The Meeting

After so long an absence
At last we meet again:
Does the meeting give us pleasure,
Or does it give us pain?

The tree of life has been shaken,
And but few of us linger now,
Like the Prophet’s two or three berries
In the top of the uttermost bough.

We cordially greet each other
In the old, familiar tone;
And we think, though we do not say it,
How old and gray he is grown!

We speak of a Merry Christmas
And many a Happy New Year
But each in his heart is thinking
Of those that are not here.

We speak of friends and their fortunes,
And of what they did and said,
Till the dead alone seem living,
And the living alone seem dead.

And at last we hardly distinguish
Between the ghosts and the guests;
And a mist and shadow of sadness
Steals over our merriest jests.

– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

CultFit Long

 


Aburrimiento

Is life not a thousand times too short for us to bore ourselves-

With our attention spans dwindling every second this Holiday season, our impatience increases twofold.

Feeling stuck in the moment  Painfully listening to a co-worker’s weekend escapades in Templeton, Iowa, waiting in line for a cold latte that arrives ten minutes too late  The more agitated we feel and the more agitated we become. Stuck with no cell access in a morning meeting, no Twitter on our gadgets, our anxiety increases with the slow passage of time. What can we do during these painful moments?

My cure for “boredom” is to make life interesting, stimulating and fun. Maintaining an emotional balance also requires finding the time for “boring” meditation practice, resting my mind and body

Daily Meditation:

Recognize your boredom this morning. This is all I ask of you before the Holidays set in, settling in to agitate and overwhelm us. When we start practicing now, before we sense ennui enveloping our bodies and spirit? Awareness is a beautiful antidote to boredom.

*It’s also a great method to not getting injured during the winter months*

CultFit Bored


Armonía

One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory-

What does our inner self sound like when it gently whispers to the world? My inner self, sounds like peace – and swearing, swearing then peace – something to that extent

It’s interesting to witness someone in the throes of exploring the sound of their authentic self during yoga class, even while changing a newborns diaper (anything). Very often we will ask the instructor, a dear friend or our mother in law, what they think is going on:  “Hey – Do you think I’m…?”  they, too frequently responding with, “Yeah, you’re probably right …”  Or, if we don’t ask, we just make assumptions based on what’s happening within our mind(s), based on the worst case scenario(s):  “I guess I just suck at yoga … Damn dirty diapers!

This deflating inner dialog leads us away from our true authentic self.

Peace, is calling us home through these trying moments in our lives. We can say “Fu*k it” and choose to ignore peace, continuing on the same path that created the resentment, the bitterness. We can choose to partially ignore it, and partially listen to it (men have perfected this tactic), leaving ourselves sitting perpetually on the fence, giving ourselves halfheartedly to the world 

Daily Meditation:

Or, we can choose to listen to ourselves, honor our deepest truth(s) and begin to do “things” – Differently.

Be well this weekend and please take care!

CultFit Self


Love After Love

The time will come
when, with elation
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Derek Walcott

CultFit Light


Momento de Gratitud

Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude-

I’m writing this post surrounded by mismatched socks, Lego’s, a lone blaster rifle and Anakin’s light-saber. Sitting on the only comfortable spot on my fifteen year old couch, typing on a MacBook that’s been around the world dozens of times and left a battery dead somewhere in a far off desert, or on my kitchen counter 

You know what? I couldn’t be any happier.

Earlier this morning before driving to yoga practice at 0500, I caught myself picking the millionth crumbled Cheerio out from underneath my foot and organizing the books we were enjoying the night before. In this moment of silence, stillness, I laughed thinking about my Son who had brought these crumbled Cheerios and books into our home. My heart beat slowly, filled with joy – Realizing that I am happier now, in this beautiful mess, than I was a year ago, hobbling about on crutches. I savor these moments of gratitude, more than I could have ever imagined.

Daily Meditation:

Grateful, grateful to eat a few Cheerio’s off the floor before I put my shoes on this morning Who or What are you grateful for this morning?

CultFit Bliss