YOGAHEART

Bodhi

I am grateful for my gratitude… most of the time I look around in absolute awe.  Gratitude doesn’t necessarily just happen naturally, but also not something I could say I personally created in myself either.  It seems to be a grace that appreciation is a fairly constant feeling in my body/mind regardless of the circumstance.  I realize it is something I cannot make myself feel, unless I am feeling it…   so I am very grateful for my gratitude.

Perhaps this grace floods into my life because I, at the very least, allow myself to do certain things that I know are good for me.  I am clear that this is not selfish nor indulgent, but it is actually the very best way to assist Life as a whole, thus unselfish really.  This is good news.

One thing that seems to nourish my well being and fertilizes my gratitude is walking in nature with my dog, Bodhi (Bo-Dee).  It is simply an excuse to appease my mental agenda to say that I must spend over an hour a day in the woods because he needs it, but in truth, I need it too.  I need to move my body and my energy, connect with nature, and breathe good air at least once a day.  It is obvious when he has gone without a walk, because he gets agitated and ‘wiggy’, but when humans behave this way we look for all kinds of complicated reasons as to why, when the answer might be very, very simple.  Instead of reaching for short term distractions, our greatest relief may lie in absolute simplicity…  walking, relaxing, and doing less.  It has been said that one of the biggest obstacles of enlightenment is its simplicity.

So really, my dog takes me walking.

Nature is strong medicine and given free of charge without negative side effects.  It is out of which we came to be here individually and collectively, it is our natural home.  When I am out in the forest, trees do not remind me of my stories, rocks won’t indulge me in my biases, the wind just won’t reminisce with me…  and what I am left with is Life-As-It-Is.  On the other hand, trees do remind me of great wisdom, patience, and unconditional love.  They are my elders, my teachers, and they will listen to my questions and give me honest answers.  Rocks offer me strength and experience to navigate obstacles without anywhere lay blame.  And the wind dances through me, clearing me out for each new breath, clearing my mind like it clears the sky of clouds.

Next time you need to reach for something to feel better, what are you going to reach for?  Perhaps you’ll take a moment to just pause and take a deep breath before you decide.  You may notice how quietly and patiently all of Life is reaching for you…  beckoning you to breathe it into your heart and let yourself be nourished.  ♥

Sometimes the simplest option is the way to go, but the hardest to see.  We live buried under such mountains of information that we can easily miss the quiet wisdom of present moment knowing.  Truth is, we know exactly what we need to know moment after moment, we just don’t often give ourselves enough pause, breath, and trust to connect with what we know.

We love to laugh when children state the obvious without hesitation, but it’s only funny because we missed it.  My question is, at what age do we, should we, stop looking at the world and our lives so innocently honestly?  Yoga’s amazingness offers us not only the opportunity to strengthen our muscles, but our abilities as well.  Each session we strengthen our ability to be present and see through the myriad of conflicting ideas we hold about it all.  Yoga encourages us to keep coming back to the simple sense of this moment where all is always revealing itself patiently, lovingly.

“All we monks have is our breathing in and breathing out.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Zen Teacher & World Peace Advocate

I remember stopping, suddenly, silently, when I heard this.  I brought my upturned hands into view and asked if they were truly mine.  “Did I make them?!”  I gasped with profound gratitude, noticing that my heart was its own entity, beating time within me, for me, without my effort or influence.  I felt the grace of this whole given experience.

“What do I truly have?” I ask.

I cut carrots, wash spinach, steam rice and combine.  “I’vemade supper!” I innocently proclaim.  Then looking deeply at the carrot tops, green water, and dirty pots, I realize that I didn’t make any of this at all.  I am but a creative combiner at best.  What grace these vegetables grew for the farmer, the trucker, the storekeeper and the cook.  What have we truly made here?

In Zen, they speak of a backwards step.   A gentle generous release of habitual claims and conditioned conclusions about what comes into view, we make more room for questions than answers.  Room for the beautiful openness.   “Breathing in, I am peaceful.  Breathing out, I am relaxed.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh.

~ Mandee

There are many methods for discovering the wellspring of peace & freedom that is ever available. Lately my method of choice is to offer freedom.

A bird comes in to view, I send blessings of freedom. My favourite cup falls from the counter and shatters and I picture the freedom of how cups break so perfectly. A phone call from a family member stirs up old wounds, and I extend her the freedom to say and think anything. I didn’t get the email I was expecting… the author is just so free in my eyes and the computer itself too. Every time I feel a little tightness, I practice responding by searching where might there be a nook I can squeeze a little freedom into… a cranny… soon it begins to feel so good to give it! And even the good stuff too, my friends are free to love and support me. Chocolate pudding is definitely free to taste good. And it’s all free to begin and end on it’s own schedule.

Everything seems to become a little lighter. Even me with me, because soon enough I notice I’m offering myself great swaths of freedom too… I’m ok, I’m ok. This too, is ok, just the way it is. It’s all free to just be, and I am free to be me. Finally.