New Perspective

Everything has a progression.  Life doesn't manifest as a finished product.  The starting place is the seed, the thought, the potential, the idea that then needs to be nurtured in order to grow.  So be grateful for the seeds and be patient with yourself.  Give both room to grow and bloom.

Embrace Change

Have you noticed that the thinking about a thing which we perceive as challenging or difficult usually seems a whole lot scarier than the actual doing or performing of the thing?  Remarkably, our anxiety seems to come before or after we have done the thing we thought we were so afraid of, not during the action itself.   Every time we have the courage to do whatever the thing may be, we expand ourselves toward a new comfort zone, we are on our way to a new normal.  But to fully get there we must let go of the fear.  Open to the possibilities that change is offering us.  It can be good, if we but allow it.

Simple Pleasures

What are your favorite simple pleasures in life? Things that don't cost much money, if any at all. Things that give you BIG emotional bang for you buck.  Brings you comfort on rainy days.  Makes you sing out loud when no one is watching.  That even if (God forbid) you lost it all tomorrow, you could still hold these indulgences in your heart.

There is much in life that I LOVE.  Good food and wine, travel and the Lexus RX 350.  ;)  

But... when I really think about it, for today anyway, here are my top 5 Simple Pleasures:

• Cooking.  I have discovered that I love to prepare and transform healthy food into something delicious.  While working in the kitchen at the Satchidananda Ashram last fall, it struck me full force how food brings  intimacy into our lives.   The kitchen can be a place of camaraderie and shared purpose, then once the tasks at hand are completed we can break bread together, strengthening both our bodies and our bonds.  
• Brushing my teeth.  I'm a little OCD when it comes to dental habits.  For about 12 years now I have been using a Sonicare brush and floss regularly.  I cannot think of a more pleasant habit to begin and end each day with.
• Yoga.  While I do enjoy teaching yoga, my own practice is what keeps me sane.  There is something about the quiet of my own mat, rolled out in the middle of the living room floor, that breaks my heart chakra wide open.  Here, I can bring myself into a sacred space, leaving behind any and all thoughts of what others might think and move into a flow that fits organically with what my body wants on a particular day.  I especially love swan diving from Mountain pose into a forward bend, arms stretched wide, freedom and bliss to experience the movement of life.
• A calm day with the sun on my face.  Need I say more?  
• Clean sheets on a comfortable bed, window open.  Even better is if those sheets have been hung to dry on a country clothes line!  

So what about you?  What are your simple pleasures that make you feel rich in spirit?  

Namaste.

Welcome to this little corner of my virtual world.   And suddenly a childhood verse comes to mind:

"I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter his courts with praise.  I will say this is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice for he has made me glad."

This is a blog about me giving thanks and letting the magic of this mystery called Grace get a deeper hold in my heart.  And to this I think, how can we deny so great a salvation?  For indeed, it is Grace that saves us!

And to this I say, Om Shanti Shanti Shanti, Om Peace.  Namaste.