30 day commitment

I am beginning a 30 day yoga commitment as I settle into my new home in Montreal. Fall is decidedly in the air which means letting go, accepting change of pace as days grow shorter, and harvesting for the winter ahead. This is a commitment to dedicating my days to the divine, and surrendering to what is as the seasons change in my heart & home.

October 30 day commitment:

• Reflection on dreams
• Divine Light Invocation in the morning
• 4 sides of sun salutations in the morning
• Karma yoga 1-2 hours minimum
• Reflection on Swami Sivananda's Daily Readings
• 108 Divine Mother prayers/mantras
• Thich Nhat Hanh visualization exercise before bed
• Reflection on days actions before bed
• Media black out before bed & before yoga practice
• Practice single pointed focus, no blame, compassionate listening, and mindful breathing in daily actions.

Hari Om Tat Sat

First snow fall

My heart is at home in the wet flakes that coat the black city in dreamy slumber.

Ice cold winds sting the cheeks like bitter promises too sweet to keep. 

There is a familiar resonance to as winter makes her grand entrance. She doesn’t play for keeps, this is just a taste of her white wonderland. Tomorrow will be grey slush & tepid salutations. 

In the middle of the night everything hangs perfectly crystal serene. As home settles into my heart for the year. My bones welcome the aches & chill if only for the thrill of being alive trying to start a fire in such a frigid place.

Count snowflakes on the glass. Each one a wish. Longing for those long silent nights walking arms crossed following a single star calling with my name on it.

Holy in her transience.

Melting stars on my tongue.

Wishing on light passing.

The snow will be gone by morning.

Amen

5x emotional weather

I’m not ready to write a heart felt post about the weekend, or the last few weeks, or about the hearts I miss, or about what’s next. I’m not ready to process everything that happened in the last three weeks. All the punctums, all the generosity, all the bravery, all the inspiration, all of the lingering questions. I’m not ready to admit it’s over and transition back into the daily grind. Today is caught between two worlds, and I am balanced precariously between as are my pots & pans catching stray rain water seeping through the roof of my cozy attic. It is already starting to feel like something happened not something that is happening. As Harold & I hunker in for the storm I collect my thoughts like rain drops carelessly trespassing on my little corner of the world.

Enjoy

1. iamiamwhoami via fellow labbit Andrew Barrett
2. How to Hone Your Creative Routine and Master the Pace of Productivity via Brain Pickings
3. Love is Traumatic via Chai Chats Podcast
4. Cie Mossoux Bonté via fellow labbit Neil Cadger
5. Water, Consciousness, and Intent inspired by fellow labbit Laurel Green

Year of Yin: Letting go

January is that moment when the rope swings out over the clear blue water, inviting in it’s efferescent cool stillness, just as gravity grabs hold of the pit of your stomach and squeezes that knot of fear held too tightly, for too long, while your fingernails instinctively dig deep when you have to decide to grip tighter to that rough rope tearing your tender flesh red, or let go into the unknown space between you now and then.

Allowing for simple solutions, accepting things as they are, finding the easiest path, open to be vulnerable in the waiting, surrender to the currant, yielding to hidden strengths in times of struggle.

Imperfectly ingrained into the interconnected web of life. 

I am learning to accept with grace mistakes as they are made without sacrificing my integrity. Securing sense of self against the inevitable onslaught of insidious illusions. 

It takes a lifetime to live a moment.

Morning offering

  

May I develop complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions, and to all people.

May I experience everything nakedly, completely without mental reservations or blockages.

May I never withdraw from life, or centralize onto myself.

May my heart be laid bare and open to the fire of all that is.

– taken from the Art Monestary Project Lectio Devina originally from Dharma Ocean