Practice: Love Letters

Once upon a time, friends, family, and lovers corresponded.  Whether written on cream vellum or a page torn from a notebook, their words reflected an investment of time and consideration–not a half-formed thought dashed off before pushing “Send.”  Revive the art of the letter.  Pick four people you cherish and send them each a handwritten note.  Be real, not florid.  Write from the heart.  Use beautiful stationery:  presentation counts.

Universe of Love

Many relationships run into trouble because the other person fails to act as a convincing representative of our own personality or world-view.  However, a truly reciprocal relationship is based on whole-hearted acceptance of otherness.  We grow by taking the loved one’s individuality into ourselves and accepting it, not as our own but as something precious we respect and enjoy–a unique star in our universe.  True love is a crystal chalice, not a mirror.

The Elegant Game

The latest entry from the One Spirit Book of Days:

Two armies confront each other across the battlefield.  Each has one aim in mind:  to capture the other’s king.  This doesn’t sound like too wholesome a scenario, yet chess has an intellectual beauty that takes it above brute competitiveness.  Like the best worldly pastimes, it carries us away from ourselves, holding back the pressures of everyday life for an hour or two.  If you’ve never tried the game, learning to play offers a sociable mind gym.

Shades of Intimacy

Maternal joy is the epitome of family harmony.  Among adults the rewards of blood kinship will often be more elusive.  You may fall out with some relatives or become indifferent to others–that’s your prerogative.  Taking a different path, you may find you have little in common with your cousin, your nephew, or even your sister.  But it’s worth making an unexpected overture.  When relatives rediscover love or friendship for each other, a rip in the social fabric is healed.

Solar Energy

Finding you don’t quite have the energy to do your exercise for the day?  Or even to complete all of your daily activities?  Take this tip from the One Spirit Book of Days to draw a little more from the universal font:

When performing any exercise–at home or in the park, or the gym–think of yourself as animated by solar energy.  All life and movement on the planet come ultimately from the sun.  You owe everything to this astonishing fireball, so why not repay the debt by devoting all your workouts, all your yoga or tai chi, and all your sporting activities to the star that keeps us going in our dance of living and breathing.  Pay homage, like the priest or priestess of an ancient religion.

 

For you yogis out there, you may want to consider this when doing your Sun Salutations.  To learn more about the philosophy behind the practice of sun salutations, read here.

I was talking with Duncan the other day about how powerful the sun actually is.  It’s however million miles away and still has the capacity to provide heat, fantastic lighting to carry out your daily life, and burn you to a crisp when you don’t have adequate protection.  (The proof is peeling off my shoulders as we speak).  No wonder the ancient people considered it a deity with all of the resources it provides.

April’s Focus: Raise Your Energy

Chi, ki, prana–by any name it’s the vital energy that powers body and mind.  When it’s low, your whole outlook suffers.  Your diet, exercise, mental and spiritual condition, as well as what’s going on in your life, all play a role in setting your energy level.  Wellness is so central to a vibrant life that it’s common sense to make sure the basics are in order.

This month, the One Spirit Book of Days explores the topic of energy–in ALL of its forms.

Be Daring: Final Thoughts

She seemed a good blend between Being Daring and Raising Your Energy

I hope you have enjoyed the “Be Daring” theme of this month’s blog.  It’s been pretty fun exploring the topic.

Did I FINALLY decide to buy a meat dress?….No–but I’m not ruling it out!!

It’s been fun for me to play with the location of my boundaries and explore outside my comfort zone.  We at The Healing Loft have incorporated this into our marketing.  It’s not time to “play it safe” anymore (BORING!!!)

Once you play with that “gray zone” of your perceived “limit,” it’s then time to remain energized so you can continue to take action and adjust your boundaries accordingly.  Things won’t always work out the way you want them to, but you never know unless you do SOMETHING!

In April, that time of the earth waking up after a long nap, we will explore the topic of Raising Your Energy.  To continue acting and adjusting, you’ll need to eat your Wheaties–mind, body, and spirit.  I don’t know about you, but I am certainly feeling ready for that!

World on Your Back

Here is the focus for this week in the One Spirit Book of Days:

A cosmic myth of Hinduism describes how the world is carried on the back of a turtle—a vivid metaphor for some of the balancing acts that life requires all of us to perform from time to time.  The difficulties might sound impossible when stated plainly and succinctly.  Yet wherever there are challenges, many will rise to them and succeed.  Break down the overall picture into its component parts to obtain a less daunting idea of what’s needed.  Human resourcefulness is inexhaustible.  Have faith in yourself:  move the world in your own way.

Fountain of Renewal

Hope you all had a fabulous St. Patrick’s Day!!  The focus for this week in the One Spirit Book of Days journal–

Any well-planned journey has its stops along the way–places where you can pause for refreshment.  These are all the more necessary when you are taking risks–moving out of your comfort zone perhaps, or exposing yourself to criticism by standing up for your beliefs.  Identify your sources of renewal and make use of them whenever your energy flags.  It might be a favorite pursuit or a valued friend, or a piece of music you find soothing.  Drink deep at the fountain of renewal before continuing with your challenge.

Practice: Tiger Training

The latest excerpt from the One Spirit Book of Days intention practice for March–

If you were a lion or tiger, you wouldn’t cower in a corner.  Be an inner warrior.  Buddhist teacher Pema Chodron suggests asking yourself, “Do I prefer to grow up and relate life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear?”

Every day, challenge yourself to do one thing that scares you:  give a speech, ride a horse, make a difficult phone call.  The way out of fear is through.

I think this is a GREAT practice to get to know exactly what your boundary of fear is and how to push through and past it.  It doesn’t have to be large, monumentous events like skydiving…or childbirth…or traveling to Wisconsin 😉  It can be as small and simple as looking at your bank statement, giving someone an HONEST opinion, or chewing out a salesperson…those are things that scare me!