.......here I am

Dear Yogis,

This week we moved up to the energy of the throat…..Vishuddha Chakra.  Clearing the path that runs from the pelvic floor up along the front of the spine, through the throat and out of our mouths.  Speaking, not from the mind, but from deep within. 

Most of the day we use the opposite flow.  Telling what we know or asking questions to gather info.  We share with others what we read in the paper or heard on the news and report on what we saw in our travels.  We do a lot of “convincing” of other people of what we think, preparing our response in our heads as the other speaks.  Lots of information.  Data.  Pulling from the memory bank.

But our authentic voice comes not from the thinking mind, but from the feeling mind.  Here we speak what is true for us, not from what we learned, but what we have experienced.    It is the act of letting “you” out.

Animals do this so naturally.  I spent the day yesterday with cows.  When they have something to express the head goes up and the moo comes out.  No thinking involved.  My mama wren sings her beautiful song each and every time she lands.  It is so pure.   And the owls behind our house have been waking me many nights as their call echoes through the stillness of the night.  When I hear each of them I can feel them.  No masks.  No “making it sound like what the other wants to hear”.  Clear and plain.  They speak as they are.    (No kidding….I am out sitting on my rock and the owl JUST started hooting this minute!!!! – thank you Universe!!!! – isn’t life great.)

I have said it many times…..this is the area that asked for the most work from me.  I have always been cautious with my words, mainly so as to never offend or hurt another.  But the throat is also our place of free will.  It is where we choose.  So when we don’t speak our truths, when we don’t let “us” be heard, we hand over our will to others. 

I listened to a talk by a spiritual teacher this week – Panache Desai.  He talked to finding your voice.  What he said made it so clear to me.  So simple.  He said…..”I finally realized that talking as I thought others wanted me to was completely and utterly exhausting”.  He went on to say that he decided it was worth the risk to speak as himself from his heart and others could choose what to do with his words.  How incredibly freeing! 

On paper it sounds so easy.  But it isn’t for many of us.  It takes courage – fire.  It takes trust – heart.  We must believe that who we are deep within is perfect and that an expression of that is an expression of love.  When we speak like this there is a lot less of it.  And it is never hurtful because it is our expression of our inner truth, and not about what the other is, or does or should do.    

Today was my “Meditation 101” workshop.    I am to the point in my path that I allow the Universe to guide me when I teach.  I visualize a framework, but once I am there, I let go to spirit, trusting that what comes out is what everyone needs at that moment.   Today I put that to the test.    This was my first truly public forum.  I wanted everyone to get what they came for – which is different for each person.  But the message I kept getting this week was just to trust, relax, open and speak.  And that is what I did.  Speaking from deep within.  Clearing that path.   I let everyone see me.  And Panache was right.  It was incredibly freeing and felt perfect.  Hopefully the group agrees J

Mooooooooo…………………….

SARAH

.....as I sit

Dear Yogis,

I sit here in my rock circle on this spectacular spring day, ready to write .  Blue sky looking down, damp grass wetting my bare feet (yes it is officially time to remove the shoes!), breeze brushing against my arms, and this sturdy rock supporting me in whatever comes – my foundation.   I chose to sit here since today I want to talk again about connection.  The heart energy.  Sending out the vibration of love and gratitude.  But this time not to others….but to everything.

Connection with the Universe.  Connection to all that is.  Finding the rhythm of life’s force and resonating at its frequency.  Forming a relationship with the source of life itself.   The most important relationship you will ever have. 

How do I find this? 

Like every relationship it begins with noticing, wanting to connect and then taking that first step of reaching out. 

 

Waking in the morning and saying ‘thank you’ as you look out the window to see the new day waiting for you – filled with limitless opportunity.   Telling a flower how beautiful she is, or a tree that he is awesome.  Whistling to the birds so they get to know your call.  Smelling an herb and letting out an audible ‘aaaahhhhh…………..’.  Picking up a rock that grabs your eye and holding it while you walk.  Lying in the grass and watching the clouds drift by.  Connection.

 

As I sit here the wren keeps to returning to her house hanging from the tree next to me with new sticks as she prepares for motherhood.  I tell her she is safe near me.  The two beech trees stand guard as my protectors, offering me shade.  I am grateful.    A spider crawls across my keyboard.  I gently shoo him off, but only after saying hello.  I am serenaded by the symphony of songbirds, each one with a unique note that I now can recognize, and I know soon enough the titmouse will be here letting me know it is time to go and get his peanuts.  A bee buzzes by.  The chipmunk scampers through the garden.  Thank you…thank you…thank you……. I spread the front of my chest and send out the energy of love to all of it.  Connection.

 

 

Make it a daily practice.  Stop, notice and give thanks.  Speak to it – out loud.  Send love.  Touch.  Experience.  Feel life’s essence. 

And the more you do this, the more things you will notice that will literally take your breath away.  Life begins to communicate back.  The relationship deepens……until soon you are so connected that the magic begins.  The Universe and you, best friends.  Always together.

Funny story in the “be careful what you wish for” category.  Last fall I wished I had goldenrod on the property.  And so it was…..goldenrod grew along my woods edge.  And this year it decided that she was so cherished that it is now sprouting up everywhere!  Then 2 weeks ago I reposted my writing on dandelion.  Well……..this picture does not come anywhere close to doing it justice.  I came outside two days later to find my backyard a virtual dandelion field!!  I welcomed her and she came.  J

Finally, today is Mother’s Day.  As we all celebrate with or remember our moms, or get taken care of for being a mom, let’s also remember the ultimate mother of all.  Our earth.  We were born from her, clothed, fed and sheltered.  She is the energy of unconditional love and holds and nourishes us regardless of how we treat her in return.  So let’s treat her how she deserves.  LOVE her.  Sending gratitude to both my mom and this fabulous place we all call home.

Hi there butterfly!

Sending love to all of you,

SARAH

....following the heart

Dear yogis,

I had a vision. 

This week we moved up to the heart chakra….Anahata.  Relaxing and floating in the river of our natural breath.  Shoulders drawn back and heart lifted.  Head back in line with the spine.  Practicing physically positioning our heart further forward in space than our forehead, in order to lead life from the heart. 

 

There is a reason we worked with the fire energy - our inner strength, confidence and discipline – before lifting into the energy of the heart.  Leading life with an open heart takes a lot of courage.   Our heart, while immensely powerful, is also vulnerable and when we hold it wide open through all of life’s journey, we will get hurt.  We will feel sorrow and will experience the true meaning of heartache.  But we move forward this way anyway, because who wants the alternative?

Having an open heart asks us to love EVERYONE and EVERYTHING unconditionally.  Not just those who fit the mold of what we have determined is right.  Not only for the amount of time that they fulfill our needs or give back what we crave.  Sending love to them even when they claim to not love us back.  Loving the plants (even those you may call weeds), the bugs (even the mosquitos), the weather (even the snow) and all of the days of the week (even Monday!). 

Love is an energy that which we each contain in a bottomless well.  We simply must learn to tap into it and send it out through the front of the chest.  Loving is an action that you initiate.  No triggers.  No waiting.  Just sending wave after wave after wave.  And you know what?  The world will feel it.  And the more you send out, the more will come rushing back toward you. 

Try it.  Next time you are in a grocery line, or sitting in traffic, or in a crowded elevator ……..send love out to everyone around you or toward one individual.  Do it often. Notice what happens.   And you can even do this with someone who is far away.

The other way is when you look at someone, really look in their eyes.  When we make direct eye contact, the heart awakens.  There is an instant connection – sometimes like a jolt of electricity.   The eyes are the seat of our soul and when our souls connect we see each other as we truly are.  Clear vision.  Connecting at the heart.  This is love. 

This doesn’t mean you have to “LIKE” everyone J  You don’t have to have them over for dinner or hang out together.  But you love them.  Not their appearance, habits or personality…..but their inner essence. 

So back to my vision……

During my Friday night “time for me”,  I was sending love to many.  Feeling them in my heart.  Crying for a family member who was near the end of life and laughing aloud for those who bring me much joy.   These are all incredible feelings and they make life fantastic.  And I began to think, what if our world leaders could find some way to connect through heart energy vs their minds and wills?

So here is my vision.  What if there was a requirement that 20 of the world’s top leaders (including ours) were required to go on a one week retreat with each other twice a year.  They couldn’t bring any aides or security.  Just themselves and a yoga mat.  For one week they would practice yoga, learn to meditate, spend time in nature and work with their breath.  All together all week.  Planned times of silence and all talking was only to be about what was happening then – no policy, no debates, no opinions. 

How many years do you think it would take before we started to feel some sort of shift in the worlds energy?  For anyone who has been on a retreat with others you know how connected you all become.  You come together from different backgrounds and walks of life, but you leave bonded by the energy of love.  Like the love we all feel when we sit up at the end of class after savasana. 

So……..any outer change begins with a change within.   I plan to look lots of people in the eye, send out waves of heart energy and love everyone – even the guy at work who has been testing my last nerve this week……..

Heart wide open,

SARAH

grit.....no thank you

Dear yogis,

Well, well, well.   A couple of men and some heavy machinery later…..and voila……my vision is manifested!

Thank you Universe!

 

But as I sit on the rocks and soak in the view and the energy, I already begin to have new visions.  Seeing change.   Seeing what could be.   I realize that the manifestation  of a desire is merely a stepping stone and not an end.  My circle of rocks is only a mile marker on my journey of life.  I will get much enjoyment from them, but they will also send me forward toward other landmarks and rest stops. 

What is most important is learning to love and live the journey itself.  Not attached to the end result…..because as I am seeing, there is no end.  We never get “there”.  We never “have it all”.  The real joy, the real miracles are in each and every moment on the path, as we head from one marker to the next. 

So what have I been “seeing” this week?   

The energy of fire is what gives us the inner strength to begin to manifest our desires into reality.  That inner heat and confidence that helps us see our vision clearly and move toward it.   Forward moving energy even when we hit obstacles.  Even when others tell us it’s a bad idea.  That inner power that holds us up and makes us know that we can…..and we will. 

But right now there is an overabundance of fire energy in our world.  Go, go, go. Do, do, do.  More, more, more.  We are the best.  We are number 1.  You must struggle to get it done.  Power your way through it.  Dog eat dog world.  I could go on and on.    And at my work the theme word this year on how we will work is GRIT. 

Now I don’t know about you, but Grit is not a word that has me leaping out of bed in the morning!   And although grit can be defined as courage and resolve, the energy of the word seems to have moved toward the other definitions of nerve, steel and toughness.    When used as a verb it means to clench the teeth in order to keeps ones resolve during an unpleasant duty.  This is how we are supposed to do our jobs.  Sounds painful.  Hmmmm………

The other corporate theme – which has been an ongoing one for, oh I don’t know, maybe 7 years now – is that we are still being asked to do more with less.   Now I have a question.  Who is asking us to do more with less?  Who are they?   Where can I find them to give them a piece of my mind?  Hmmmmm……..

We are they.  We created these long hours, high stress workplaces.  Consciously or unconsciously we have created a world where we have less and less time for ourselves.  We have done it through our buying habits, our want for things to be done more quickly, our need for everything to be cheaper and our obsession with having the latest and greatest.    

So only we can change it.  But outer change always begins with inner vision. 

I see and feel fire energy differently.  I think it is misunderstood right now.  To me, if we are truly strong, we can relax completely (no clenching) during the challenges, during the work day, during discomfort.    And when we are relaxed, when we breathe freely, we find our flow and amazing things happen!

Work gets done more quickly and we connect at deeper levels with those around us.  Yes, the projects still must get completed, but we know they will without that unnecessary layer of worry placed on.  We are able to take pauses and notice our surroundings, being with what is right there and not wishing the day away.  Finding more meaning.

We were surveyed this week about our work habits.  The first question was to rate yourself on this  - “I Work Extremely Hard”.   I laughed.  No, I don’t!  I find that when I work extremely soft and relaxed the results are so much better….and a whole lot less painful!

 

Doing less and getting more.  I will have to let “them” know. 

Seeing a workplace filled with soft strength,

SARAH

......a taste for life

Yogis,

I am ready for a nap!

Our family spends Easter weekend at the beach.  Tradition has Saturday night dinner at our place.  Salmon on the grill, ham for the meat eaters, and plenty of grilled veggies and fresh fruit.  Sunday late morning is always brunch at my sister’s.  Baked egg dishes, bagels, dinner leftovers, lox, fruit and coffee cake.  About half way through the meal I feel it start to creep in.   First a simple yawn, which slowly works its way to multiples as I slide deeper and deeper into the couch, until all I want to do is lie down on the floor for a quick nap.  Maybe no one will notice.  Brunch always has that effect on me.

This week in classes we worked with our energy of fire, Manipura Chakra, our heat, vision and inner strength.  Moving toward what it is that we want.  But the energy of fire is also our digestion.  Agni…..

 

When our digestive system is strong and functioning at peak performance, we bring in the food, take from it all that provides nourishment, and eliminate all that doesn’t serve us….letting it go.  All done without a lot of thought.  Smoothly, efficiently and consistently.  Meal after meal after meal.  An effortless natural flow that leaves us energized and satisfied.  Flowing in…..flowing out.

But Agni is not solely about the digestion of food.  It is also our digestion of life.  Breathing in and receiving life, as it is – chewing slowly and enjoying each of life’s many flavors.  Taking from it all of the things that help move our soul forward – the enjoyment, the love, the lessons, as well as the pain.  But then just as smoothly, letting it all go.  Bringing each day in as you live it to the fullest, but then clearing out to make room the for the next. 

We should be just as choosy (if not more) with what we swallow in the books we read, the tv we watch and the company we keep, as we are with the foods we eat.   Because just as too much caffeine can make our nights sleepless, so too can searching the web right before heading to bed.  Too much acidic food can cause heartburn but holding onto anger has the same result.  Heavy food can make us sluggish and uninspired while listening too long to the news may leave you feeling that our world is a mess without much you can do about it.  And as I know, eating a lot of carbs in the middle of the day for me is a sure fire way to send me back to bed….the same result I get from too much chatting and not enough silence!

Worry can act like processed food, while stress can produce similar effects to cigarettes.  Negativity and judgment can weigh us down like a very big piece of cake.  Not speaking our truths can coat our throats like too much coke.   And sadness can cause us to ‘lose our appetite’.

When our Agni is strong it is like a fire that we have tended throughout the evening.  Keeping it stoked, steady and bright.  Never roaring uncontrollably, but also never allowed to dwindle to smoldering embers.  It means being able to digest everything we take in through the eyes, ears, nose and mouth.   Surrounding ourselves with what nourishes us and cleaning out the frig of that which tends to get stuck!

And speaking of digestion…….she’s back!!  And she is one of the best digestive aids that exist.  Before you head out for any weed killer, please re-visit

 

http://aspaforthesoul.blogspot.com/2013/04/fireode-to-dandelion.html

“Ode to Dandelion”

Absorbing love and eliminating worry,

SARAH

creating life with rocks

Yogis,

I have always loved rocks.  When I was a little girl, wherever I went my eyes were toward the earth and if a rock caught my eye, in the pocket it went.  My rock collection was always a shoe box full of every day rocks in various sizes and shapes, in mostly varying shades of brown.  When most people would look in, I have a feeling they just saw a pile of rocks, but to me every one was special.  Every one brought back the memory of where I found it.  Each one felt different in my hand.  Each one had its own story and I never tired of hearing them.

So here I am 40+ years later and I am still collecting rocks…..

 

They just happen to be a little bit bigger…………….

But this isn’t a story about rocks, but about creating your own life.  We each create our lives.  We make choices in every moment of every day, even when we are unconscious of them, and even when our choice is to make no choices.  As infinite choice makers, when these are combined together, layered over each other, and in unity with our collective human choice making, this moment is created.   Life does not happen to you…….unless that is how you have chosen to live your life. 

So if you want different, choose different!

It begins with earth energy – becoming still enough, often enough to notice where you are.  Relaxing and sensing that at this moment everything is ok -and that your life from the next moment forward is unwritten.  A blank canvas with pure unlimited potential.   From there we dive into the movement and feeling that comes from the energy of water.  Here we go deep within to uncover our desires.   Not our simple daily wants, but those soul fulfilling, expansive things that make your heart sing. 

Then we create a vision – fire energy - seeing clearly what it will be like when what we want has manifested!  Feeling it as if it is already here.  Visualizing it with an unwavering focus.   And then choosing it and taking action.  Choosing to create.   And doing it (not trying…doing). 

So back to the rocks……………

In my back yard my medicine wheel garden is on one side.  I love my wheel.  I spend hours on end in there and love to bring others in.    On the other side of the backyard is a flat area overlooking the woods.  It has a special energy.  When I first noticed it I would sit on the ground there.  Then I placed a slice of a tree there.   I often had a vision of a huge rock there that I would be able to climb up on to sit or lay.  One time I was seeing a yoga platform there.   So I knew something was supposed to happen, but it wasn’t clear.  Seeing the blank space, knowing I wanted to create something special there and holding the vision but not tied to a specific outcome.

 

This winter during our street progressive dinner, one of the families lit their outdoor fire pit and we all sat late into the night warmed by the fire and the friendship in a connected community circle.  My vision now included fire. 

Each week I walk to the river to sit tucked away from the people and the path, usually on a rock.  I have been going to the same area for quite a while now, but one day I suddenly saw that where I sat was natures’ own sitting circle.  Various rocks creating their own perfect formation.  It was beautiful  This was it!    My vision was now clear.  Time for action!

A trip to our local quarry and 24 hours later 7 large rocks – well, I guess boulders - were lowered into my back yard.  I have stood, sat and laid in the clear open space to visualize which rock goes where.   I have walked the circle, traced it with a stick, measured it with my footsteps and imagined what it will be like once the rocks have been set.  I have meditated sitting on the largest of the rocks.  Knowing if I simply keep my vision and continue taking the steps forward, the Universe will co-create the perfect circle with me (with a little help from a local guy with a forklift). 

So is it just that I want a circle of rocks?  Is it for the look?  The resale value of the house?

No.  I wanted to create this as yet another step on my journey.  Now I see Goddess Gatherings, Full Moon parties, talking circles and a wonderful place to sit with friends for a cup of tea (or a beer) after a garden visit.  And who knows what I haven’t even imagined yet! 

Life is limitless so think big.   What you can see in your mind you can hold in your hand.  So what is it that you want?

……and I still find rocks in my pockets when I go to put my jeans in the wash.    

Creating life moment by moment,

SARAH

I am trying!

Yogis,

On Monday we entered a new month, and with that came the end of “A Mindful Month” where 80 of us meditated daily for 10 minutes.   For some it was a brand new experience and for others it was a time to get back into the routine.  For some it sparked a new energy within and for others there were some stumbles and perhaps even times with a complete stop.  It was all good.  It was all what it was supposed to be.

I sent out a note asking people to share how it went and what they experienced.  Most of the replies I got were that it felt great, they could see the differences it was making and they were going to try to stick with it! 

There it was again.   That darn word that we all use so often.  TRY.
 

Last Friday night in yoga class as we all sat up from Savasana, the teacher said she had to apologize.  She realized that while guiding us in the final rest she gave the cue that we should “try” to be still.  In her training they work with essential speech and the word try just simply doesn’t fit in.  We either are still or we aren’t.   Our effort is simply to come to the mat and end in Savasana each time.  Choose and do. The stillness will follow in time, with patience, when it is meant to. 

On Tuesday morning  I went for a solo run in the dark stillness of the early morning and all of the meditation emails I had received were running through my consciousness.    It was suddenly so clear.  We can’t “try” to meditate.  We either do it….or we don’t.  The word try implies that there is something complicated about it, which there isn’t.  We just choose to meditate and once a day we sit for 10 minutes.  That’s it.  The word try has to be removed. 

It’s like when you are having a party and someone tells you they will try to come.  In my book, I don’t put them into the final headcount.  How about you?  Or what if I told you – I am going to try to keep the dog in the house – but when I head out, I leave the door open just  a crack.  The word try is the crack in the door.

The word try leaves that window open that it is ok not to move forward.   It tells both your mind (which doesn’t need a lot of openings, thank you very much) and the Universe, that you may or may not do it…… that you will try.  So that is what comes back to you.

Say both of these phrases out loud.  Feel the energy behind each one:

·         I will try to meditate each day

·         I meditate every single day

Who do you think will be meditating 6 months from now! 

When we choose something….anything, send out that vibration and move forward the Universe will support us every step of the way.    The Universe loves clarity and making a clear choice sends a strong signal.   This is one of the natural laws of the Universe.  On the other hand, if  you say you will try –  well that is what the Universe supports.  It will help you in your “trying”. 

If something is important to you, then just choose it and do it.  Trying is just too darn difficult.  It is an extra layer that is unnecessary. 

So when I got back from my run on Tuesday, I had an email from another one of the March Meditators.  Her note said –  “this will continue....I am taking the word 'try' out of my vocab when it comes to my practice.”  Wow.  The Universe was quite clear this week on what I should write about!  Thank you!

So this week, try to Notice every time you use the word “try” and see if you can restate your intention.   If it isn’t something you are really planning to do (like coming to my party J) recognize that and be honest with yourself.   But if it is something you want…..state it loud and clear!

I am creating this life and I love it,

SARAH