Pod Sisters Sharing Souls

Hard for me to believe - but here I am at Hilton Head in our family  time share for two weeks in the Shipyard Plantation.  Life has been so full lately with so much going on - don't know how I'm gonna turn off and just let things be as they are.  But, I will.  The last post I wrote I made a terrible error - Richard Rohr's name is NOT Rohrbach.  My apologies.  I can't now figure out how to edit it, but will try later......Beginning Thursday, my Pod Sisters began showing up and by Friday four were here with me - Sara, Nancy, Kathy, and Faye.  We have been gathering together since the fall of 2005 when we all met at Boulder in the Claritas Institute for Interspiritual Mentoring training - once it ended in February of 2007 we began meeting 3 or 4 times a year.  This is what truly can be called friends.  We also talk in a conference call monthly.  I could write the details of what we actually did - but it doesn't really matter - what really matters is that we were able to actually look into each other's eyes and share souls!    We are so blessed to have the beautiful Pond retreat place to be together.  (I did figure out how to edit the earlier post.)

Two halves of life - Richard Rohr

Two halves of life.  Richard Rohr's Falling Upward presents an interesting concept - one I've been pondering for several days while I read his book.  Paraphrased, we spend the first half of our life building a container and the second half filling it.  One half may be much longer than the other, of course, in terms of ordinary time.  But, the filling half is by far the most delightful.  That is where I am now.  Filling the Container.  I backed up and capitalized Container.  To remind me that this filling is being done by the Universe - not by me.  And thus is spiritual, god-like.  How very fortunate I am to have lived long enough to enjoy a long period of filling.  Somehow, for me, the building of the container is over.  Now it is a matter of maintaining the health of the container and expanding its contents from the Spiritual World where true happiness resides.  And when a tiny moment of that happens?  As they say,  "You have to have been there" to know it.   Practicing going there is my filling tool.

Come on out tonight at 7:00 for meditation, labyrinth walking, fire ceremony, chanting, drumming, flute, etc.  Bring a stone for the labyrinth and a stick for the fire.   Rain or shine, we'll meet.  We'll start the fire about 8:00.  1909 Tillman Territory Road, Ninety Six, SC
864-506-4063

This is what the surface of the Pond looked like during the hardest rain!  

and then following the rain

The greenest green you'll ever see!  How beautifully clean everything looks - except for the standing water in the labyrinth - but that too disappeared in only one day.  So come on out Sunday evening at 7:00 for the meditation, labyrinth walking, fire ceremony, chanting, drumming. 

Still on Pause

During the recent heavy rainstorms, my TV went out, so I covered its face with a beautiful piece of African textiles (bought in Santa Fe, actually) that I'm enjoying far more than the blank screen.  Or even the screen when it's not blank.  Yoga class at 10 will increase my stillness. ........  By the way, I just Googled Ireland Wild Geese and learned more about the reason for the sculpture in the photo of a day or two ago.  Generally, it refers to the men leaving Ireland to fight in Spain and France primarily during the  17th  and 18th centuries.  .......  My study yesterday of Alice Bailey's writings filled me with thoughtful considerations - like What is my Soul?  What is my Spirit?  Are they the same?  Are they different?  If so, how?  Can I be truly connected to other spiritual beings now?  Or, am I fantasizing?  Does it matter?  More to the point,  what does matter?  .....Strange.  It just dawned on me - I remember when I was a very small girl, no not small, young....my father often said "Can't you talk without asking questions? All you do is ask 'Why?' or 'What?' "  

Powerful Pauses

Today I have an unexpected day of freedom from obligations.  A memorial service at the church is replacing yoga classes, which is my usual scheduled activity for Tuesdays.  Strange how much this seems like a "snow day" with no school.  A holiday.  And, so here I sit on the porch watching the birds and the stillness of the lake, hearing a car or two on the nearby road, perusing the Asheville Yoga Center web site and finding a "therapeutic yoga" upcoming weekend in August for which I will register,  answering emails neglected too long, drinking my green tea, and busily not planning my day.  I picked up Richard Rohr's Falling Upward companion journal and finally will order the book I've been longing to read.  But first, I'll take a bit more time to just be and let the cool breeze blowing over the Pond still me.  As a matter of fact, perhaps I'll simply remain stilled all day.  There is truly nothing more important in my life now than stillness.  Several years ago I wrote an essay : Powerful Pauses.  That write has influenced nearly every day since.  I began then my stillness work allowing myself the freedom to go inward to my spiritual voice at odd times during the day when I was captured in a moment of pausing - at a stop light, in line at a grocery store, waiting for a doctor, washing dishes by hand, ironing a couple of cotton shirts, taking a bath.  All opportunities for powerful pauses.  They became so pleasant I learned to create them and extend them even when they didn't occur naturally.  So now, I have an entire day of pausing.  I will not  squander it.

Walking Softly

Flying Geese Sculpture - Kinsale, Eire

A lovely quiet weekend - sometimes life grants us the time to let go and do the little things we have delayed enjoying.  Like planting flowers that have been sitting in their little containers on my front stoop for over a week waiting for their permanent home in the garden.  Catching up on getting new contacts in my computer.  Putting away out-of-season clothes and organizing summer ones.  Finishing the book I began a week ago.  Studying the notes I took over the last year of shamanic training and finding information I didn't even know I had.  Making gentle decisions about what is truly important.  Sifting and sorting.  Clarifying.  Getting down to the bones.  Asking Who am I?  A question I keep asking but  never expect to fully answer - perhaps near death?  I had my first practice session of the death rites and learned so much it will take time to absorb it all and be ready to learn more.  Thought I had a long-range view of life until yesterday I met a man who is planning to live to 125!  My 110 seems wimpy now.  But then he is part Native American - a culture by which I have long been intrigued.  And the Celtic way.  I think it is their deep connection "to the land" that gets to me.  I am finding myself deepening my own connection to Mother Earth and all she holds.  Learning to "walk softly - the beauty way."

Just Life

Here it is Wednesday - usually a slow day for me - but today an eye appt in town interrupts  my quiet morning.  Still for now all is quiet - except for the fridge motor!  One day I will replace it - for sure I won't be sorry if and when it ever quits!  It's so loud when it is running sometimes I have to go into another room to hear on the phone.   .......  VERY tiny complaint.  My world truly is a happy one. ........ Been doing some strength training and sore muscles from squats Monday,  but they'll get worked out this evening.  Very nice to be back at doing some strength work.  Been far too long since I have,  but off and on throughout my life it has been one of my pleasures. ........... Temps in the 90s now so great time for sweating out all the toxins I keep inside all winter.  Much more fun than sitting in a sauna is lazily walking the labyrinth while the sweat trickles down my spine.  Sometimes these days I wet my hair  in the shower without shampooing, just to cool off.  Even sleeping with wet hair on a towel over my pillow......I haven't forgotten what it was like to live without air conditioning.  So summer is almost here.  If you think it's hot now, just wait till August!

Yoga Frees You

Words of wisdom from Yoga Power and Spirit by Alberto Villolda:  .........all forms of yoga share a common thread, which is to take us out of a profane existence and into a sacred relationship with life.  We live a profane life when we simply do what is expected of us, striving to create what our culture considers a proper life in the material world, unconscious of our spiritual nature........Like the ancient yogis, we can all rediscover the sacred.  We can all practice yoga and begin our journey toward samadi, toward liberation.
All of these words ring bells for me.   Unless something better arises in my consciousness, I'll write more about Alberto's interpretation of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras.  But for today, just a few of Alberto's words based on Sutras 2 and 3:  Yoga is vigilance, awareness and stillness of the mind.   Yoga frees you from the drama, the tragedy, the saga your mind creates and allows you to experience your True Self.   As you can see, there is more to yoga than asanas, (physical postures).  Much more.

A Day Away

The Yogatorium and Dandelions

This morning I may go back to bed.  Every now and then I fill a day so full the next one has to be one of not so much doing, more just being.  And sometimes, even more just resting and letting things go.  What a lovely place to do just that.   The dandelions are fully covering the yard now - there is almost no grass anymore - just a field of golden blossoms.  Randy will be out to mow next week - there are a few patches of grass around that have grown high enough for snakes to enjoy the cover.  The rains came and the Pond is now in recovery.  There are still areas of very high grass around the edges that the water level hasn't yet reached. .........Susan and I spent yesterday in Asheville at the Tailgate Market on the UNC-Asheville campus.  What a fun time!  This was the opening day so many veggies are not yet available, but there were enough - bought chard (never eaten this before), lettuce, strawberries, ground bison, (only twice eaten bison, never cooked it), goat cheese,  two  flytrap plants (not the endangered ones) for my front stoop (Do they eat spiders?) a sage plant and a Goat's Beard (also new to me) which is supposed to grow to 6 feet. .......we drove back to Saluda for lunch and then out to the home of Harris Fortier, a sculptor - the first I've ever met.  What a joy it was to see all of his creations - wood, marble, clay, stone, and gasp at the heavy work he has managed to do alone building his studio, fireplaces, a fountain, and more.  Visit his blog at www.Harrissculpture.blogspot.com to see some examples of his work.  All in all, a delightful day away from home.

Still Spots

I'm writing on the screened porch this morning watching the rain pounding down onto the Pond so fiercely there are no still spots.  Only disturbance.  Sometimes life is like that.  No still spots.  Everything seems to be turmoil.  Chaos.  Nothing seems clear.  All is crazy mixed up thoughts and activities.  It is as though the "monkey mind" has totally taken over.  And yet, somewhere deep within, there is stillness.  Quiet.  Sanity.  Clarity.  Peace.  I'm beginning to learn how to access that place.  The rain helps.  The steady beat of the rain on the tin roof provides a sound barrier to chaos - a replacement sound that excludes other disturbances - more than just covering them up - excludes them, removes them, allows what is real and true to surface.  This morning Spirit is alive and well - and evident - speaking to us with messages that only we can hear - those of us who are listening.  Wisdom comes in listening.  Amazing that it has taken me so many years to find this truth.  Be still and know.

Drum Circle - June 23 - The Yogatorium

New Event - Drum Circle - Sunday, June 23, Begin at 7:00 with a labyrinth walk, meditation, sharing spiritual thoughts.  8:30 fire ceremony, chanting, drumming - The Yogatorium, 1909 Tillman Territory Road, Ninety Six.  Contact Jaquie Haymond - 864-506-4063.  

T-shirts and Grasses

New set of t-shirts in - others have nothing on the back.  If you haven't already, come walk the labyrinth anytime.  ........This morning the Pond is quiet again, a few small movements so that the reflections of the trees on the surface have wrinkles in them, but mostly quiet.  Don't have my hearing aids in yet so very quiet - a couple birds I can hear, those with low voices.  Very peaceful.   Particularly interesting photo of grasses at the far edge of the Pond.  Never until a couple days ago noticed the curving that has appeared.  Wind?  Nature produces messages in so many ways!  This occurred at least in part because the water has risen quite a bit lately and I suspect these grasses are now in water when they were not before.