As I head closer to the 90 day mark on my yoga journey, I am learning so much about myself because of the valuable inner work that I have done. Today I'm still recovering from being sick and I am taking it nice and easy. Just like Yoga With Adriene's "Be Kind" practice which focuses on being loving and compassionate with yourself. Today was about nurturing and self-care and today. And I received TLC from myself and others.
It's important to find balance in your life. And that is what today's practice was all about and what today was all about for me. I caught a bad cold which started yesterday and just sort of blindsided me the way colds can often do with the swiftness at which the symptoms became full-blown. So for me day 23 of the "True" challenge on the "Yoga With Adriene" Youtube channel, gave me just what I needed. It was the perfect mix of a little fire and sweat with mostly calming, thoughtful poses. Now it's time for my body to experience some hard-core rest and rejuvenation!
Today I decided to let whatever feelings I had just bubble up to the surface and hang out. It all started with the Adriene's "Release" yoga practice and then flowed into my morning journaling and out into my day. I'm continuing the theme of releasing resistance -- letting go of the emotions that I've been so desperately hanging onto. I met a poet named Gregory Pond today at a potluck to support artists and other creative individuals. I read the poems in his book, appropriately titled "After Moon" just 2 days after the last triple full moon/blood moon/eclipse. Much of his poetry struck a chord with me, including one entitled "boxed in".
i found myself
trapped in a box
too tired
to fold back the flaps
too weak
to break the seal
I felt like this once I thought. When I left the cult of Jehovah's Witnesses. The feelings of that time in my life emerged. One musician at the party started playing an exotic stringed instrument, and singing. One man in starting half singing, half chanting. A woman began striking various singing bowls that were lined up on a table adjacent some tea, a large jar of honey and some chips and a small dish of guacamole. I sat there spilling my guts to the poet with a vintage 1970's songbook in my lap, nursing a teacup and the beginnings of a fever and a bad cold. Yes. It was that kind of party.
Yoga today was all about not forcing, about surrendering to the challenge and not fighting it, fighting the process of change and growth. Things must be lining up in the Universe because I feel so connected to the ley lines of the earth, to the cosmos -- so in tune with life's synchronicities. In Tori Hartman's workbook "Chakra Wisdom Oracle Toolkit: A 52-Week Journey of Self-Discovery With The Lost Fables", I explored the fable of "Crimson Dreams" and examined how much of my life is passing me by because of complacency. I meditated and wrote in my journal about what that means for me. I realized that I could rejoice about a lot of things that I have become active about, like being more on time, conquering goals like learning to swim, creating a daily yoga and meditation practice and so forth. But there are dreams that I have been neglecting out of fear. Traveling aspirations, musical aspirations, wealth building, de-cluttering my living space, etc. There are areas of my life that I am still resisting change in. In "Rituals of Transformation, I explored this concept and was able to link my complacency directly to my resistance to what is. I feel as if I can use what I learned from the wise and gentle techniques of "The Sedona Method" By Hale Dwoskin and from "The Emotional Freedom Technique" pioneered by Gary Craig. I have all the tools necessary to create the life of my dreams. All these things and even better things to come!
Smooth, calm and a joyful breathe of fresh air were great words for today's yoga practice. It was a breezy flow of asanas that were perfect to ground me and dispel my anxiety for the busy day that followed. And a crazy whirlwind it was -- a rush of classes, emails and meetings. And through it all, I approached things with more mindfulness and an air of forgiveness and gratitude. I truly am thankful to be right where I am right now!
This reading from Sandra Anne Taylor's "Energy Oracle" is amazing! The first three cards are for the recent past. In that line we have "Hostilities" reversed which signifies that a problem I had been facing where someone was actively hostile is resolving itself. The "Angel of Love" and "Man Holding A Heart" ❤ cards show where I am opening my heart up to both self-love and love from others and romantic love as well. In the present position, we have "Victory" which means that I am succeeding in all my endeavors but that I should keep my eye on the ball. "The Temple Path", that let's me know that I am on the spiritual path that will give my life purpose and meaning in this incarnation. Also there is "The Thinking Woman" that I feel is talking about my commitment to higher learning, the scholarly exploration of my spirituality, and is a sign that I am making positive progress. Lastly, in the future alignment of cards we have "Blossoming Abundance" that let's me know that my times of lack and loss are behind me and that I will be receiving a bounty of financial prosperity. Thank you to Gail Thackray's "30 Days To Prosperity"! "Ma Holding A Coin" is supporting the this statement, nodding to the influence of my masculine soul and my connection to solar energy and action, also possibly to my Capricorn moon energy, and the amazing advice I received from my amazing friend Jay who told me just two days ago that "with all [my] talents [he'd] be surprised if I couldn't find a way to make money". I'm taking it to heart ❤. Which brings me to the final card, "Broken Heart" reversed. Yay! 🙌 I am healing my heart, releasing old wounds and breaks and stepping into a new, brighter 🌞 future! This reading is the best reading I have had all year. And it's on the auspicious time of a full moon, blue moon, blood moon and an eclipse! This mirrors that fact that I performed a ritual of balance and release on the last eclipse last year in August. Coincidence? I think not.
Today's practice is all about focus. How do we use our minds in the most practical sense of the word? How do we meditate as if outside ourselves, watching our minds, while not being simply reduced to the rantings of our monkey minds -- the ceaseless inner chatter that actually clogs our intuition with fears and obscures our vision with its limited scope. I believe that we can have both practical and spiritual applications to the way we live our lives. We can dream, meditate, and pray and we can make money, play, and explore creative hobbies. It's all about balancing the two concepts. And I think that's what todays tarot card of the day is communicating to me.
I drew the "Hare" card in reverse from Phillip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm's "The Druid Animal Oracle" deck. Drawn in reverse, the "Hare" card signifies that you are not paying enough attention to your practical life. Essentially, I've had my head in the clouds a bit. I get the message. A little more attention to taking out the trash and doing the dishes and of course the daily financial hustle, while not losing track of my dreams. Message received, loud and clear.
Bachman Turner Overdrive's "Taking Care Of Business"
Yoga With Adriene was all about learning to surrender. But it wasn't the smooth and gentle practice I was expecting. Instead, it was challenging with a slew plank poses. It reminded me that surrendering my seem passive, but it's an action. It's also important to learn to surrender to the situation in times that are tough. This is not giving up or just letting the hard stuff win, it's about surfing with the changes and commotions that life throws at us and doing so with ease. This takes practice, but it's something that my meditation and yoga practice is preparing me for. How to sail the windy seas of my existence as if it were a calm stream and how to approach the surging waves with joy instead of fear.
I've been exploring the topic of forgiveness a lot in the "Rituals For Transformation" journal by Briana and Dr. Peter Borten. Today I reflecting on the idea that forgiveness can transcend time and space -- healing in the past, present and future. I am a Reiki Master who is familiar with the energetic concept that healing can be multi-dimensional. Yesterday, a friend of mind told me that he believed that the mode of the fifth dimension was the concept of choice. I thought about it and had to agree. When you learn about things like the law of attraction such as in Gail Thackray's "30 Days To Prosperity", you understand that you choose to accept prosperity as a state of being. You can also choose a state of lack. You can choose to bring into your life the states of love, joy, peace, creativity, inspiration and a plethora of other positive ways of being. As I head towards the last day of my journey with Thackray's amazing book, (at least for now) I accept that each day and with every thought and action, I am choosing to be present in my journey. I am creating the story of my life. And I realize that I want to be the heroine of a triumphant tale that inspires hope and unconditional love!
