letting go to the flow.......part 2

Feeling Yogis,

As we flowed through the second week of the water element, and did a little shaking of our hips, there were 2 currents that flowed through me.  The first went something like this.

Let go, let go, let go, let go……………………..

……and then let go some more.

I was very blessed to be able to spend time by water on several occasions this week.  Here my foot rests at the edge of the river where I sat and watched.  The river has continuous movement, but without struggle.  Around the rocks, through the crevices, onto the banks.  And with each breeze a leaf would float down to gently land on her surface and be carried away.  Here one moment and gone the next. Impermanent.  Allowing itself to follow nature’s rhythm.  Incredibly peaceful and so freeing. 

Why can’t I do that?  Why can’t I just let go and be with what is here?

 

This weekend I was by the ocean.  Friday night sitting in the sand soaking in the full moon beams, and this morning under a clear blue sky and brilliant sun,  I found a nook next to a jetty to be alone. To feel.

Here is what came.  I lie back and flow until an emotion rises that I just don’t like.   Then I climb out onto shore to resist the current.   To resist the present moment.  But resisting the present moment is like putting out  your arms to hold back a large wave.  It is a tremendous expenditure of energy with a 100% guarantee that you will get no return on your investment.   The present moment just is.  You cannot change it.  When we learn to accept this moment completely, exactly as it is – then and only then can we jump back in and be in the flow. 

This isn’t an easy concept to grasp, much less to do.  You may say – “but that is settling”, or “by accepting it I am saying it is right or ok”.   But it isn’t that at all.  Accepting this moment in no way means that you don’t want differently for the future.  But in order to create new, we must release the past (earth) and be fully with what is right now (water).   Then from this point of complete freedom we can plant the seed of intention of what we desire (fire). 

Which brings me to the second current……

What is it that I long for?  What do I want? 

It seems so easy, but oh I find it so hard.   And the answer will never come from the mind.  Those mind wants are fleeting and when filled will satisfy for only so long.  What I want comes from a much deeper place.  I can feel it, and know that I have touched it in the past, but still haven’t found the words.  Maybe there are no words.

I listened to two talks this week that both kept coming back to the same message - that it is in our vulnerability that we find our power.   The willingness to move forward without knowing.   This struck a chord within.   A sense that if I  can become more vulnerable (which does not come naturally to me and is awfully scary), more transparent, and have the courage to allow all waves of emotion without numbing them,  that perhaps then I can let go……and in that process unleash those deepest soul’s desires.  Feel even more.

Because when all is said and done, and we look deeply into the water,  yes we can see the bottom  but at the very same time our own reflection as well. 

Become comfortable in the discomfort of your emotional nakedness.  ~Panache Desai

                What makes you vulnerable, makes you beautiful.  ~Brene Brown

Feeling vulnerable as I hit the send button,

SARAH

letting go to the flow........

Dear Damp Yogis,

Rain.  Rain.  Rain.    ………and then some more rain. 

And just when it would appear that it was letting up and the skies were brightening ever so slightly…..more rain. 

Steady heavy rain all week.

 

You couldn’t help but feel it.

I have been in a funk most of the week.  Part of it is probably due to the gray skies that come hand in hand with rainy days.  But I know that was just the trigger that brought it to the surface.   The steady, relentless stream of water caused me to feel something I would just assume bury.  That my funk is also tied to the time of year. 

I struggle every year during this transition to fall.  The evenings dark before I can even finish dinner, my garden slowly fading back, the chill that settles into my bones when I sit too long at my pc, and ……sigh….having to put my feet back into shoes to go outside.   It all makes me feel sad and a little hollow. 

I know for many of you it is quite the opposite.  People around me are thrilled for the nip in the air, the fall colors and Sunday football.  Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy many of the changes that fall brings, and I wouldn’t ever want to live somewhere that didn’t experience the wonder of earth’s magical ability to change seasons.  But when I look toward fall as a whole it appears to me as a long dark tunnel.  And I struggle. 

When I find myself in this state of mind I can only describe it as a longing.  The sense of “is this it?”.  A wanting for more.  A wanting for things to be different.   And the interesting thing when you observe your emotions is that they begin to entangle themselves into every aspect of your life.  Suddenly your job is not right, your activities feel stale and even your body suddenly appears more imperfect than usual when you glance in the mirror. 

This week we are working with Svadisthana, our sacral chakra, the element of water.  How fitting. 

The energy of water is receptive.  When we toss something into water, it is accepted fully.  Water opens herself up completely to wrap her arms around all that is placed within her.   Water does not struggle against, but changes form and flows easily around any and all obstacles. 

Water is the goddess.  Sensual, alive and open.  The tides and the current, and the radiance of the moon.  She is that part of us that is wild, instinctive and completely comfortable in our skin, without regard for what is happening on the outside.

Water makes us feel.

So my work right now is to let go.  To lie back in the current of the Universe and allow it – without this need to struggle.  To be able to separate what I feel vs who I am.   Recognizing that this funk is simply fluctuations in my mind, and that it, like everything outside of me is impermanent.  That soon I will be comfortable in the new season….and again in my own skin.  But for now to just let it be exactly as it is.  To LET it rain, soak in my tub and allow myself to feel what it is like to be low.  To wrap my arms around it.

Not easy.  But a lesson from the Goddess.

I couldn’t even coax Bunny Rabbit out in the rain last night,

SARAH

..........the silence of our inner being

Dear Yogis,

Where did your feet take you this week?  And were you really there…..

Life emerges out of the silence of our inner being.   And so began the reading I used by Reggie Ray this week, in an article titled “Busyness is laziness”. The simple message being that the busier we become, the more we can shut down our brain.  Being on a treadmill, making sure there are no empty spaces where we may have to actually touch that silence within.  That busyness is habitual, and the easy way out.  Here is a link to the full article if you would like to read it.  

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2008/09/dr-reggie-ray-busy-ness-is-laziness/

I would like to walk through a couple of practices that we used this week to help us slow down and begin to tap into that inner silence.  The present moment.  The stillness of the earth energy.

-         Notice the whole back of your body.  From the back of your head down to the tailbone.  Now visualize that absolutely everything that has happened up to this very moment is behind the body. Everything.  See it there.   Feel it there.  That is the past.  It no longer exists.
So on your next exhale send it a little further away from you.  Again and again……….
Now notice the center of your body – that line of energy that runs from the crown to the tailbone an inch or two in front of the spine.  Trace it with your breath.
This is where you find the present moment. This is where you begin to sense the silence of your inner being.
Simply notice it………………often

 

-        Sometimes when we are on that treadmill of life it seems that the past determines the future.  Things replay themselves over and over and over.  Like the old days when one of your albums had a skip in it, and the same line would play over and over and over.  The needle stuck in the groove until you purposefully moved it. 
Life is no different. 
Bring to mind something that you were doing right before reading this.  Something in your day that has stuck with you (good or bad).  Anything.  Bring it fully into your mind and your body.  Seeing it and feeling it.
Now  close your eyes while you are still seeing and feeling it, and with a long slow exhale, watch your exhale gradually pushing it further and further down the body until finally the breath pushes it out of the body and back into the earth. 
And notice how the inhale that flows in up that center line of the body is now so clean and clear and empty.   A new groove on the record.
This is where our true source of creation is.    From here we can create anything we want and project it on to  that clean, limitless, white canvas that is in front of the body. 

And finally –

-        Tonight when you lie down in bed and settle in, work toward becoming stiller and stiller.  Breathe there.  Take your time.  No rush. 
Begin to notice what it “feels” like to be completely still.
It has a very unique sensation.  Feel it.
And the longer you can remain relaxed and perfectly still, and the more aware you become of your stillness, the more you will begin to notice what is happening inside of the body.
The stiller you are, the more aliveness you will sense inside.   It becomes boundless ……because it is.  The energy of YOU.

But for all of this, we must do the necessary work to find stillness in our day.  To spend time alone.  To drop down to the earth and soak up her mothering, boundless, nurturing, slow vibrating energy.

And now it’s time to move up this center line to Svadisthana, our water chakra…………………

Now that we have become rooted to earth, have left our past “behind” us,  and have connected to that inner silence of our being where we see that we can create anything that we want…………………………………….  Now we have to be sure we know what that is!!!

These next two weeks as we work with the element of water, we will tap into the well of desire.  Digging deep to uncover what is it that we truly want.  What will fulfill us and give our life a sense of purpose.  We found the stillness and now introduce some movement, lying back and riding the current of the Universe. 

No struggle.  Finding our flow………………….

MMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………………………………………

I wrote this while sitting in my medicine wheel garden with bunny at my side.   What could be better than that?

I am right here,

SARAH

Physically grounded...........

Grounded Yogis,

In one of my posts I noted that Bunny Rabbit keeps me grounded. 

At the time I meant it from an emotional/mental perspective.  When Bunny arrives, all else fades away and I become perfectly present.  I notice everything.  I am aware of his every move, as well as mine....knowing that his ever watchful eye will pick up on any hurrying on my part.  Slowing down to gain trust.  Making him feel "safe". 

But this week I have also noticed that Bunny Rabbit keeps me grounded  in a physical sense.  As Bunny hops toward the garden, excited for dinner, my immediate instinct is to drop down to the earth.  Sitting squarely on the ground, head bowed, or even lying fully prone in the grass to have my face in line with his.  Better for genuine conversations!

Earth......where we feel safe, grounded, relaxed, still and aware.  Being fully present so as not to miss even one incredible moment!

Slow down and join us for a recent dinner -

What brings you down to earth?  Notice.....and do a whole lot more of it!

Ooommmmmm.........
SARAH

Back to Meditation - Day #30

Yogis,

Find the stillness within right now.  Go there……….

Breathe.

We meditate daily to become intimate with this part of our being.  Able to touch it anytime.  Anywhere, because it is always waiting. 

Aaaahhhhhhh………………………….

Day #30. 

As September draws to a close, my hope is that this is not the last day of meditation for you, but the beginning of a beautiful lifelong practice.   A deeper friendship with yourself. 

“Play” with the different techniques.  Breathe, like you mean it.   Know that “you” can do this.  That you are worth it.

Every day…..at least 10 minutes.  Just baby steps.  Miracles can, and do happen.

Blooming,

SARAH

Those traveling feet.......

Earthbound Yogis,

Week two of the earth chakra…..  Becoming still, feeling heavy and noticing everything about this moment.  Grounded.  Try it now.

We say that all of the time.  “He is so grounded.”  What does that mean?  What does it feel like to be grounded?

Well, it all begins with the feet.  Our foundation.

Wherever you Go,  There you Are – the title of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s time honored book on mindfulness.  Wherever you go, there you are.  How basic.  Almost laughable.  Of course wherever we go, there we are.  Duh.  But how often do we really live that way.  Being where we are with full presence.  Not always “being on the way” to somewhere else.   Arriving and being, right here, right now with things exactly the way they are. 

So I have been watching my feet.  Because wherever they go…there I am! 

     5:30 am, getting ready to run

Running in the silence that precedes dawn.  Cool, crisp fall air.  More sightings of deer, rabbits and fox than of any early stirring humans.    Yes, here I am.

 

  Touching the ground as I work. 

Distracted by phone calls, deadlines and endless paperwork.  Every now and then, standing up to remember that I am here.

 

   On the mat

My lunch time ritual.  Feet planted, toes spread wide.  Feeling the texture of the mat beneath me.  As I slow the breath and gaze down, I definitely feel that I am right here.  Present.  All else drifts away.

 

They take me to the river……………

                                                                        …………..Where I choose to meditate

 

At the river.  All of the “have tos” will wait for my return.  Right now I am just right here. 

 

Barefoot in the grass as I harvest the last of the zucchini

 

And OF COURSE they take me to Bunny Rabbit          

  ….but sometimes they just want to reach for the sky

So watch your feet this week.  Notice where they take you and then be right there.  We are not on some journey to a magical place….this moment, this here-ness, this complete presence is the magic! 

    Aaahhhhhhhhh……..yes indeed.  Here I am!

 

Thank you feet

SARAH

Back to Meditation - Day #29

Yogis,

Soooo….on the inhale

     Huummm…..on the exhale

 

One thing you may find with mantra meditation is that it can more easily transition to staying with you throughout your day.    The mantra begins to vibrate within so that even as you leave your seat, it remains in your cells.

Soooo……..hummmm…… as you drive.  As you walk.  As you pause.  Always accessible. 

We have worked with several different meditation techniques and have just barely skimmed the surface.  In fact in Osho’s Book of Secrets, he outlines 112 methods.  He refers to them as keys.

But these are all simply techniques.  They are just there as a guide, a road map, to bring you to a state of meditation. 

A quote from Osho from one of his talks:

"Really, when you try the right method it clicks immediately. So I will go on talking about methods here every day. You try them. Just play with them - go home and try... And these methods are simple, you can just play with them.

Take one method and play with it for at least three days. If it gives you a certain feeling of affinity, if it gives you a certain feeling of well-being, if it gives you a certain feeling that this is for you, then be serious about it. Then forget the others, do not play with other methods. Stick to it - at least three months. Miracles are possible. The only thing is that the technique must be for you".

This is what we have been doing.  Trying them.  Seeing which strikes an inner chord.

Finding the key that unlocks the door of the mind for each of us – revealing the open sky of consciousness.

Every day….at least 10 minutes.

Until eventually the technique is no longer needed,

SARAH