A year later

It's December 14th, 2009. Almost a year has gone by since I have posted anything. A whole YEAR! As my mind scrambles to look back I don't even know where it went! What have we done? How have we grown? Where are we going? Where have we been? This year there will be ten in our home for Christmas. David has been gone for three months and returns this Friday. Three months. Far too long. There were visits to Boston, a visit to Spain and even then we only saw a glimpse of David.

Baby Yoga

YIN TO THE RESCUE

Please help me be stronger. Somebody. Anybody. When it comes to man's inhumanity towards one another

and towards animals I find my inner sanctuary blow up into a million tiny pieces. Here I have been feeling great, wonderful, peaceful, joyful, my heart blooming, my spirits lifted, my Tadasana strong and rooted.

Then my friend sends me an email regarding animals being skinned alive in China. Hidden cameras focus in on bodies of  animals, hearts still beating, heaped in piles. One pup looks into the camera with bloodied battered eyes on top of the pile, the email warns. I couldn't watch the videos. To imagine is enough. I don't have the strength for it. I feel my own body being skinned alive. The hairs on my head stand up and I roil with emotions far stronger than hate. What do I do? What do any of us do?

I headed straight for the floor to do Yin yoga. Saddle, Shoelace, Sleeping Swan, Forward Bend, Butterfly.

Crying, breathing, swearing into the poses until I feel the micro- movements of my connective tissue opening up.

Relax the mind. Open the heart. Encourage compassion and creativity, calmness, gentleness, courage, SURRENDER.

YIN for the soul. What else can I do?

Filming Tadasana

David helped me film my Tadasana and it wasn't as easy as it looks. Take after take after take. Fumbling and stumbling through words and noises, tweaks and twists,  I finally decided, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH." While I could criticize the heck out of my delivery I'm choosing not to. 

I am intrigued by Tadasana - it says so much about who we are and how we feel about ourselves. No matter the size or shape of our physical bodies, we all have our very own special and unique "Tadasana." 

Find yours today.

              Tadasana  /  Mountain Pose

No Cost Retreat

An incredible morning of peace and quiet. No need to question this gorgeous summer like weather in January. Just go with it. Morning yoga at The Gables went very well. The woman in question was there once again to stretch ribs, neck, shoulders, arms, hands and legs and feet. We talked about living in the present moment and focused on our breath.

Once home I realized I had the house to myself until the girls came home from school. No need to answer any phone calls. They can leave a message. No need to say anything. Simply listen to the day. Birds singing, the drone of airplanes in the azure blue sky, dogs barking down the street. Plenty of stillness and quiet.

I loaded a laundry basket with my yoga mat, blanket, bolster, strap and pillows and headed for the back yard under the shade of our wise old oak tree. Two hours of deliberate breathing, stretching and navigating the inner realms of my body temple. Meditating with the trees and flowers. Heaven on earth.

Who says you have to spend a fortune at a spa. Just make a decision to have your own!

I am so grateful.

Paradox

I'm overdue in writing. The holidays have come and gone. My parents have come and gone. A New Year has begun (even though there is no such thing as time.) My daughters are back in school. We got Juniper through this last episode with her back and now she is a "low lifer" forced into a more mellow, supervised existence. Stay low, Junie, stay low.
Our weather is HOT. It was 85 degrees yesterday. While the warmth of the sun feels good it is also a reminder that "anything goes" these days in terms of weather. The plants are confused as to what season it is - as are all of us. Is winter over? Do we put the coats back in the closet? But no! It can't be! It's January! We need more rain! We haven't had enough time to chill! We haven't had the opportunity to hibernate and go within. It isn't natural!!! ...What is natural?

Last night I did almost two hours of YIN yoga and then I slid into bed like silk. Feeling relaxed, open, and peaceful I woke up that way too. I called my dear friend and she was sitting next to the shell of her mother who had passed away only hours before. Later in the morning while walking the dogs around the neighborhood I talked with my other dear friend who told me the results of her PET scan revealed spots on her bones, only months after she finished grueling chemotherapy and radiation for lung cancer. Now she has more treatment to do. I slapped my cell phone shut and shoved it into my jeans pocket. SHIT!

Birds were chirping. The sun felt  warm and soothing. The sky was blue. Orange and avocado trees were bursting abundantly with their fruits.

Hold paradox in every moment and do not waver!! Do not waver! Do not waver!

I took over Robert's class at The Gables last week. I am filling in for him as he is on vacation. Two more classes to go. We stretched in our chairs, tilted our heads, rolled our wrists and elbows, rounded our backs, lifted our knees, gently twisted our torsos. I offered a reading on enthusiasm. I got the impression that one woman didn't care for me. But I also got the impression that she might not care for anyone. Limited to a walker I suspect her world feels small. Is she resentful? Angry? Has her life been a good one? Are there regrets?

Compassion. Compassion. Compassion.

The seven other women were open, receptive, smiling and enthusiastic. Help me have a good attitude as I age! Please!

The fifth grade yoga went well on Friday. I had each child pick a yoga pretzel card and lead the group in the pose from the center of our circle. We went on an imaginary journey to our "beautiful place" and they loved it.

My home yoga continues. For the month of January I have two women. A semi-private class and they are both thrilled. They get loved and pampered while they stretch and hang. How lucky!

From the outside it appears the world is falling apart. Old systems are breaking down. Violence, greed and corruption are being revealed at high levels. People are losing jobs, homes, and security. Is there ever really security?
Or has it always been an illusion?

A toast to a New Year. A rebirth. A new way of Being in the world of materiality. To the next step up in the evolution of our human species...or not.