Day 93: Manuel Ferreira in Manila

I love it when the teachers are in town.

Day 88: He loves me...

Today is special - March 31. My own yogi graduation. As I entered the studio, I was greeted by two basins of floating deep red roses, white roses and floating candles. This may have been for another occasion but I knew somehow this was meant for me too. I would like to believe God sent me roses through the hands of a stranger because today's news called for a quiet celebration. Just between Him and me, for now.

Over the past weeks, more students have been coming to my class. Tonight, though, I got 3 and we did the entire primary series, another sign.

A happy surprise in the morning, a full day at work, and finally at night, 3 students in long stemmed samastitihi, deep red roses and white petals, soft candle light... Lord, when you want to say you love me, you really know how.

Day 87: Aftermath

Atha yoganushasanam. Now that I'm off the mat.

Sometimes, it is in the aftermath that we relish and appreciate the tenderness and deep care brought into our practice. As in love. As in the aftermath of the most intimate unions.

Rajas, Meet Tamas

It has been taking some time to recover from running on adrenaline for a month. With the flu that I ignored, the intensity of emotions over the past weeks, and the Super Moon that lent its energy. I am now feeling my entire body coming to a full stop. I am refusing to be perturbed. I have imposed refuge upon myself. All else is of seemingly secondary importance. For now.

We strive to seek balance, moment by moment. This is the rhythm we speak of in writing, in music, in dance, in asana, in the entirety of the universe. When we stop seeking balance, it seeks us and spreads itself over us. This is the law of the Cosmos. This is its order - that we achieve equilibrium, that we return to the natural, original, balanced state. This is where we will find the boundary of our free will. When we push hard to tip the scale, overexert or succumb to the excess, we are naturally brought into balance. The process to bring us back is as extreme as how we got there. We speed and force ourselves into the peaks, it should be no wonder we come crashing into the troughs.

As I think about the 60 minutes of Earth Hour last Friday, I think of what this offsets and what the balance entails. This body, this planet, will need to regain itself into becoming Sattvic again. Every gentle regaining helps. We all need a period of healing.

So Rajas, meet Tamas. It was just a matter of time.

Day 80: Tension Headache and The Crown Chakra

This was another tough day. Another 13-hour day. The moon is waning and my cycle days are almost over. My head ached as if someone was squeezing my brain. After finishing one more item on my list, I sat to meditate.

Soham. The mantra came to me gently. The song of the crown chakra. The seat of inspiration. It's amazing to me because, as I ended my last slide, I was thinking of desperately needing inspiration - thinking of that state of love we should all be in. That perpetual state of inspiration that makes us giddy even as we work. I thought of how much I needed that now.

In that space of silence, I was given the answer. Soham. I instinctively took my chakra oracle box and there it was.

Tension headache ebbing, crown chakra rediscovered. I pulled the card of inspiration.

We are what we need. We are what we want.

I am that. Thank you for the reminder.

Heartbreak 03.11

Artwork Source: http://emptyeasel.com/2008/04/24/a-brief-history-of-japanese-art-prints-also-known-as-ukiyo-e/

My heart breaks as I watch the pain that washes away Japan. It brings to mind how small and powerless we are in these bodies, how vulnerable the most magnificent mad-made structures are at the hands of earth, sea or sky. This time, we are at the mercy of the earth and the sea.
These are truly changing times and the shifts shake our very core. We set aside the small-ness of our problems in view of the floods and sludge that wrecked hearts, lives, and years of work. These are intense times for deep introspection and action - even for a moment. It is too easy to continue the buzz for those of us unaffected - for now. Our world is raging, changing. So are we. Their land breaks as our hearts do.

Even their seas lash out to neighboring countries in desperation. Devastation reminds us how truly connected we all are.

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I see the location of viewers from a live feed gadget on this blog... To the one who was here about 8 days ago from Tokyo, please please be alright and safe... Om Mani Padme Hum...

Tesa On April 3 and 10

My beautiful soul sistah sharing her beautiful journey.