Wrapped in Blankets of Bliss

True contentment is not the elusive hiding thing it is made out to be.

On the contrary, it awaits, open armed and patient

For your awareness of its company.

To experience this companion, comfort embodied in ease,

Simply enter the present moment fully.

Saturate your senses with the Now;

Enrich this living life with your focus and acceptance of what Is.

Be swept up in the act of

Being.

Here you will find that the breath itself is made of waves of peace

Woven with the light of joy and loving songs of truth.

Give yourself over to it.

Surrender all struggles to the wisdom and Grace of that which breathes you.

Realize, here in the fathomless Ocean of Beauty and Being

That, beneath layers of other feelings and holding on,

You were content all along.

Om Shri Ram Jai Ram
Om Namah Shakti Ma

• Feel free to comment if you’re so inspired.

These words came to me late last night, inviting me – almost insisting – that they be written and shared. It felt like a call to Truth; a feeling deep with meaning and potency…

Set Your Intention

Stand deliberately upon this Earth

For you are a bridge between Earth and Sky.

Open to the current of your breath,

Expand your awareness beyond the boundaries of your skin.

You are a child of the infinite.

Limitless possibilities await your choice.

Awaken to a new version of yourself;

Cultivate both strength and softness,

For you will find Freedom in the balance.

Become ever more skilled, taking care in refinement,

But remember always to honour that which is Primary:

Let Joy be your guide, founded in Integrity.

Dance upon the Edge and Laugh there;

Your bravery revealing the child within.

Honour your True Self by giving yourself permission to grow and play;

Play and discover who you choose to be.

And then re-discover the world through new eyes.

The new version of you that you are becoming;

The one you want to be

Already lives within you.

Step up and live this ideal;

Be a deeper, clearer You in this Now.

You are a child of the infinite.

Limitless possibilities await your choice.

• Feel free to leave a comment below if this poem inspires you to do so.

Meanings of the days of the week.

Sunday: Dedicated to the Sun. As this is the first day of the week, here we set our intention.

Monday: Day of the Moon. A day for balance, turning in.

Tuesday: Dedicated to Mars. Power, fire, initiation, masculine energy.

Wednesday: The day of Mercury, known as the messenger. This is the bridge between worlds, uniting Feminine and Masculine energies. A day of awakening, communicating.

Thursday: Jupiter’s day. Since Jupiter is the weighty one, this is also the Guru’s day. A day to honor your teachers and celebrate the teacher within. Big energy day.

Friday: The day of Venus. Beauty, feminine Goddess energy, a sense of expansion and goodness rule this day.

Saturday: The day of Saturn. This day has an energy that concludes or binds, being the last day of the week. Saturn is like the old man, or patron of the cycle. Masculine energy.

Setting Intention with Yoga

The sun holds a seemingly limitless amount of energy and power. We, as human beings, have worshiped the sun throughout history for it’s life sustaining energy and beauty.

Yet even this radiant star is only a fraction of the great light that pulses throughout existence. When you feel the warmth and life giving light of the sun, it can remind you of the light you also hold within.

This is Sunday – Day of the Sun. This is the first day of the week, a fresh start that holds power. This is the place to set your intention for the rest of the week (though it is good to set intention every day, so please continue even if you aren’t reading this on Sunday). What do you choose to align with? What do you choose to shine light upon?

Every intention is a choice, and bringing the energy of light, of the sun, into it is very potent. Using this practice – by opening to the limitless possibilities life offers and then deliberately aligning with what is going to bring the most joy and harmony, you empower and illuminate your experience from within. By choosing to do your practice today and every day, aligning with your intention and the bigger energy within, you can access the potency of this time with more focus and grace. This, of course also supports you off the mat.

Mini-Meditation:

Sit beautifully, both connected to the earth and uplifted into the heavens.

Take a deep breath and turn your focus to its movement.

Feel your own internal shining light, even if you are not that aware of it right away.

With each breath, feel your inner light grow, until you feel as if the sun itself were shining from within.

Now, set your intention for the week.

What is the highest intention you could bring into being right now?

Envision it. Speak it. Call it into the present with your will.

Hold that intention in the light of the sun (inner or outer light – either is fine).

Then, with a beautiful breath, let it go.

Give it to the grace of your breath, and trust, with gratitude, that it has entered the current of Grace.

When you are ready to continue on with your day, keep a remembrance of this bigger energy and inner light, so that each thing you do can be in alignment with that which is most life affirming, and that which will help your intention into being.

Om Shri Tejase Om

Smiling and laughing are expressions of a content, joyful soul. They reduce stress, increase health and bring a brilliance to the moment, inviting others to lighten up as well.

You can find a place of content even within struggle and challenge. It’s all about your attitude and perspective. Can you see the beauty? Can you see the humor? It’s there, waiting to be discovered.

Amidst all the things you do, it is so important to find that which brings you joy.

I was walking along yesterday, listening to music and marveling at the beauty of trees and lilacs and tulips. It was such a simple thing to do, yet it made me SO happy! I could feel my whole being respond in a harmonious, joyful gratitude.

Mini-Practice:

Create time every day to do something that makes you happy. You can even multi-task, such as listening to music and dancing as you clean the house.

But whatever you do, every day practice smiling, because the more you have this attitude of upliftment, the more it will become your default state of being.

You can also do this “Happy Meditation”.

And your smile will ripple out to light up the world. Oh wait – it already does!

There is enough time to stretch out and be free.

There is enough, because even time and space are held within the infinite.

The Essence is limitless.

OPEN from the inside, and spaciousness becomes your experience.

OPEN to your deepest truth. Time will warp and dance for you.

OPEN, and you will access the GRACE of breath and life.

Focus on light. Focus on beauty. Focus on love.

You will find the way through – your heart will illuminate it.

Trust, receive, embrace, participate.

OPEN again and again, and you will find that there is more than enough.

Dive into the infinite, and enjoy the dance.

There is enough space for all your dreams to be real.

There is enough time to stretch out and be free.

Om Namah Shiva Shakti

Just as yoga teaches us to be spacious and connected, you can use this practice to stop worrying about things and reduce stress and anxiety. To literally lighten up!

How does this work?

Well, when you get contracted, such as when you’re afraid or judgmental, there’s a sense  of disconnect from the bigger energy of freedom. Spirit never stops supporting you, yet sometimes we just forget to take notice and feel that support.

Generally feelings of contraction come from fretting over things that are not your responsibility or under your control. Like how your loved one acts, or something you did in the past. Focusing on these things brings you out of the Here and Now, and out of your sense of self.

Personally, I’ve worked on this issue a lot in life, and one of the most helpful things for me is to remember that when it comes down to it, the only person I am truly responsible for is myself. To practice that, I have to let everyone else have their own experience without trying to project my ideas on them.

This isn’t always an easy practice, but by letting go of what you think others should be doing and just living your own life in the best way for you, it actually takes a whole lot of pressure away.

Becoming spacious and reconnected melts the contraction and therefore the fear. Plug in to Source, and worries dissolve into joy.

Mini-Meditation:

Sit beautifully and turn to your breath.

Invite your awareness to become spacious.

Feel your breath in the back of your lungs,

Feel beyond your skin.

Lovingly tell your mind and heart to let down their walls.

Say to yourself, “I am open to receive the gifts of the moment”

Allow this spacious receptivity to be your whole world

As you feel your breath move in and out.

This centered and connected state is your true self.

Here, you have a ‘big picture’ perspective from which to view the world.

When you are centered and feel free to be who you are,

It gives you a chance to ALLOW others to be who they are.

And then you can simply enjoy each moment as it comes.

Hakuna Matata!

(Hakuna matata is a Swahili phrase that is literally translated as “There are no worries”.)

“All actions are directed by one’s viewpoint.” – John Friend

This quote is in my notes from a training with my teacher, John Friend; the founder of Anusara® yoga. There is such wisdom to this. The way you perceive what you experience creates your understanding of it, as well as your feelings and actions.

One of the things that can become challenging about deepening your ability to be sensitive and open is that you can get rocked out of your center by the apparent horrors of the world. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

I’d like to introduce you to two Sanskrit words:

Drishti – gaze, vision, where you’re looking

Darshana – viewpoint, connection

In yoga the concept of drishti is more commonly known as where you focus your eyes in a pose. Yet to really access the wisdom of this, the drishti must be focused inward, and the perspective, the darshana, must be informed by that inward gaze.

To see the world from an illuminated lens brings great power because it allows you to see past the ugliness of challenges, conflicts, disappointments, and other negativity. Instead, with your gaze ever focused on the goodness that is at the essence of all things, you see the beauty. You stay in your center.

It doesn’t mean you ignore or pretend ugliness doesn’t exist, but you choose not to live in it or let it rule you.

Training your eyes to see the beauty is called Shiva Drishti; literally, looking for auspiciousness. You can do this, and it can change your life!

Seek to see what’s right instead of what’s wrong. Notice the imbalance, but choose to concentrate on what is good instead of being swept up in fear or discomfort. Look at the same thing in many different ways. Focus on what is life affirming, and make that be the strength that keeps you centered.

“See the valley from the mountain top.” – John Friend

Mini-Practice:

Train yourself to see beauty. Make a habit of connecting with that which is good, that which is auspicious. Let your world be lived from this viewpoint (darshana).

Start with this: each time you see a person – any person – notice something beautiful or good about them. When you find yourself judging someone (it seems we all do this) pause and switch your thought to identifying something beautiful.

Just get used to looking first and foremost for the beauty. When you practice Shiva Drishti, or looking for the good, your darshana shifts your experience. Your thoughts become uplifted, you feel more connected to the essential energy of life, and that which flung you off balance before no longer has power over you.

• Do you have something to add to this? Please leave a comment below, and share your perspective.

To understand fully how special you are and what this wave of excitement from New Orleans has to do with you, check out this article: New Orleans Teaches Us About Community Of The Heart.

Mini-Meditation:

Sit beautifully and quiet your mind.

Feel your breath dance within you.

Feel your heart beat.

As you tune in to your own inner music,

Realize that each being on this planet shares

The experience of breath and heartbeat.

We all are connected through our commonalities.

The desire to be happy and free.

The need to feel like we belong,

Yet still be able to express ourselves.

Breathe, in this spacious moment,

And know that you belong.

You are appreciated for who you are.

Feel the unseen support from the

Grand global community of the heart

Of which you are a unique and important part.

Who Dat!

• Check out this profoundly beautiful Meditation Guide for more meditations.

As your yoga practice extends into every aspect of your life, you find yourself becoming stronger and yet more receptive; making choices which benefit both you and the greater good.

Personally, I have witnessed an incredible shift in my own self; changing patterns that were not serving me and re-creating myself as who I want to be.

I share the following with you because these inspired words came to me this morning, and I think you may see yourself reflected in them.

I am a Peaceful Warrior, I am.

Bound not by anger of vengence…

Instead I am ruled by love and wisdom

Boundless in my own acceptance.

I am powerful, Oh yes! I am.

My weapons are truth and light.

I summon enemies to forgiveness

Sing and dance rather than fight.

I am a being most unique, I am.

Yet you too can choose this fate:

Living in the realm of joy and peace,

Your love-light dissolves all hate.

I am a Peaceful Warrior, I am.

And I have come to change this time.

One leader of many in the shifting of now

Into a world illuminated and kind.

In the early morning clarity words come to me, weaving invitations of beauty and promise of boundless potential.

“What do you choose in this Now?” they ask, forming a smile and shining their open palms.

“What do YOU choose in this Now?”

For the choice is indeed yours. Make clear your intention in the love-light of oneness, then go play and dance the life-game as never before. YOU are a powerful being of love and wisdom.

Go. Make beauty of your life.

In the minds of most people, perfection is an unachievable yet oft reached for thing, yet with this perspective that I learned from Anusara® yoga, stress and anxiety can melt as you shift your perspective.

You hear the term ‘perfectionist’ and it conjures images of someone who is constantly striving for every little detail to be ‘just right’, and quite possibly affecting innocent bystanders (family members, friends) with their slightly neurotic behavior.

Sound like someone you know? Maybe you?

This idea of inaccessible perfection tends to cause a lot of unneeded pressure and worry.

But there is a different way to think of perfection.

The Yoga of Purnatva

In yogic philosophy there is a concept called Purnatva. It is this fullness, or ‘purna’, that is the essence of all that is. Abundance is the nature of the Universe. There is a deep order underlying even the most chaotic situations.

Purnatva describes the perfection that is the essence of all things. Because Spirit is so full, so completely perfect, there is no such thing as imperfection.

What does that mean for you? Well, it’s quite nice, really.

You are imperfectly PERFECT! Just as you are.

Now, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for you to grow and change and create and explore within your perfection, it just means that there is nothing lacking in any moment.

This can be a hard concept for some of us to fully accept, yet acceptance itself is the key.

When you accept the fact that you are full of the goodness that is the essence of everything, you come to the realization that since you are an expression of Spirit, you are also an extension of the perfection that is Grace.

Here, try out this video for further explination:

Overcoming Anxiety By Changing Your Idea Of Perfection

We tend to stress ourselves out a lot by making things harder than they need to be. Some of us have such high expectations for ourselves that there’s almost a self-abuse happening in how hard we are on ourselves.

It just doesn’t feel good.

The great thing is, you can change the source of the anxiety and feelings that come from that self inflicted pressure. How?

Shift your perspective of perfection. Allow each moment to be perfect, AND still be open to the unlimited possibility for change. By moving into an acceptance and belief that each moment is exactly as it needs to be, the pressure evaporates.

So any time you feel like you’re not perfect, don’t sweat it. You are. Imperfectly Perfect in every way. You are full to overflowing with light and abundant goodness.

No worries. It’s all good.

Mini-Meditation

Let the Sanskrit words for fullness and perfection be your mantra, and internalize their resonance so that you feel your own completeness and resplendent nature.

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Sit with a beautiful posture.

Turn to the beauty of your breath.

Be spacious and receptive to the gifts of the mantra.

After a few breaths, repeat these words to yourself for a few minutes.

Purna

Purnatva

Purna

Purnatva

Purna

Purnatva

Purna

And continue until you feel a true shift.

When you are ready, finish with an OM.

Notice how you feel.

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• You are most welcome to share your experience with this mantra and idea by commenting below.