Be Empty

This time of year we become inundated with things to fill us up-the Thanksgiving feast, Black Friday sales, Cyber Monday, holiday parties, gift giving and spending and so many social engagements rushing us toward a new year. It can all seem a bit much and it's little wonder that we'll stumble into the new year feeling like we need to "detox" from the holidays. So in order to avoid the ever tempting opportunities to overdo the holidays, my thought for the week has been to "be empty". That's right...NOW is the time to take the time to clear out the clutter to avoid the somewhat inevitable overload.

Clearing the clutter can be quite literal. The recent long Thanksgiving weekend I was fortunate to have a four day "staycation". Not only was I able to see a movie, go on long bicycle rides and a couple of hikes with family and friends, I took some time to load up three boxes of donation items for one of our local charities. In preparation for the Thanksgiving meal, I was searching for placemats, serving bowls and napkins and, in doing so, realized how much stuff I hadn't used since the last Thanksgiving three years ago. If I hadn't used it...it went into the box. This rippled out to clearing out some dresser drawers and clothes in my closet. It felt enormously gratifying to be rid of these things. My thought was that it's time for them to find a new home and be loved by someone who will actually appreciate them.

And so began this weeks teaching of emptying out. And the thing is, I could turn around after such a cleanse and realize I could do it all again many times over. When we let go, we have the tendency to refill again. 

When we empty out, we dump things not only from our physical space but from our psyche. When we become empty vessels, we remember the deeper essence of who we are and why we are here. If we keep adding to the physical and emotional clutter, we can easily get distracted from what matters most. One way I practice being empty is through a daily meditation practice. Each morning I have sacred time dedicated to checking in and clearing out. This practice definitely sets the timbre of the day. It's as if each day begins again from a clear perspective of what's possible and what matters.

We can also "be empty" through the use of our breath and visualization. We can breathe into the inner borders of our body as though we are offering ourselves more and more space on each inhale and we can empty out whatever has arisen on each exhale. And just as things empty, then tend to come back in...just like the ebb and flow of the ocean. If we can regularly practice emptying out, we are freer in each moment. Instead of dust gathering on the mirror of who we are and altering the our true reflection, we gain clarity by clearing.

So perhaps begin this holiday season by giving yourself the gift of a feather duster, an empty box and some time to let stuff go. Less clutter equals more clarity both at home and in the heart.

Breathe in and let go...

Build Your Tribe

We have just passed the Thanksgiving holiday here in the United States, a day not only rich in turkey, stuffing, pies and tradition, but a day that can be honored with an attitude of thankfulness. As the day approached I was struck by a deepening sense of the importance of community. Following the Paris terrorist attacks with the anger and rhetoric that ensued, along with deep sadness, it reminded me of how important it is to stay connected to each other from the highest place of intention and integrity.

My thought of the week is to create our own tribe, to build a network of people who are supportive of each other even with each of us having different objectives and ways of life. The stronger we can come together with a collective intention of loving kindness to manifest peacefulness in the world, the better. Even if it just begins with you and one other person  sharing the hope of peace and acting upon it can begin to offer a shift away from negativity toward a more positive vibration. The point is to act upon the intention of support rather than keeping it as a theoretical and perhaps seemingly unattainable ideal.

When I began to shift my teaching career out of the fitness industry toward teaching the mind-body practices of yoga and meditation, it took quite a bit of steady determination. I had been teaching very large and often popular group fitness classes where people would arrive early to "get their spot" and would often need to share equipment to ensure everyone could undertake the practice. It was an abundant time yet deep inside I knew I was being called to work more with the connection of body-mind-spirit. I had the experience for quite some time of sitting by myself in the yoga studio, hoping and waiting for someone to walk through the door. Classes were often just a couple of people but my heart wanted to teach as though the class were full...and so I did. Fortunately, this determination and persistence has begun to pay off with what feels like an ever-expanding pool of people who've stepped onto the mat or sat down on a cushion.

Part of doing what I do involves building our local community of yogis and yoginis and what's astonishing is that some 12 plus years later, I'm actually bearing witness to its ripple. Building a loving and conscious community is vital for us to propagate peace in the world, even if it's just one person at a time. 

Since moving back to the States in 1997, I often felt like I couldn't find "my people". For years I had (and still have) what I call my "heart family"-the group of friends who hold your heart dearly and support your own path of growth and evolution. Leaving Australia, I left this behind and was hoping to find a similar connection back in the States. But what happened was somewhat surprising. My new tribe seemed elusive and I had many false starts as to what I was hoping to be authentic and long-term relationships. It was through walking my own path, being driven by a sense of my purpose in the world, that my tribe started to appear. It was as though I had to let go of what I wanted from other people and needed to focus on what I could do to serve other people.

Perhaps as you read this you're thinking about your circles of friends and community. Perhaps you already have a strong sense of connection. My thought for the week is to say: if you don't have it, build it through your own intention and if you do have it...make it bigger and be the catalyst that fosters a deeper sense of acting from love and support.

And to all of you who have crossed my path and joined me in this pursuit, my heart is wide open with gratitude. Thank you.

Peace and Harmony

It's been another one of those weeks where we've been transfixed on the occurrence of yet another horrible act of terrorism, this time unfolding in the city of lights, Paris. I heard the news of the attacks late on the Friday night after they happened and was away for the weekend to celebrate the wonderful event of our granddaughter's Bat Mitzvah. I didn't see any television coverage or hear anything on the radio during the weekend as the energy was all about seeing a young, and quite capable, near teenager become part of a community. It was about celebrating with family and friends as well as carrying on traditions that have been passed through the generations.

It wasn't until I started to make my way back home that I saw, not so much the news of the attacks, but how people were reacting to them. As Monday morning arrived, I had to decide on my teaching theme of the week and sat thinking to myself, "Again...another opportunity to talk about something so heinous that it breaks our hearts and tosses us into the den of fear. How should I approach things this week without sounding cynical or hopeless?"  It felt like the only refuge that I personally had was to go into my heart and pray for peace and healing, even though I had done this countless times previously, it still seemed like a sacred place to reside.

So how do we stay in our practice when such devastating things are part of our world? How do we continue to manage the feelings of disgust, anger and hatred toward others? And more powerfully, how do we hold such deep sadness in our hearts? I sadly believe that I will not see peace in the world in my lifetime. Does that mean that I should stop trying to?

My thought of the week is around holding ourselves in a place of compassion and love. That in order to find peace in the world, we must find peace within ourselves. Such events have only strengthened my personal resolve to make continued choices that are of the vibration of love and compassion, rather than "turning to the dark side". In order for my stunning granddaughter 
and spectacular grandson and all of our future generations to find peace in their lives, they must be supported in fostering this from the generations that have come before them. So I am determined to hold my own vulnerability, anger and fear in such a way that it is felt and acknowledged but doesn't lead my actions. Rather, my actions are led by trusting that at the core of my own essence is love which is the most powerful of energies and intentions.

We must begin with ourselves in finding self-love and offering ourselves loving kindness. May I be safe, happy, healthy, live with ease and find peace. What I wish for myself is what all beings wish for themselves. It's as though the seed of my compassion needs to be planted and nourished within my own heart so that it may ripple away from me, to all of my relationships, to all of my actions, to all beings known and unknown, so that the energetic vibe is that of love. 

May all beings everywhere be free of suffering. May all beings everywhere be safe and have enough food to eat. May all beings be happy and healthy. And may all beings everywhere find peace.

Om shanti shanti shanti...

Shine Your Light

My teaching theme and hence my thought for the week has been about "Shining Your Light" out to the world. It was inspired by this week's new moon (meaning "no moon") and a completely darkened night sky which signaled the beginning of Diwali, a sacred holiday in India. To quote yoga teacher, Saul David Raye:

"Diwali is a sacred festival from India, honoring the victory of light over darkness, of good over evil, wisdom over ignorance and hope over despair. It is a time to pause and reflect within, to remember the light within our hearts and that truly we are made of light. With the flame of awareness, we light the lamp of wisdom, the lamp of love, the lamp of peace within our hearts and invoke the power of the Oneness."

I love the image of light illuminating darkness and the metaphor of us sharing the light that lives within each of us, yet it is the same light that lives within all of us. We all have something to offer, some unique way of sharing our gift with others and when we tap into that and feel our individual offering we begin to express the deepest and most soulful aspect of ourselves. This light is the light of love. So instead of us focusing on our suffering, of what needs to be better or our own darkness, let's take this lead from Diwali to focus on the light.

A good way to practice bringing our focus onto our shining light is by asking the following questions:

What is going well in my life?

Why is this going well?

What have I done to invite this manifestation into my life?

When I asked myself those questions, one thing that arose was my past and current yoga teacher training courses. As I sometimes focus on what's next or what could be better, the questions above bring me back to my original intention of why I created the course in the first place. It allowed me to sit in recognition of something I have worked hard at, given many hours to and find deep satisfaction in doing. Why is this going well? I know it is when I hear the stories of graduates bringing yoga to their community, when they share what has been challenging and fulfilling. I know it's going well when I hear trainees ask insightful questions and show up with incredible curiosity and a hunger to learn. I know it's going well when I feel that deep sense of doing what I am here to do, to walk my path of dharma (purpose). It's as though my heart swells and gratitude is what is filling it.

And what have I done to invite this? I listened to that inner voice that whispered many years ago, take a chance, trust what you know and follow your path. Instead of just saying, "oh that sounds good, but I doubt I could do it, it seems too hard." I took a chance, did the groundwork, built the foundation and put it out there. Being passionate drives us to do great things in our lives...the beautiful and true saying, "if there's a will, there's a way". We find a path that supports our desire and try to make it happen. It also means taking a risk in that it might be different to what we imagined or it might take a turn in a direction we never could anticipate.

Letting our light shine is a fulfillment of our soul. We dig into what truly will bring meaning to our lives and radiate it out there. The more we do it, the easier it becomes, the more fulfilling it is and has greater impact. My thought for the week is for all of us to trust our inner wisdom, to expand our awareness of what's whispering inside our hearts and to let the peace and love flow out of us from the deepest source of our being.

Let's hold Mother India in our hearts for lighting the way and let's all shine our light and illuminate the Universe.

Is Anybody Out There?

I've been writing this blog for quite some time now it all began when I wanted to keep in touch with the many folks who are seasonal visitors to the desert, as well as to stay connected to my circle of people in other places such as Europe and Australia. My "Thought of the Week" was inspired by those asking for what I was teaching on a weekly basis and to reach out to them via cyber space. They wanted to stay connected to what I had been sharing during our time together. And so was born the weekly e-newsletter and associated blog.

Since beginning this outward communication, I had no other intent than to have one more avenue in which to share my experience and knowledge with people who have crossed my path. I write, my husband Ed edits and I hit the "send" button out into the vast unknown. I have little to no idea who will open the newsletter, what they'll read or if anything will actually resonate. It's as though I take a leap of faith each week that perhaps what I have written might make a difference to someone else.

What continually drops my jaw is when I hear a story about what I've written and how it impacted someone else. Sometimes I feel as though I'm writing and sending thoughts into an abyss, wondering "is anybody out there?". It truly is a practice of trusting an inner voice and then letting it all go. The simple act of writing regularly is a spiritual practice unto itself. If nobody ever replied or commented, it is still a way in which I delve into my soul, look for the weekly lesson and offer my voice as an expression of my own individual journey.  For someone who likes to feel a sense of control, this is definitely a practice of surrender.

It blows me away when people say "I look forward to your blog/newsletter every week", or "I felt like what you wrote was directed precisely to what was happening with me". I feel immense gratification every time I hear one of these stories as the expectation I hold is that I write and let go...so when something comes back, it's a joyful moment of surprise!

It's the same for offering teachings at charitable events. My experience through the Off the Mat fundraising year and through Poses on Paseo/Poses For the People have been personally satisfying as I feel that one way for me to be of service is to teach from my experience in the hope of raising funds and awareness. Recently, I had two stories of people who had crossed my path this way. These were people I didn't meet directly during those events but who came to offer their support and energy to a cause. Additionally, they started receiving my weekly e-newsletter, have followed various happenings and writings and are now undertaking my Yoga Teacher Training through Desert Yoga Therapy!

My point of all of this is not to boast about what I'm doing but to be reminded of the impact we can have through what we are doing. All of these are examples of me just putting it out there and letting go. My intention is to offer whatever I have through my heart with authenticity and passion. My lesson has been that as I stay true to that, I might just be surprised by the incredibly powerful impact one action may have acting as a catalyst for another action to be ignited.

My thought for the week is to put it out there...whatever "it" may be and do so from that inner realm of your soul. It's speaking to us constantly and if we can get quiet and listen, we are empowered to spread whatever it is that we have to offer.

Trust and offer it up. As I'm learning, the answer to my question, "is anybody out there?", is YES!

Quiet Time

It is said that when something crosses our path three times within a noticeable time frame, that perhaps it's a lesson waiting to be learned. I had my third lesson this week, reminding me of the importance of unplugging. It all began with the first sign at the yoga retreat at Sanctuary, in Australia. The environment simply invites you to unplug as no TV's or radios are in sight and we don't use our US cell phones when traveling overseas. WiFi is available should you choose to connect but the views are so stunning they tend to draw people's awareness to the surroundings rather than toward technology.

The second sign was at the end of the first Module of the Yoga Teacher Training course which began last weekend. One of the students observed that during the first break, people gathered in the foyer for conversations and no one went to grab their phones. This was such an amazing observation from the perspective of where our habits are now falling - toward our technology and away from people. When the opposite happens, it seems like an unusual occurrence.

The third sign happened first thing on Monday morning when I dropped my cell phone and the screen went blank. I knew there were text messages that had arrived overnight, plus a voicemail, but I had no way of retrieving them. For two days I went temporarily unplugged from my phone...a forced sabbatical! 

Now I'm not suggesting we get rid of technology as I use it to support my work. This newsletter and blog is a prime example of getting the word out and technology provides that avenue. What I am suggesting is how MUCH we are governed by the habitual beeping and ping-ing of our phones. Do we make time every day to find quiet time for ourselves?

To quote Pema Chodron from "The Fruits of Solitude":

"We can't kid ourselves: if we never take a break from our busy live, it's going to be extremely difficult to tame our minds. This is why it's recommended to take time every day to meditate. Even short periods of sitting silently with ourselves allow the mind to settle down."

The first line of this quote really struck me-"we can't kid ourselves" in that if we truly are seeking to find more peace not only in our world but within ourselves, we are kidding ourselves if we don't make time to be peaceful. Do you make time to be peaceful? Have you befriended silence?

In making time for ourselves to be quiet, we can approach it by reframing the statement of "can I meditate today?' to "when can I find 5 minutes today to meditate today?" Setting the intention in a practical way to step into silence, to unplug from our devices, to close the door, to look at a sunset or stare at the ocean is vital to quieting our minds. Acting upon the intention seems to be challenging for so many of us in that we seek quiet yet are unwilling to commit to any quiet time. Even a few still minutes every day will begin to impact how we feel and how we face the world. 

Perhaps this is the gentle nudge you need to move from intention to action. Perhaps you're not in the current position to fly away to a retreat but if you're really seeking deeper inner peace then know you can do it. And if you need a reason to start...drop your cell phone and hope it breaks to offer you a "forced sabbatical".

Close the door. Find a cushion or chair. Sit down. Close your eyes. Breath. Done.

Soul Food

One of the interesting things about being human is that we can't survive for too long without being fed both food and water. It's a basic means of sustaining life. We also know that the quality of water and food greatly impacts the quality of our health state, which we hope is one of energy and vitality. But it's not only our physical selves that need to be fed. We need mental stimulation to feed the neurotransmitters in our brain and keep our synapses firing. Our mental state can also be affected by the fluctuation of our emotional selves and how we react to the ebb and flow of our changing landscape. We can feed our mental self through practices of meditation and contemplation. But more deeply, our soul needs to be fed just as much as our physical and emotional selves. Do you know what feeds your soul?  What is it that connects you to that deepest part of yourself where you experience purpose in your life and connection to others and something greater?

I know that when I want to feed my soul, I need to let go of other things that stop me from doing so. One way I do this is spending time with my feet and hands in the sand along the ocean. As I wiggle my toes deeper into the sand and the waves kiss my ankles, something begins to drop away. It's as if this primal action of feeling the earth move below my feet reminds me of being here. I drop into a state of radical presence as the senses come to greater vibrancy...the ocean breeze whipping my hair around, the smell of salt water, the sound of waves rolling in and out. As I begin to notice those moments the greater worries of my life get thrown into perspective and I'm caught asking myself the question, "What's important?"

I had many such moments of feeding my soul recently on our jaunt Down Under and, as sometimes happens, it didn't seem to be quite long enough. We spent our time on retreat at Sanctuary Retreat near Mission Beach, Queensland which was followed by beach strolling and time with friends. Two full years had passed since our last trip to Australia. We had thought about holidaying in Asia this year, but I could hear the beckoning calls from Down Under.

These calls came from a deep place within me, asking me to put my hands and feet on Aussie soil to feed my soul. Thankfully, I listened to the call and was able to embed the earth into my cells. Sanctuary is a special place that has brought insight and healing in the past and did so during this years experience. Perhaps it's the all-around nourishment you receive when you go there...incredible food, a disconnection from most forms of technology and entertainment and the time given to be quiet, find breath and move the body as an act of kindness and healing. Not only did it enrich my soul but the mind and body were thankful as well.

Knowing what feeds us on a deeper level is vital to maintaining overall health. Nature provides this arena and for so many of us is often within easy reach. It seems appropriate to conclude this week's blog by quoting from "Radical Acceptance, Embracing Your Life With The Heart of a Buddha" by Tara Brach:

"Just as the Buddha touched the earth in response to Mara's final challenge, when the voice of doubt afflicts us, we touch the ground by arriving, on the spot, in this moment. We touch the ground by directly connecting with the earth, the life of our bodies, our breath and our inner weather. We touch the ground by looking directly into awareness that is the very source of our life. As we connect with what is right in front of us, we realize the true immensity of who we are."

Om Shanti to that, Tara!