Fender Bender

So, another week is ending.  This one has been a busier one than I have had in a long time.  Last weekend I was in Atlanta Friday and Saturday for a workshop.  I drove back to Atlanta Tuesday for Sydney's high school graduation - then home on Wednesday after a delightful lemon grass massage and body exfoliation.  Thursday I drove to NC mountains for a night and day with Frank, my new friend, and his son and wife.  Delightful relaxing time both bodily and spiritually.  Amazing how much we found in common to talk about!  Then back home yesterday with a fender-bender in Clinton.  So, now I'm using a rental car for a while.  Needless to say, it was disturbing to my peace, but as we say, "it is what it is."  Life goes on.

Tree Meditation Bench

Want to share with you this beautiful spot where I did my morning meditation while in Atlanta (Norcross actually).  The beautiful forest (230 acres) surrounds the meeting space and rooming spaces.  This particular spot was no further than 50 yds from where we met all day Saturday.  Of course, my forester background makes trees something I notice - particularly odd shaped ones.  This was as if made for sitting meditation!

Restoring the Soul

Lovely meditation session this morning on the deck.  Surrounded by beautiful trees and the lack of barking.  Miraculously, the neighbor's dog did stop barking long enough for me to do my meditation.  I've finally figured out what is happening.  Each time anyone comes out of my house, the Yogatorium, or the cabin, she and or he bark. At times, like the last week or so, every time I go out about 6:30 to meditate, the barking starts and doesn't stop.  Not conducive to comfortable meditation.  Surely this too shall end. …….Workshop in Atlanta this weekend (Friday and Saturday) was very helpful.  Beautiful fire ceremony Friday evening from 7 to 11.  Lovely blue and yellow flames among the other red colors.    I saw lots of interesting images in the fire - most interesting was the Grinch!  with a big smile on his face.  Met  interesting people - many therapists - investigating "depth psychology" and shamanism and how they intertwine.  Very interesting considering the blending of the two.  The event was a beautiful way of restoring my mental energy and my soul.  Being with 39 other truth seekers (my name for us) was truly inspiring.  Thanks be to God!

In the Beginning

 One of the rewards of the yoga classes and retreats is the bonding that occurs among those who come here.  There is a feeling of belonging, it seems, that is a joy to behold.  This is more than I dreamed of when the building was erected.  I remember watching it going up from the basic foundation blocks and having  a feeling of a dream coming true.  What I did not anticipate was the community that is developing.  For that I am so very grateful.  I'm going back in my photo files and find the beginnings.  I like beginnings. In this photo, the electric power pole had not yet been moved to the southwest side.

Powerful News on Meditation

I'm quoting an article from Yoga Journal on Meditation:

Investing in daily meditation may be the smartest thing you can do to promote wellness, a new study indicates.  Scientists already understood that meditation reduces stress and illness, but they could not pinpoint exactly why.  Now a part of that puzzle may have been solved.  Regular meditation creates change on a cellular level, essentially turning on clusters of "good" genes that make us healthier, while turning off clusters of "bad" genes that lead to disease.  …………while more meditation yielded more extensive health benefits, even a single session had small but positive gene-alterig results!

So, let's DO IT!  If you want a copy of the entire article, pick one up at The Yogatorium.

Mockingbird

"The mockingbird is a symbol of overcoming fear.  They teach us to develop self-confidence, to speak our truth and stand up for what is ours by right."   So says the internet about this power animal.  This morning immediately following my morning rituals and meditation, I opened my eyes to a pair of mockingbirds flying from north to south and landing in the post oak tree at the eastern edge of the deck behind the Yogatorium.  The message is timely…….Yesterday was a lovely day of resting and relaxing most of the time in spite of the fact that we had to cancel the drum circle/fire ceremony last evening because of rain.  And that took some hours of indecision.   Still, all in all, it was a good rest day.  That's what Sundays are for, resting the body and feeding the soul - they seem to go together.  Unless the body is quiet, the soul gets lost behind all the doing.  Just being allows the soul to surface, and so it did.  Thanks be to God for such days!

Connecting Spiritually

Well, I did have a TRIP yesterday - right here at home.  From 10 in the morning till 5 in the afternoon Todd and I spent the time with four beautiful women - Grace, Joy, Christie, and Vernessa.  What a delightful, inspiring, connecting time for all of us!  We opened sacred space, watched and participated in Reiki energy healing, and Shamanic illuminations, wrote 3/card stories, spent two hours in silence, took a shamanic journey, received Healer's Rites, and more.  But most importantly, we connected on a spiritual level.  Unless you've been there and done that, you can't truly imagine what that feels like.  Perhaps at the next retreat in August, you can join us and feel what happens.  This morning I am overwhelmed with joy for the gift of yesterday.  Not much more I can say.  Enough.

Rain and Full Moon and Me

Yesterday's rainy day and this morning's full moon have caused
a deepening for me.  These natural occurrences seem to affect me more as I deepen my relationship with Spirit.  Are they the cause?  Is that why my mood swings so drastically occasionally?  Does my body know about these things?  I know yesterday was a strange one.  Around noon I spent an hour getting a foot massage at Happy Feet that was a spur-of-the-moment decision which took me to a place of relaxation allowing for some deep thoughts. I drove directly home, climbed out of the car, and into my bed for two hours more of sleep.   Last night I slept again a deep sleep with strange dreams and now this morning I feel sort of wiped out, not truly rested.  As though some kind of cleansing is taking place.  I am currently studying the Enneagram and suspect that study is revealing new knowledge that may be affecting my waking hours. Have you ever been in such a state?  The signal I'm getting is something needs to change.  I suspect it is time for a new adventure.  A trip.  That usually fixes everything for me.  It's time for a trip.

It's a beautiful world!

I've been spending an hour in the sun most days lately and realized the sheer beauty that surrounds me when I am.  Sharing it with you now.  How could anyone lie among the dandelions under a beautiful sky like this and NOT believe in God!

The Square Hole

"I have a strange sense of inhabiting reality in which I do not quite seem to fit.  I suspect that I keep getting tangled up in things not because I fail to see them but because I imagine myself to be configured other than I am.  I think of myself as a round peg trying to fit into a round hole, while unaware that I have become a square peg."…..Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening by Stephen Batchelor.  ……So where do I find the square hole into which I will fit?  Perhaps there is none?  If that is true, how do I come to terms with that?  I don't really believe there is none.  I just haven't yet found it.  But I'm getting closer, of that I'm sure. In part because I'm creating the square hole.  Thanks be to God!

Resurrection

Wonders never cease!  My sago palm was "dead for sure" - and lo and behold she is resurrecting!  With all the serious cold we had this winter I was convinced she was dead and gone forever.  But she is not.  This plant was moved from Clemson to here 7 years ago and she has provided offshoots for Luke in Atlanta.  So, a treasured member of our family.  I didn't even cover her during the icy weather and still she survived.  There is a message here - but I haven't discerned it yet - worth pondering today.  …..The "dead for sure" in quotes is a quote from a delightful family story when a neighbor stepped on a plant (she was pretty hefty) and her son said "It's dead for sure." We have never stopped chuckling over that.

Bees, OM, Meditation

Up early this morning and meditated on the deck of the Yogatorium for the first time.  It is a beautiful way to begin a hot day - cool but not cold even at 6:00 a.m.  I will clearly continue this practice.  It is delightful to be able to simply walk out my cottage door in my pajamas to the deck and kneel on my meditation bench atop the zabuton and BE THERE…….No need for a poncho or extra clothing……...  There is something about hearing the bees buzzing around my head while my OM cd is softly playing inside the building that really turns me on.  Amazing how they coordinate - Is that what the bees are doing all the time?  Chanting OM?  It didn't take much imagination this morning to hear that……We have begun chanting OM following yoga asanas  now that there are a larger number of participants in the classes.  What  joy!  I can tell - this day is going to be a very special one.  Oh - here's a photo of my very first irises planted here….flags, we used to call them…..beside my carport shed.

Compassionate Awareness

I have read and re-read the following several times lately and want to share it with you.  It comes from Compassionate Awareness:Living Life to the Fullest  by Adolfo Quezada:

As we move toward oneness with ourselves, the energies of our body, mind, and soul converge.  We sense that our body needs to be touched, fed, and exercised.  We know that our mind must be taught, stretched intellectually, and challenged creatively.  We believe in the ability of our soul to soar with the angels and penetrate the depths of spiritual mysteries.  As we tend to each of these parts, we tend to the whole.  …..Our internal oneness is the consequence of our prayer and meditation.  We stop to give rest to the parts and to allow them to consolidate.  We examine our external life to ensure its congruence with our inner life…...  The rhythm of our life is giving and receiving, and the balance of the two is the way of creation.  First, we open to the seed, the rain, and the sun before we can offer up the fruit.  We are earth and water, fire and air.  We are matter and we are spirit.  We destroy and we give life.  We die to the old and are born to the new.  Life and death complete our oneness.

Spring Healings

My spaghetti squash seeds have germinated and are growing so fast I can see the difference from one day to the next!  I now have three plants to transfer to the garden plot!  Actually I'll probably plant them right alongside the lettuce growing in what most would call a flower bed in front of my cottage.  Even though there are no flowers in it and the sago palm died in the winter cold this year…….This week has been amazing one of several healings for people - some repeats and some first-timers.  If you haven't had a chance yet, make an appointment.  We are continuing our $20 rate since many people are coming for a treatment and we want all who are interested to get a chance.   Todd and I are both doing this work with Spirit and are humbled by the opportunities to help others that are arising.. …… May your day be filled with lovingkindness!