Who are you?

When you turn inside, settling the mind and the body, noticing only your breath--who are you?

Who are you in the stillness? When you're not interacting with the world around you, when there is no where to go but in and nothing to do but breathe--who are you?

What do you find, without titles, responsibilities, roles, without expectations, without desires, strengths or weaknesses--who are you?

More than that, are you willing to find out?

The practice...

As I unfold into my own yoga practice, I try to remain open to and aware of what I'm feeling, what I'm learning, what is happening in the course of the mat-bound practice and recently, it occurred to me to treat each pose as if it were a situation in my life, a metaphor for that which is beyond the mat.

I follow the course of my mind, noticing where I go in the pose, training my mind to be present and when I sway by way of distraction--outside of me or inside of me, I come back to the breath, to the pose, to the alignment of my body in the pose, to the opening.

For me, it's not always easy to meditate from seated--I can handle 5-10 minutes before the stillness of my body invites mental distractions but if I'm meditating in motion, I can flow through a meditative practice without looking for the end.

The practice is understanding that this is my practice...creative authority belongs to me.

Wisdom of the Dali Lama

I was reading a book in which the author wrote of a lecture she attended where the Dali Lama was speaking and during his portion, he talked about violence and the individual.

I briefly summarize his words here:

He said he was not going to address war or violence or genocide in the world, rather, he was going to ask each individual to look at their own heart, at their own insides and take note of impatience, intolerance, anger and/or aggression because the war, the violence, the genocide, that he didn't specifically address, are merely manifestations of that impatience, that intolerance, that anger and aggression rooted in the heart of the individual.

Will you have the courage and the fortitude to call your own self out and to cultivate the peace you seek in your heart...your life?

Goind beyong knowledge...

I found the following on a blog from yogamates.com and it really spoke to me--I post it here to speak to you...

"There is a huge gap
between thinking and awareness.

You cannot experience stillness
through knowledge and understanding.

There must be practice.
To take the time to sit silently
and be present.

Through practice
comes clarity.

Right here and right now,
can you allow yourself to
experience existing in this moment?

Or do you silently say
"I know this already."
and keep seeking outside
of this moment?

Because you cannot think
awareness.

In fact,
the more you know about awareness,
the further you are from it.

It is not a one time thing
where you sit down
and the mind is still
and that is that.

No one just
woke up one day
and ran a marathon.

They got up
and ran a little,
then the next day,
they ran a little more.

Then one day,
you love running.

And that's what it is about.

Suddenly,
you fall in love with awareness
and you give up all of your knowledge
to simply be present.

It is then awareness completes you.

But it all starts with practice.

The sooner you start,
the sooner you fall in love.

Blessings,

Kip"

I choose

I choose my breath
I choose my reaction
I choose my movement, my words, my path.

In choosing, I empower myself and acknowledge the life force within me and embrace it as worthy and enough and significant.

I was put in a situation the other day that reminded me of all of this--reminded me of my choice.

I was sitting in the office of my day job and watched my car get rear-ended by a delivery truck.

I rose from my desk in a huff, walked down the hall in a huff--also called my 'sHiTaKe!' moment-- but as I approached the door and prepared myself to meet this person face-to-face, this person who certainly did not intend to hit my car, this person who would not have arranged this on purpose, this person deserving of my patience and compassion, as I approached the door, I chose peace.

I wasn't dancing into the parking lot mind you, but I centered on that walk to the door and shifted my response to one I could be proud of, to one that better reflected the state of peace I had on my inside before the collision of vehicles, to one that aligned with the person I want to be.

I chose.

And because of how good it felt, I will choose again.