All's Well In The World

Respite Care

I must admit to very thankfully bidding this December 2006 adieu.  A very good year overall to be sure, but that last month - ugh.  I'll spare you the details.  Suffice it to say that poor sleep + international travel + too much sugar + cold dark days + holiday mayhem = a seriously depleted system.  As I begin to climb my way back out, I recognize that when I am feeling low physically and mentally the very thing I need the most is the thing I can't summon the energy to do -yoga.  Breathe, stretch, meditate, chant.  All very effective practices that will surely right any careening off the tracks. BUT, the motivation to get started or the insight that that would be the right thing to do is absent.  This morning, sitting in front of my alter meditating and then engaging in some breathing exercises, I felt surprised.  Like, wow, this feels great. duh.   Will someone please remind me what an essential cornerstone this is to my life?  Thank you.

The most precious gems are unearthed from the hard dark depths so I know that this process is essential and ultimately fruitful.  Like they have these first aid kits nailed to the wall, I should have some emergency kit that when I am feeling lost in the fog I know I can stumble over to this kit, open it up and read the most inspiring passages from the Gita, pick out a piece of paper with a chant written on it and follow some easy asana practice until I can reconnect with my inner compass.

The best medicine will be administered tomorrow.  My man and I will be hopping on a plane to Mexico. We have a full week - 8 days - to ourselves.  A lovely room at a beautiful fitness spa with our own patio.  They have many pools, hot tubs, a ping pong table and fabulous vegetarian cuisine.  Ahhhhh.   I feel the hard shell beginning to crack, the light peeking in. 

To be continued....

They cut down my tree

This tree spread across my windows.  It buffered me from the world outside.  Every morning I would wake up, lay in bed and stare at this tree for some time.  Sky and sun would shine in through its branches.  In the winter, the bare branches revealed a view of the lake and in summer my windows were private.

The sound of chain saws led me to the window.  Up a man came in a lift right to  my window and sawed and sawed.  I opened my window and asked, "you're not cutting down this whole tree are you?"  No, he said just getting the branches off the building.  He sawed and sawed.  I ended up in my bathroom -the window there is smoked- on the floor in a pile of tears.  It was too much.  I had to leave. 

In tears, I ran down to the lake.  Although it is only 34 degrees today, the sun felt strong and there was no wind on the beach.  Everything was bright; the sun, the lake and the sky.  Immediately I felt peace.   I stayed there some time then walked back to my building.  The man in the lift was coming down.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  But then he went back up.  He went back up and sawed some more branches off the tree that grew outside my window.  Its pretty much gone now.  Someone living here in ten years will enjoy what I had enjoyed until this day.  I'll have to get curtains for the windows now, or something. I always left the blinds open all day and all night so that when I woke up I would have this panorama of sky and trees to lay in bed and look at.  Now I'll have to consider who may be looking in at me. 

Loss.  It seems to be rippling through my life right now.  In the loss there is always some -something....With the loss of this tree I guess it is more blue sky.  More neighbor's windows across the street, but also more blue sky.  Maybe my place will be brighter...And it got me down to the lake.  I'll try to get down there more often.  It was good to notice that even though it was windy on the street it was still at the lake, and very beautiful.

The Future of Sports in America

A fan encourages players to substitute yoga for steroids before a game between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets in May.

  See the article at:
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/news/story/0,6260,927031,00.html

Thanks, Adenia, for sharing this one!!!

The Heavenly Drop- can you feel it?

While I clean and clean, I am listening to these awesome Rod Stryker CDs.  They are recordings from a 5-day teacher training.  Not cheap but very well worth it.  They include lectures and practices.  Right now he is telling me about Besarhga Bindu.  Besarhga means heaven.  Bindu means drop. 

The Universe is dropping information into us all the time about how to be happy.  It is giving us guidance at all times.  BUT, do we hear it? Do we respond to it?

The practice of yoga and Ayurveda clears us up and balances us so that we can hear this sound and respond to our own destiny and follow our own path to freedom.

Redesign!

I am gradually learning all about what my blog can do. I am also on a cleaning mission, lightening things up in these times when the sun sets at 4:30pm.  I decided to lighten up the colors on this blog.  What do you think?

The best thing is I have figured out the whole photo album thing.  I have also reacquainted myself with my camera.  To be honest, I am not really into photography.  There is so much going on in any one scene beyond the visual and even the visual is reduced to a tiny square. So I have long been discouraged from trying to capture experiences on film. BUT, it is a nice way to give a glimpse of something.  I'll do that here.

Also, I am a big fan of the weather.  I love it.  I love the way it always changes and keeps me tuned in to the cycles of nature.  I wouldn't do well in San Diego. I wanted to add this weather bug back in July when it was over 100 degrees F.  Now it is about 1 -that's right, 31 degrees below freezing.  It's great to live in a climate that fluctuates by 100 degrees and now you can see just what is up with the weather here in Chicago (I think this is how it works-scroll down, look left) then compare it to your own weather...just for fun.

Medicine Buddha Sand Mandala - World's Largest!

For the exact days I was in Singapore, November 10-22, the world's largest sand mandala was created then destroyed right across the street from the place I stayed.   

My gracious host Ana and I were at the food stall behind her MRT stop, a place you could pretty much find me any day I was there, when we wondered what was in the "grand tentage" set up in the open grassy area outside the station. Fortunately it was early on in my stay so I had the chance to go back in several times.

Every single grain of sand overwhelmed me.  It was a unique experience in being awed.  I have been privy to some incredible wonders in this world but there was something about the exquisite detail, the elaborate design and the enormity of it.  All so lovingly created with only one intention, to heal the world.  The fact that it was to exist for a mere 12 days made it even more poignant.  The sand was brilliantly colored and impossibly piled to create texture and contour.  The Buddha's nose was a perfect peak of honey colored sand.  His hands looked life-like.  I stared and stared at the designs.  The meditative state the monks were in to create such perfection reflected back to me in every grain.      

A large platform was built around the mandala.  At one end an alter had been set up.  Monks sat there chanting and offering blessings. I went up twice.  Once for myself and once for my man. I kneeled before them.  They placed a dorje on my head, then poured water into my hands I sipped then swept over my head, then they tied a string on my wrist all while chanting in their trance-inducing deep voices.

I take it as a tremendously auspicious sign of our success with Global Family Yoga in Asia...and for the wellness of the world.

***I am figuring out this weblog little by little.  I just figured out how to show my photo albums so look over there on the left column below the recent post listing and check out the photos of the Buddha~

                                 

This Must Be The Place

Alright, so that probably wasn't the best entry to leave hanging there over the weekend, about the aggression I was experiencing here in Chicago but that is where I was at. It was a noticeable difference.  What is also noticeable to me is the opportunity I have to judge less, to categorize and group less.  It's a habit and one that I am committed to diligently eradicating.  It's good to note that no matter how many times I hop in and out of cultures, I need a little cushion time.  It was a bit much to be out of the country for two weeks then jump right into a four day training.  The second 4 days of our 8-day Thai Yoga Therapy training was this weekend.  I am so very glad I attended.   There were a lot of very cool people in the training and it is such a cool practice.  My wrists are sore from all the lumbering bear but I think this could be something I really get into.  Lumbering bear is one of the techniques used.  Think heavy slow pressure, one hand to the other as I, the lumbering bear, walk my hands up and down your legs and arms.  mmmmm.  There's a lot to it, I have a lot to learn and I am so fortunate to have an excellent teacher.  It has given me an even deeper sense of appreciation for my man and his work. 

So now much snow has fallen, the city has turned white, I am feeling settled in and know this is my town with all its means and ways and I know this is where I am meant to be.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ra9us39ba3mg

For the sound track to this entry, click on the above link, then scroll down to the title "This Must Be The Place".  Click right on the speaker icon and have a listen.  Maybe you have this song in your personal collection and can listen to the whole thing.