Find Your Balance - Sauca - Wet Paint, Week 16

Find Your Balance through Sauca

Time for some spring-cleaning. Sauca (sow-cha) or purity is a good place to start. I was thinking that it is like the daunting idea of cleaning my entire house; including my basement! Don't do it all at once, instead just pick a closet.  

Cleanliness of the body and mind develops disinterest in
contact with others for self-gratification. 

When the body is cleansed, the mind purified and the senses controled,
joyful awareness, needed to realize the inner-self, also comes. 

Patañjali, Yoga Sutras

It all starts with awareness and a little faith. Think of your body as sacred and remember that the chemicals that we consume and the processed food that we eat isn't as good as the real thing; fresh out of the ground at the farmer's market. 

So hop on your bike and breathe the air. 

t. hutch

Amazing Grace...

Grace is a Crocus: 

Eager, Strong, Delicate and Fleeting. 

T. Hutch

This weeks focus came to me in the form of the song, "Amazing Grace" in the form of the Ani's cover of it. The words that we've all heard a million times.

"T'was Grace that taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear...
the hour I first believed."

I found this crocus in my yard and thought about how, in Minnesota, a crocus flower is the first to come up. Often times, too early. I've seen them peeking through the snow. Although they are not around for long, they offer a sense of hope; that spring is here.

I sometimes wonder how to live my life more gracefully. So, for this week the focus is to find glimpses of grace in my life. There is no way to really hold on to the beauty of a crocus. If it is cut and put into a vase, it will only wilt. 

Likewise, there isn't a way to hold on to a sense of grace, instead appreciate the glimpses of it when you feel it pass by. 

t. hutch

Mind Your P's and Q's

Mind your Peace and Quiets 

I'm not sure what "Mind your P's and Q's" really means, but there is a sign up at the Yoga Center that says, "Peace and Quiet Starts Here." This made me wonder about my noisy life. Where can I find this both peace and quiet in it? 

My first thought was an image of a butterfly, and my second was my 18 year-old cat who sits so quietly on my lap that I usually end up asking him, "When did you get here?"

I've know Honey, (my cat) since he was a kitten, for about 1/2 of my life. He sleeps most of the day and when he is content, it shows from his paws to the tip of his tail. There isn't a part of him that wishes that he were more like our dog. That would be silly. So why do we spend so much time wishing that we were like others. 

Try to be more cat-like on and off of your mat this week!

t. hutch

Love, Patience, Practice

Love, Patience, Practice

Three simple/complicated words. 

Love and have Patience with yourself and Repeat (Practice). 

Trying to come up with an image to match these words wasn't easy. I was trying to think of a part of my body that I like. I came up with my bubbly toes. 

What is your favorite feature, of you? Don't let society dictate the answer.
Can't think of one, sleep on it. 

If you want, leave your comment below.

Listen to Your Body

Always listen to your body. It whispers, it never shouts....So listen to your body, and never compare yourself to anyone else. Never before has there been a person like you, and never will there be. You are absolutely unique -- in the past, present and future.
So you cannot compare note with anybody, and you cannot imitate anybody. 

- Osho

Many people come to yoga with the idea of becoming more flexible in their bodies. Hamstrings are tight, back needs to loosen up, etc... Even though the above Osho quote is about "listening to your body," the act of listening starts with your mind. They are connected.

This week, I'd like to work on those times that I feel stuck in my situation. Whether it is the person in front of me who isn't paying attention to the green light, or when I need to help my 6 year-old recover from another breakdown when his apple sauce touched his carrot on his plate, or his hat "feels funny."  I could look at it as a chance to come back to taking a few deep breaths and become more flexible!
-t.

Wet Paint - Week 9

I've been lucky enough to be doing a lot of yoga recently. Good thing, since this is what I call the "dog days of winter." I was feeling kind of blue when I wrote this, which may sound surprising. 

I do love to swing. The feeling of being weightless and weight-full and then weightless again takes me back to being a kid.

All of the troubles in the world melt away. 

I'd like to take this feeling into my Week 9. Going back to the here and now. 

Nothing to do, with nowhere to go. 

- t.

Orange is the new pink.

 

I obey only my own instincts and intuition. I know nothing in advance.
Often I put things down which I do not understand myself,
secure in the knowledge that later it will become meaningful to me. 

Henry Miller

Did I really say luscious? Valentines day must be right around the corner. 

I made a joke today in class, I said that "Orange is the new Pink. You know like the orange chakra?"

It was a tough crowd. 

This week I'd like to focus on finding that flow, as Henry Miller puts it, "secure in the knowledge that later it will become meaningful to me. " I like this. 

So much of what we do in this realm is so important. Give yourself a chance to take a risk this week and trust your gut- how about near your orange chakra?