Simplicity

I felt I needed to keep it simple this week. Many of us are in the middle of celebrating the various holidays that happen between November and the beginning of January and the last thing we need is something more to think about...or do.

So for this week here's my advice...keep it simple.


Do less. Take some time to sip a warm beverage. Snuggle into bed 15 minutes earlier than usual. Drive more slowly. Soak in the tub. Rather than putting something ON the "to-do" list, erase something instead. Take a leisurely walk after a meal. Spend less time checking your technology devices. Dig deeper into a conversation with someone you care about. Take an extra deep breath. Go to a Restorative or Gentle yoga class rather than your typical Power class.

Someone once asked me what would it be like for me to go at 70%. I said, "I have no idea as I never do...". Since then I have given myself the 70% experience and although it's not my default speed, I was actually OK with it. And don't tell anybody, I actually really enjoyed slowing down!

Can you be OK at 70%?

Try it out and let me know.

All Lined Up

It's all lines this week...everything is lined up in perfect order. I'm not talking about the last minute holiday gift lines or those standing in a queue at the supermarket or post office.


Think bigger. Think cosmic.


Late on Monday night, December 20 and into the first hours of December 21 in the Northern hemisphere is the Winter Solstice. Not only that, it is also a complete lunar eclipse. Not only that, it's the first time in some 25,000 (yes, thousand) years that things are SO lined up with the galactic plane, the winter solstice and a lunar eclipse that some Vedic astrologers are saying..."woo hoo! We're in for a doozy!".


I know I wrote about stargazing a couple of weeks back and how miniscule it can make a person feel. But this is a bit different. It is thought that our cosmic energies of the body (represented by the earth), the mind (represented by the moon) and our spirit (represented by the sun) are in a uniquely harmonious state of being in the right place at the right time. "For what?", you might be asking...


Simply put - Transformation.


It's an opportunistic time both in the astronomical and astrological realms. In our lifetime, it's as though we won't have a better time to connect, to feel, to experience our greater wholeness, our own divinity than on this particular night. It's as though the cosmos has given us an invitation to go to the ball where the most beautiful things will be present. But that space isn't going outward, it's about turning inward.


Now, more than ever, is a pristine time to engage in reflection and meditation. During this brief period of the sun, earth and moon lining themselves up, we as a smaller reflection of the bigger picture too, can line ourselves up. What to do? I've just begun my meditation practice, or I don't have one...yikes! Will I miss it?


No. It's there for all of us. It's here for every being to take a moment to connect their breath to their heart. To connect the soles of their feet to the earth. To connect their eyes to the skies. Step outside Monday night and get up close and personal to something better than waiting in line at the Nordstrom's Semi-Annual sale.


It might just touch something deep inside. Go on...step outside!

Are You Health Un-Conscious?

The simple matter that you're reading this blog likely reveals the answer to my question of, "are you health un-conscious"? In fact, you are likely to be a person who is seeking to deepen their consciousness around their health and may use regular reading about enhancing wellness as part of that process.

Last weekend we went to a restaurant that neither my husband nor I had been to more than once. As I scanned the menu looking for things to suit my choice around how I was about to nourish myself, I realized that the number of options suddenly became quite narrow. I was seeking a light, fresh green salad with some interesting bits thrown in, hopefully something in season like persimmon or toasted pecans and anything else that didn't have gluten in it. Oh, and it had to be vegetarian preferably leaning towards the vegan side.

Once our server came to the table, I began my usual barrage of questions about how things are prepared and what's in it. I've come to learn over the years that what's written and what arrives are often poles apart from what was in my imagination...so, I ask for clarification. I settled on one of their salad choices without the meat and without the croutons and enjoyed the meal.

As the server was clearing our luncheon plates, she said "you seem health conscious...are you even interested in the desert menu?" What was striking to me was the thought that flashed into my brain- "isn't everyone health conscious?" Does asking for a salad without croutons begin to slide you into the "health (nut) conscious category?

Perhaps I'm not the typical patron of such restaurants, but I'm certainly not an exception to the constant bombardment of media images telling us how to improve our lives through "losing the belly fat" or "10 lbs in 3 days" or "finding the perfect little black dress" type headlines. They are gracing the cover of just about every magazine. If you add in the recent news headline that kids won't live as long as their parents most likely because of the growing obesity and diabetes numbers, you begin to wonder how can we all not be at least a tiny bit health conscious...at least health-curious.

And if not, why not?

Are we in such a state of denial that we are choosing to ignore these seemingly obvious health challenges? Are we so disconnected from our deeper selves to no longer have the awareness that our body, mind and spirit are inextricably intertwined? Are we unable to pay attention because we're distracted by the deeper issues simply because we're trying to get through each day with food, any food, on the table? Faced with economic struggles does it seem a waste of time to "indulge" ourselves into a deeper place of recognizing what nourishes us?

To all of these questions, I have no real answers. All I sense is that we are facing an underlying issue of being pulled so far out of our awareness from our inner needs by extraneous decoys, that asking for a crouton-free salad labels me as being health conscious.

Perhaps this is why the gravitational pull towards yoga has increased its popularity and growth in the U.S. Perhaps people feel the need for digging a bit deeper and recognize that yoga and it's 5000 year old tools are a solid foundation for beginning this exploration.

Get curious about what living a health conscious life feels like...go ahead...let me know how it goes. And maybe, we can go out and grab a crouton-free salad to celebrate!

Starry, Starry Night

We all have stars in our eyes...all beings on this planet have had the opportunity to look at the same stars in the night sky ever since we've walked the earth.

I was inspired last weekend when we spent an evening in Borrego Springs at a star gazing party (Borrego Springs is east of Palm Springs and a designated "dark sky" area). As I sat on our blanket with the dogs snuggled against my legs, I listened to astronomer, Dr. Jim, talk about the thousands of celestial bodies populating the dome of my vision. We watched Orion and his belt rise over the eastern horizon and located it's nebulae. We looked with our naked eyes and them through high powered telescopes for a completely different image.

As you sit in the night's darkness, you can actually see the stars twinkle. The same stars and planets that have been seen by Gandhi, Magellan, Cleopatra, Pythagoras and Galileo. The same sun and moon that can be seen by my friends in the Southern hemisphere within the same 24-hour period.

How many things can people in two different hemispheres see in the same day simply by standing outside and without the use of technology?

Starry nights, speckled with planets give us a different perspective of how much time we have in this embodiment. We are born, travel the journey of our existence and then transition out of this physical body, but the stars, moon and sun are eternal.

We honor these natural phenomena in yoga to keep in perspective how we are connected to something not only bigger than us, but within all of us. We salute both the sun and moon in an embodied physical prayer of asana as a way of bowing down to their magnificence.

When we connect to that amazingly divine and perfect energy of the sun, stars, moon and planets something deep within our hearts is ignited. Not only can I experience a sense of awe as I look into the dark night sky, but I can sense the same thing within my own being.

Step into the sunshine. Feel the warmth penetrate not only into your skin, but deeper into your spirit. Gaze into the night sky and recognize that the light that is within us also completely surrounds us.