Every Day Is Earth Day

 

 

This past week we marked the annual celebration of Earth Day. From a yogic perspective, every day is Earth Day with the practices of yoga evolving from a connection to as well as a reflection of the natural environment. We salute the sun and bow down to the earth, stand like a tree or mountain and recline in a restorative posture named "flowing mountain brook".

With the availability of electricity and artificial lighting, we began to fall out of sync with the ebb and flow of natural light that in the past indicated when to go to sleep and when to awaken. As the earth has become more populated with the development of concrete and skyscrapers, we have lost our connection through bare feet into the earth. And as we live in noisy and busy environments, we often miss the sounds of the natural world. Earth Day is a vivid reminder to honor Mother Earth (Gaia). That we, as humans, walk upon this larger planet with its own living energy. That Mother Earth is here to support us in every way.

Earth Day is another opportunity to reflect upon how we individually impact the planet. What type of footprint are we leaving? Are we able to elevate our own level of consciousness to lessen that impact?  It's appropriate to use the camping/hiking phrase of "take only pictures and leave only footprints".

Here are a few reminders as to how we can continue to show compassion to Gaia and in doing so, we show compassion towards others as well as ourselves.

Tips:
1. Carry your own water bottle to avoid using plastic, one-use bottles.
 

2. Have your own multi-use lunch set for heading off to work, to avoid using one-time, throw away containers. 

3. Remember to bring your own shopping bags to the store. 

4. Check the tire pressure in your vehicle to enhance miles per gallon. 

5. Use multi-use dryer balls in your dryer rather than a fabric softener in the wash or throw away dryer sheets. I use earth-friendly dryer sheets that go, with the lint into my compost. Or line dry your laundry. 

6. Create your own compost for your garden. (and add your earth friendly dryer sheets into it!)
 

7. Buy phosphate-free detergents.
 

8. Turn off your tap when brushing your teeth. 

9. Turn off your computer at the end of each day. 

10....Send in to me any tips that you do in order to be part of the buzz around reduce, reuse, recycle and sustain!

Since I originally posted this list three years ago, we have installed solar energy and bought a Toyota Prius. It all adds up as I want my footprint on the planet to be as little as possible.  

 

Thank you Gaia!

Imagine if...

 

 

This week we are once again reeling from a tragic attack against innocent people.  My thought for the week came from a deep and sad place, wondering if any of the feel good vibes and actions that I've committed to and permeate my life make any difference. 

 

Within that darkness I am yet again drawn to look toward the light.  The light that lies within me and you and potentially all beings that inhabit the earth.  But how?  How do we even begin to shift violent acts towards acts of kindness?  How do we embrace those that are suffering to such a degree that they feel compelled to bring havoc and chaos into not only their lives, but the lives of people they don't even know?

 

I came up with two perspectives.  The first is to turn towards all of those people we know that share the same vision.  To gather as a community and to sound off even more loudly that we stand for peace and love.  That's it.  My being has had enough of hearing how cruelly people act towards other beings.  I'm tired of the battle of violence and want to firmly walk in the footprints of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King.

 

The second perspective is to begin within.  If we ourselves aren't peaceful, if we can't feel or express love, then how can we radiate it out and expect it of others?  Are we not just all mirrors reflecting back to each other.  I yearn to see love reflected back to me.  I beckon to hear kind words spoken to me.  I seek the voice of my inner soul saying 'thank you for looking after us'.  So, I must begin with me.

 

Imagine if today you had the mantra of:

 

Self-care

Self-love

Kindness

 

How have you looked after yourself today?  How have you shown compassion towards yourself today?  What words of kindness has your inner voice been speaking?  Now imagine if that same mantra was that of all of your friends, family and acquaintances, (including all of your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn friends).  Imagine if all of their friends also had that same mantra...

 

What would happen?  What do you think would be the effect?  All I know is that I need to stay firm in my stance to practice love towards all beings, including myself.  I need to hold all beings with a softness, including myself.  I need to speak words of kindness and support to all beings, including myself.

 

Are you willing to stand firm in your voice, thoughts and actions? 

 

Imagine if we all did...

Where Should I Feel This?

 

Over the years working 1-on-1 with people or teaching a class, I often get asked the question, "Where should I be feeling this?".  In the past, I would make a suggestion that if we were stretching our hamstrings that you should be feeling it in the back of the upper thigh, or that if we were doing a spinal twist on our backs, that you should be feeling it in the lower back.

 

What I've come to learn over these many years is what I project or anticipate what someone will feel often isn't the case.  Just the other day I was teaching a semi-private yoga class to four people.  We were doing a pose and I asked everyone, "where in your body are you feeling this?".  Each person expressed a different sensation and location on their body for exactly the same pose.  "I feel this in my shoulder"; "I feel this along the outer hip"; "I feel this in my hamstring" etc.

 

It no longer surprises me to have that response from students.  My theoretical knowledge was different from my experiential knowledge.  Nowadays, my answer to the "where should I feel this" question is, "I don't know.  I'm not in your body so I don't know where you should feel it, only where you might be feeling it".  And I'm not trying to be a sassy pants as I say that.  My "Jayne theory" is that we feel the pose, stretch or exercise in the part of our body that is the tightest or weakest and offers us the most resistance.  Following my shoulder surgery, many twisting poses aimed at stretching the back were strongly experienced in the tissues around my repaired shoulder.

 

On another level of experience, the tribe of Off The Mat fundraisers who were on the trip to India had a post-trip follow-up call describing how we were doing with our re-entry.  Some people were having the experience of isolation and lacking motivation.  Others were already gliding back into their to-do list and ramping up for what's next.  Although we all had shared the trip, our reactions to it have been so different.  How are any of us supposed to feel upon returning from such a journey?  To that, there truly is no "right" answer of how we should feel. 

 

It's an opportunity to simply be with whatever the experience is.  It's a chance to sit in a place of not judging and become a witness to where we feel things, whether it be a yoga pose or a yoga trip.  This is what makes all of us human beings who have basically the same design yet such incredibly diverse and interesting reactions. 

 

So my thought for the week is to release the should in our day and sit in a conscious space of observation...with no guilt and perhaps an insight to wisdom.

Being Present

 

 

It's been a month since I returned from India.  Initially, I gave myself permission to just be with what happened during my experience.  I wasn't ready to have many deep conversations and found myself simply reflecting on what I witnessed, noticing my reactions and trying not to overcommit socially or otherwise.  That lasted about two weeks.

 

Then I started to realize the depth of the experience as things began to pop into my consciousness.  It's as though I had to be in neutral, not ready to leap into the future.  As soon as I got back people would ask me, "So, what's next for you?".  Initially, I lacked clarity, yet over the past two weeks, things have gotten more clear and I'm starting to take on a whole new perspective of how I want to be in the world.

 

I'm not at the stage of yet fully revealing what that's looking like but a sneak preview involves creating a 200-hr yoga teacher training program and continuing along my path of Seva.

 

What I have discovered is that my trip to India gave me the opportunity to be fully present.  My regular life in the States began to fade away into the background as I needed to be fully there to hold space for the traumatized young girls, the organizations that are doing incredible work and for myself.  I wasn't able to hold onto the drama of my life at home.  I had to be completely where I was...in India, in New Delhi, in Kolkata and face to face with people who we were supporting.

 

When you step into such spaciousness and your everyday falls away, you can't help but be completely absorbed into the here and now.  And within such space, my deeper soulful voice got louder and louder.  When I returned home, I found myself asking the question, "Is what I'm doing making a difference?  Am I reaching the people that need support?  What needs to change, if anything, to make a greater impact?".

 

My thought of the week is recognizing the potent effect of presence.  When the distractions fall away, we can tap into the powerful force that motivates us to walk our life's path.  How can I be more present in my life?  How can we all?  Part of it is in doing less, slowing down and making silence part of each day.

 

I'm so curious as to what else will percolate up...aren't you?