What is Growing Plants?John's Island-Homegrown-Farmer's Market, South Carolina. The stickers on this graph represent individual opinions from new friends I met today. I hosted the Permaculture Guild booth for the first time and came up with this interactive crowd sourcing activity. So much fun! Most people knew instantly how they felt and wanted to participate. The funniest reaction I got was several people asking if I did it for a school project. I answered that it was for fun, and that brought smiles. :)
0 Comments
Sunshine. So easy to forget its magical powers; until it's clouded over for three days straight. After that, the feeling on unobstructed sun on the flesh of my cheek felt like the most divine pleasure. So I try to soak it in as much as I can. I take mindful breaths. I bring my awareness to my heart. Become still, and listen. Sunshine speaks to me in glitter and gold.
Sunday is one of my favorite days of the week because it means I teach a yoga class, and get washed with loving feelings of deep connection and growth. It's 'easy' to find joy on days like today. The lesson I shared with my students today was about Prana or Chi/Qi/Ether/Energy. The American English vocabulary lacks an adequate description for the divine nature of the concept. In a Shamanic setting, I may use the word Great Spirit. In a Yogic setting, I use Prana. So what is it? And what does it do? Prana is the life-giving current flowing through all things at all times. It is in every person, rock, tree, and hamburger. It's even in the air. You can't see it, taste it, smell it, hear or touch it. Like a belief in god, it requires faith in it's presence and power. Like a prayer to the Holy Spirit, you can know it, and you can ask it for whatever you need. I let my yoga students know that when you breathe in, take in oxygen with your physical body and prana with your subtle body. If you need relief from muscle strain, visualize the prana as white light easing the discomfort as your breath moves the healing energy through your body. If you need to energize mid-day, step into the sun and ask the sun's prana to stimulate all your cells and fill your mind with patient alertness. When we do yoga at the beach, I like to ask the wave prana to help release anything no longer serving me. Thats the beauty of subtle energy-you don't need to be specific! The importance is having the best intention. If we tell the prana of the universe (with our hearts) what we want to manifest in our lives, we can create abundance A Place in Nature
It's Monday. This morning, before I went to work, I went to my place in nature. I am able to sit and be present with myself. It is quiet enough for me to listen to my intuition. I am serene enough to be patient with myself. I speak with the Earth. This story is called My Joy because to me, Joy is the perfect union of happiness and freedom. One of my favorite Sanskrit prayers asks for 'All beings to be happy and free.' It became a mantra for me for years. During that journey, it became important to know what brings me joy-so I am able to consistently create it in my life. My quintessential vision of joy is riding a bicycle. Fast or slow, tall or short, the thrill is resounding and utterly simple. I feel in control of my body, yet at the same time, surrendered to my spirit. My heart bursting forward, feet grounding down, my smile lifting my gaze above the horizon. I recently shared this bliss with my young nephew. He was driving a battery operated jeep as I pedaled my cruiser down our residential street. The peckish revolutions of the jeep still made wind fluff his hair and initiate the sensation of flying. Thats what cycling is for me too, flying from my dreams.
My Saturday was laid back, an easy path to Joy. I was spending the afternoon at the home of a friend when he had to attend to some business and left me to entertain myself. Being in unfamiliar territory, I had to improvise some pleasure. Fortunately, the backyard was lushly landscaped and open for my perusing. The garden had been neglected for some months. On my first walkthrough, I just observed the variety of plants and noticed the themes of citrus and roses. It's January and the plants need help shedding last year's baggage as much as we humans do. I found some shears and got to work deadheading flower bushes, thinning fruit tree limbs, and taming the wild vines. I unearthed gnomes and fairies from piles of leaves and gave them new stages to delight us with painted grins. The final circuit through the garden reaped what fruit could be found in the cold new year's overcast sky: 3 limes, 1 pomegranate, and one coral rose. Coastal climates are always home for me :) In barely thirty minutes of activity, I felt rejuvenated myself, and proud to be a caregiver to the garden. Cecelia can't take care of her garden any longer. In abandoning it, there is motivation to replicate it-sharing cuttings with all the friends and kin. If we can't care for our family members any longer, we can care for plants, and cultivate the same feelings of unconditional love. My own garden is a seasonal vegetable bed near the front door. After summer tomatoes, I transplanted 3 kinds of kale. I'm trying an experiment of talking to my kale plants daily. They encourage me in gentle and familiar ways like only a mother could. I look to them for serious guidance, and in return am shown respect and clarity. I hitchhiked today. In America. Alone. I imagine this would be a scary thought for most women. Although, most women would not have put themselves in my situation. I took my mountain bike into the Francis Marion National Forest and was riding on the equestrian trail that I find agreeable for gentle off-road riding. I had already ridden thirty minutes in and just turned around to ride back towards home when I felt an unusual jolt. Fortunately, I was not thrown from my bike when the derailleur separated from the frame and caused the chain to unhook. I was able to steady myself and assess the situation...I was walking home. At a crossroads, I had the option to detour towards the main road on an unknown trail, with the hope to catch a ride rather than drag the bike all the way back the way I came. How does one make such decisions? The trail I was one was unmarked and I felt unsure that I could identify the cut if I had to backtrack. So I paused, took a deep breath and asked the trail if I should go. It said yes, I am safe, this is your fastest way home. This choice required: FAITH, that my intuition is correct. TRUST in the forest's love for my well being, and Pixie Dust signals of confidence ;) The pixie dust came in the form of gotu kola patches and red capped mushroom clusters. This was the faerey realm letting me know I was not alone and it was safe to proceed. Once you form your own relationships among the devic kingdom and specific plant helpers, you will know the signs meant for you. I recognized these as my signs based on personal experience in the woods. After fifteen minutes of walking and various methods of dragging and eventually further breaking my bike to roll both wheels, I heard the road and rejoiced in trusting my intuition. Now was my ultimate test, hitchiking back to town. I said a quick prayer to my angels and stuck out my thumb. I asked to be picked up by a angel who will keep me safe. Within seconds, a group of 5 cars were approaching at speed. A couple of teenagers towing a boat caught my eye and I tried to make eyes back at them. They passed. I saw a big truck at the end of the line and made flashy hand gestures that said, 'you can help me.' It also passed, but turned around and pulled off the road to talk to me :) This kind soul asked if I needed a lift and I told him my bike broke and I didn't have to go far. Before he even asked my name, he tossed my bike into the truck bed and we took off down the road. He was trying to make it to the bank in the next 20 minutes and said that he wouldn't have picked me up if I were a man, but I looked harmless. He didn't proclaim to have much faith but he trusted me and my pixie dust appearance. Alan was a kind man and I thank my angels for sending him my way. Let's recap the first 3 days: forgiveness, love, faith. It doesn't always make sense why things happen the way they do. Sometimes I need to remind myself that I am everything I need to be. I feel loved in the ways I want to be loved. I said this Mantra as I stirred the honey into my mead. Along with variations like... I love myself. I am loved in the ways I desire. These are the emotions I want people to feel when they drink my mead. I only discovered this mantra very recently and it has been a powerful one for me. It inspired me to write love letters to myself. Within a week, I began receiving love letters from outside of myself! The power of any mantra is very potent-when you believe it. I find mantras to be a key element to any transformation, large or small. By showing the universe what kind of love I want to receive, it opened the floodgates to shower me with more of the same. The universe wants to work with us, but we need to be the guides. I used to make the mistake of waiting for the universe to knock on my door. Now I know that she is always at home, waiting for my call.
I start my journey in Joy with Forgiveness. I will forgive often and genuinely, starting with myself. If I feel disappointment, I react by looking forward to feeling accomplishment. If I feel angry, I counter the boiling energy by grounding my life force into the Earth. I set a goal to brew my first batch of mead on January 1st of 2014. It didn't happen. One day into the New Year and I'm already off track. It would be easy to feel upset and mad at myself for failing my own goal. Instead, I recognized that the day was not best suited for that activity and set a new vision for brewing my mead in perfect time. I forgave myself for not meeting my original goal, and was able to enjoy the day guilt-free. Instead, I played soccer on the beach with my partner Joe, and we both felt very joyful :) Second class of outdoor restorative yoga at the Sunday Brunch Farmer's Market-Medway park in the Riverland Terrance Neighborhood of James Island. I led almost an entire class in seated postures and thought to recline only after a 2 minute qi gong sun meditation. On days like today, the time passes before I have a chance to exhaust my inspiration. We also started the class with qi gong style hand and foot clearing. It was a good recipe for foundation weekly maintenance of spiritual and energetic health. Before class even began, I was working one-on-one with a student on an inversion clinic. Demonstrating then supporting: supported headstand, handstand, and shoulder stand.
ASANAS: Sun breath, forward fold, neck stretch, dolphin breath, camel, cow-face, twists, and hands-on child's pose adjustments. |
Categories
All
Archives
June 2016
|