Today's Joyful Affirmation

I see no fear.  I see only love.

A Gift of Peace

There is no better gift than to give.

This afternoon I led a complimentary holiday yoga class. The room was almost completely full despite school being cancelled due to an ice storm last night.  The turnout spoke to the need so many of us have for time to ourselves, time to unwind and let go of stress.  We desperately seek peace in our lives. A few moments of stillness amid the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, baking, traveling, cooking, cleaning, and wrapping.

At the beginning of my yoga classes, I usually invite people to set intentions for themselves and make dedications to others who would benefit from the healing powers of their practice.  Today, I offered the following...

When we make dedications we typically make them to others, and this is a beautiful thing.  But today, if it resonates with you, I invite you to dedicate your practice to yourself.  Taking care, healing, and loving yourself is not only a gift to you but a gift to everyone you encounter.  The love that you have for yourself translates to love for others, for if you cannot love yourself, you cannot fully love others.  So this afternoon, open your heart to love for yourself and for others. Give yourself permission to be healed, to be at peace, and to be loved. 

There is something to be said for nurturing ourselves, and its something we don't do nearly enough of, and yet its so vitally important to take care of our own selves.  If you've ever traveled in an airplane, you've likely heard the following: "Should the air pressure in the cabin drop suddenly, your mask will drop from the compartment above. Secure your own mask before helping children or those needing assistance around you.” I used to wonder why on earth I wouldn’t be instructed to help someone needing assistance first. The answer makes perfect sense of course – if you can’t breathe, how can you help anyone else?  If you don’t care for yourself, mentally, emotionally, and physically, and if you do not love yourself, you cannot find peace. Without peace within, peace cannot be shared without.  

"The only way to have peace is to teach peace...Teach only love and learn that love is yours and you are love." (A Course in Miracles)

Today's Joyful Affirmation

Life is perfect exactly as it is.

Today's Joyful Affirmation

React only with love and there will be only peace.

Namaste

If there is good, there must be bad. Or so we tell ourselves.  Is this really the truth?  It is if we decide it to be.  A situation is only good or bad if you choose to give it that label.  The label we place on it then determines how we react.   Labeling and reacting is nothing more than a form of resistance.  The only way to react to whatever situation comes our way is with love.  Through love, we encompass and extend joy, forgiveness, and compassion.  We project no blame, no anger, no sadness.  Even in the most seemingly dire of times, we are at peace.  Significant loss, such as the loss of a loved one, often challenges us in this understanding more than any other circumstance.  But even in these times we can be at peace.

I attended a wake a few months ago.  As I knelt in front of the casket, looking at this person I had known since childhood, I understood something that I've heard over and over in yoga, but had not entirely grasped - that we are not our body.  Looking at this body, I could feel the emptiness inside of it.  But this emptiness was not a bad thing.  It was exactly as it should be.  The body had served its purpose and held a life inside of it.  Just because the body, which is temporary in this world, was no longer functioning, didn't mean the life was gone.  How could it be?  It simply doesn't make sense for everything that we are to just go away when the body no longer works.

Several years ago, I had a very close friend who was killed in a car accident.  He was in his mid-20s.  I remember going to his funeral and looking at him in the casket.  The first thing that came to my mind was that this was not the friend I knew.  It was an empty shell that held his life.  And now, that life is free.  It, like every life that leaves the body, is with us now more than ever.  When we lose a loved one, they don't leave us.  Not being able to physically touch, hold, or speak to them doesn't mean they are no longer there.  We just think that we need this proof of them in order for them to be with us.
This doesn't mea that death shouldn't or doesn't make us sad or in pain.  But when we can accept our situation and let it be what it is, then everything will be ok.  And then we will find comfort and peace.

As soon as you stop resisting what IS, you have given life permission to work for you.  In yoga practice, we end with "Namaste" which means 'the divine in me recognizes and honors the divine in you.'  That divine is the light within each of us that we all share and have in common.  It is what connects me to you and you to every person you might ever (or never) encounter in your life. It's what connects and continues to connect each of us to our loved ones who have passed forward.

Today's Joyful Affirmation

I have compassion for myself and for others.

Today's Joyful Affirmation

When I allow good things to come to me, they do.

Today's Joyful Affirmation

I have only love to give and I give it freely.

The Road You Travel

Circumstances and events don’t just happen. They are placed in front of us to teach us and they are all connected.  "One Truth, many paths." Our journey is to find our path.  Doing what you love is finding out who you are. We often feel that everyone is trying to tell us the life we should live. Only YOU can determine that. We spend an unhealthy amount of time wondering and worrying what others think. In any situation, with any decision, ask yourself, "Are my intentions good? Am I being honest with myself and others?" If you can answer yes, then you can only be following the right path. And that path doesn’t have to be consistent. It probably won’t. You might think you’ve found your path and then it might change. And that’s ok. Each road we walk down is part of the greater path. Whenever you are faced with a decision or challenge, know that you have the answer already, and it will become crystal clear exactly when you need it to.  

Today's Joyful Affirmation

I am filled with peace, happiness, and well-being.

Ready, set...be still

One thing we can ALL be sure of is that something is happening.  Maybe you've felt this "happening" before - its something inside us.  Its beautiful and blissful.  It wells up, then trickles away. It arises from a place of stillness, a formless potency and joy.  It is your heart opening. And yet, if you've ever felt this extreme love and joy, it eventually fades aways.  When we get to a state where it never trickles away?  In yoga, it happens when we reach Dhyana, or meditation, where we can hold our attention in this place of stillness. The content of what is holding our attention does not matter. This will only happen when you are open and ready.

The Buddhist approach guides us to find that stillness and joy in the world in which we live. We can function in our illusionary world of going to work, raising our children, being with friends and loved ones, all while being still.  It comes back to being the “watcher” of the mind. Stepping away from the ego and simply observing. From here we can find stillness.

Today's Joyful Affirmation

I am at peace and all I see is peace

Today's Joyful Affirmation

No matter what happens, I accept and honor all that today brings.