.....guidance

Yogis,
One of the things many of my students absolutely love when attending a workshop, reiki session, retreat or fire circle is the picking of oracle cards. Picking cards is one form of receiving guidance.

I was introduced to oracle cards by my teacher Neva, fifteen years ago. She had a set called Ascended Masters which contained 44 cards, each depicting a great spiritual teacher. Some had travelled this earth in human form, such as Jesus or Buddha. Gods or goddesses such as White Tara, and others who belong to the natural world, like Green Man. Each one holds their own lessons and messages. I too loved the cards.

Picking cards is a form of ritual. As with any ritual, you first want to become grounded and present. I always sit on the floor and wait until I can sense that I am aware. Watching the breath for a moment or two is a sure way to bring yourself to this moment. Next you shuffle, hold, knock on the top of them or place the deck against your heart. Some way of ensuring the cards have your energy infused into them.

You always want to use your left hand when asking for guidance. Our right side is our side of action. Of doing and giving. Sun energy. That is why most people are right-handed. The left side, however, is where we receive. Our calmer, cooler side. Intuition. The moon.

The cards are spread face down with the left hand and then you mentally ask for guidance on the situation you are inquiring about. You aren’t asking for the answer. Instead, you are requesting a message that will lead you to the answer. Or a sign that takes you to the next step of your path. If there isn’t any burning issue, you simply ask for life guidance. Where should my focus go.

You then select a card with the left hand. There are no right or wrong ways to pick. Some like to slowly run their left hand just above the cards to see if one ‘feels’ different. Or sometimes one seems to appear brighter or grab your attention immediately. As if it is yelling ‘pick me!’ If a card comes flying out, which happens sometimes…..that is the one. No need to think or dwell. Just pick!

Every set is different but the card will typically have a picture of the master, or animal or scene with either a word, a poem, or a message beneath. Then there is almost always a guidebook which provides more information on the guidance being given.  

Sometimes when you see your card it is like a lightening bolt. So dead on that you feel a tingle. Other times it may not make sense at the time. Perhaps it doesn’t seem to pertain at all to the question you asked. Give it time and space. Usually over the next day or week something will cross your path that makes you remember the card or message and connects the dots.

There are so many types of oracle cards. Angels, spirits, animals, the moon, herbs, flowers…… Choose a deck that speaks to you.

To receive guidance from the Universe (it is always pouring down on us, but we are often too embedded in our brains to sense it) we must be open. Watching and listening. Expecting to be lead. Wanting to be lead. Oracle cards are a simple and fun way to step into a guided life which is an exciting way to live.

Today I picked ‘Trust in the Magic,
SARAH

.....kindness

Yogis,
I was catching up with a young man that I hadn’t seen in a while. He had spent quite a bit of time with our family over his early years. He commented that it appeared my life was going well with my quickly expanding family, yoga and reiki offerings, gardening, beach house etc. He, being at one of those junctures in life where thoughts of what is next in career and relationships hang heavy, asked me how I did it. How I made it all happen.

The question was unexpected, but before my mind had even an instant to begin formulating my response, my mouth opened and the words ‘be kind’ came tumbling out. It clearly surprised him…….and honestly caught me off guard too. Where the heck did that come from?

I have been giving those words some space so I can tap into the well from which they sprang. I realize that I hold kindness as sacred. A basic tenet which forms a solid foundation for just about everything else to grow upon.

Kindness is not sexy. It’s not trendy. It’s not high tech, or efficient, or political. Kindness can sound fluffy or soft, but you know what? Kindness works and is pretty easy once you get in the groove. In fact, the kinder you are, the less struggle you face. Believing there is no need to beat someone, prove them wrong, make them see your point of view or get back at them is incredibly freeing! Kindness.

Be kind to people that look like you and those that don’t. Those that hold your beliefs and those that don’t.  Be kind to those you enjoy and those that annoy you. The cashier and the waiter. The stranger walking by……look them in the eye. Hold the door. Offer assistance. Let that car merge in….even though they rode the shoulder all the way up. Be an ear to those who need it.

The kindness I refer to pertains to people, but that is only the start. Bugs, birds, plants and trees all deserve our kindness. Even the air, the dirt and the water need our care. A touch. A word of gratitude. A clean birdbath for quick dips and long drinks. Brush for safety. A chemical free yard. Caring what happens to all around us.

I have been told at times that I am ‘too nice’ and will be taken advantage of. That is not my experience. Quite the opposite. Kindness is a gift you give and so many times unexpected gifts come back for things I was doing with no expectation of anything in return. Kindness begets kindness.

Am I always kind? No, of course not. But when I am not, an uncomfortable sensation settles in my gut and take some time to dislodge. It feels awful. Kindness on the other hand leaves a light joyful vibration behind. A tingle. It opens the heart a bit wider.

Each week as I am writing these notes I question myself. Is this a good topic? Does it make sense or matter?

Today while running back from the river a note written in chalk on the concrete wall of the underpass caught my eye. ‘Be Kind’ it said. Thank you, Universe!  Once again………..

Without kindness, what else matters,
SARAH

......mulberries

Yogis,
Walking down our main street I spot a man standing on a step ladder under a tree. His son stands patiently beneath holding a bucket. As he pulled the branches down he would carefully pick something off and hand it down. Mulberries.

Now I have walked under that tree, oh I don’t know, a thousand times, and never realized it was a mulberry tree. I did know that at times of the year the ground beneath it was stained with small blotches of purple, but for some reason I had never made the connection. I guess I didn’t grow up with mulberries in my life.

The next day on my way back from a run I stopped beneath it and picked a couple up off the ground and brought them home. A quick rinse and I popped one into my mouth. Not bad. Sweet A unique taste. It reminded me that at one point about 10 years ago when I was changing my diet, I was ordering dried mulberries for my yogurt. No thought about where they had come from though.

At this point, Phoebe also had never paid any attention to mulberries. I offered her one on my next loop around the block and she seemed pleased. Now we both knew what a mulberry was.

A few days later I went downtown to babysit my youngest grandson. Heading out into the backyard I recognized the large limbs of a neighbor’s mulberry tree hanging over the grass. Never before had I noticed. I reached up and nibbled on a few. I asked my son if they were eating them and he too wasn’t sure if that was a good idea. It is……

Friday arrives and we head downtown, Phoebe in tow, to watch the three grandkids for the weekend. We open the door to play in the backyard and Phoebe leads the way, making a beeline for the mulberry covered grass and proceeds to graze. And graze……and graze.  Clearly, she had developed a taste. Every time we go out that is her only interest. By Saturday night she had probably eaten a thousand.

Now as a mom, I have much experience with ‘what goes in, must come out’ and I am a bit concerned. I keep asking if she has done anything yet. Are mulberries ok for dogs? She certainly doesn’t seem any worse for the wear, but time, and her back end will tell.

‘Nana! There is a poop in the grass!’ I hear. Rushing out with bag on hand I discover a dark purple, yet firm, lump filled with thousands of seeds. This is exactly the process nature uses for plants to reproduce in action. What’s better than seeds laid in the dirt already surrounded by warm compost!

We also learn that weekend that putting lawn chairs under a mulberry tree to get shade is not a good idea. As squirrels and birds shake the branches, our hair, shirts and the chairs themselves are prime targets. Fingertips purple. Mulberry is definitely a messy tree.

Monday morning run I realize that I pass under four different mulberry trees. White berries just forming, red ones ripening, but it is the purple (almost black) ones that are ready for snacking. I pass a small pile left behind by some animal. I instantly recognized the color and, of course, the seeds! What goes in must come out……

I write this to say that this world surrounding us is packed with so many miraculous things and we only notice a fraction. Those trees have always been there. It was me that finally arrived.

As I tell my mulberry story many seem to have their own. Do you?
SARAH

.....like a tree

Yogis,
Every now and then as I walk, I can’t help myself. I take pictures of tree trunks. Many. There are just certain days when each one I pass somehow catches my attention. Not looking up to see the wide reach of their branches or the patterns created in the sky by their leaves, but looking straight ahead which puts me eye level with the trunk. This is where I sense their soul resides. What I see as I stop is a unique being who appreciates being noticed.

Tree trunks are amazing!

I was thinking about this while sharing a moment with my dawn redwood tree’s trunk while weeding this morning. Shreds of her rust-colored bark lay beneath her and rough knots resembling eyes faced in my direction. I have relationships with many plants in the natural world but trees hold a special place. They are the most like us.

A tree stands on the ground with roots spread wide like toes and an upright trunk like our torso, covered with a skin of bark. Branches extend to the sides like arms and the canopy of leaves closely resembles the top of our head. Both of us reaching for the sky.

Like humans every single trunk is different. Some dark and some light, while others like the sycamore, change their minds halfway up. Smooth like the beech which begs to have love notes carved into her surface or deeply ridged as the oak. There are those with excellent posture and those that are a bit curvy……even sensual perhaps. Some carry their warts with pride and others glow with a clear complexion. Yet each one magnificent when you look deeply. Like us.

They move through the seasons offering lessons along the way. Showing us that spring is for growth and renewal, summer to sit quietly under her shade, fall to let go of all that is not essential and taking time in winter for deep rest. And throughout they set the example of what it means to be strong and steady. Dependable. Stand close to a tree’s trunk and you can’t help but feel it.

What they breathe out, we breathe in. What we breathe out, they draw in with gratitude. The branching tubes of our lungs even resemble the root systems of many trees. 

In return I care for them when they are sick, call for help if they have a wound, trim their branches and rake up their leaves. I remove the ivy, and most importantly, give them my attention. Reciprocity.

I have hugged tree trunks, rested my back up against them and sat on their notches. There are certain ones that I pat each time I pass, ones that have watched over me on this property for thirty-five years now, and two small seedlings that I am nurturing in hopes they will become the grandfathers of the future.

What tree trunks are around you? Take a moment to notice. They will appreciate it!

Get to know a tree by its trunk,
SARAH

.......vertical living

Yogis,
While listening to an interview with Eckhart Tolle, a contemporary German born spiritual teacher, there was one image he used to describe time, and really life itself, that struck a chord. It has me viewing life from a different perspective. The image is of a cross.

Here was the basic tenet. The cross is made up of two pieces that exist on different planes. First there is the horizontal plane symbolizing how we view our time here as a human.  One end is our birth and the opposite end death. And everything in between is what we define as ‘our ‘life’. Education, experiences, marriage, children, careers, travel, material possessions, joys, sorrows……all happening on this straight line that runs from side to side.

We spend most of our time on this horizontal plane. Everything we do is ‘on the way’ to the next thing that we are going to do. I will get good grades in high school, in order to get high test scores, to be accepted into a competitive college, so I can get a good job allowing me to buy the house that I will fill with possessions. And there is nothing wrong with this way of life.

Yet there exists another plane. A vertical one and it is where it intersects the horizontal line that we discover this moment. The now. The here. The present (which by the way, is all that exists……)

The horizontal line, while long, is the surface. With our eyes trained straight ahead into what we believe to be the future, what lies above and below is blurry. It’s as if on a hot day we are walking along the banks of the lake and commenting on how pretty it looks when we finally decide to dive in. Only then do we realize the depths that this moment holds. The experience of feeling, tasting and smelling the water. Soaring downward before being lifted up toward the sun. Every sense organ awakened. Aliveness! Vertical living.

This moment, no matter when you become quiet and still enough to notice it, is always that deep. It is a full body immersion. Both up and down.

I find it helpful to create an image of this to use when I want to land here. One I am using is that as I stand tall, I am the vertical plane. Therefore, every time I stop I can open awareness to what is here. Two steps forward on the horizontal…..stop…..stand and be. Noticing what is happening over my head, around my body and below my feet. Standing inside the moment. The other is the diving into this moment. The actual image of diving in. Another option might be immersing yourself, like lowering yourself into a deep warm tub.

Yesterday I went down to the river and sat on a rock. It always takes five or ten minutes for my mind to slow down enough to find and greet the body. That’s when I fully arrive.

I noticed them. Six merganser baby birds being taught how to swim upstream.  They gathered in a group while the parents gave instructions. Bunched together they kicked as mightily as they could and had much to say about it all, until they were given the nod to relax and float downstream. This was followed by diving lessons. Some cue was silently given sending them all underwater one by one. Gone from sight. Below the surface. Quiet…..until each little head popped up with much exuberance.

Witnessing this with the breeze at my back, the warmth of the sun on my face and surrounded by the sounds, smells and beauty of the river, I had dived into the moment. It was magical.

Going deep,
SARAH

......rhododendron time

Yogis,
I expected the rhododendron to be blooming when I arrived last Friday, but the buds remained tightly closed. This bush was already here when we bought the beach house twenty years ago, sitting quietly to the left of the front steps. I don’t think I even noticed her to be honest. Fairly nondescript as it sat short of three feet tall. Fast forward and it now holds a prominent position in the front yard. She is my first and only rhododendron…so far.

I didn’t give it much thought until Monday morning while standing out front watering my newest plantings when something caught my eye. A small flash of fuchsia. Drawing closer I saw that indeed she was beginning her unfurling. Exposing her beauty for the rest of us to witness. When I drove home that afternoon, indeed my neighbor’s bush was blooming as well.

It’s rhododendron time!

I like to create and listen to playlists. Perhaps a throw back to growing up with albums where you knew the order of the songs by heart. As the last refrain of a song faded away you were already anticipating the beginning notes of the upcoming song in your head. There is something comforting in knowing exactly what is coming next. Spring to me is like a four-month long playlist.

The opening song is always my Lenten rose who dares to bloom in February. A late winter preview of what’s to come. The waltz of the early spring wildflowers follows with forsythia hymns and the ringing of bluebells close behind. Then the melody of dandelions and violets begin to dot the lawn leading into a crescendo of cherry blossoms.

Year after year the progression of songs doesn’t change. I listen for the first notes of the azaleas as April draws to her close and know the buzz of the bees that swoon over the early comfrey flowers is next on the list.

‘This is my favorite song!’ I think as the tulips open wide, but then I see the buds forming on the peonies and exclaim, ‘no this is my favorite song!’ not unlike what happens as I dance to my well listened to playlists. And we still have the summer and autumn playlists lined up ahead of us.

I learned something this year while being attentive. Rhododendrons and peonies bloom at the same time. Both old fashioned beauties. Together they weave a romantic melody that I will now hear in the years ahead.

Nature never disappoints…….

Rolling down the windows and turning up the music,
SARAH

.....horseshoe crabs

Yogis,
Did you know that horseshoe crabs are the oldest living animal? They have inhabited this earth for over 400 million years. Think about that for a moment. 400 million years. That means they were here even before dinosaurs and have changed very little in that time. That is some incredible staying power.

Although we call them crabs, they are an arthropod, more closely related to the spider and scorpion than the blue crabs we annually hit with mallets on a newspaper covered table at summer dinners under the stars. They can live to be twenty and find their nourishment in small creatures on the floor of the ocean and bays. They use their claws to crush the food and place it in their mouth which is found in the center of their ten legs.

I learned all this while participating in the annual Delaware Bay horseshoe crab survey……

When we signed up we had heard about the hundreds of thousands of horseshoe crabs that arrive in the Delaware bay and congregate at the edges of the water to spawn under the new and full moons of May and June. Arriving at 9:30 at night to a dark parking lot at the back of the state park we looked for the group and instead found only Rob, a science teacher who would be our leader. It took us a moment to realize that this was it, so with headlamps on, off we went.

Walking a kilometer along the shoreline to get to the starting point the full moon shone bright, lighting our path and making the water shimmer. The Chuck Will’s Widows, a relative of the whippoorwill bird, sang their songs loudly in the night marsh. No one else as far as the eye could see. As high tide arrived we began our counting.  Rob would walk six paces and we would all stop to look in the water. ‘Zero-zero’ was what he would announce most often. No females. No males.

Wait! There is a cluster. Two males holding onto a female, who is always much larger, with front claws shaped like boxing gloves. She, working hard to bury her bottom half in the sand to lay nearly 20,000 eggs, which the guys will then fertilize. These eggs then become a critical food source for the migrating birds who use the mid-Atlantic as a rest stop. Many other creatures, like slipper snails, depend on her shell to attach for shelter and egg laying. She is essential in the web of life.

Who is their main predator? Us, of course.

Fishermen cut them up as bait and their unique blue blood is widely used in our medical industry. Beach development is also shrinking their natural habitat. Now listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the endangered species list, work is underway to help protect these living fossils. Therefore…. the survey and bay events.

This weekend for me was all about horseshoe crabs but I realized it could be almost anything. As we spread ourselves wider and deeper we interrupt these natural cycles that in some cases have been going on for millions of years. We are seeing the evidence.

Diving in though can be a good first step. Taking the time to learn, understand and even hold each of the individual things which make this incredible universe work can make us want to protect them. Opening awareness. Building relationships. Seeing our interconnectedness.

We don’t want to be the ones who end a 400 million year streak……

We didn’t see thousands but saw enough to care,
SARAH