What you practice grows stronger. Earth day within to widen the view.
4/22/24
Hello dear friends,
I took in this image during my walk Sunday evening after a weekend filled with continued yoga therapy training. There were a number of take aways from the weekend surrounding courage, growth, and widening our view for our greater collective healing.
When we start to live courageously and come into light, allowing light to shine on us, like the trees above, it inevitably brings along and can lengthen our shadows. Lived experience, trainings and learnings particularly surrounding trauma healing ask for that vulnerable strength, and require trust, stability, and safety. I am grateful to my peers as teachers, and yoga's reminder of our constant inner light as we continue to take the steady steps in what it means to hold space for others, and ourselves.
Shifting into my morning practice- words shared by my teacher from Shauna Shapiro's Good Morning I love you- offered the inquiry of where would you like to grow? Where or what would you like to grow? I'd welcome you to take some time for yourself to pause, and let your gaze come inward and breathe into the inquiry. Steady Breath in. Steady breath out. Where would you like to grow? With a hand on the heart, what is asking for kind focus? What is asking for your heartful fire of attention? Does this growth feel more inward, more outward? Pause and Breathe. 5 rounds of breath to discover. To breath in more life for this seed.
Where ever this inquiry meets you, be reminded to invite curiosity and kindness, that this season's light is becoming more and more consistent, the foundations of earth are laid within you and all around you. That the waters from soil and sky continue to nourish, and the innate flame within you is ever-present.
Invoking that flame, Shauna continues that we all have a capacity to choose what to grow in our lives. When we are safe enough, resourced enough, connected enough, when our basic needs are met we channel more of our inner capacity of discernment to put wisdom into action. Where fire and air, supported by earth and water come into more unity to sprout your seeds, your tree grows- inward, outward, and in the direction of your aspirations, your values, your wisdom or Dharma.
Further, not only do you have a capacity to choose, but what you practice grows stronger.
What you practice grows stronger.
If you are finding resource, and a felt sense of yes for what you are growing, I'll extend to you a bit more expansion with an additional layer of practice, one that I was called to this weekend. Practice widening your view.
From what you are honing, strengthen and softened back into your upright posture, lifted heart, steady breath. Maybe your hand returns to heart. From that growing yes that is cultivating within you, start to brighten your breath and lets bring back in nature as teacher. You might return to the image above, or presently orient back to start to include what's around the screen, widen the periphery. Kind focus forward, inward and also starting to include the periphery. Unrushed. Inviting more expansion to move out from your middle, to the periphery, to the lateral, and to share in the ecosystem that is around you. Steady Breath in. Steady Breath out. Not to let external noise flood in from what is around you. Boslter your spirit with your breath and meet what surrounds from your inward capacity. Expansion outward to remind that you are also connected to all of life.
Might we widen our inward focus, our "me" focus, to include the "we"? To share in that growth not by forcing action, but by sensing, remembering, connecting to this shared togetherness. Remembering that time spent on screens, and directly in front of us or within can sometimes have us lose sight of our full capacity to connect to the "we" that is ever present all around us. With nature as teacher, happy earth day. 😄 May the lessons of your growth, your practice, be widened to include what's around you.
May everyone, everywhere be happy, healthy, and free. May our growth contribute to the greater healing of all.
Lohah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu
Here with you in practice, and in love and light.
Maya