He who would be constant

... in happiness, must frequently change, Confucius said. My husband Nate Bettger shared this on his blog recently and it really got me thinking about change. I like happiness and I am comfortable with change. In fact, change is something I relish in and enjoy. I love change. Anyone who has been to my yoga class can attest to that. So, change. Nate and I are heading to Portland to live for a year. He to complete his residency as hospital chaplin and me to, well, I am not sure. I plan to take a fallow year, or a year of jubilee (Nate's phrase, but I think it's from the Bible) and let my yoga teaching fields rest and wait for the creativity to rise up and take me on the next journey. I want to live a life that is full of yoga. On the mat daily, but what I really want to do is experience the Yoga of Life. This has already begun, but I'm sensing that this website will change to accommodate that. I am open and I am excited!

I'm not really a writer.

I'm not really a writer. What I am is one who is interested in things; one way I deepen what I am interested in is to write about it. If I had a video camera, I would film it, but for now it will have to be writing. I love to see beauty - simple, authentic, maybe even a bit messy and imperfect,  beauty. I am beginning, and maybe I have know for a long time, to see that yoga is really not about what happens on the mat, it is, but more so about what happens when I step off that mat, that is the most interesting. How can I practice yoga while at work (my other job is has me bringing food to happy people), or in the kitchen making dinner for my family or lunch for myself, or while weeding or feeding the chickens, or walking or driving or writing? How can I practice yoga while watching shows and eating pizza? These are the questions to live into (as Rilke says) and live into I will.

Wabi-Sabi

According to Wikipedia, Wabi-sabi is an aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. It is beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete. Asymmetry, asperity (roughness, irregularity), simplicity, economy, austerity, modesty, intimacy and appreciation of the ingenuous integrity of natural objects and processes. If an object or expression can bring about within us, a sense of serene melancholy and spiritual longing, then that object could be considered wabi-sabi. Wabi-sabi nurtures all that is authentic by acknowledging three simple truths:

Nothing lasts. Nothing is finished. Nothing is perfect.

...my thoughts to come.

Vernal Equinox 2013

Vernal Equinox and Navaratri: Spring is in the air! -by Alessandra Pecorella

In coincidence with the vernal equinox (the arrival of Spring, literally when night and day have equal length) we also have the occurrence of the Hindu festival Navaratri, literally 9 nights , celebrating Shakti in her manifestations as Durga, Lakhsmi and Saraswati.

During the calendar year Navaratri is celebrated 4 times, corresponding to the change of the seasons (equinoxes and solstices). This is a time to profoundly reconnect with the Motherly Energy of the Earth, Shakti, the power lying at the base of the spine and in the very core of the planet. It is a time for reflection, cleansing, meditating , releasing the past and planting new seeds for the future. The festival of Navaratri is closed by a tenth day of music , parades and dancing to acknowledge the victory of Maha Shatki (the divine feminine energy).

Living Practices to tangibly reconnect  this time of year. Fasting in a way that is appropriate for your system is also traditionally part of Navaratri. Kirtan for the divine mother. Chanting  18-27-54 or 108 rounds for the different aspects of the Goddess, while meditating within your heart upon : Om Dum Durgayai Namaha, Om Shrim Maha Lakshimaye Namaha, Om Aim Saraswataye Namaha Days 1-3 Purification of Inner and Outer Obstacles on the Spritual Path (Durga Shakti) Days 4-6 Worshiping the Healing Beauty and Abundance of Maha Lakshmi Days 7-9 Awakening the Divine Wisdom and Creativity of Saraswati Ma Day 10 Victory of Shakti

Hope you can find the space and time in your Sadhana to appreciate this transition in divine tune with the Earthly energy.

Reposted from 2012

Art of Attention

Art of Attention by Elena Brower and Erica Jago Art of Attention - Good Tiger Yoga article by Kat