Shine Your Sacred Self
I finally got to see the sun yesterday in this Costa Rican paradise. The heat and light transformed the town and brought the beaches to life. Still pristine, the ocean yesterday was peppered with people from all over the world enjoying their dia libre a la playa.
Today, it’s back to un dia fresca, with a bite in the air and lots of rain. I noted the grey crowds as I began my yoga practice this morning, looming heavy above the green canopy of the forest. Continue reading “That Which Sustains”
Some friends opened up a lovely little cafe on the Calzada in Granada back in December and it quickly became one of my favorite haunts. I spent the hot afternoons in the cool shade, surrounded by relaxing music, cafe, and beautiful art. Cafe de los Suenos always offered tasty dulces and warm smiles.
I landed here in Costa Rica at the doorstep of Tierre de Suenos and Tierra de Yoga – my new home for the next year. So I go from the hands of suenos, dreams, in Nicaragua to suenos in Costa Rica.
One of the gifts of this world is that every person we encounter is a reflection. We are each a mirror for all the beauty and chaos encompassed deep within our hearts. We are each shining examples of our one flawed, shared humanity. When we notice a particular attitude exhibited in the people around us and it triggers a reaction in our own hearts, that is information telling us that we are holding a similar fear or emotion within that needs our attention.
This is the pretty roof of the room I call home these days. On Sunday, said room began to smell a little mousey. I cleared out all my things, shook out and then refolded each item of clothing and each bag and suitcase, yet did not find a mouse. My friend correctly guessed that some small animal must have crawled between the tiles on the roof and the bamboo on the ceiling before Spirit left the body behind. Unfortunately, there was nobody who could tear the roof apart for a day and a half, so the smell permeated the space I sleep and practice.
I can’t help but bring Kali to mind. Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction and time whose devotees dance in graveyards and spread themselves with the ashes of funeral pyres. Continue reading “Kali, Tearing Down Time”
–Counting–
Counting cordobas is a practice in staying present. A practice I sometimes find more difficult than my meditation practice some days. The thing about cordobas is they value 24 to the dollar, so you very quickly reach large amounts of money that you are regularly counting.
I can’t count quickly and accurately in Spanish, at least not up to high numbers. Perhaps someday. Let’s be real, I often don’t count quickly or accurately in English, either. I get distracted so easily during this task! Thoughts will intrude mid-count, or my ears will latch onto snatches of conversation occurring around me. Conversations in Spanish become harder to ignore the higher my comprehension level rises.
So I count and I practice. Each day at the start and end of my shift, I count and recount the cordobas. I train my mind to stay present on the number – in English, in Spanish, in the moment.
–Dog Walking— Continue reading “Sacred in the Mundane”
Taoism states that we can only know a thing by knowing and understanding its opposite. For example, how can we know light if we’ve never been engulfed in darkness? How can we know happiness if we’ve never plumbed the depths of sadness? Each is just one side of a coin, with oneness being the reality and dualism the illusion.
Another way we can know a thing is by its absence. As Nataraja dances the world into existence, feet rise and fall, hips undulate, and we come in and out of being as we watch. Each time a toe rises, happiness is there or it isn’t. A hand waves down dancing to the universal rhythm, and a wish is granted.
It’s hard sticking to your spiritual and/or health routine during the holidays. Family comes to you or you travel to them. There are late night parties filled with tasty, tasty munchies and lots of opportunities to revel in wine-soaked smiles.
That’s all a good thing, and, I’d argue, just another dimension of your practice. Tantric philosophy says that each moment offers it’s own opportunity for waking up. Continue reading “Finding the Thread of Yourself”
The world around us reflects the world within. We see what we expect to see, people reflect back to us our histories, habits, and ways of being. Alcoholics Anonymous has a saying, “water seeks its own level.” In life, we gravitate to people and situations vibrating at the same frequency as the energy within us.
When we gather together with family for the holidays, we are often faced with deeply ingrained habits and ways of being reflected back to us by our family members. Perhaps these habits are buried deep within our subconscious and we are unaware of them. Continue reading “Holiday Reflections”
I did a card reading the other night to gain some clarity on issues of Abundance. I’ve been working hard with prosperity meditations for a few months now, both to increase the flow of that energy in my own life and to prepare for an upcoming workshop I have on the topic here in Nicaragua.
I’ve seen a real increase in the energy of abundance, prosperity, and creativity since I committed to actively working the combination of kriyas, meditations, and asana practice I’ve designed. I’ve also experienced an increase in feelings of gratitude as well as an ability to recognize the energy of abundance when it does enter my life. So often, I feel that this “plenty,” which really is a divine right for all, enters so stealthily into our lives that it’s very easy to take for granted unless you are practicing stillness, awareness, and gratitude. Continue reading “El Esclavo, The Slave”
A slice of life in Nicaragua.
I woke early to squeeze in a short hatha yoga practice and meditation before an early morning private class date over at Hotel Spa Granada, site of my favorite pool in the city! Walking there, I enjoyed the relative cool of the morning and the view of Volcan Mombacho shrouded in clouds. After a poolside yoga class followed by a delicious breakfast of fresh fruit and yogurt, I headed over to Hotel Dario for some sweet coffee and a meeting with some local yoga teachers who are working to open up a boutique hotel and yoga studio here in Granada. I think we have some exciting retreat workshop collaborations in our future!!
Yoga chat is always fun, and we probably would have easily gotten lost in that conversation if it weren’t for the fun event we are planning. Continue reading “What I did Today”