.....lost

Yogis,

I’m at the beach and this morning I ran Phoebe down to the ocean.  On the way I always go straight down one of the main streets, but on the way back I meander through various streets and paths, rarely taking the exact same route.  One option is to cut through some woods and I decided I would do that today.  I was about to turn in at one entrance but at the last minute changed my mind and went to the next.  We entered  and made a turn or two when suddenly right smack in the middle of the path we were following I see the pouch that I use to carry dog treats lying there.  Perfectly intact, treats inside.  What the heck?  I had no idea I had even lost it!  It must have fallen off on one of my walks yesterday.  Thank you Universe!

When my boys were young there were times they would come storming into the room declaring that something was ‘gone’.  They knew without doubt that they hung their jacket up the night before but it was now gone!  They had a $20 bill in their dresser and it is suddenly gone!  Homework, socks, backpacks all at one time or another had suddenly vanished.

I would calmly reply that things don’t disappear and that the odds of someone having ‘taken’ them were minuscule. That these items were somewhere. They were not lost. My hope was to install a life lesson about the loss of belongings. 

When we go to look for something and find it not there, our mind and body both react. The heart begins to race, our breath quickens and the muscles tense. We begin a frantic search checking corners and crevices where we know darn well it couldn’t be. We look in the same drawer at least five times thinking perhaps it will appear.  It was stolen.  I left it at work. We retrace our steps in the mind over and over. Becoming angry with ourselves. Suffering because we had become attached. 

But nothing is lost. It just isn’t where you thought it was. It has separated from you. Perhaps for the time being…..or perhaps forever. You and it are energy that have been drawn apart. 

Things are not ‘ours’. Everything comes and everything goes eventually. Sometimes that happens by ‘losing’ them.  And many times they will come back, even months later.

When I lose something…..an earring, a book, my favorite water bottle…..I know that if it is meant to be with me, it will return.  I visualize it and send energy toward it as my conscious way of ‘looking for it’, and then I wait.  Often it finds its way back.  Ah, there you are…..The earring I find stuck in a sweater the next time I am pulling it over my head.  The key in the pocket of the jeans I haven’t worn for a week.  The missing puzzle piece that appears on the floor when I sweep. But sometimes they don’t, and that’s ok. They’re needed somewhere else.   

At times I find myself on the receiving end as well. Like the perfect feather earring I almost stepped on while walking the canal. As I wear it I imagine the other who let it go. And other times something returns before I even know it was gone….

The energy of the Universe is in constant motion. Ride the wave and trust in its perfection. 

Lost

Stand still. 

The trees ahead and the bushes beside you are not lost. 

Wherever you are is called Here,

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes. Listen. It answers.

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or bush does is lost on you,

You are surely lost. Stand still. 

The forest knows where you are. You must let it find you.

~ David Wagoner, Traveling Light

I am here,
SARAH

.....doors

Yogis,

This is me sitting on my bed inside my tent (ok, so this wasn’t exactly rustic camping) on vacation. The doors were actually a new install this year. Previously it was simply a zip up tent front.

Doors are a funny thing…….

This year we had quite a bit of wind there.  The door was a little tricky to get to latch when closed and the wind kept blowing it open. For the first two days I kept firmly shutting it again and again, and finally I asked myself exactly what was I trying to shut out? 

The bugs? Bugs vanish when the wind picks up. Intruders? I think not.The wind? With a full screen front that seems kind of absurd. Was I worried about someone seeing me nude?  ….as if that door would be of any assistance. So I started leaving it open. Mother Nature wanted to come in, so why was I shutting her out. 

We have many doors in our lives. The ones we open and step through and the ones we shut behind us.  The ones that we leave free for all to enter, and the ones that are locked tight. The glass ones and the thick ones of steel that keep us hidden.   

And I have noticed that the way we approach our doors says a lot about the way we approach life…. 

There are the those doors that we close tight yet keep checking lest what lurks behind them comes back into our lives. Past trauma, failed relationships or the challenging childhood. The revolving doors where we feel that we have moved on, but somehow look up only to find ourselves right back where we began. The doors that creak when we try to sneak past them, causing us to pull back and look around, hoping to God no one noticed our attempt to step forward.  Or the dreaded door left ajar where we move beyond with success, but leave that small crack of light because we simply can’t let go completely.

The life journey is a series of doors and on the spiritual path one of our ‘assignments’ is to step through a new door each day!

Every morning as our eyes open to the new sun we have a chance. A chance for something amazing.  When our feet swing off the bed and touch the floor they can take us anywhere. Do I go through door #1, door #2 or door #3 today?  Should  I step through the courage door, or the honesty door? Am I brave enough to cross the threshold of the ‘letting them see me’ door or is today meant for the door of compassion? Am I willing today to stand in front of the glass door and dance or is today the day I step through fully and  let my voice be heard.

New relationships, jobs, sensations, tastes, all require us to step through a door. If we become too comfortable behind our doors we stagnate. 

But what about the ones that need closing. Those can often be the most difficult. Whether it is a hurtful situation or the most exquisite thing that ever happened to you….closing the door for good once and for all can be the hardest thing you ever do. But then again….only as one door closes, can another one open.

I had a vivid dream the other night of sitting on a doorstep. Behind me was something that it was time to let go of and in front of me were the most breathtaking trees against a clear blue sky.  I knew it was time to step forward. But as I looked back over my shoulder I did see I had left the door left slightly ajar.  

Notice the doors around you this week. What are they keeping out? What are they holding in? Which ones finally need closing, and which doors are standing open in front of you, inviting you to take that first step…….

Tomorrow is another chance,
SARAH

....the power of zero

Yogis,

The Universe has some basic underlying laws.  Principles, that when understood and applied, can transform life from one that requires constant hard work, struggle and grit, to a life created with ease. Tuning ourselves into the rhythm around us and harnessing its power.

We are creators……but with very little training. 

Look around you right now. Every single thing you see came from nothing.  This room where I now sit is filled with books, artwork, my alter, rocks, oils, my twisted walking stick and my plants. My newest playlist filling the air. Nine years ago when I moved into this house the room was barren.  I hadn’t heard of essential oils, had never considered teaching yoga, didn’t own an IPOD and would have laughed if you suggested I would drink stinging nettles. Step back two years before that and this room itself didn’t exist. In this space sat the back yard of my 90 year old next door neighbor. I could watch this open space from my desk in the previous house.

Yet here I am. And it all began with an electrical impulse…….a thought. But where does even that come from? 

I am currently reading a book where there is a discussion on mathematical principles. One described is the axiom of zero. That in order to understand any other number, we must first believe that zero exists.  Nothingness. The absence of all.  Because without it, what would be the meaning of 2 or of 10?  However, the axiom of zero cannot be proven.  It requires trust. I googled the idea and found this:  “Most of us take zero for granted, but there was a time when it simply didn’t exist, until some enterprising Babylonian soul inserted it as a placeholder in Eastern counting methods. The ancient Greeks banned its use, the Hindus worshipped it, and eventually it became one of the most important conceptual tools in mathematics. It is ‘infinity’s twin’. “

Nothing…….from which everything comes. Birth. Creation. The beginning, but also the end. Death. Pure infinite potential. 

Each and every one of us has this sea of possibilities swimming within us. We create every day.  Every minute. With each and every breath. We just spend most of the time doing it completely unconsciously. But when we begin to realize that we can direct it….that we can actually choose what to create and then manifest it with minimal effort – Wow! We are unstoppable. 

How do we tap into this inner power? How do we touch our own field of zero?

Its home is within stillness. We must take the time each day to do nothing. Be nothing. See nothing.  Only then will it unveil itself. This is the gift that meditation offers. The transport that carries us back to zero….the twin of infinity.

The ‘Spring Planting’  program that I am offering this year, beginning next Monday 3/20 will be a guide to meditation, but also to a few of the other Universal laws that will get you started on conscious creating. The dandelions and tulips too will be growing and we will learn from them.  Less effort, more tuning in. I would love to have you along on this journey. 

Spring Planting - A month of meditation and planting seeds of intention

I am fierce,

SARAH