a quote or two from me to you

My Kindle, which was my best friend on my travels - allowing me to dive into the world of Barbara Kingsolver, the mind of Ayn Rand and the depths of the Yoga Sutras - has been sitting on my bookshelf now for many months passed.  Not receiving a lot of love.  In fact, when I went to turn her on this morning she was dead, so I gave her mouth to mouth.  Resuscitated, she brought me to 'my clippings' - a folder that Kindle has set aside just for me with all the words I thought were wise and wanted to tuck away - and it filled me up with joy. It brought me back, if just for a moment, to the many wonders of words and travel.

Here are more than a few.  Enjoy!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be". ~ Douglas Adams

"We are here to do.  And through doing to learn; and through learning to know; and through knowing to experience wonder; and through wonder to attain wisdom; and through wisdom to find simplicity; and through simplicity to give attention; and through attention to see what needs to be done." ~ Pirke Avot

Writing Away by Lavinia Spalding
"I have no special talents.  I am only passionately curious."

"wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking."

The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar
"When we are attentive to our actions we are not prisoners to our habits."

Autobiography of a yogi by Yogananda
"When your conviction of a truth is not merely in your brain but in your being, you may diffidently vouch for its meaning."

Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
"Eaters must understand, how we eat determines how the world is used."

State of Wonder by Ann Patchet
"Never be so focused on what you're looking for that you overlook the thing you actually find."

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
"Mostly, he said, I've been thinking about what I'm not going to do.  When I think of the last few years, I've been hounded by regrets for what's already happened and fears for what might.  By nostalgia for what I've lost and desire for what I don't have.  All this wanting and not wanting.  It's worn me out.  For once, I'm going to try the present on for size."

Structural Yoga Therapy by Mukunda Stiles
"Tension is a sign of the betrayal of the Self."

"Yoga is the process by which you lose all identity of yourself as a separate being and become united with your nature as both Shakti and Siva - expansive, creative energy, as well as stillness, eternal bliss.  Both these qualitites are within you."

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
"If you get around to deciding you're Cherokee, Alice, then that's just what you are."

Bon Weekend!

desire

I have a couple new books on the go.  The first is The Four Desires by Rod Stryker.  I was in the library looking for a book -any book - when this one came out at me.  I've picked it up and put it down a number of times before and have always walked away.  But for some reason, on this sunny day, it jumped into my bag and begged me to take it down to the water for a read.  So I did.

Within the first couple of pages, I knew the timing was finally right.  This was the book for me, now.

My mind is jumbled and I need some help unjumbling it.

I have about eight books on the go.  A hundred different ideas for blog posts and videos.  When I'm not actually teaching yoga, all I'm thinking about is teaching yoga.  And between my dozen different journals for my dozen different emotions, I'm never really sure which to go to for what.

I know this - I want to create!  But my workspace is all cluttered.  Each time I sit down to write or work and find myself a half hour later in the kitchen in triangle pose, I realise that this jumbled workspace of a mind isn't working.  I need to free up some space in order to create.  I don't know how to do this.  I need to sort out my thoughts and ideas to get this all into action.  I don't know how to do this.  This is where The Four Desires came in.

Then yesterday, in the bookstore, I came across a book called Desire to Inspire.  I picked it up, flipped through it for a moment and walked out with it. 

Sitting there last night admiring my two newest reads I saw it - Desire.  This is not a word I use often, but there it is in both of their titles.  Desire.  Coincidence?  I think not!

Desire.  What do I desire?  Happiness.  More handstands.  I desire to think and speak and act freely from my heart.  I desire to know how to do this.

I desire to be a 'Force of Good'.

"To guide and encourage people to discover their true, authentic voice so they can live their best life is to be a Force of Good". ~ Christen Olivarez

These books also offer assignments throughout the pages for the reader to better come to terms with their desires.  The first assignment in each of these books is to find your life's purpose.  (Like seriously, coincidence)?  In The Four Desires, this is referred to as your Dharma Code.  In Desire to Inspire, this is called your Battle Cry.

Battle Cry - I love it.  A word or phrase that "inspires you to action".   

My assignment for this week is to discover my souls Battle Cry.  I can hear it, it's a bit jumbled now, but it sounds something like

" aye aye aye aye aye aye yaow"!!!!!

Desire - the action that sets fire aflame.   What's yours?

what's our part in all this?

Earth Day got me thinking.

Spring is here—the birds are chirping, the buds are blooming, the layers are coming off and you can actually feel the pulse in the air. It’s got me thinking about The Law of Giving and Receiving by Deepak Chopra.

When the world’s in bloom, there’s an extra little bounce in my step. I breathe in a bit deeper and tilt my head back while the sun lights up my face. Mama Nature sure is dishing it out, and I relish in the spring and all of its gifts. Sitting under the cherry tree, sippin’ my iced cap the yogi in me asks “what’s my part in it all?”

According to Chopra, “the universe operates through dynamic exchange.” And we’re all a part of it. It’s this exchange of energy that keeps the life force flowing. With every breath taken, each individual body exchanges energy with the body of the universe. This is what keeps the prana, the life force, flowing.

“Stopping the circulation of energy is like stopping the flow of blood.” ~ Deepak Chopra

Click here to read the rest of the article over at Elephant Journal

Maybe you're already familiar with the Law of Giving and Receiving or have read my previous post on this from a while back.  In which case I will just leave you with a little gift from me to you. 

A poem by Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace is every step.

The shining red sun is my heart.
Each flower smiles with me.
How green, how fresh all that grows.
How cool the wind blows.
Peace is every step
It turns the endless path to joy.

~Peace :)

words to live by

I came across this beautiful, magical, inspirational poem by Jeanette Leblanc, and just had to share.  Read this, and then Go now, and live.  Enjoy!

There's this woman I know.  You may know her too, or a version of her.  For some of you, she, may be a he.  For me she stands in the middle of a field - surrounded by daisies.  Arms open wide like she's ready to fly.  But she doesn't.  She knows that her place is here, now, grounded, present.  Her two feet - barefooted feet - buried in the grass.  So instead she twirls.  She twirls and sings, laughs, dances, jumps up and falls down.  She gets back up.  She is happy.  I don't know what she does, or where she lives, or how she came to be so free.  But I do know this: this woman is me.  The me that I want to be.  And I've long been searching for just the right words to give her a face and bring her to life.  And now I don't have to.  Through the magic of poetry by Jeanette Leblanc, I see this woman more clearly.  She now has a name.  Her name is Life, and she choses to live it.  Isn't that nice!?!

To check out more by Jeanette Leblanc visit her site at {Peace. Love. Free}