Take a listen to the early morning sounds of the bush in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Audio via @SocratixSW1
Zen
Three things
“In the end these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you let go?”
– Jack Kornfield, Buddha’s Little Instruction Book
The experience of right now
We only experience right now as Emily Dickinson explains below:
Forever — is composed of Nows
by Emily DickinsonForever — is composed of Nows —
‘Tis not a different time —
Except for Infiniteness —
And Latitude of Home —From this — experienced Here —
Remove the Dates — to These —
Let Months dissolve in further Months —
And Years — exhale in Years —Without Debate — or Pause —
Or Celebrated Days —
No different Our Years would be
From Anno Domini’s —
Yoga is a Practice
Yoga is a Practice. You practice by listening to and learning from fellow students & teachers. Everyone in the room is your teacher. Daily practice results in small corrections every day.
Practice life the same way.
Fill the vessel
Here’s a tip on breathing.
Try this the next time you take a couple of deep breaths to relax or wind down from exercising.
As you exhale, imagine you are filling a vessel. Inhale deeply into your diaphragm and then slowly exhale. Relax your jaw and shoulders. Feel the floor holding you up. Wriggle your toes. Relax.
The room. The first exhale fills the room. Imagine your breath as a white mist filling every nook and cranny of the room
The house. The second exhale fills all the rooms of the house. Bedroom, bathroom and kitchen touched and infused by the mist.
The neighborhood. The third exhale fills the neighborhood. Down alleys and into back gardens.
The city. The fourth exhale fills the city. Imagine it happening on a map. Imagine the mist swirling through the city streets, between buildings and under cars.
The exercise will slow down your breathing and it’ll turn the practice into something more than exhaling carbon dioxide.
Be Real
It isn’t how you are made. It’s a thing that happens to you.
Being Real hurts sometimes, but when you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.
It takes a long time, and you got to be tough and persevere.
When you are real, you are beautiful.
* * *
It’s said best in The Velveteen Rabbit:
“Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’
‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.
‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’
‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’
‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
Change the Universe
The mystic and poet William Blake asks us to see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of our hand and eternity in an hour.
The entire universe is inside all of us. The entire universe changes when we change. Everything in existence feels the ripple of our development because we are all part of the whole. That’s a radical and powerful realization.
In today’s world, we get up every day and have interactions where there are opportunities to grow. Interactions with our kids, spouse, friends, work colleagues, pets, cars, nature – EVERY moment is an opportunity to grow and change the universe. Wow.
William Blake and Gandhi were onto the same thing. Gandhi said ’Be the change you want to see in the world’. Here’s my spin on that quote – Be the change you want to see in the Universe.
Now get out there and change the Universe.
The space between the notes
Music is the space between the notes. From Mozart to Adele, it comes down to the pauses and inhalations, which allows the music to flourish.
Breaks and a breath in life are the same thing. Whether it’s first thing in the morning or before a meeting. Stop, pause and breathe – then ACT. Let your music play.
Secure Insecurity
“Life is like a long and powerful river. From time to time, there will be some rapids. All you can do is ride it out. Resist or try to get back upstream, and you might drown. Stay calm and ride the waves, and the river will carry you to a safer place.”
Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity
Compassionate decisions
When making a decision start with compassion and love. When carrying out the decision do it with compassion and love.
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