksgiving for prayers answered and blessings received... In the coolness of the air, insights come to me about what the greatest gift we can give another soul might be... Certainly to be present to them. To pray for another and their well being - whether through the offering of traditional prayers, or something as simple and yet equally challenging as a Loving-kindness meditation can be - especially if offered for an estranged person in our lives... There is much I have wanted to share here, but a cranky and failing computer on its way out is presently impeding it. Simple sentences arise in my soul. And I share them here... Today, and every day, strive to be more fully present. As you do so,...

I reflect on how one season ends and another begins... Like a circle, it goes round and round, and we revisit the same places... I stand on the doorstep of the nascent fall season which invites a more vata-pacifing diet and lifestyle. It is a time of cooler evenings which come, oh - so suddenly and much more quickly that it did - just a mere few weeks ago... It is a time for hot teas, and root vegetables, and for soups and stews... It is a time for centering, and nesting, and going more deeply within... And it is a time for greater clarity... I thought of this, as I went down to the river one morning this past week, and was struck by how I could see so clearly to the bottom of the riverbed, even though the water itself was far from clear... After weeks of purging and cleansing and de-cluttering - knowing that there is still so much to do - I have started to downshift. Yes, there is much to do, but it does not all have to be done at once... I ease into the...

Sometimes, things go the way we want... And sometimes, they don't... Sometimes, they end up worse... But sometimes, then end up better... I have not written much of late because I have been knee deep in house repairs. But I am happy to say, they are all completed now. And I have spent the last couple of weeks painting, de-cluttering, throwing things out, re-arranging, and so forth... I began by painting one wall in the house that needed it - and it did not stop there - leading me instead to change the color of various hallways, and rooms. Now, a number of places in my house have been adorned with a coat of fresh paint, and there are new rooms to enjoy, new flooring to practice yoga on, and many other things that have been replaced throughout my home. There is a sense of newness, and openness, and expansion that I am simply breathing in... It has been a season of restoration and transformation... Earlier this summer I wrote about preparing my house for the Divine, and ...