.....belly breathing

Yogis,

As last weekend’s experience at the meditation workshop at the Himalayan Institute ‘digests’, there are several benefits I am experiencing. One in particular coincidentally has to do with the belly.

We spent much of the weekend being reminded about relaxing and be focused enough to allow the belly to receive the breath.  This breath pattern is diaphragmatic breathing. Also referred to as abdominal breathing it occurs when we are taking deep complete breaths. The lungs become full which pushes the diaphragm downward causing the belly to rise and it is a magic pill for health!

Lowers blood pressure, releases serotonin (the feel good mood stabilizer), lowers blood sugar, slows aging…..

We were born breathing this way.  If you watch a baby’s breath the first thing you notice is how much movement there is in the stomach. But we grow up and life tends to put a ‘belt’ around our waist, sending our breath high up into the chest. We become habitual shallow breathers. Never taking a life affirming full breath. 

So I watched my belly in meditation, throughout yoga classes, when I was falling asleep and driving the 4 ½ hours home!  Although I am a pretty good breather due to my many years of yoga……I realized I still have a lot more potential.

So here I am, relaxed and breathing, uncovering what I want and visualizing it daily.  But something is lacking.  Last night I heard it loud and clear.  I am not stepping forward.  I have built the inner fire but I haven’t using it.  Like putting up the twinkly lights, a tablecloth on the picnic table and building a hearty fire in the fire pit, but not inviting anyone to sit with me. 

Having strong, balanced, bright fire energy in the core asks us to step into the unknown in order to create change.  We must ‘do’ and I haven’t been.  So I woke us this morning and stepped into the uncomfortable.  I made a video – my first attempt – and I am sending it out.  Yikes!

The Universe has told me I need to use some video, has sent people into my path to remind me (you all know who you are) and gives me not so gentle nudges every so often, but I have resisted. Too revealing. I don’t know how. I won't look good. What if someone doesn’t like it. To net it out…..it won’t be perfect. 

What is one small step forward you can take this week toward something you desire? What messages have you been receiving that are easier set to the side until ‘some time’ or ‘one day’? Breathe into the belly and listen.

As my Dad says 'Good enough!"  There we have it. Some ‘doing’.  Baby steps are all that are required and I have taken one.  Feels good! 

Seeing what I want,
SARAH

....the high notes

Yogis,

One of the worst feelings is being sick to your stomach…….

Right there  - where we naturally place our hands - is the location of Manipura chakra – the energy of fire. Our sun!

Manipura is our engine. It is where we create our energy, heat and light. Our vitality. It is our ability to take in and digest. So we tend to think of food. We all know that when we eat the wrong foods we end up with bloating, indigestion or an upset stomach. But we digest a whole lot more than food.

Everything that enters us must be digested well, or will cause an upset. Everything! This includes the words we read, the images we see, sounds we hear, smells, tastes and situations we encounter. These are all food for our emotional and spiritual bodies. And what is going on in those levels will absolutely impact our physical digestion and life’s movement forward.

When we watch too much negative and fear based news we began to contract, similar to cramps, keeping us up at night.  Occasionally reading ‘trashy magazines’ is like an occasional cookie, but having them as our daily bedside reading is a sugar laden diet. When the ears receive only radio and tv while missing out on the sounds of the birds and wind chimes it resembles a plate of all white and yellow foods, missing the depth of the dark greens. Gossiping would be like that bag of chips where you say you will only have one, only to find the bag empty in a half hour. 

And don’t forget our thoughts! Seeking revenge would be too many of those hot peppers and blaming others is the thick cream laden sauce which disguises the taste of what lies beneath.  

Everything has a vibration and we want to ‘ingest’ that which has the highest vibration.  Imagine the vibration of a just picked ripe red juicy strawberry and compare that to a box of Stove Top Stuffing.  Not unlike the difference between hanging out at the bar all day versus standing under a spring fed waterfall. When handed ‘life’s menu’ each day, take the time to choose well. 

When our ‘life diet’ is balanced and clean our energy runs like a well-oiled machine.  What comes in gets processed and released with no oil build up left behind.  Our inner light is bright and we exude warmth and self-confidence. Our engine starts with the simple turn of the key so we can meet daily challenges with ease and continue our movement forward. When Manipura is healthy it is our ‘City of Jewels’. 

Does your engine need a tune up? Over this week notice your ‘diet’. When you have free time observe what you tend to read, look at on the PC, watch on tv and talk about with friends.  Be as diligent with these…. if not more so….than the food that passes your lips.

I have just walked in the door from a weekend with my sister at a  meditation retreat up in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Hiking, yoga, meditation, vegetarian food and rest. A complete buffet of yummy high notes!  I hope to write more about it……once it has time to digest.    

Shining my light,
SARAH

.....deer medicine

Yogis,

A couple of weeks ago Phoebe came back from the woods with this for me…….

A deer skull.  I have always wanted a deer skull.

We each have a power animal. An animal whose spirit resides within us, increasing our own power and protecting us from illness. Somewhat like a guardian angel. Or a life guide. I have known for some time that mine is the deer.

They are typically animals from the wild but can be mammals, sea creatures, reptiles or insects.  Some of you will know right away what yours is as you read this. Perhaps an animal that you love to look for, read about, draw or have on some of your clothing or jewelry.  Maybe as a child you collected their figurines or pictures. Others may want to ask the Universe to show you yours and then notice what animal keeps appearing in your life over the next couple of weeks or months.

We all also have spirit guides that come in and out of our lives at different times when we need their guidance, but our power animal is a lifelong partner. When you discover yours it will fit beautifully and there will be no question. By invoking its essence it will intensify your innate natural abilities.

When I received the skull I went back to my book and on line to read again about what the deer medicine is. 

‘Deer’s medicine includes gentleness in word, thought and touch. The ability to listen and appreciation for the beauty of balance. Understanding what’s necessary for survival, the power of gratitude and giving, and a connection to the woodland goddess. You have a propensity to see new innocence and freshness in life everywhere ’

‘Deer medicine give the knowledge of how to use the power of gentleness to touch the hearts and minds of wounded beings in your life. Deer has the gentleness of spirit that heals all wounds. Deer does not push to get others to change. Deer loves them as they are.’

When an animal is your ‘totem’ it helps you to receive and embody its energies. When you do, it is a power within that aids you in personal healing, as well as healing others and the world around you. 

One of the sites recommends that when you come upon deer you should say ‘hello’ as if greeting an old friend. I have always done that to show them I am no danger to them. But I was reminded of it this afternoon as I came upon this small herd. As I yelled hello and waved, they quickly formed a line and turned toward me in unison. 

I knew it was time to write about deer medicine. 

What is your power animal?

Grateful to the gentle deer,
SARAH

....did you hear that?

Yogis,

Let’s take a pause together…….Become very still. Completely still. Even stiller. Now listen. What do you hear?

Listen more. A layer deeper. What else is there? Expand wider.

I am sitting outside and while I wrote the above I heard the buzz of a bee, a neighbors voice, several birds, a fly, the sound of my typing. Then I listened more and could hear the cars on the beltway, the rustle of leaves and someone walking. Wind chimes, a car door and a plane.

I go deeper.  A ball bouncing, phoebe’s tags.  My breathing. 

I went to hear Dr Eric Pearl speak on Friday.  He founded what is now known worldwide as Reconnective Healing after suddenly receiving  the ability to heal others through the use of a connection with the Universal energy.  Most of his healings are instant and last a lifetime.  He began his talk by having us practice active listening.

We all hear a lot.  In fact almost too much as our society becomes louder.  But hearing and listening are two distinctly different processes. We hear naturally and most times as the noise translates in our brain to a word, we aren’t even aware. It is a receptive process. With active listening you are engaged. You are the doer.  Reaching out with not only your ears, but the whole body. Once you find a sound you stay with it for a while to hear it’s levels, quality and how it changes over time. All of this done with your eyes wide open. It is a tuning in.

It is no different than the vast difference between looking and seeing.  We look in a mirror several times a day but how often do you actually ‘see’ yourself. When is the last time you ‘saw’ a piece of broccoli or the color of your walls. Look to your left right now. What do you ‘see’?

So I have been practicing active listening as I garden this weekend. What I am finding is by tuning in through one sense, the others also become heightened. The mind slows. Suddenly your surroundings become more alive.  More vibrant.  That is the frequency on which the Universe communicates. That is where Dr Pearl discovered healing.

See the toad above? As I leaned in to scoop out even more leaves from the garden he leaped out.  Both days from different piles! I sat with him for a while. Listening. 

No, I am not going to ‘hear’ the toad’s voice but in ‘seeing’ him and ‘listening’ we both relaxed.  I watched his throat move in and out.  He watched me continue to work and I had a chat with him while I held his photo shoot. I thanked him and was sure to leave him an uncleared patch in which to hide. 

For me it has been the plants that have been my teacher for this process. They are constantly sharing new information with me……but only when I actively engage with them. Slowing down to move at their pace.  Listening, Feeling and Seeing. Meeting them at their vibration. They have a lot to say.

As humans we are loud.  Find the time to be quiet and listen to the world. It has a lot to say.

Now what do you hear?
SARAH

....a life garden lesson

Yogis,
My garden never ceases to teach me.  Any time I am in there on my knees, hands in the dirt is like taking a course at Plant University, and it is without doubt part of an advanced degree……..

This was cleanup weekend. That time each year where I have to remove all of the leaves and sticks by hand as a rake is much too harsh for all my newly emerging friends who are seeing light for the first time. Then it’s time to dig out the weeds.

Let me start by defining weeds. Weeds are simply plants in a place that you don’t want them.  Most of them are quite beautiful if you take a moment to really see them and many have incredible health benefits, but some of them have a habit of taking up more real estate than I carved out for them. So I dig away and of course some of them are a little stubborn and it takes some elbow grease.  I am in there for quite a while.

Each year there will be one type that has managed to fill much of the empty space.  I don’t ‘want’ them there.  But the more I dig them up the more of them I find. But this year I realized something.

What do I want there?  Nothing remains empty. The Laws of the Universe don’t work that way. So what is it that I would I love to see when I remove that wet clump of leaves?

Each year as I have discovered new medicinal plants and brought them into the circle they  become established, fill in and take some of the space that the other plants used to hijack. The brand new red bee balm that I had always wanted was given to me by a friend from her garden this winter and is taking root nicely. The St John’s Wort which was planted by seed three years ago with no success finally took off running last year. Another friend’s Lenten Rose seedlings bloomed beautifully this year on large stems for the first time.  All in spots where my previous focus was on ‘getting rid of.’

I have been setting intentions on what I didn’t want instead of what I do want. We do that in life all the time.

There will be something in life that is no longer serving us.  We worry, plan, struggle against all in the hopes of getting rid of it. Pushing it away, when instead we could be using that same effort to visualize and step toward what we do want. When we fill our minds with a clear vision of what we do want, the negative thoughts have no space to root. Each morning when we rise and do one thing in the direction of something we want, that which we don’t want begins to be slowly crowded out.  But if I leave that space empty and leave it to chance, then I get what I get.

The more I can fill my life with all that I do want even while the unwanted remains, the sooner I can claim the space as my own. Don’t spend time merely pulling the weeds. Plant seeds instead!

Our life is our garden.  Plant it with care……

Thank you garden!
SARAH