If you have sisters, you always have a helping hand

So there I was, straddling a mossy, fallen log stretched across a creek, as water swirled madly around rocks below me.  I hoisted myself an inch at a time across the log, looking ahead and not down, lifting my seat with tiring arms, swinging my hips forward and hoping not to land on anything that would poke me in an uncomfortable place.  I inched forward toward my sister Carolle who had already made it to the other side.  She encouraged me as I labored upward – of course, the log hadn’t landed straight across, but tilted up to give me a better workout! – and she informed me when I was past the water and over the rock ledge.  Almost there!  Well, three-quarters of the way, anyway.  Lift, scootch, pant. As I carefully swung my leg over to lie on my belly and slide off to the ground, Chantal yelled a cheer of congratulations.  Both sisters, I know, were slightly surprised I made it.

We were playing out the same scenario that had played out since we were little:  My bookworm self, chasing after my lacrosse playing, track running, gymnastic team-member sisters. (Four of them.  Yes, four.)  Me always a little behind, needing a boost or a hand or a quick lesson in fence hurdling.   Probably to the relief of my sisters, I often opted to stay on the couch with my Wizard of Oz books.  These days, though, with middle age encroaching (are we there yet??!!), I am loathe to miss out on an adventure, and guess what?  Now I’m a yoga teacher and although I’m not hurdling fences, neither are they.  I’m still much more cautious (okay, scared) than they are, but physically, I can keep up.  Slow but steady, my lifelong motto, has served me well. Yes, the tortoise is finally catching up to the hares! (Lucky for me the hares were my cheerleaders, not my tricksters!)

Off the log, up the mountain to the waterfall we went. Hurricane Irene had sent two intertwined trees down the banks of the creek, their top branches resting high up on the rocks, and their roots lifted like a huge platter of wood and mud.  The power of water is astounding. 

The power of sisters is astounding, too.

A Leap of Faith

I've been thinking lately about Dumbo's feather.  You remember, Dumbo wakes up high in a tree with the crows (after a drunken escapade -- Disney blackout!!), and the explanation of how they got there is, well, Dumbo, you must have flown!  The crows convince the baby elephant that if he holds a “magic” feather in his trunk, he can fly.  It works!  Dumbo soars merrily about on his huge ears, until the feather is whooshed out of his grasp and he panics, hurtling toward the ground.  The crows must make fast work convincing Dumbo that the feather was an unnecessary crutch, and the flying is in him, not in the feather.  Just in time, Dumbo believes them and swoops upward again.

So, did the feather make Dumbo fly?  It’s true that without it, he would never have taken the step off the high limb. But think: It wasn’t the feather that let Dumbo fly, but his belief, his faith, in the feather.  He believed, and so he flew.  When the feather got away, his belief in the feather stayed fast, and he started to fall.  

Okay, so it wasn’t the feather itself, but his belief in the feather . . . Wait, it was really his ears that made it possible for Dumbo to get airborne.  Not the feather, or even the belief in the feather.   True, without the feather  he would not have tried to fly, but he probably had the skill for a while before it was discovered/uncovered.  It was an innate ability; Dumbo was born with the tools for flight.

So the ears have it!

What skill were you born with that is waiting for a feather? 

A Poem

Space Between

I just learned

That it is the space between heartbeats

That knows you.

Between the beats

Lie the emotions you thought you’d hidden

From the World.

No empty spaces.

Your heart propels the vital life forces:

Blood and Love.

Me and My Tattoo

I have a tattoo on the back of my neck.  I got it when I became certified to teach yoga.  It is a beautiful lotus flower, in the traditional sailor-tattoo blue.  It makes me very happy.

My thousand-petaled lotus represents yoga to me.  Each petal is imbued with compassion, love, and gratitude, and I can visualize sending a petal floating off to people around me.  The lotus helps me remember why I practice yoga instead of step aerobics:  I strengthen my body while I elevate my spirit.  Sounds lofty, I know, but it’s true.  Yoga has many “limbs”, and although I began with the practice of poses (asana), I was soon led to practice compassion and gratitude, to meditate, and to live a life of awareness.  (Note the use of the word practice -- I ain’t perfect, but I am trying!)  My lotus tattoo is always with me to remind me of the life I aspire to lead.  

Not everyone appreciates my tattoo, and I understand that.  My mom likes it, though.  In fact, she came along with me and got a tattoo herself, a nice ankle bracelet that matches the silver bracelet she wears on her wrist.  To answer a popular question, yes it hurt.  But not so badly that I wouldn’t get another one, if the spirit moves me! For now, my thousand-petaled lotus blooms on my neck, reminding me to greet everyone around me with compassion and love -- and to float a petal for myself once in a while, too! 

The Nature of Yoga; or is it The Yoga of Nature?

Our bodies pulse with the rhythm of the tides, and dance to the music of the stars.  We are not only connected to Nature, we are an integral part of Nature.  When we breathe out, trees breathe in.  As we witness the sun set, our emotions rise.  Hand in hand with a child, resting in the shade of a tree, the sound of the wind, the sweetness of summer’s first strawberry – all these are connections to our world. All these make us a participant in Nature, not merely a bystander. To nurture your body with good food and delicious movement, to use nature’s gifts to find shelter and joy, is to give thanks for Life.

Yoga brings an awareness of the body that some other forms of exercise neglect. Yoga demonstrates the connections that your body makes instinctively – breath to movement, stretch to release.  Yoga encourages you to find ease within the effort, softness around the holding, connection to the stars above and the earth below.  Yoga reminds you that your body is a gift that responds to nurturing, care and attention.  Yoga is not simply exercise. Yoga builds the connections between body, mind, and spirit, and strengthens our attachments to nature.  So pulse with the rhythm of the tides, and dance to the music of the stars.  Shake that booty and open your eyes to see that Nature is within and without – offering love, sustenance, protection, and more love.