......the pope wave

Yogis,

You know the wave they do at big sporting events?  The one where  a few people stand up and wave their arms up into the air and then back down, followed by those next to them, and then those next to them. 

It takes a while to get it going.  First everyone has to notice that it is happening, then they have to decide to join in, and finally the timing has to be just right.  But when that all comes together it is a rush of energy that connects everyone there.

The pope’s visit reminded me of that.

This week began on Monday with International Peace Day and in last week’s blog I suggested that we all take a few moments that day to send out the energy of peace.  The following day the pope arrived.

I didn’t attempt the trek down into the city, but I could feel his presence right away.  Most were told to work from home so there was a pause in traffic and the frenzied DC rush.  The tv, newspaper and radio chronicled  his journey while  others who had been physically near him shared their stories. Everyone arriving  to classes with thoughts on his visit.  There was suddenly a lightness to the air.  An excitement. The wave had made its way into the suburbs. 

Possibly I felt the wave because I just completed leading the fourth week of Thank you September! – a month of guided meditation and gratitude. Or maybe it was these last two weeks of extremely deep heart opening movements that we did in classes.  Or perhaps we are all just finally ready to hear something new. 

No words of toughening, but instead of softening.  No speeches on the greatness of some, but of the good in all.  Compassion for others, not protecting ourselves.  Connections vs walls.  An open hand.  Tolerance. Love. Peace. A breath of fresh air.  The wave had brought a sense of hope. 

I noticed.  I decided I wanted to participate……..and I felt like the timing was perfect.  My arms are up in the air!  NY you were next and now it is Philly’s turn.  Have you felt it where you are?  Are you joining in?

I am at the beach and just returned from the store. A gay gentleman in front of me in line was saying ‘Pope for president’.  The wave has definitely made it to Delaware.

….posting a little early so I can go and watch the full moon rise!

There will only be peace when we find peace within ourselves,
SARAH

....what you send comes right back

Yogis,

Here I am.   Twenty days into the thirty days of meditation and gratitude that I am currently leading.  I am reminded how whenever you teach something, you learn.  Because whatever you send out comes back to you……………..

Our focus this month has been on noticing what we are sending out. We are energy beings and every thought, emotion, action and intention emits a unique energy vibration. A frequency which attracts the same frequency back toward you. Like attracts like. 

However when we live our lives unconsciously, it feels as if these things are happening to us, instead of us choosing to create them.  That is where meditation comes in.  Meditation is a pause. By taking a specified time every single day to sit and notice, we start to see our habits. We watch the stream of thoughts that pour through our minds becoming intimate with them, and recognizing what vibration we are sending out. Learning to observe without attaching. 

We each are made up of all of them…..anger, joy, frustration, calm, love, fear, anxiety, compassion. They each make us ‘feel’ different. So which of them do you want to cultivate and which do you choose to diminish?

The other night I was thinking of a friend and suddenly found myself feeling jealousy.  Not a sensation that feels very pleasant.  It would be easy to add in a story –  she looks better, has more, gets life handed to her, blah, blah, blah.  Until the whole evening now has a negative feel to it and I feel small.

Or when this happens – you notice (it’s a big step just to notice!!), watch it without judgment or a story, let it fade, and choose which vibration you want to replace it with.  At that moment I chose gratitude for all that I have and for her friendship, shifting my awareness into my heart until I could feel a spark of gratitude energy and then sending it out into the space in front of me. Being grateful draws more things to be grateful for right back. Now that feels a whole lot better!

Tomorrow, 9/21, is International Peace Day.  Everyone says that they want peace, but what does the vibration of peace feel like?  If we want peace for ourselves, in our lives and even in our world, we all must begin to vibrate at the frequency of peace.  Everyone.  We have to choose peace.  Let’s try it tomorrow! Whenever you catch yourself with a thought or energy that does not bring you peace….. stop, notice, watch, let it fade and tune into your peace vibration.  Send it out in to the world! 

Just imagine if everyone in the world did that tomorrow at the same time……

We can create anything that we want,
SARAH

.....I never kill a bug

Yogis,

I never kill a bug.

I have never been a big bug killer and I still remember my father carrying spiders outside. But I did keep a trusty can of Raid under the sink, swatted some flies and have been known to throw my shoe at a spider. In college my closet had camel crickets and I would spray them with Lysol (not exactly sure why…but not sure about a lot of the things I did in college). 

But I have noticed over these last several years that the longer I follow yogic practices, the further away I become from being able to take the life of an insect. To take the life of anything really. It doesn’t feel right.

Bee in my office – I open the windows get a broom and escort her out. Stinkbugs get scooped up in my hand and shown the door. Small beetles that somehow end up in my sink or tub and have spent all night climbing up the side only to slide back down, get handed a tissue to use as a ladder.  As ants arrive in the spring I find their path and sprinkle it with cayenne pepper which sends them marching right back out.  Bugs eating my garden - I look for companion plantings that discourage that particular insect. 

But what about mosquitoes?? I'm sure you give them a good slap when they land?  No, I simply shoo them away and kindly ask them to let me be.  Yes, really.   I actually energetically send out a message with my body.  Does that mean I never get bit?  No, but a lot less often.  And you know what?  Even when you get a lot of bites, they itch for an hour and then go away.  Killing mosquitos as they land on you is never going to end mosquito bites.  They need to eat too….and I have allowed the bats to nest in my eaves to keep the life cycle complete. 

It works with gnats as well.  This summer I actually made a study of observing people and their interaction with gnats.  When gnats are heavy I get stiller and again ask them to keep some distance.  Most people move and  swat and curse and try to kill them.  Many times they even go back inside.  You know what?  They get landed on a lot more than me.  Try it.  Get very still and relax.  Notice how they circle but don’t do a whole lot more than that when left alone to be gnats.  That which you resist……persists.

So this morning as I woke up I knew this was what I was going to write about.  I walked into my closet to get my yoga clothes and as I reached down a large striped spider ran onto my yoga bra.  Ahh!! Very funny Universe.  Testing me with something more challenging I see……   I took a deep breath.  But a bag next to him which he ran up.  Carried the bag ever so slowly (keeping a very close eye on him lest he decide to run up the bag and onto my arm), opened the window and set him on the ledge.  It felt right. 

Never is a such strong word.  Not one I am sure I can actually live up to…..but it is my intention.  And intention is what matters.

Saw my first praying mantis in the garden!

Making peace with all beings,
SARAH

....hills

Yogis,

It began on Friday.   What will I write about this week? 

I have been on vacation and in that mode of waking each morning only to that day.  Gliding through….run, tea, yoga, putter, beach, shower, drink on the deck, dinner, walk through town, bed.  Not looking back, but also not looking ahead.  So what was I going to write about on Sunday?

Each week there is some moment in time where the story begins to reveal itself.  But not this week.  Not on Friday.  Not on Saturday.  Not on Saturday night.  The whole night as I slept my dreams were new ideas floating up and then proceeding to pop like an air bubble.  Ugh, I will have to bring my pc to the beach and hope something comes to me.  But what if it doesn’t????? 

Oh no, my mind began to think – Writers Block!!!  It did feel like that.  Each idea hitting a brick wall - one after another.

So this morning in meditation I remembered what I teach.  I sat still.  I emptied my thoughts.  I stopped ‘trying’ so darn hard and asked and trusted that the Universe, as it always does, would guide me.  (just a note that after seven years this still takes a leap of faith for me…)

An hour later I am running and pass a beautiful blond and young guy at the bottom of a hill.  They were about to head up and I am coming down.  Obviously she was newer to running and he was coaching her along.  She was yelling “I don’t want to do this!” as he turned her up the hill.  She was laughing and loudly asking not to have to go up.  She yelled to me “you are heading downhill” to which I responded that I would very shortly be heading back up. 

‘Hills are your friend!’ I wanted to yell back to her as I would always remind my running group in our training runs for the marathon.  ‘Hills are what make you strong!!’

That was it, as the story came pouring in.  Crystal clear. 

Life is a series of hills.  Our challenges.  You may be heading up a steep incline and I may be breezing down a slow long slope.  But neither of us should become attached or begin to think that this is how life is, because in a blink of an eye you will be on the even flats and I will be putting my head down to climb again.    My supposed writer’s block was one such hill.  This time it was a mere bump and not a mountain, but who knows what the next one will be like.  Our hills are what bring us growth.  Challenge us to reach our potential.  Create our expansion.  Our greatness.  Without them we would be flat. 

So I will continue to remind myself over and over that ‘Hills are my friend!’......especially when they don’t feel like it.

No PC at the beach today – Thank you Universe,
SARAH