.....winter's clarity

Yogis,

Thursday morning was 18 degrees with that piercing bright sunlight that you only get when it sits low in the sky. The type of weather which creates crystal clear air where you could swear that your eyesight has improved. This type of weather shouts the word ‘clarity’ to me. 

Visiting the creek, the water glistens. As you approach it appears like glass providing a clear view of what lies beneath. Nothing murky or clouded. No wondering or guessing. No leaf cover on the trees to cloud my vision of the eagle that takes flight above my head. 

My trusty dog and I hike the trail and it too is clear. As she sails through the trees I can still see her lifted tail off in the distance, before she stops on a dime and arrives back so quickly you would swear she was flying. Only a few lone people, also with their trusty dogs, cross our path. Time for listening. Time for seeing. Time for hearing my breath.

Days like these also offer up a much clearer schedule than the hustle and bustle that accompanies warmth.  The colder the days……the less there seems to be to do. Time to be.

I mentally add all of these to my list.

Several years ago at this time of year I set the intention to see what I was grateful for in the winter season. For too many years I mumbled all the things I disliked about the season. It’s easy to find fault. To think it, share it, dwell on it. It takes more awareness to find the hidden gems in those things that most challenge us. Winter had always been my challenge. So, I started a list. 

The magnificent work of art that trees become when they shed their leaves. How the sky suddenly becomes so much bigger. The way I can see the full moon rising out my window through the bare branches. Making a pot of soup and having it on the stove for several meals. Being able to head up to bed to read at 8:00 with no guilt.  A warm cup of tea in my hands. The sensation of dropping down into the hot tub.  How most of my classes are done by candlelight.  The indescribable coral color of the sunrise as I meditate each morning….it takes my breath away….and the way the light reflects off the trees on its way down each afternoon. 

The start of a New Year is a time to set intention. As you begin to uncover the change you want to create, I offer the possibility of not removing something or even creating something new, but perhaps finding the gifts that lie within what is already here. The practice of gratitude for what is has the power to change your relationship with the life around you. I know it has for me and my new friend, winter.

Happy New Year!

I just need better gloves,
SARAH

Last call for 'Moon Month Meditation!  Leap into 2018 with me and together we will find a deeper inner calm.  Details in tab above....

......preparing

Yogis,

There are a few events each year that cause me to get the house in order. Our annual Lobsterfest, hosting a summer party, Goddess events…….and especially Christmas. 

You know what I mean? When suddenly you begin to see your house the way others who aren’t always there will. The clutter on the counter that has slowly accumulated. That missing bulb in the overhead fixture that hasn’t really been missed since there are four others. How the towels have begun to look a little nubby and sad and the spreading cobwebs on the front porch.

It begins a couple of weeks before the arrival of our 12 family members who will be here for a few days. And this year I decided to throw a complete bathroom gut and renovation to the mix! Workmen, dust, plumbing parts and trash lining the upstairs hall until Thursday afternoon. My heaven-sent cleaning crew then sweeps in and I take a deep breath, foolishly feeling as if all is now ok.

But no. As always I begin to bite off probably more than I can, or should chew.  Friday I find myself touching up paint, hanging a mirror on a plaster wall (which is no easy feat and involved several bent nails) and crawling around on my hands and knees to wipe out corners and clean the risers on the staircases. And each time I tackle one thing, my eyes notice three more. 

By Saturday morning my hands are cracked and I have several small painful annoying cuts on my fingers. A reminder of my last minute zest.  Only hours remaining until the arrivals begin.

Finally the sense of ‘enough’ seeps in.  Of course there is more that can be done, and of course I vow to do them after the holidays…..which may or may not happen. Enough.  

It is now time for my favorite part. Once the house has been cleared and shined I love to set little bud vases throughout with fresh flowers and cuttings from whatever is growing around me at the time.  Bringing the outside in.  I place them on bedside stands, the back of toilets, on shelves and on tables so that as we all move about the house we are greeted by life at each turn. They smile at us, and I smile back.

By the time you receive this all thirteen of us will be drinking champagne and eating cheese and crackers around the fire. The floors will once again be sprinkled with pine needles and crumbs, and shoes will line the foyer…….. but the small clipping of my prickly pine tree will send me a wink from across the room. 

And I will know that I did enough.

Merry Christmas to all!

SARAH

One week to Moon Month Meditation!

January is a blank slate. No better time to learn a new life habit. I make it painless, easy to do and fun! And you don't even have to leave your house......  Details here: 

The Journey

.....I couldn't make this up

Yogis,

It all began with a small article in the Washington Post last week revolving around proper gift giving in this holiday season. The writer shared a list of what not to buy and some possible alternatives. One of the items on the list was a calendar. Her view was that most of the world has now moved on to electronic calendars.

Now I have always had a wall calendar, or even two, going in my home. And although I no longer write my appointments on there, I still put in big events and notations to myself.  Like the small red dot I have begun using as I make my way through menopause, indicating the beginning of a cycle since they now can be weeks or perhaps even months apart. Without this visual reminder I would have no sense of time in this unchartered territory. Or a note on the day I plant some new seeds and a mark when I discover a sprout.

Many calendars also display the new and full moons and by seeing those daily I stay tuned in to the energy above. Seeing the whole month of May on one sheet gives it perspective and I look forward to that day of turning the page to see the pictures and quotes for June. Through my calendar I watch time move.......

Jump ahead to Friday afternoon when I am writing the invitation for the ‘Moon Month Meditation’ that I will lead in January (come with me!).  I noted how January is unique in that you cannot turn the page to get there.  You must remove the whole calendar and begin again with the one still sitting in its wrapper waiting in anticipation to see what will be placed within its daily boxes.  As I wrote, the article and electronic calendars came back to mind.

With an electronic calendar there is no turning of the page. There is no beginning nor an end. Nothing to touch or feel.  And on January 1^st you no longer have the physical weight of last year’s calendar in your hands as you flip back through the months moved by how much life there was in there.  Then that small tug you feel at the heart when you must finally release it into the trash bin.  Letting it go as the blinding emptiness of the one you now hold up looks deep into your eyes.  What will you create here, it asks. 

All of the above pouring into me as I sat in front of my screen.  “But calendars are a January discussion” my mind piped in. “You can’t write that now. You will have to remember these thoughts in a couple of weeks for your blog”

Just then I heard the tell tale short single knock on the door with the sound of something dropping.  Followed immediately by warning barks from Phoebe.  A package must have arrived!

I open the door and know immediately. A flat rectangular package lies at my feet. My mouth drops open. I don’t even have to look at the return address to know this is from my aunt. The one who sends me a new calendar each Christmas. 

I burst out in loud laughter.  Ok, Universe, I shout!!  My heart swelling with joy for the small daily miracles that make life so breathtaking. 

So there you have it………it is indeed calendar week.  Good thing I am not a fiction writer as I could never have made this up. 

Hang out with the moon and me in January,

Sarah

Moon Month Meditation details in tab above!  

Conscious Creating....and finally, grace

Yogis,

Today is the final chapter in the Conscious Creating series.  At least for now. 

Each spring as I plant my garden I consciously create.  I begin by spending time out there.  Sitting silently on the rocks, noticing the space, remembering what I learned last year and beginning to listen inwardly to uncover what I want to plant. Perhaps this year it is more vegetables, or maybe it’s time to finally plant black cohosh and wild yam a little further down my path into the woods.  I begin to visualize what it will all look like in July in full bloom. I ‘see’ it.

I start to ‘do’ by pouring through the seed catalogs, waiting for some to ask to be ordered.  Leaning in but remaining flexible as the Universe may offer some new ideas.  I till the ground with care and plant the seeds.  Daily watering and visits where I send gratitude and trust that when the time is right I will begin to see sprouts as they push their way up through a crack in the earth.  I watch for signs of when to thin, prune or transplant….listening to the plants themselves who never fail to teach me. 

But there is still that one piece of creation that I can’t do.  That invisible spark or life force that at some moment in time takes the pure potential in that dormant seed and turns it into a living growing creature.  The same magic that brings all things to life and makes all things possible. It creates rainbows after a summer rain and heals us from our winter colds. And it lies within each breath I take. This is grace………and it is a gift.

This path of conscious creating asks us to be present, to live life with purpose and to do.  But at the end of the day it also requires us to surrender. Completely. 

My teacher always talks to grace as the waterfall.  The waterfall is always there. Always pouring down.  Always giving of itself.  The question is how often are you positioning yourself beneath and opening to receive it? 

Here I offer you one simple way to make this connection daily.  To stop for just a moment beneath the falls…..

Hitting the high note is of course optional…..but definitely recommended 😊

For me, the ‘positioning yourself beneath’ is found within my practice of yoga.  The consistent dedication to the movement of my body to open the energy channels, daily meditation to be in touch with my soul, and the watching of my breath.  The fountain breath sequence is part of every class I teach and each practice that I do.  Even when I don’t feel like it…….and never do I regret it.

What is it for you?  Do you find the time to offer the gifts of self-care and inner reflection to yourself?  Are you able to let go so completely that you can feel the arms of the Universe holding you up?  Allowing yourself to get soaked.

We are coming into the season of winter.  Here on the east coast we got our first taste of the icy cold that we knew would eventually arrive yet always comes as a surprise.  Winter is the season to go inside.  Physically, but also mentally and emotionally.  The calendar is less full providing open time for you to reacquaint yourself with those inner spaces that matter the most. Turn off the tv and walk away from the computer.  Make a cup of tea and cuddle up with your favorite blanket.  Close the eyes, open the crown of the head and allow the pouring in of grace. 

With this final special ingredient, you are unstoppable. Go and create!

Humbled by grace,
SARAH

Coming in January
Moon Month Meditation!
A month of daily emails, videos and inspiration to kick off 2018 with a meditation practice that guides you from one full moon to the next.  
Once in a blue moon.......
Details to follow

Conscious Creating......I vibrate

Yogis,

I notice…..I want…… I see…… I do…… I trust……I am grateful….. I speak up…….and I connect.

I AM.

But who is this ‘I’? 

I have been starting my classes with chanting over these last several months. Using sacred sounds and words to clear our energy, open the heart and send out vibration. It feels great! Then two weeks ago at a yoga fundraiser we were treated to a gong bath where you lie on your mat, completely relax and soak in the vibration of the gong. Another vibration reset. 

The next day I was reading the blog of the gong sound healer and she spoke to how the vibrations of the gong, crystal bowls and chanting are indeed healing. But that their deepest gifts lie buried below. They are our guides into the silence. Yes, yes, yes!  Suddenly something clicked.

Each time I chant, it is that second immediately following where I find the deepest peace. Where the silence is so loud that I can hear it. The sound is the path. The silence is where we are headed.  I realize that the same can be said for the physical asana practice. We move, open energy channels and send breath through all to be able to arrive in complete stillness. 

Take a cleansing breath now and then watch this 10 second video….

I vibrate......

We live in a noisy world. Bombarded daily with the beeping of our phones, appliances, computers and clocks. The tv, traffic and talking gas station pumps have become our background. Web sites startling us as they yell out, no longer even waiting for our consent and newspapers telling us how we should feel by sending their energy our way. All of these with their own vibrations that we then begin to mirror.

So who is this ‘I’?  It can be hard to tell sometimes.

I have been doing a lot of walking on trails through the woods with a friend and our dogs these last few weeks. We came upon this stream, got still and listened. In that sound I was reminded of the silence.  I could hear it even through the sound of the water. A vibration reset. A gentle tap on the shoulder whispering to vibrate as me. The me that is unchanging and observes this outer world. The me that longs to be heard.

Everything we seek can be found in the silence and the stillness.  There are many paths that lead there but you must choose one and follow it.

‘I’ am a unique vibration in the symphony of life. ‘I’ am still.  ‘I’ am free. ‘I’ am sending me out to the world. Can you feel me?

I can create anything,

Sarah