Y3 – Day 179 – June Ends

And so, June ends and new life begins in the second half of the year.

Native Americans named the full moons. Tomorrow night, July 1, it will be a Buck Full Moon. It is believed it is a good hunting time for deer. July 31st will be a full blue moon because it is the second full moon in the same month – hence the saying – “once in a blue moon” or not very frequently.

Without knowing we were so close to the actual full moon date, I taught and we practiced Moon Salutes today in yoga. Most classes teach sun salutes mostly/only and I have posed three possible reasons why that is true:

1. Sun salutes or Surya Namaskar is a yang/masculine/invigorating/fire sequence. Westerners LOVE ‘working out’. On the other hand, Moon salutes are yin/feminine/hip/graceful moves and the first yogis and their lineages were all male.

2. Sun salutes are taught in every yoga 101 class and some teachers don’t even know moon salutes exist.

3. You have to prep/stretch your students for a longer duration before you can begin moon salutes. Chandra Namaskar opens your hips and stretches your inner thighs. It is best to begin and end the sequence with lengthy hip/inner thigh postures. Not every one wants to dedicate the entire yoga hour to this specialized area because it WILL unleash emotions within hours.

Namaste my fellow yoginis.

Y3 – Day 178 – Bienvenuto

In the wee hours of the morn, two sisters stealthily and car packed to the brim leave their hometown towards new ports of call.

Seven and a half hours later – Arrival to bay area is declared a success!

Now to get on with their lives, our three little chickadees, two sisters living just 6 miles away from their brother and girlfriend. How happy it makes me!

Can’t wait to visit in a few months!

Y3 – Day 177 – Sunday

So we finished all 13 episodes of Grace & Frankie on Netflix and then there was no more procrastinating; the girls had to start seriously packing and loading up the car. By this time tomorrow if all goes well, which it will, they will be with their brother and J up in the bay area. 

I couldn’t have had a better time with them while they were home. And now these chickadees are officially flocking up north where the weather is cooler and opportunities abound.

I will miss you both terribly but you couldn’t be in better hands. 

Y3 – Day 175 – It’s a Mystery

Nature has no secrets, just mysteries. 

Why does the grassy earth or sandy beach feel good in bare feet? Could it be that there is something to be said for being in contact with nature – ideally – every day? There are studies that show patients recover quicker from surgery when they have a window to look out from and they see a garden or trees. What is this mystery?

Gardening is not only healthy physical exercise but another way to touch soil and commune with nature. Watching, immersing yourself in and listening to natural elements like waterfalls, leaves brushed by wind, ocean waves, birds singing and clouds bursting with crackling thunder brings joy and wonder to our human existence.

 Observing the oneness, the wholeness and the circling of life only assures us that it is truly all a mystery.

Y3 – Day 174 – Determined

I am determined. I am disciplined and organized. I have structure and schedule my day with my goals in mind.

I am flexible as well. That’s why I practice yoga.

I am laser focused. I chant my mantras. I train my brain with repeated affirmations.

I am fortunate. I have opportunities and possibilities everywhere, all the time.

Sounds like a plan. Good thoughts and beliefs are driving me. 

Y3 – Day 173 – Longest Day Notes

Truly today is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.

There is much to mull over and nothing is etched in stone.

May your circadian rhythm be right with the sun and the moon this coming half of the year.

Good time to add compost, perlite, gypsum, volcanic rock debris and hummus to amend the soil.

May the days ahead bring you a spiritual awakening and may you find community, your voice, confidence and love of self.

Make space and time for just being.

Y3 – Day 171 – True Calling

Your callings or specialities are possibly many, wide and varied but they are all connected to your spiritual self or soul. This is an observation of my own.

The accomplishment of a well lived life is one that inspires others.

Drishti in Sanskrit means ‘goal’ or ‘focus’. Yoga is much more than asana or ‘postures’. It is a way of living. You may be a gardener, a pro-activist, a writer, a seeker of divine transformation, a co-creator with the Universe, a mom (an undervalued role), an artist, a cook, a traveler,  a teacher, a student of life or a female yoga enthusiast (yogini). Whatever your focus, you live your ‘yoga’ by being in union with your goal and passion or Drishti point. No matter what you do, it is the alignment of your true north matched with discipline of action and emotion that manifests your dream into reality.

Have the highest, most noble intentions and you can influence your world. Continue to relentlessly move forward with purposeful benevolence and you will contribute and impact the world.

What are you here to do? Are you on the path?

With Creative Intelligence’s grace, you will deliver and accomplish. Feel the prana or ‘life force’ course through you.

Y3 – Day 170 – Happy Father’s Day

To all the dads out there, Happy Father’s Day!

To my dad wherever you are, I remember best our fishing, hunting and clamming.

My dad made me savvy in how to physically manifest and prepare food in the most primitive manner so I could survive. He taught me how to start, maintain and put out a fire from sticks on a beach, how to skin a rabbit and how to shoot. He insisted you only killed what you could eat and hated waste of any kind, especially life and the time you had in a day and how you spent it.

He cultivated my love of composting and gardening and recycling, re-using and re-purposing everything before it was even an environmental concern for conservationists. It is just what you did because he wanted me to understand the cycle of life.

He was very cut and dry and so was his humor.

My dad loved science, math, engineering, building, fixing, machines and nature.

He tried to teach me how to fix a flat tire, how to drive stick shift and how to put a Volkswagen bug car engine back together again but I had absolutely no interest in those things. He became frustrated with my lack of desire for automotive information but rejoiced when I excelled in an analytical geometry paper I wrote for a math project.

What did/does your dad love? What did/does your dad teach you?

And a special shout out to my husband – the father of our children. Thank you.