Precious

I wonder if it ever goes away... this feeling that my heart could break at any moment. Love this big seems to partner with deep vulnerability - a feeling that this could be taken away. As if somehow, in a flash, these precious moments could end. But I guess that's just it isn't it? The word precious suggests fragile and fleeting - it's the whole reason it feels so special. So here I sit, spilled milk (and some poop) on my t-shirt, reflecting on how precious this life is and it knocks me right back into this moment. (Oh hi there deep breaths!) And now, I don't even mind the smell of my shirt.

11 weeks old.

Sundaze. Using moments like this as a portal to the purest of loves.

7 weeks old.

My practice right now is to see this face on everything that challenges me, and watch it turn into love. After all, it's all yoga.

5 weeks old.

Did you know babies are born without tears? The tears come somewhere between 3-12 weeks and this baby girl’s have arrived. It’s so hard to hear her cry… my insides weep along with her; I sweat, I tear, milk drips. This love is so big it hurts.

18 days old

Surfacing from an abyss of 24 hour straight baby cries. Total exhaustion like I’ve never, ever felt before. And, still, the most love I’ve ever felt. ‪Mind blown.

Drishti

Is a Sanskrit word for a soft, yet focused gaze.

It could be interpreted as the direction the eyes are pointing, but it means so much more.

There’s outer and inner drishti. My eyes can be focused somewhere (outer drishti) while I’m thinking of something completely different (inner drishti).

Holding both inner and outer drishti simultaneously is hard. Focusing your eyes isn’t all that hard, but keeping your mind focused is on par with walking a tight rope…at least for me. 

I can assure you there’s times when my gaze appears focused but all I’m thinking about is the hair on my mat, the noisy breather next to me, and the whimperer behind me (the studio dog of course). My outer focus is nothing unless my inner focus is, well… focused.

My focus in each moment is my practice for the next moment. 

I don’t want to be practicing being annoyed (that damn noise next to me!!) - I’m already pretty good at that. I want my practice to be about love.

 True focus, true drishti, will break age old patterns of mind. Once you recognize them, you’re on the path to breaking them. To get past these patterns, I come back to drishti. 

I breathe deep. I focus my eyes and my mind. I remember to love. The more I focus on love, the more I remember love, the more I feel the love. And eventually, I won’t even have to remember. Ahhh…

"Same Same, But Different"

This saying echoed throughout my trip to SE Asia a few years ago. It started with a 2 year old in Bali; She was examining essential oils and after much sniffing said “same same”. Her Mom added “but different.“ The next day our taxi driver used it to describe his way of life in Bali vs. ours in Canada. This expression continued throughout the trip; a monk in Thailand said it while comparing lifestyles, a villager North of Chiang Mai used it, it was written all over t-shirts in Cambodia.

"Same same, but different.”

For me, this expression defines the word community.

We need each other to survive. Sure we’re different but we’re also the same. We breathe the same air. My inhale is your exhale and vice versa. We coexist. We need each other and our differences to evolve and when we come together as a community, we’re at our best.

One of my teacher’s says that the next Buddha is the Sangha. Meaning, the next enlightened one isn’t one, but instead a community of ones. I love that idea.

“We all need community, because to realize our potential as human beings we need the love, the support, and the evolution of valuable conversation. As yogis we mean to engage deeply, to yoke ourselves. To what? To each other, to the things we understand to be of worth and value, to the possibilities a universe so vast offers. … We become better, greater when we realize that we can accomplish more together, far more, than we could ever achieve alone. Enlightenment is a collective experience.“ Douglas Brooks

Fall In Love With Life All Over Again

Did you know your heart can effect a bowl of yogurt?

Your heart is magical, absolutely magical. Not just the fact that it keeps you alive, although that’s pretty amazing. Your heart emits an electromagnetic field that carries information about your emotions - specifically, what emotions you’re experiencing. Studies show that this field of information effects something as simple as yogurt. Imagine then, what the field of your heart can do to the people and pets around you! Talk about connection baby! 

States of joy, love and peace all emit a positive effect not just for you, but to those around you too.

Life really is magical.