tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50582129629258035362024-03-13T08:13:24.332-07:00NanYoga-Along the PathReflections of life and staying present; favorite poems and sometimes photos.NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.comBlogger169125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-2644401111076989762013-12-14T04:37:00.005-08:002013-12-14T04:37:33.609-08:00Faith<br />
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I want to write about faith,<br />
about the way the moon rises<br />
over cold snow, night after night,<br />
faithful even as it fades from fullness,<br />
slowly becoming that last curving and impossible<br />
sliver of light before the final darkness.<br />
But I have no faith myself,<br />
I refuse it the smallest entry.<br />
Let this then, my small poem,<br />
like a new moon, slender and barely open,<br />
be the first prayer that opens me to faith.<br />
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~ David Whyte<br />
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One of my favorite poems... It speaks so clearly to me, about me, for me. Winter is here. Time to turn deeply inward and simply BE.<br />
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NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-74796667254109663162013-08-20T08:18:00.003-07:002013-08-21T05:21:44.127-07:00Quiet... Patient... Open...<div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q898kdWx8fo/UhOFuDSkA4I/AAAAAAAAAzU/6e920JKgSKU/s1600/IMG_2570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Q898kdWx8fo/UhOFuDSkA4I/AAAAAAAAAzU/6e920JKgSKU/s320/IMG_2570.JPG" width="240" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The quieter we are, the more patient and open we are in our sadnesses, the more </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">deeply and serenely the new presence can enter us...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Rainer Maria Rilke ~</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That deep sadness is back. I feel it moving through the internal organs of my body. It doesn't actually stay in my heart; that's where I think it should be found. But no, it's in my stomach and my kidney and even moves into muscles, like my calf, or </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">deep fascia</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, like my foot's plantar.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the sadness is something so real it is beyond expression. Maybe it is my essence. I'm not sure, but it feels unchanging and truly is always there. It brings comfort and certainty. Each moment simply unfolding...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life feels unsteady, even rocky; and sharp edges are everywhere. I'm not sure of where I'm going or what lies ahead. But if I can remain in presence, the sense of well being restores my body, my inner strength, and my mind's clarity. This presence reminds me life is good.</span></div>
NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-72200936060922283952013-08-18T05:30:00.000-07:002013-08-21T10:12:43.794-07:00Lifelong Friends<div style="text-align: left;">
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...my first life, </div>
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the life I admire</div>
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and want to follow</div>
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looks on and listens</div>
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with some wonder, </div>
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and even extends </div>
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a reassuring hand </div>
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for the one holding back,...</div>
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David Whyte, Excerpt "My Second LIfe" </div>
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I am sharing a weekend with lifelong friends. These women are so uniquely individual and yet similar. I witness us moving through each day, in awe of their inner strength, their joy, their struggles, and their pure being.<br />
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Many years ago I graduated from high school and chose my college for the silliest of reasons. I wanted to be as far away as possible from home. It had to be place I'd never been and yet not so isolated that I was a total stranger. I chose the University of Tulsa and enrolled sight unseen in the fall of 1965.<br />
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My best friend, Douy, was going and her parents drove us both from Springfield, Illinois. I had my father's huge trunk from his WWII military service and several suitcases. We didn't have refrigerators or computers. But we did have clock radios, over sized hairdryers, and a forbidden hotplate.<br />
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We decided to arrive before classes actually began in order to experience "rush week." For those not familiar with sororities and fraternities, this is the time you parade through various sorority houses, attend parties and teas, and if you are lucky, you are chosen to join your favorite house.<br />
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As a first-generation college student, I was excited and terrified by this totally foreign experience. I immediately liked the girls at the Kappa Alpha Theta house. Who can explain these things? It's real. It's a connection, unique and strong. As it turned out the other girls who also chose Theta would become some of my lifelong friends.<br />
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I think it is quite remarkable that you can see someone after 15, 25, or 47 years and simply pick up your friendship where it was left. We haven't miss a beat, these amazing ladies and I. Our time together is filled with laughter and tears, memories and updates, surprises and familiar connections.<br />
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Truly, the gift of this weekend is how just being together in each other's presence nurtured and supported us perfectly in a way we each needed. I am forever grateful for the love, acceptance, and encouragement I received. I can only hope I was able to provide a bit of that for them.NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-40704863727414353802013-06-12T06:03:00.001-07:002013-06-12T06:03:34.602-07:00My Life...<div style="text-align: center;">
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"I want my life to be my calling. I don't want to waste another moment. Every choice, every conversation, every breath. I want them done with awareness. I devote my life to being awake and awakening others."</div>
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Laurel Schwartz</div>
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This has become my mantra. You know that mental loop endlessly repeating itself over and over inside your head. I have had so many different loops during my life and most not particularly helpful or encouraging. But this one is different. This one rings out to every cell of my being. It makes me smile. It reminds me life is perfect in every moment. It brings me into a deep understanding of life and an appreciation of everyone I encounter.<br />
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The Buddha said suffering is evitable. It is simply part of the experience of being alive on this earth. There are three kinds of Buddhists: ones that wish to eliminate all suffering and enjoy life; those who want to go beyond the suffering of this world and reach nirvana; and the third group who devote each breath to relieving the suffering of all beings. They understand how interconnected we all are. They know that as long as one being continues to suffer, we all suffer.<br />
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I'm not so full of myself to think I've reached this third elevated state, but I do sincerely want to be awake in each moment. More importantly, I want to use every breath, every conversation to offer what I have experienced to others.<br />
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Mantras are sacred sounds vibrating in ways that change the structure of your cells. They provide a deep tune-up and help dissolve old patterns of thought and being that no longer serve you. This new mental loop I've been repeating isn't a classic Sanskrit mantra, but I'd like to believe it is my sacred sound carrying me into a place where I can truly serve myself and others.</div>
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NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-89286761618611142912013-06-06T06:30:00.000-07:002013-06-06T08:46:24.447-07:00Cherish Ordinary Days...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has taken a while, but I certainly do know it now- </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the most wonderful gift I had, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the gift I've finally learned to cherish above all else, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">was the gift of all those perfectly ordinary days. ~Katrina Kenison</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lately I've been struggling with a severe case of plantarfasciitis in </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">both feet and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">tendinitis in my ankle. The doctor said it might take </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">six months to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">heal. I'm faithfully engaging in various stretches </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">incorporating them </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">into my daily Yoga practice. I've curtailed my </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">walking, apply ice and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">sometimes heat to tired, sore feet and spend </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">more time with my </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">feet up.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More than one friend has suggested the universe might be sending </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">a message to slow down. I've certainly received that message before </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and it usually comes more than once (stronger each time) until I </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">listen. I'm listening, I promise!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ordinary days, everyday moments fill our lives in ways that often go</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">unnoticed. As a longtime meditator, I like to believe I pay attention. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That I really notice things around me. But the reality is mindfulness </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and being present are lifetime practices. Like chopping wood and</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">carrying </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">water, we put one foot in front of the other, moment </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">after moment </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and wonder, "can we stay alert, awake, alive to </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all that is?"</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's a practice and each time I miss the mark, I feel gratitude for </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the chance to try again. Don't be discouraged if you are forgetful or </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">thoughts take you away from what is here in the present moment. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just allow the realization of not being present to be a pointer back </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to presence. Remember even our forgetting is perfect. Let go of all</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">expectations and appreciate the gift of ordinary days.</span></div>
NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-51344120608682905602013-05-16T08:51:00.003-07:002013-05-16T08:51:46.996-07:00JOY!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are. ~ Marianne Williamson</div>
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This morning is it! I'm really going to post something. I've been stuck in the invisible muck of procrastination, but my day has begun in such an amazing way, I want to write about it.<br />
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Mornings are my thing. I love the morning. I have only occasionally seen the sunrise since the time change, but it's calling to me. Soon I may be awaking before dawn again. It is my very favorite time because the world seems to be steeped in silence. Meditation just flows, and I feel such a deep sense of being.<br />
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I scheduled my annual mamogram for today and chose early morning, as I always do, to go for it. I was a little bit nervous because I'd had surgery last year and, well, if you're a woman, you know that mammogram machine can be brutal. I arrived on time, checked in and barely sat down, when a woman open the door and motioned for me to follow her.<br />
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I noticed immediately that she had a bandana tied around her neck. The paisley print coordinated nicely with her light purple scrubs. She turned toward me, placed her fingers over the scarf at her throat and said, "Take everything off from the waist up and put on the gown opened to the front."<br />
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Her speech was rough and difficult to understand, but I knew the drill. The moment I saw her hand move to her throat, I thought of the advertisement of the cancer survivor. You know, the woman getting ready for work, talking about the risks of throat cancer and urging people not to smoke. My next thought was completely judgmental. Why do people smoke when they know this could happen? What a horrible disease, etc.<br />
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I recognized in an instant, they were just thoughts. I didn't need them and detached; I wanted to be open to the moment. As she led me into the room where the machine was waiting, she again turned toward me, made eye contact and said, "I've have throat cancer and they had to remove my voice box. If you have any trouble understanding me, please let me know. Could I have your name and date of birth?"<br />
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Something touched me deeply as I responded to her request. After giving her my information, I told her I was glad the surgery went well. Her face softened and she was visibly relieved. She began to share her story. The cancer was discovered under her voice box last October. Following the surgery she took 2 1/2 months off and has been back at work for almost two months. She never smoked, but grew up around secondhand smoke. She was so matter-of-fact, not a trace of bitterness.<br />
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We talked about how lucky she was to be a survivor. She said she has been working at mammogram center for 27 years and the thought of not being able to come back to work was nearly unbearable. I told her she did a great job and to stay healthy. She gave me a bright smile, "See you next year!"<br />
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Although I have heard secondhand smoke is a cause of cancer, I'd never known anyone unlucky enough to have it. My favorite uncle died of throat cancer when I was a freshman in college. It was terribly sad, a very difficult experience and my first encounter with cancer. Since then what I notice for me is a prickliness, fear, anxiety and discomfort around "cancer."<br />
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What I felt today was the genuine warmth and authenticity of truly connecting with another human being. I may never see her again, and yet we connected. I was able to communicate with her, without negative emotions. Just two spirits being in presence. It was amazing.<br />
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I could have allowed my mind to go to an entirely different place. I could have shut her out, felt uncomfortable with her speech and her outward image of cancer. She could have spoken about all the horrors of having cancer.<br />
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What is it that allows us to recognize joy? Some days it is just there and I am so grateful.NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-5660873378657518432013-03-15T06:30:00.000-07:002013-03-24T08:36:15.786-07:00Thomas A. Edison<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"I'd put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that. I wish I had more years left."</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">"When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this - you haven't."</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> ~Thomas A. Edison</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">I spent the day in Ft. Myers, Florida at the Edison-Ford Estates and it was amazing. Of course, I knew Thomas Edison was an extraordinary inventor. But I now have an enormous respect for him as a human being as well. The first quote is my very favorite, at least so far...</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Here is a guy who invented the light bulb, phonograph, motion picture cameras, to name a few and then tirelessly researched plants from all over the world to find an alternative source for rubber. He has more patents registered than anyone else and most remarkably, he never gave up inventing. When most would have long retired, he found enjoyment in his laboratory in Ft. Myers until he died peacefully at the age of 84.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">I'm amazed that he had such foresight about solar energy and disappointed no one followed through with his assumption. I suspect if Edison had lived longer, we would have found a way to harness the Sun's energy. Perhaps we would even be free of our dependence on oil. What a marvelous vision...</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">The magnificent beauty of the grounds are spellbinding, carrying you back to a time where everyday life was leisure and filled with discovery. There are hundreds of trees and plants from all over the world. In his search for a different rubber source, Edison imported 100's of trees and plants from six continents. The famous Banyan, planted in 1925 as a four-foot tree, now covers almost an acre of the grounds. Tour guides boast the gardens contain over 1700 plants representing 400 species, including tropical fruit trees, orchids, bromeliads, cycads, and more than 50 species of palms.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">When Edison first arrived in Ft. Myers, it could only reached by boat. The population was something like 350. All of the building materials for his home came by boat traveling down the Caloosahatchee River. How strange that must have been. The photo is of the dock that greeted boats and visitors arriving at the Edison Estate.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Now the metropolitan area of Ft. Myers/Cape Coral </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">has grown to over 600,000. It is a very busy city with lots of traffic, plenty to see and do, and veritable melting pot of diverse cultures. Maybe someone there or somewhere in the world is poised to fulfilled Edison's vision of the power of solar energy. </span></span>NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-12477543760435338582013-02-21T05:30:00.000-08:002013-02-21T06:42:13.680-08:00The Secret of Health<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';"><i>The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';"> – </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';"><i>The Buddha</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';">Here is a wise and familiar tenet of life. Throughout my forty-odd years of practicing Yoga this returns again and again to remind me the present moment is all that is real.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';">Yesterday I discovered the freezer door had not securely closed the night before and food was thawing. My mind immediately began to ruminate about the cost of a new refrigerator, the time it would take to empty and clean the freezer, the waste of thawed food, the frustration of contacting someone to fix it, on and on.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';">But wait, maybe the door just wasn't completely closed. Perhaps simply securely closing it and waiting a few hours would reveal a different scenario. The bananas kept on the top shelf would need to be discarded, but the rest might yet be saved. Actually, I used the half-thawed bananas, along with strawberries, blueberries and mango to make a fantastic smoothie. But that's anothter story.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';">Sure enough, the refrigerator did not turn into a huge hassle. By evening the motor was purring softly and everything was frozen as it should be. Ice was popping from the ice maker. We smiled at our foolishness.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';">The point here is the mind could have taken me on quite an unpleasant ride, spending hours worrying about things not yet happening. This worry does effect health and well being, not to mention overriding the ability to simply be in the present moment.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, 'sans serif';">Of course, this is a mundane example, but it illustrates the point. The amazing ability of the mind to create our reality is indeed a wonder. What an enormous responsibilty it is to stay awake and aware in order to command this powerful instrument to serve us rather than let it be our master.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the Universe, a moment that </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">teach them what they are?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">to make the world worthy of its children.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~ Pablo Picasso</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When my children were small, I would often tell them how wonderful they were. Reminding them they are unique human beings is a responsibility I take very seriously. I mean really, it's my job to instill into their psyche confidence and a deep sense of self. Along with this is the idea that all life is sacred. Even those people we may not like or agree with ~ they are unique, sacred, and an essential part of the nature of the universe.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The major tenet of Yoga is <i>Ahimsa,</i> non-harming. Many great Yoga teachers and gurus proclaim it to be the basis for all other attributes. If we do no harm, we can co-create a place of harmony and joy. Of course, non-harming must begin with our self. Each act of kindness toward self or other will affect our perception of the world. It will transform how we experience the world. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">How do we "make the world worthy of its children"? It starts by practicing <i>Ahimsa </i>and recognizing we are all in this together. We are connected. We are ONE. </span><br />
<br />NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-61828499255844065682013-02-11T06:00:00.000-08:002013-02-14T11:30:06.203-08:00Perfect at Every Moment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The world is not imperfect or slowly<br />
evolving along a long path to perfection.<br />
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No, it is perfect at every moment<br />
It seems to me that everything that exists i<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline;">s good--<br />death as well as life,<br />sin as well as folly.<br /><br />Everything is necessary,<br />everything needs only agreement,<br />my assent, my loving understanding;<br />then all is well with me<br />and nothing can harm me.<br /><br />~~Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha</span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lately, I have found myself vacillating between opposites, feeling as if my small boat is rocking madly on very rough water. This can be disconcerting, but fortunately, I have not </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">remained too long in any one state. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Several days last week old aches and pains revisited bringing some discomfort and psychological resistance. It was interesting to become the observer, watch the experience of my body and mind, and let go of all expectations. Nothing magical happened, but eventual the pain dissolved. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I dreamed about the "painbody" Eckhart Tolle describes in his book, <i>The Power of Now</i>, and wondered how much of my discomfort might be attached to this energetic feature of my being. Tolle contends there is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">an energy form of emotional pain accumulated from life experiences not faced and accepted in the moment they happened. These old emotions can be triggered and new painful situations occur. So, I'll continue to be the observer and life will reveal its mysteries when the time is right.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I visited a friend who has been in the hospital for a couple of weeks and past memories of family members struggling with similar health issues began to haunt me. I recognized my attachment to wanting everything to be "okay" and I let go. Thoughts trickled into my consciousness like water slowly dripping from an old faucet.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">This quote from Siddhartha reminds me that I am okay. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Everything is as it is supposed to be. More than that "everything that exists is good." I just need to come into the understanding that the universe doesn't make mistakes. The universe is perfect in each moment.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Everything truly is necessary and perhaps, it is only our limited perceptions that bring doubt and judgment. As I look back on my life, it is clear that everything has its place and its time. All is well.</span></div>
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NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-34103491499300965012013-02-04T05:57:00.000-08:002013-02-04T05:57:56.015-08:00Unfolding with Ease...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i>This year, I am determined to be more unproductive. My goal is to do less and less – to move slower and slower until everything stops. I and the whole world will come to a sweet and silent stillness. And in this stillness, a great shout of joy will arise. We will all be free – free from the advice of ancient ages, free from the whining voices, free from the incessant objections of the responsible ones. </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i><br /></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i>In this new world, it will be abundantly clear that the bare branches of the winter trees are our teachers. In their daily dance of moving here and there, we will see once again the true meaning of our life. In the wind song of their being, we will hear God’s unmistakable voice. We will follow what appears before us – what had once been difficult will now unfold with ease.</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><i> ~ Hakuin Ekaku</i></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">I have been struggling with myself for sometime now. Part of me wants to write, part of me just lets go into the flow of each day. I wonder... If I take time to write, I love what I experience and I think it has value. Yet if I move through my day, moment by moment, enjoying whatever arises, I love that. And I know <i>it</i> has value.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Each day there are thoughts and feelings merging from the stillness and they long for expression. I brush them aside, using precious moments for other things. Who is to say which is more valuable? How do I determine in what way to spend my allotted time?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">My writers' group encourages me to take time each day to write. This discipline of setting a time to put words to paper or a computer screen. I know how discipline works; I practice Yoga everyday. I meditate. In fact, if I don't, something just doesn't feel right. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 24px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I tried to set a specific time to write and it feels so rigid and artificially imposed. But I recieved an email from a writer friend who is suggesting I make a date with myself ~ a specific day and time and place to go. I like that idea. It seems I need to allow this desire to write to become a practice like my Yoga and this may be the way for it to evolve. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Maybe I just do it all and let whatever is here in this moment be as it is. Could is possibly be as simple as that? To follow whatever arises and "what has once been difficult will now unfold with ease."</span>NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-9353969790732742862012-12-12T06:00:00.000-08:002012-12-12T06:00:05.685-08:00Learn to Die<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thou shalt understand that it is a science most profitable, and passing all other sciences, for to learn to die. </span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> – <i>Heinrich Suso</i></span><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; color: #222222;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Over that last several years it has been my good fortune to be with my mother and my mother-in-law as they complete their lives. In our culture, it is not easy to talk about death and for many it stirs deep fear and an unwillingness to let go. It becomes a terrible struggle or a long slow painful nightmare.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All of the great teachers and gurus tell us to recognize we are not the body and to let go of whatever attachments bind us to this body. If we don't, the experience of dying will certainly be difficult. What a tragedy because death will come. It is only our response to it that we can prepare for.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ethnath Eswaran, a great spiritual teacher, says, "There is great artistry in this. Death comes and growls something about how our time has come, and we just say, 'Don’t growl; I’m ready to come on my own.' Then we stand up gracefully, take off the jacket that is the body, hand it over carefully, and go home."</span></div>
NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-61332743039686559742012-12-10T06:00:00.000-08:002012-12-10T07:02:32.023-08:00Eternity is...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a misconception that Eternity</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is somewhere in the future.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want to touch Eternity,</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dive deep into the present. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~Ivan M. Granger~</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We grow up with so many fairy tales. I loved them all, especially the ones where the handsome prince or dashing knight swept away the maiden from all of her misery and lived happily ever after. I think I became so enmeshed in the storyline that I quite literally waited for my prince charming to rescue me.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For many years I measured my life by the future. Three weeks until Christmas; two months until graduation; 15 minutes until his flight arrives. I was constantly waiting for my life to be begin or be better or different. If I wasn't wishfully projecting into the future, I was brooding or reminiscing about the past. I wish it were still summer. Why did I say that? What I would give to be back in that place or with those people.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not sure when the change occurred, but it was certainly gradual. First a fleeting thought, perhaps something as simple as "just enjoy this moment" would appear. More and more often these thoughts would arise and along the way, a Yoga teacher or two would remind me "to stay with the breath."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's a practice, they would say. I went through periods of trying, putting a lot of disciple and effort into the idea of "being present." It seemed an impossible task. But one day, quite unexpectedly, Presence found its way into my heart and has remained to this day.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That is not to say, I don't ever anticipate some future event or remember something from the past. But it's different; somehow, I feel free to just be in each moment and let this miracle of life unfold.</span>NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-46858028760568141812012-12-01T05:30:00.000-08:002013-02-18T11:26:34.476-08:00It Simply Is...<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Make
everything in you an ear, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">each atom of
your being, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;">
</span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and you will
hear at every moment <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">what the
Source is whispering to you, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">just to you
and for you, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">without any
need for my words or anyone else's. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You are-- we
all are-- the beloved of the Beloved, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and in every
moment, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">in every
event of your life, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the Beloved
is whispering to you <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">exactly what
you need to hear and know. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who can ever
explain this miracle? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It simply
is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Listen and
you will discover it every passing moment...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="color: #262626;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1d1d1d;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Rumi</span><span style="color: #262626;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Yoga Nidra we practice the art of blissful relaxation. Last month, I chose this Rumi poem to begin the meditation. Rumi has the amazing gift of reaching over centuries of time and mountains of cultural differences to touch me with the perfect word or idea. Exactly what I need to hear or know. </span></div>
<div style="color: #262626;">
<span style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1d1d1d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yoga Nidra offers the gifts of deep relaxation and profound inquiry. As the body/mind softens and releases tension, effort, thoughts, emotions and images, the practice begins its magic. Travelling inward this journey explores the inner realms of consciousness.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1d1d1d;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1d1d1d;">Peeling back layers of habits and thought patterns, moving through emotions and deeply held beliefs, we settle into that sacred space, the spiritual heart. From the vast inner place we find comfort, healing, nourishment, joy, acceptance, loving kindness and compassion.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1d1d1d;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1d1d1d;">This is where you connect with that eternal being ~ who you really are. From here you know, without knowing, exactly what you need to know as each moment of life unfolds. </span></span></div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment-->NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-4681428038384839952012-11-23T05:15:00.000-08:002012-11-25T10:54:14.284-08:00Birthdays...<br />
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<br />
The Swan<br />
This laboring through what is still undone,<br />
as though, legs bound, we hobbled along the way,<br />
is like the awkward walking of the swan.<br />
<br />
And dying-to let go, no longer feel<br />
the solid ground we stand on every day-<br />
is like anxious letting himself fall<br />
<br />
into waters, which receive him gently<br />
and which, as though with reverence and joy,<br />
draw back past him in streams on either side;<br />
while, infinitely silent and aware,<br />
in his full majesty and ever more<br />
indifferent, he condescends to glide.<br />
Rainer Maria Rilke<br />
<br />
This year as I celebrate my birthday I am grateful to have discovered the ability to let go. Although I so often feel I am hobbling along, I also know the majesty of letting go into the stream of life.<br />
<br />
Rilke, with a magnificent gift of words, describes the swan in a way I can so easily picture myself. I look forward to this next year with joy and reverence, with awe and wonder, with contentment and compassion.<br />
<br />
NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-30912182494637630182012-11-17T10:53:00.001-08:002012-11-17T10:53:56.219-08:00Letting go...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="letter-spacing: -1px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; letter-spacing: -1px;">Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; letter-spacing: -1px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; letter-spacing: -1px;">~ Herman Hesse </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px;">I'm struggling to let go of things in my basement, in my closets, in my garage. I don't know why it is such a difficult task. Some of these have been packed in boxes for years and are smashed beyond all usefulness. Still, I hesitate...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px;">Last week I filled the trunk of my Prius with clothes I no longer use or need. Now a second load of unwanted items waits patiently in the trunk to be dropped off at the Good Will. Before taking them, I thought I might be able to find a few more things. So I'm off to the basement. It's a very brave thing to do. Basements can be so overwhelming.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px;">One of the things I love about the process of de-cluttering is discovering memories attached to the things you find. I found a collage of photos this morning taken about twenty-five years ago. It made me smile to see my 5-year old daughter with her Indian headdress hiding behind a bush in our front yard or wrapped in a wispy shawl of mine, smiling mischievously. So, now instead of letting go completely, I want to take this to my daughter. She may want it, who knows...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #133050; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: -1px;">For now I'm moving on to another closet. The basement holds far too many memories for me to sort through today. Besides, the sun is shining so brightly, it's just a shame to cloister myself in the basement. All of those boxes will be waiting for another day, more cloudy or rainy or dreary than today.</span>NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-89647091725345010442012-10-25T08:52:00.001-07:002012-12-10T07:31:47.992-08:00What Will Matter<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<a href="http://www.vibrantnation.com/" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #a2557f; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><img alt="fall walk" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-123346" height="282" src="http://www.vibrantnation.com/wp-content/uploads/fall_walk.jpg" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 13px; height: inherit; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 455px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" title="fall walk" width="425" /></a></div>
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</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Ready
or not, some day it will all come to an end.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-small;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>There
will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you
collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Your
wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter
what you owned or what you were owed.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></span></div>
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</span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Your
grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So
too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to do lists will expire.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: x-small;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>The
wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>It
won’t matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the
end.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>It
won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin
color will be irrelevant.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>So
what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What
will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but
what you gave.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What
will matter is not your success but your significance.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What
will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What
will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that
enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What
will matter is not your competence but your character.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What
will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting
loss when you’re gone.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What
will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved
you.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>What
will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Living
a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident. It’s not a matter of
circumstance but of choice.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Choose
to live a life that matters. ~Michael Josephson</i></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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Not to be morbid, but I have been thinking about death lately. I'm not sick, depressed, or obsessive; it's more curiosity. I mean you come to a point in your life when mortality is very real. So much different than contemplating death in your 20's or even 30's. Oh, I've always been aware that life will end; it's unavoidable. But lately, it's more this feeling that every moment counts; that living in integrity with compassion and courage is supremely important.</div>
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Living a life that matters is really an inside job. It's about what's going on within me and how my light shines out to everything and everyone I touch. I do believe we choose the life we live and that the choices keep coming in each moment. Not every moment is fun or pleasant, but the way we choose to accept it is indicative of who we are and how we shine.</div>
NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-51193142584612004362012-10-20T06:30:00.000-07:002013-02-22T08:07:00.296-08:00In the silence...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mk6zU89B6Ag/UIllMUgBMjI/AAAAAAAAAmw/HdRnNrNE6cQ/s1600/IMG_1617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Mk6zU89B6Ag/UIllMUgBMjI/AAAAAAAAAmw/HdRnNrNE6cQ/s320/IMG_1617.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">In the silence</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">between your heartbeat</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">bides a summons.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Do you hear it?</span><br />
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<span class="userContent">Name it if you must,</span><br />
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<span class="userContent">or leave it forever nameless,</span><br />
<span class="userContent">but why pretend it</span><br />
<span class="userContent">is not there?</span><br />
<span class="userContent"><br /></span>
<span class="userContent">Leave that which is not,</span><br />
<span class="userContent">but appears to be.</span><br />
<span class="userContent"><br /></span>
<span class="userContent">Seek that which is,</span><br />
<span class="userContent">But is not apparent.</span><br />
<span class="userContent"> ~ Rumi </span><br />
<span class="userContent"><br /></span>
<span class="userContent">There is nothing quite as wonderful as the silence between heartbeats or breaths. We try to name it, but it doesn't really matter because feeling it, experiencing it, that's what actually counts. Always this silence is found in that which is NOT apparent. </span><br />
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<span class="userContent">So I urge you to leave everything behind that appears to be real. Come into the interior space of vastness and wonder ~ into the silence and find everything your heart's desires. </span></div>
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NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-69546159050052420682012-09-24T06:00:00.000-07:002012-09-24T06:00:05.350-07:00Grace, Ease and Lightness<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lYwYBBTtI80/UF97RnsclGI/AAAAAAAAAls/axxuxm1qa3A/s1600/IMG_1506.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lYwYBBTtI80/UF97RnsclGI/AAAAAAAAAls/axxuxm1qa3A/s320/IMG_1506.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general conditions of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no struggle or effort on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them - while they last.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> ~Eckhart Tolle</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know this quote is not written in poetic verse, but occasionally the thought touches me in such a way that I want to include it. Here Tolle offers some great advice about surrender. Not easy to do, but actually quite simple. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To just let go and allow life to unfold is a lifelong practice for me. When I can "be"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5d5b35; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> without struggle or effort, it truly is amazing ~ that state of grace, ease and lightness.</span></div>
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NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-50195988707733489292012-09-23T05:30:00.000-07:002012-09-23T14:07:07.295-07:00We Are Nothing, the Light is All<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yYe6gsY1o2M/UEdmlm4rWBI/AAAAAAAAAjI/y-yFeOSQ3rg/s1600/IMG_1459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yYe6gsY1o2M/UEdmlm4rWBI/AAAAAAAAAjI/y-yFeOSQ3rg/s320/IMG_1459.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;">
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 1.22em;">From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, <br style="line-height: 1.22em;" />and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 1.22em;"> ~Ralph Waldo Emerson</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 1.22em;">Every wisdom tradition talks about the light and how life comes from it. We are told that we, too, are made of light. In fact, at my recent Yoga immersion weekend, I learned a chant that has become my favorite mantra: I am light, only light, eternal light.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 1.22em;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 1.22em;">There is something incredibly comforting as these sounds resonate within me. I find myself repeaing them at the most unusual times. While making dinner, I look out the window at the setting sun and softly chant, "I am light, only light, eternal light." Walking through the grocery store, the words ring gently in my ears. Again, driving to an appointment or returning home, I hear this lovely thought. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 1.22em;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS'; line-height: 1.22em;">This wisdom has woven itself into the fabric of my being. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';">Engaged in conversation, checking email, writing, weeding the garden, walking our dog, watching television, preparing for sleep ~ whatever the activity, this mantra returns reminding me light shines through us all and we are that light. </span></div>
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NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-76971355370595209752012-09-22T06:30:00.000-07:002012-09-23T08:48:41.765-07:00Fresh and Alive<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jJeLmzcDL1U/UF4d3KiLBmI/AAAAAAAAAlM/0KtsZTPDJJM/s1600/IMG_1675.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jJeLmzcDL1U/UF4d3KiLBmI/AAAAAAAAAlM/0KtsZTPDJJM/s320/IMG_1675.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are two things: to be and to do.</span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't think too much about to do - to be is first. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To be peace. To be joy. </span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And then to do joy, to do happiness - on the basis of being. </span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Being fresh. Being peaceful. Being compassionate. </span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the basic practice.</span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's like a person sitting at the foot of a tree. </span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The tree does not have to do anything, but the tree is fresh and alive. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you are like that tree, sending out waves of freshness, </span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">you help to calm down the suffering in the other person.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> ~ Thich Nhat Hahn </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; text-align: left; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last night I was at a meditation with over 50 other people. It was a </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">lovely experience. I think what impressed me most was this idea of </span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; text-align: left; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"being." We sat sending out waves of just being. The calm peacefulness </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">in that room was palpable. An amazing side effect for me was a deep, </span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; text-align: left; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">restful sleep; one the best I've had in years!</span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; text-align: left; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2145408052630560190" itemprop="description articleBody" style="color: #05548e; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; text-align: left; width: 650px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like the image of being like a tree. They are strong and grounded. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They can endure extremes in the weather and they move gracefully </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">with the wind. They have the uncanny ability of bringing joy and </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">equanimity to those who gaze upon them with gratitude. Buddha </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">found enlightenment under a tree. Mary Oliver, Wendall Berry, Rainer </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maria Rilke, and many others write beautiful poetry to trees.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Such grace to be like a tree... </span></div>
NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-76705968999424123022012-09-20T06:12:00.000-07:002012-09-20T06:12:02.814-07:00Something Terrific<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">I have become my own version of an optimist.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">If I can't make it through one door,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">I'll go through another door - or I'll make a door.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">Something terrific will come</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">no matter how dark the present.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">~ Rabindranath Tagore</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">These last several months have been intense. During other times of my life, I might have called them hard or even painful, but I have become my own unique version of an optimist. One thing that Yoga has taught me is that nothing remains the same in this world; life is constantly changing. If there is sadness or pain, it will arise and dissolve. If there is awe, wonder, happiness, and joy, it will come and it will go. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">If I can remember this, detachment is easier and I am more likely to find another door or if I'm feeling a wave of creativity, I might make a unique pathway through whatever is happening. Of course, it is never as easy as the words sound. The pain and the darkness are very real, even when they are hauntings from the past.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;">This is when the breath takes front and center stage. Yoga is all about the breath. Returning again and again to each inhale, each exhale, each pause, brings me gently to my center. Resting back into the breath, my core being connects me to all of life, to oneness. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">It is then I know beyond any shadow of doubt, something terrific will come...</span>NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-50512135475537130942012-09-17T06:40:00.000-07:002012-09-18T06:42:45.857-07:00It Is Lovely<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>I am the spirit within the earth.</i><br /><i>The feet of the earth are my feet.</i><br /><i>The legs of the earth are my legs.</i><br /><i>The strength of the earth is my strength</i><br /><i>The thoughts of the earth are my thoughts.</i><br /><i>The voice of the earth is my voice.</i><br /><i>The feather of the earth is my feather.</i><br /><i>All that belongs to the earth belongs to me.</i><br /><i>All that surrounds the earth surrounds me.</i><br /><i>I am the sacred works of the earth.</i><br /><i>It is lovely indeed, it is lovely indeed.</i><i><br /></i><i> ~ Navajo Song of the Earth Spirit</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #05548e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;">I attended a Yoga Immersion weekend in St. Louis and the teacher, Saul David Raye, weaving beautiful teachings from the Mayan and Native American cultures into our practices created a space for amazing and deep connection. There are a couple of thoughts that continue to resonate for me. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #05548e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;">First, he reminds us Mother Earth is in peril. She needs for each of us to not only connect with her, but to change the many ways we hurt her. For we all are contributing to her cruel suffering and she will die if enough of us don't wake up.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #05548e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;">As well, it is so very important for us to live each moment fully present, fully grounded. He suggests we go outside and touch the earth each day ~ to be in nature as much as we can. Just breathing the air and seeing all of nature will help to stay awake.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #05548e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;">Of course, Yoga is so intimately connected to the breath, the prana, the life force that being in the breath is absolutely crucial to our survival and to our ability to be in the present moment. There are simple deep breathing techniques to practice every time we notice our breath. Coming back again and again to the breath and letting go into who we truly are.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #05548e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;">The Yoga we practice is prana- and heart-centric. It is vital that we open our hearts in each moment ~ to ourselves, to each other, to every living thing in creation. It is through the open heart that we truly flow with life. It is through the open heart that we find our way. It is through the open heart that we connect with our divine purpose.</span></span>NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-69434263957136150152012-09-13T06:00:00.000-07:002012-09-18T12:07:11.365-07:00Wisdom for Living Each Day...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Yield and overcome, empty and be full.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Have little and gain, Have much and be confused.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Not putting on a display, not justifying,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Not boasting, not bragging.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">Be really whole and all things </span>will come to you.<br />
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~Lao Tsu~<br />
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Over the years I have returned again and again to the teachings of Lao Tsu. The Tao Te Ching is so concise, yet packed with wisdom, the kind you can read differently each time the words appear. This morning what touched me were these: </div>
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<i> Be really whole and all things will come to you</i></div>
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Wholeness is basic to who and what we are. But so often we don't recognize we are whole. We feel disconnected, or powerless, or hopeless, or sad. For me being whole isn't about having everything. It's more about yielding, surrendering to that divine source of all creation. Being empty, just being...<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"></span>NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5058212962925803536.post-42102275000521088592012-08-31T13:38:00.000-07:002013-07-17T04:28:07.649-07:00Strawberries...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When my mother passed away, I was teaching my Friday morning Yoga class. I knew she was fragile and may even had been sick. I was taking her to her pulmonary doctor later that morning. But as class began, I let go of all my external distractions, even my concern for her. Somewhere toward the end of class, my husband, Mike appeared in the doorway. His look was ominous. My first thought was something happened to his mother who was in the hospital, near death with pneumonia.<br />
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As I walked to the door, I turned to the class and said, "Go ahead and begin your meditation." When I turned back to Mike, his mouth gently curved into a painful smile and he hugged me. "Let's go into the office."<br />
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I waited for him to shut the office door to ask how his mom was. Very quietly, he told me it wasn't his mom, but mine that had died. She was on the way to the ER. In an ambulance with strangers, my mother drew her last breath. My heart felt as if a dagger had been thrust into it. I dropped to my knees and wailed like a baby. Mike gently held me in his arms with tenderness and compassion. He loved my mother, too, and I think maybe he knew I would be doing this for him soon as well.<br />
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When we arrived at the ER, we were led to one of rooms where she had been left. My sister was already there and recognizing each other's tears, we embraced in our shared grief. They let us stay for as long as we wanted. I was able to recite a prayer from the Tibetan Book of the Dead and say farewell to my mother. I could feel her presence still there, but her body was stiff and lifeless. Her face beheld a peace and ease I had not seen in her when she was alive.<br />
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As we began to consider all the things we needed to do, I volunteered to go back to the facility where she had been staying. The most difficult walk I've ever made was the one from the entrance to her room. As I stood looking at the now empty bed, it began to sink in ~ she's really gone.<br />
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One of the nurses (I think her name was Corrine) who had been so good with her came by and gave me a hug. She began to tell me what had happened that morning. Mom had asked if she could have breakfast in her room because she wasn't feeling very well. Corrine brought her a tray with food, including strawberries. When she returned, my mother told her they were the best strawberries she had ever eaten. Ten minutes later, she was gasping for her breath unable to talk.<br />
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They tried to reach both my sister & me, but we were not answering. So they called Mike and he said, "Yes, call the ambulance. I'll notify her daughters and meet them at the hospital." The paramedics said she had stopped breathing enroute and of course, at 88, with COPD, she had a "do not resuscitate" order in her file.<br />
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As it turned out, I was grateful I had gone back to her room so soon after her death. The nurse was able to tell me details I might not have received had I waited a day or more. Now I have a wonderful memory of my mother enjoying those last few moments of her life. I mean, really, how much more could you be in the present moment than when enjoying the best strawberries you ever had...NanYogahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17860232805165876840noreply@blogger.com1