The guest is inside you

and also inside me;
you know the sprout is hidden inside the seed.
We are all struggling; none of us has gone far.
Let your arrogance go, and look around inside.

The blue sky opens out farther and farther,
the daily sense of failure goes away,
the damage I have done to myself fades,
a million suns come forward with light,
when I sit firmly in that world.

I hear bells ringing that no one has shaken,
inside “love” there is more joy than we know of,
rain pours down, although the sky is clear of clouds,
there are whole rivers of light.
The universe is shot through in all parts by a single sort of love.
How hard it is to feel that joy in all our four bodies!

Those who hope to be reasonable about it fail.
The arrogance of reason has separated us from that love.
With the word “reason” you already feel miles away.

– Kabir – The Kabir book: Forty-four of the ecstatic poems of Kabir

Notes:

Important post tomorrow, I hope you stop over, until then? Take care and be well!

CultFit Reflect


Are you looking for me?

 I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
you will not find me in the stupas,
not in Indian shrine rooms,
nor in synagogues,
nor in cathedrals:
not in masses,
nor kirtans,
not in legs winding around your own neck,
nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me,
you will see me instantly —
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath.
– Kabir

Notes:

I would like to take a moment to say Thank You to all of you reading this morning over a cup of blueberry coffee, or perhaps a Bloody Mary?!? Thank You for your kind words, thoughts and passion towards these blog-o-post things here. I am deeply moved and touched by all of you!

Be well today and please take care.

CultFit Sky


Nobody’s Fault But Mine

Be — don’t try to become-

It’s 8:30 am, the kids are packed and ready for school, you are dressed and “ready” for yoga class at 9:00. Your mat, towel and chilled coconut water are in the car already. The kiddos are hopping about causing a ruckus as you hurry them out the front door … “Where in the hell are the car keys?!?

At this very moment you have two choices moving forward: Being or Doing?

Being involves slowing down our frantic mind and deliberately grounding ourselves by focusing on the present moment, the “lost” car keys. In being , it’s completely fine to be your true self, and in this case? A forgetful blonde haired dude. Embrace the moment to develop a different relationship with your own senses and emotions by deliberately focusing on what they are trying to patiently convey to you.

Being involves accepting what is, there’s nothing we can do to change the current situation. Rather than berating ourselves for not knowing where the keys are or placing blame onto others, we allow ourselves to look fully and with an open mind at where we are. Eventually we realize that the situation may not be as catastrophic as initially we believed it to be. We learn to extend love onto others, compassion, kindness to ourselves, and everything around us … “Oh look here are the keys sitting on top of the filing cabinet in the garage. Exactly where I placed them after forgetting to roll up the windows before bed last night.

Notes:

Some of the most important “things” in life are as simple as misplacing our car keys.

CultFit Life


Loving You Live

And then there are the times when the wolves are silent and the moon is howling-

We can learn so much by looking up at the sky, with wide eyes, in wonder. We can feel deeply when sitting beneath a tree, in stillness after practicing yoga with some close friends. We can experience every sense nature presents to us while lying down in dewy grass after finishing a race. Nature is here to remind us and allow us to become curious about the great mystery of balance, harmony and life.

One of the Gifts that can arise from a recent bout of injuries, the inevitable surgeries, and rehab is a gift that can also be reaped from reading cheeky a poem by Shel Silverstein: Slowing Our Pace In Life.  In the time it takes you to recover from injury so many clouds will gently float past you, you’ll start to take notice of the flowers growing diligently in a nearby field. The words filling the page will take on completely new meaning, depth. This simple act of just “being will ignite a new understanding of yourself, forgiving you for all the abuse you have subjected yourself to.

Notes:

Because of our mind numbing daily pace, we all forget, that sometimes, we are an integral part of nature. Be well today and take care.

CultFit Roots


Pies fríos, amigo?

We are addicted to our thoughts. We cannot change anything if we cannot change our thinking-

Damn! The marathon I signed up for last October is this *bleepin* Sunday!!!

You remember the evening well, like it was yesterday. The focus on the positives of running a marathon were many: free sweat wicking tee, beer tent passes, the chance to buy a new running outfit. However, as the marathon date started to loom ominously on the horizon, the positive thoughts you once shared with others, quickly turned into negative thoughts that you shard with no one.

Even when doubts become overwhelming, when the call to starting line is announced,it feels painfully hard to back out:

What will my friends think? I quit, I’m a chump, a loser? I bought new shoes and a sweet running skirt, I picked up the race packet last night. We have reservations for pizza and beer after.”

What does it mean to have cold feet, anyways? Is it a small, nagging feeling that a huge mistake is being made or is about to be made, or an internal scream that yells, “Hey stop already! It’s not too late!” How serious does the event need to be on order to be “serious enough” to listen to the doubts, weigh them as more important than the embarrassment of not showing up, the risk of potential injury due to the lack of training and preparation, and back out of the marathon at the last-minute?

It’s one thing to have last-minute doubts about running a marathon you thoughtfully planned, trained dutifully for, back in October; it’s something else altogether to have doubts because you failed to train, you are injury prone and your sense of pride out weighs any other mitigating factors. Cute running outfit not matching included as well!

Notes:

Purpose of the post today? That the doubts we all experience before a big event should be taken seriously and not buried with “pride” and “status“. Now is the time for reflection and honesty. Because on Monday … Feel free to expose the painful, underlying reality about your torturous marathon experience in a blog post.

Take care and be well this weekend.

CultFit Middle