:Mirror: Imɒǫɘ
Posted: May 5, 2015 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga | Tags: kindness, meditation, Mindfulness, Omaha, Seva For the Heartland, yoga 4 CommentsAs long as I am breathing, in my eyes, I am just beginning-
There is more to a mindful “yoga” practice than merely showing up to class in smoking hot yoga pants, or spiffy shorts from Target, as in my case!
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“Yoga” and more importantly, mindfulness – offer me the opportunity to reflect upon my “lifestyle” and the profound impact they can have on my life. Personally, in hero’s pose (vajrasana) or even while enjoying a peaceful morning walk (walkasana) – I notice my quads, feet, calves, hip flexors, and that my shoulders are normally all out of whack. Why? Years of neglect, injuries, competing and cycling endless miles a week has molded me into this present day, lump. Hero’s pose is a peaceful place to reflect on what I have done in my life, analyzing the ways in which “life” has shaped me over the years: Do this to run faster, train harder, eat this and not that. “Yoga” and mindfulness allow me the time to take inventory of my life in a nurturing way.
Daily Meditation:
Hero’s pose offers me more than a good stretch. It offers me a wholeness – a oneness, and space. This ‘space’ is exactly what mindfulness can cause – and pleasantly so. It’s nice to say “so long” to things … Including ourselves.
: Wandering :
Posted: May 4, 2015 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga | Tags: Activism, blogging, Citizens' Academy for Omaha's Future, community, Herman Hesse, kindness, meditation, Mindfulness, Omaha, passion, Seva For the Heartland, social media, yoga 7 CommentsI am much inclined to live from my rucksack, and let my trousers fray as they like-
Lately I have been “obsessing” over a few Active Transportation problems (mostly cycling related) in, and around Omaha, Nebraska. Not gigantic, earth shattering problems, but a source of ongoing irritation and minor frustration to me personally. At any rate, and given that May is National Bike Month … Our local Active Transportation quandary has woven itself into the deepest folds of my mind, and I find myself spending a fair amount of time thinking about them, and how we as a community spend so much time and energy trying to change tedious little things. Such as “improved” bike routes, road markings and better street design, for very personal reasons.
I spent my morning ride to the market yesterday thinking about why we want to create change, while auto-piloting through a series of hills, defaulting to these thoughts during random periods of the early morning ride to keep my mind curious.
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Stewing on “things” that irritate me or that fall into a “problem” category generally serves a purpose. Normally issues slide right off my back or float away little puffy little clouds dancing across the sky. In this case, I stumbled across my “aha” moment while riding back home yesterday afternoon. In fact, the solution was so embarrassingly obvious that I had to stop riding for a moment to say aloud: “I’m amazed I didn’t realize this before.”
When our minds our locked in with tunnel vision, trying to brainstorm solutions to problems that generally do not exist. They don’t have full access to the power, curiosity and creativity we consciously choose to shut off, lamenting and obsessing. Organizing community advocacy groups and whatnot.
Daily Mediation:
My little “moment” yesterday was just that – little and insignificant to the community at large. Although, obsessing about life’s mundane problems is not as fun as obsessing about our true passion(s) in life, or the selection of artisanal cheeses at the market (Top Tip – If you want to ride faster? Buy something cold and sprint home before it spoils.)
Sometimes we have to allow a problem to slide to the top of our priority list, let it stew for a bit, and trust that the answer will bubble up when we least expect it.
My solution if you are curious? :Seva: For the Heartland
: Seeds :
Posted: May 1, 2015 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga | Tags: Bicycle Commuting, Citizens' Academy for Omaha's Future, community, compassion, cycling, happiness, health, kindness, meditation, Mode Shift Omaha, National Bike Challenge, natural, Omaha, Omaha Commuter Challenge, passion, pilates, Seva, Seva For the Heartland, trail running, yoga, Zen 10 CommentsIt has always seemed that a fear of judgment is the mark of guilt and the burden of insecurity-
I ask of you on this lovely May morning – Are you really curious how the next five, ten, fifteen years of your life will look like?
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Possibility and wonder flourish in the wide open spaces of uncertainty. If we were absolutely certain about how everything would turn out in our lives, we would have no room to consider what might happen if we choose a different direction, a different path altogether. Imagine how “life” might be like stuck in an endless one-way street, on a set deserted railroad tracks with rails so straight and narrow, we would never be able to see beyond our next step.
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When we pause to think about it, like our beautiful lives, a seed is both fragile and dense with endless possibility. Provided with the proper conditions, a tiny seed can grow to be a beautiful tree or a plant that bears yummy fruit, flowers or those things called vegetables! In our hyper connected world it pays to remember that a seed grows at its own pace. For that seed to be its absolute best, it will need plenty of love, compassion, kindness and care.
Friends, we are no different, anticipation of what could be possible, is what makes life exciting. In order to breathe possibility into reality, we need fertile ground, a stable environment and a warm, kind and compassionate heart.
Daily Meditation:
May a dose of uncertainty grace your lives this morning … What will become of this seed, your life? Only you possess the magic, that is your frigging awesome life, in the palm of your loving hands.
*It’s good to be back with you, my Dear Readers, after finishing the Citizens Academy of Omaha’s Future last night. There are many stories and new topics to share with you, until then – Take care and be well! And before I forget – Its National Bike Challenge Month!*
First Yoga Lesson
Posted: April 30, 2015 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga | Tags: blogging, compassion, First Yoga Lesson, happiness, health, kindness, life, love, Mary Oliver, meditation, Mindfulness, musings, natural, nature, Omaha, passion, Poetry, Seva, Seva For the Heartland, yoga 13 Comments…
“Be a lotus in the pond,” she said, “opening
slowly, no single energy tugging
against another but peacefully,
all together.”
I couldn’t even touch my toes.
“Feel your quadriceps stretching?” she asked.
Well, something was certainly stretching.
Standing impressively upright, she
raised one leg and placed it against
the other, then lifted her arms and
shook her hands like leaves. “Be a tree,” she said.
I lay on the floor, exhausted.
But to be a lotus in the pond
opening slowly, and very slowly rising–
that I could do.
The Telephone
Posted: April 23, 2015 Filed under: Kindness, Meditation, Mindfulness, Yoga | Tags: Earth, Earth Day, Louis Jenkins, love, nature, Omaha, passion, The Telephone Leave a comment…
In the old days telephones were made of
rhinoceros tusk and were big and heavy enough
to be used to fight off an intruder. The telephone
had a special place in the front hallway, a shrine
built into the wall, a niche previously occupied
by the blessed virgin, and when the phone
rang it was serious business. “Hello.” “One if
by land and two if by sea.” “What?” “Unto you
a child is born.” “What?” “What did he say?”
“Something about the Chalmers’ barn.” The
voice was carried by a single strand of bare wire
running from coast to coast, wrapped around a
Coke bottle stuck on a tree branch, dipping low
over the swamp, it was the party line, all your
neighbors in a row, out one ear and in another.
“We have a bad connection, I’m having trouble
understanding you.”
Nowadays telephones are made of recycled
plastic bags and have multiplied to the point
where they have become a major nuisance.
The point might ring at you from anywhere, the
car, the bathroom, under the couch cushions…
Everyone hates the telephone. No one uses the
telephone anymore so telephones, out of habit
or boredom or loneliness perhaps, call one
another. “Please leave a message at the tone.”
“I’m sorry, this is a courtesy call. We’ll call back at
a more convenient time. There is no message.”
CultFit 