Aligning with Grace

  I bless you. Yes, you... We ALL can use a blessing. This is the second practice that I wanted to share with you. Start with someone you love, someone who matters, someone you care deeply about or are grateful for. That one will be easy. Maybe there are a few people you want to send blessings to - people you know who may need it right now. Then, I am going to suggest you move on to people in your life that are most challenging. Start with one. And maybe add on another person tomorrow. Maybe you will have to stay with the first person for a few days. Or a week. Or a longer while. But do so. You might just find your hard feelings toward that person melting away. You may become more compassionate towards them and their circumstances. Keep working at it. Then, consider people you read about or hear about who may need a blessing. You will change over time. And you may also find that the ones you are blessing change as well . Are you willing to give it a try? Let me know how it goes and...

  Let me let you in on a little secret: I begin each day with a blessing... After opening my eyes, I give thanks for another day of living. And then I bless the day. It is gift that is denied to many. And so, I begin my day with gratitude as well. And that gratitude leads to my blessing the day and thus it informs and colors how I experience and process my day. This day will never come again. It is irrepeatable. Unique. It has never been before and will never be again. This day will come wrapped in other blessings and gifts and challenges. If you are open to whatever the day brings and you know that it is for your highest good, you will be able to get it through it. If you are indeed open and accepting of the fruits of this day, you may find that it flows with ease and grace. So the question is: How will you meet this day? How you do, will determine its outcome. The choice is ours to experience it as a miracle or something else.  ​How is this so? Because in the end, we choose ...

  Blessing others, yourself, the world, events and situations - is a practice. You can bless just about anything that you think of. You can focus on someone you love or someone you are having difficulty with, or someone at work who is challenging. And it is powerful. It can change you slowly, from within and transform others as well. In the next few days we are going to explore the practice of blessing EVERYTHING. Because you can't bless and judge at the same time according to Pierre Pradervand. He should know. He has practiced blessing for decades and taught others how to do so as well. Are you ready to give it a try? Here is a short, 90 second meditation on the practice of blessing that I made just for you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6L2_hkr1kg&t=10s #inspirational #inspirationalquotes #spirituality #love #compassion #kindness #healing #wellness #yoga #meditation #transformational #blog #meditationsimple #mindfulness #spiritualpractice #blessing

  For years, actually for decades - a man has worked at my Costco checking the receipts of departing clients. Every time he checks a receipt he pauses. and looks into the eyes of the customer on his or her way out and simply says  "GOD BLESS YOU!" I don't know anything about him. I guess from his name tag, that he may hail from a Middle Eastern country. Over the years his accent has soften and blended more into its surroundings. It is always a treat to see him and be in his line because he is so present, and genuine, and I know he has spent a lifetime offering blessings. I often wonder how this simple and humble practice began in his life. Perhaps I will know in due. time. But probably not. It doesn't really matter. As I watched him bless the person in front of me, on this January 6th, which many celebrate as the Feast of Epiphany, when the Magi brought their gifts to a humble child they had been lead to seek, I decided I would give this man a gift. The same gift that...

You don't know what you don't know. Be gentle with yourself. We think we know everything. I know I do. We think we know what is happening.  We think we know what other people are thinking. And what they are feeling. We think that that the way we interpret reality is the correct version of current affairs. But really, this only brings to the forefront, our lack of wisdom and knowledge. There is so much we don't know. We don't know the pain people carry within. Recently, several well known celebrities took their lives, and many, on social media, posted messages and phone numbers for those suffering to reach out. But here's the thing. When you are in such deep pain, you hide it well. And you don't reach out. I know this, because I have struggled with depression and many around me had no idea. You don't often know what you think you know. About others, and yourself as well. Sometimes, you are very surprised to realized you were completely mi...

What are you feeding? What are you not feeding or ignoring? I had a crazy dream last week. I had a baby alligator in my bathroom, and I could not remember the last time I fed it.  I shared this story in yoga class the next day, and a friend who has done a lot of dreamwork asked me, "What are you not feeding?" Hum... I had to pause... This is actually a recurring theme I've had in many dreams over the years. Sometimes the protagonist is a baby or a dog, or cat, or a pet of some sort. But the framework is always the same. I am away on a trip or unexpectedly held up for hours or days or more, and I come back, fearful that the being in question will have starved. You get the gist. Not a very pretty picture to say the least. This dream got me thinking a lot. What are you feeding? Or not feeding? What are you starving? And I don't mean in the literal sense of the word. For example, do we take time to nurture our lives - our dreams - and our bodies? Do...

Life gets busy sometimes. Life gets in the way. WE get frazzled. And overwhelmed. But all we have to do when we are feeling that way, is to simply STOP! Yes, stop! Stop whatever we are doing. And just breathe! I once read, that the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh recommended that every time we came to a Stop sign, to see it as an invitation to become more mindful and to breathe, rather than perceiving it as a nuisance. And when you think of it, everything is about perception. We see things as WE are. So teaches the Talmud. So today, as you go about your day - running errands - or on your way to and from work - remember to  STOP! JUST BREATHE! And ENJOY the moment! We can never know how many of them we have left, so let's not take life for granted! Just breathe and enjoy THIS moment - for THIS IS the only moment you have, whether you are on your computer, your phone, or simply spinning your wheels and running around! I invite you to ...

Accept what is. As it is. In this moment. Now! This is what comes to me on my drive back from my weekly meditation group. it is an "aha!" moment! It is an unexpected Eureka experience. And all of it seems so crystal clear to me - and easy! Except that it isn't. But in the moment I held that thought - which came to me uninvited, it did seem so easy.  I saw myself sitting contently - watching thoughts go by like clouds on a sunny day - thoughts coming and going. I simply observed them for a while, and then thought to myself:  "All pain, and sadness comes to us  because we do not accept what is.  And really, that is all we have to do,   is simply accept what is.  AS IT IS.  In this moment.  And that moment.  And EVERY moment.  Now!" Could it really be that simple? Well, there is only one way to find out! I will just have to try it!  I will have to commit to letting ...

"Cooperation is key for you at the moment. Let go of ego and work it out." ~ Pelican I walk the shoreline of the ocean, as often as three times a day. Sometimes more, hungrily trying to make up for my many years of absence. With each step I bathe and ground my feet in the healing salt waters. Every time I visit, I receive gifts from the sea - of insight. Of wisdom. And actual physical ones as well. Sometimes I receive shells. Yesterday an un usual rainbow colored one appeared at my feet on a long walk. Yesterday I also received a pelican feather. Not once - but twice! Mind you, I rarely receive feathers, but recently two came to me - one from a cardinal and another from a vulture. I quickly looked up their meaning as totem animals. I have been treated to a convocation of pelicans, gathering daily in the same general vicinity, so yesterday I looked up the significance of pelicans. Here are some of the insights I come across from several sources: If Pelican...

These past couple of weeks or so, I have delighted in practicing self care.  It seems that practically every book I've read recently makes some reference to practicing self care, and most importantly, loving ourselves. For the first time in years I am actually whittling down a pile of books I have been meaning to read. I tend to read non-fiction, so often I do read inspirational books, and a lot of self-improvement, but this year I am reading a number of historical works as well, and brushing up on the main characters and events of the late 15th century, to the mid to late 16th century, a period I have found fascinating, because of the strong women who lived and ruled then.I am especially interested in what was happening theologically, and the rising movements of the time. I also decided to brush up on my French, and have been using Duolingo and some old textbooks to do so. I have wanted to do this for years! Every night, I carve out some time to do my lessons. My dail...

Thoughts are powerful... I have been thinking about this a lot lately... Yesterday, I began a mini retreat of sorts, that is already filling my life to the brim with many blessings. I will not speak of it much right now, except to say, it is shifting my understanding, my experiences, and yes - even my thoughts... As I entered into this "retreat" last evening, I picked up a copy of Marianne Williamson's newest book, A Year in Miracles , which had arrived in the mail, just as the sun had begun to set, signaling the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath. I had already prepared my space by lighting candles and playing soft, healing, spiritual music. I settled into a comfortable chair and began reading the entry for the day, which was perfect in every way... "I dwell in peace, knowing that God is here and God is good..." The section I read was the perfect entry to begin this mini spiritual journey, and very moved, I proceeded to read the rest of the entries for t...