Baby Wren (barefoot photos)

In Western New York, Spring, the mud-licked goddess of joy and rebirth, has floundered through the melting snows of March and found her way with the warmer, softer breezes, flowering snowdrops, and brilliant birdsong.

Neighbors are sweeping off salt-littered stoops and chatting in the street. All agree: it’s been a long, tough winter.

Mindfulness meditations can bring me right home into the season. I practice opening to what is happening during this, the most ephemeral of all seasons.  Sometimes I sit with a palm outstretched and filled with sunflower seeds for the chickadees.

Whether they land or not doesn’t matter. I’m offering and watching.

Sometimes the garden bench is the most inviting place in the world. I practice listening and find it much harder than watching. Doesn’t matter though. I continue and begin to feel as if life itself has slowed its push and shove. I am no longer a tacit observer of the environment, perched on the bench, waiting for life to begin. I feel the vibration of the sounds move through me. A slight shimmer passes inside my arms and I breathe through the heart center. I am no longer an alien entity; I’m a living being in an alive environment. A sense arises from deep in my spine that I’m home again.

Early spring meditation: Open a window or door, or even better, sit outside in a garden or park, tune your ears to a specific bird call and listen as long and as carefully as you can. If Mind wanders about in that spring restlessness, gently bring it back to the song. Just as you would observe your breath, observe everything you can about this particular song.

The rise and fall of the melody,

the loudness,

the harshness or softness,

the pitch,

the duration of the notes,

the repetition.

Can you hear other birds responding?

Can you feel the sound entering your ears?

What happens when your consciousness is attuned to your hearing, does that affect what or how you hear?

Invite the song to permeate your being.

Allow your life to become this birdsong. Where do you feel it?

Breathe.

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2. Meditation seminar LIBERAL ARTS SEMINAR 150 Meditation and Relaxation Techniques       Fall 2009...

Facing myself IS the HARDEST lesson. I REALLY REALLY don’t wanna go there. BUT it’s the only way to wake up. And we (you, me, etc etc) REALLY REALLY do wanna wake up, which leaves us no choice. WE gotta do it. We gotta go there ~ into that scary horrible ugly part of ourselves. The part of me that my sweet EGO protects so coyly. After all, I IDENTIFY myself as NOT that. I am soooo different from OTHER people who do that. Yeah, right.

Just returned from hanging out with all 8 of my sibs, their “spice” as well as a handful of nieces and nephews. Our Mom died just before Valentine’s Day and we rented a big beach house. All of us. TOGETHER. In one house. Imagine. The noise of everyone talking was a lesson in patience itself. Now I really love these folks, BUT an hour or a couple of hours is ENOUGH. After several days covert strains in the relationships begin to manifest and growl….grrrrr. I begin to wish I had more patience, more humility, more generosity of spirit, more confidence, and above all, more kindness.

The hardest part of being with these folks I grew up with is that they really do know me. As much as I want to think that I’m somehow different and alienated from them, as much as I try to marginalize myself, in my core, I know that the parts of them that I don’t like or appreciate, their character flaws, their spiritual weaknesses, are, to some degree, also mine. Furthermore, their complaints or, in the case of my family, their jokes about my flaws are probably right on. There is no sense even to try to counter their accusations.

Ring-Billed Gull on Lake Erie (ckg photo)

That’s the problem with being a close family. We know one another perhaps more than we’d like to admit. When I look at one of them, it’s as if I am looking in a mirror. They reflect back to me who I am. Even if I don’t want to see that particular part of myself. Of course, it works the other way as well. Sometimes I can see such beauty and purity of spirit in one of my sibs that I immediately jump to claim as being a part of THAT family.

To continue to grow however,I need to push through the soft spots of ease and learn to soften the harder areas of dis-ease and un-comfort.

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carolyn and priscilla lasecki kieber

Death reminds me that there is really only one way to live. From the heart of love.

Returned last night from burying Mom in North Carolina. A devoted Catholic, Priscilla Lasecki Kieber embodied the heart of bhakti yoga.

Whether she was sitting on the beach, enjoying the beauty of the rolling oceanic waves, preparing cake for a crowd of company, or volunteering in a community group, I’ve always admired the way she lived beyond the fray of “talk.” From a steady and patient center, she infused her relationships with the steady gift of herself.

Her home was was filled with Madonna icons and crucifixes ~ symbols of the objects of her love. She seemed happiest when she was in church, whether at daily Mass or evening novenas. A blessed string of rosary beads were never far away from her praying hands. If she missed a Sunday service, she was heart-broken. How soon would she return to the abode of her Beloved?

Her devotion to the Divine gave her a steady stream of wisdom and strength throughout her 87 years.

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church window, Amherst NY

Friends sent me poems of comfort this morning. Here is a short stanza from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran:

Only when you drink from the river of

Silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountain

Top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your

Limbs, then you shall truly dance.

In death, as in her long life, Mom is surely dancing with her Beloved. It is through taking small steps and opening our hearts, one kind word at a time, and refraining from one little meanness after another, that we can join her in this Blissful Tango.

Mom would have loved this video of Henri Nouwen’s sermon on THE BELOVED:

READ MORE: a lovely blog post on a bhakti workshop by one of my fav German yoginis, Lilylotuswillow: http://lilylotus.wordpress.com/2009/09/17/david-newman-workshop/#comment-312

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Fredonia NY Daylily (ckg photo)

This is a GREAT time to practice METTA or Lovingkindness meditation. HAITI challenges us to step up to the compassion plate. Please try to offer some lovingkindness for not only the Haitians effected by the earthquake, but also for their families,the aid workers, and the governments involved that something may be done to ease the long-term suffering of the Haitians. Teachers, please consider beginning or ending your classes by teaching your students the metta phrases and offering them for Haitians everywhere.

This post is a looooong overdue response to Svasti’s comment on LaughingYogini’s Home or Homeless? post regarding Lovingkindness meditation. In the post I said:

MEDITATION: Georg Feuerstein, in The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, says that there is a meditation wherein the four virtues: friendliness, compassion, gladness, and equanimity are radiated from the practitioner into the universe. This sounds very similar to metta or lovingkindness meditation that I have mentioned before. Beginning with oneself, and eventually including all sentient beings, the meditator offers the following phrases (or others that resonate more deeply):

May I be free from danger.

May I be happy.

May I be healthy.

May I live with ease and abundance.

Svasti responded to that excerpt:

What annoys me about the Feuerstein quote is the ‘I’, ‘I’, ‘I’. Generally most prayers are phrased as:

May all beings be free from danger.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be healthy.
May all beings live with ease and abundance.

To me, this is much healthier, because its recognizing all conscious beings and offering to one and all, Self included.

I am afraid that I misrepresented Feuerstein in that piece.There should be a break in the middle of that paragraph, when I begin MY thoughts (& depart from paraphrasing GF): This sounds very similar to metta or lovingkindness meditation that I have mentioned before. Beginning with oneself, and eventually including all sentient beings, the meditator offers the following phrases (or others that resonate more deeply).

The other misunderstanding comes from an insufficient explanation of metta practice in the earlier post. For that I refer the reader to LaughingYogini’s page on Lovingkindness Meditation, which can be found here.

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1. Lovingkindness Lovingkindness meditation works on the compassion principle. We are all...
2. Home or Homeless? Yoga sutra 1.33 Grieving with friends and family of someone who has passed...
3. NAMASTE In class recently, a new student asked me what “namaste”...

In class recently, a new student asked me what “namaste” meant. I answered simply, “It means that the sacred in me honors the sacred in you.” I didn’t tell her that in Bengal, they usually say “namascara” as my meditation teacher did. He had lived and studied in Calcutta Bengal India, so naturally he insisted the proper phrase was “namascara.” And the year we lived in India, I heard “namascara” often as not. But I also bow to the yogic tradition in America and use “namaste” in my classes.

Linguistic technicality aside, today I post with a heart weeping for all Haitians. If I could be of any help to those suffering on the island, I’d be there in a breath. I’m sure you would as well. It is difficult to sit here and feel helpless as far as lifting one of those slabs of concrete, or even soothing a traumatized brow. This earthquake is a disaster of unbelievable magnitude. I need to practice ujjayi breath!

This post is dedicated to all Haitians who are injured, mentally or physically. I bow to the sacred in you. NAMASTE.

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1. Lovingkindness meditation This is a GREAT time to practice METTA or Lovingkindness...

During this season of intention-setting, it might be helpful to contemplate the mother-of-all-intentions: COMPASSION.

And all compassion, from the grandest benevolent foundation to the tiniest gesture of human kindness, begins with oneself.

During 2010, how can I treat myself with greater friendship, honor, and love? Can I develop kinder thoughts as well as healthier responses? What simple action can I take to implement this intention?

My first method of creating more compassion in my life and in the lives of folks I touch ~ including my online friends ~ is to work on my physical and mental health. I can develop healthier personal patterns: MORE vegetables, MORE exercise, MORE focus.

A second action is to develop a greater support system. I have taken some first steps toward gaining mentors and will continue contemplating what other sorts of support may be beneficial.

I work on these areas so that I may better serve you. I’d love to hear your thoughts regarding ways my teaching may have assisted your own growth as well as what has been less than helpful. THANKS.

Developing a fundamental attitude of compassion, not just day-by-day, but by really paying attention, becoming mindful of moment-by-moment turns toward or away from compassion will change the world.

With LOVE, HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Thank you to tsyen10 for creating and posting the following video:

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Great Blue Heron at Croatan National Forest (ckg photo)

Today Mom moved into an assisted living facility. For several reasons, she couldn’t manage to live on her own anymore. Watching the family locus reshuffle has been a sad event.

Even though my brain knows it was necessary and inevitable, my heart grieves for what has past and will no longer be.

I’ve been spending time practicing, opening to the full panoply of emotions in an effort to create space for the light to shine through.

Yoga Sutra 1.36 says it so well:

1:36 Patanjali: visoka va jyotismati

Bouanchaud: Mental stability also stems from serenity linked to luminous lucidity.

Iyengar:Or, inner stability is gained by contemplating a luminous, sorrowless, effulgent light.

Feuerstein: Or restriction is achieved by mental activities that are sorrowless and illuminating.

Desikachar: One of the great mysteries of life is life itself. When we inquire into what life is and what keeps us alive, we may find some solace for our mental distractions. Consideration of things greater than our individual selves helps us put ourselves in perspective.

LaughingYogini: Do I allow the light of the universe to penetrate my life?  What do I do that blinds me from this light? Can I participate in a full and engaged life with  the same serenity this Blue Heron seems to embody?

Do I truly believe that there is a light in this universe? What do I learn from contemplating this light?  Can this light help me grow in a positive manner?

Do I see the light in others? In myself?  How can I cultivate this vision?

I’d love to hear your perspective.

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1. Home or Homeless? Yoga sutra 1.33 Grieving with friends and family of someone who has passed...

What is it that I am waiting for? Why do I think I am not good enough or strong enough or smart enough or beautiful enough or kind enough? Why is the ripeness, the fullness of my existence so difficult to accept?

Why do I think someone is more ~ or less ~ then my self? Why do I not see the wholeness in the world around me?

Why is union so elusive?

There is a beauty and joy as the trees in the northeastern US give up their leaves every fall. The world ripens. My prayer is that I may accept and be grateful for the ripeness that is me ~ that is you. However momentary that may be.

Here is a video produced by A Network for Grateful Living (ANG*L) of Poet Jane Hirshfield performing at the Poetry of Gratefulness event at the Herbst Theatre, San Francisco, CA, February 3, 2008. I recommend a visit to: http://www.gratefulness.org…a non-profit organization dedicated to the practice of gratitude. You may want to check out some of the other very worthwhile videos while you’re there!

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flower seed head (ckg photo)

For Sean P. O’Rourke (1985-2009)

This has been a season of death. On Saturday, three young men died in a tragic car accident. One of them was the son of a long-time friend and writing group buddy, a member of the extended “Penelope Writers” family.

Watching the faces of the O’Rourke family as they followed the coffin wrenched my heart. What sadness! Sadness heaping upon sadness these past three months.

What’s a YOGINI to do?

It’s healthy to feel emotions, to give them space to exist and pass through. It’s not so beneficial to hold onto them or to stifle them — though that is EXACTLY what I’d often like to do. Sometimes I just want to wallow in negativity, feeling sorry for myself, feeling a victim to circumstances, wishing the world would shake its collective head and join my sad little pity party.

Fortunately,yoga and meditation are such life-changing tools that these depressing emotions can flow through me as if they were rain water washing through sandy soil. I don’t need to IDENTIFY with and embellish the stories that coincide with these emotions. I cringe at how I did exactly that in the past though!!

FURTHERMORE, science is now clearly showing the plasticity of the mind that yogis have claimed for hundreds of years. I’ll collect some of this research in a future post, but for now, check out Buddhist priest, Mathieu Ricard’s take on happiness and mind training from TED. Some call Ricard the “happiest man alive” because of the results of his brain scans.

I’m sure many of the readers of LY have seen these sorts of changes happen in their life. How have you dealt with overwhelming grief?  Have you noticed any effects of your practices on your emotional life? Please share them with us!

Mathieu Ricard’s blog is also enjoyable as well as thought provoking. The link is a page translated from the French.

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Orange Chysanthemum (ckg photo)

I am so grateful that yoga is in my life, teaching me to appreciate each moment fully so that when life jigs its inevitable  cruel dance tugging at me to partner-up, I can connect with my breath and remember that there is a beautiful, calm, loving place within me. Through continual practice I have found it is possible to live more deeply—beyond the “rat race of survival.”

One way is to awaken each morning with awareness centered on the first inhalation.  Then, exhaling, invite a smile to fill your face.  Even on the mornings when you don’t feel like it, SMILE and BREATHE.  You embody the essence of happiness. Let that be your first prayer and intention.

As you move through your day observing the gardens and lawns that may be shriveling, remember that the sky has blessed us nearly every evening with glorious sunsets whose pinks, purples, and apricot splash in gay abandon overhead.

Spending an evening enjoying a sunset is yoga in action!  With every inhalation try to radiate some of the colors of the sun.  Open your heart to the people around you, whether at work, at home, or on the beach.  Be aware of how your color enriches every one of those lives –and many more that you are unaware of.  You are a child of the universe; every sun salutation celebrates that.

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