Friday 29 August 2008

What I know -- I think

Be Here - Now (Thank you Mr Tolle)



Eat Food, not too much, lots of vegetables (Thank you Mr. Pollan)



Drama feeds Drama feeds Drama feeds Drama (Thank you Mr Tolle)



Life is Beautiful- whether it be in a rare orchid or a dung beatle



Sleep is Sacred -- So is meditation

Forgiveness is Freedom

Nothing Lasts Forever

Wednesday 27 August 2008

Gratitude

' It is not happiness that makes gratefulness, but gratefulness that makes happiness. '
~ Brother David Steindl-Rast

Rich, dark chocolate melting in the mouth
Cold water flowing down a warm throat on a muggy day
The rich texture of walnut - such a joy to trace your fingers along
The silence behind all the sounds
Forward bends - the feeling of stretch through legs and the loosening of the neck and back
Seafood platters piled high with yumminess, served with lemon jouce and bread and butter
Stacks of new books, full of things to learn, think about, and enjoy

Thank You World!

Whole Foods vs. Nutrients

I had an extra long bank holiday weekend this week. Five days to rest and renew. On the whole it was a success, I bought a stack of books that I can hardly wait to devour, including In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.

I am already loving this book, and I am only 30 pages in, (I would be further along, but reading on a London bus is more difficult than you may imagine). The basic premise is 'Eat food, not too much. Mostly plants' as I see it so far the point is: eat real foods, whole foods, & stop worrying about nutrients, because whole foods and fruit and veggies are full of them anyway-- and science isn't advanced enough to second guess nature.

Sounds good to me. I am looking forward to hearing what he says about red meat, butter, and other dairy products. I find small doses is the best strategy, and never buy margarine or processed meats. I have always felt this makes more sense, and I am hoping Pollan will back up his theories with some real evidence.

Thursday 21 August 2008

A little experiment

I didn't wake up feeling quite as rested as I would've liked this morning. Not sure why; I went to bed nice and early, and slept right through. It may have something to do with the glass of wine I had...I have become ridiculously sensitive to alcohol recently, (I am hoping this is a sign I am more in tune with my body, but right now, I sort of wish I wasn't quite so in tune with it)!

So I have been saying to myself and anyone who asks that I am tired, but having given it some thought I have decided this is reinforcing my connection to my ego and that I need to acknowledge tiredness, but not make it a part of who I am. I figure ego-linked identities can be temporary, like being tired. So the experiment is not to be tired, but just to feel tired.

I am hoping that feeling tired will make it less important, and it will feel more like a passing circumstance than a startling reality -- it won't become part of who I am, just part of how I feel now.

The second part of the experiment is to yield to the feeling. Yielding is quite a big theme in my Yoga classes. My teacher is always saying, don't collapse, don't strain, just yield. Sounds like a pretty awesome life philosophy to me...I just hope it doesn't result in me falling asleep at my desk!

Monday 18 August 2008

The Trees are Smiling

Really they are! Trees love wet mornings, the rain pattering on their thirsty leaves, and seeping into their labyrinthine roots. They love the warm wetness of August rain, and the slowly appearing cracks in the greyness, that become their breakfast, a nice leaf-ful of sunlight! Bursting with energy and water and its only 11am, they are ready for their day.

Always in the now, not worrying, just soaking up the sun and the rain, there may even be a rainbow, but there doesn't need to be- because the beauty of the rainbow, is just the beauty, power, majesty and grace of light, seen in a slightly different way through a rain drop. The grace is there Now, rainbow or no rainbow.

Have a Great Day

Friday 15 August 2008

Acceptance

"To merely tolerate is to insult; pure liberalism means acceptance." -Goethe

Thursday 14 August 2008

Some Recent Snaps

ok. I know it is a little crazy, but I think lovely white sheets are beautiful, especially in the evening light of my garden, the ripples are sumptuous, and there is nothing like clean white bedsheets!
Our very own potatoes! grown in our garden, it isn't exactly a bumper crop, but they're the first vegetable I have ever grown, and they were tasty tasty tasty!

Bean jumping about in the country during our camping trip.


Just think of all the squirrels that would feed!



Today is just as it should be

A beautiful morning today. Cycling in to work was the perfect way to start the day, a crisp breeze to prevent the usual stickiness of summer cycling, coupled with the feeling of sun on my skin. What I love about cycling is the movement; it is great for bringing me into the now, and I get a reel sense of presence when I am on my bike.

I especially love bringing my attention to my skin, the feeling of the wind on my arm, my hairs tickling the skin; the dappling of sunshine and shade, hot and cool as I move and the low morning sun appears and disappears behind buildings. Then there is my muscles slowly waking up after a long and restful night's sleep, stretching and working to the rhythm of the bike. Visually, cycling in London is a feast, you have to be looking everywhere, watching for hazards, traffic lights, glancing the green trees that line many of the roads on the trip. Everything is happening and you can see it, hear it, feel it, even smell it. And there is no time to think, not if you are busy feeling, seeing and cycling!

I find it is this kind of meditation, presence, consciousness (whatever you want to call it), that I am drawn to most, and I feel it gradually and powerfully beginning to permeate everything I do.

Another example is last night in yoga class. I found I had preconceptions of what I wanted from the class. I did not realise this until my teacher mentioned that we would be working on inversions. I suddenly felt my body become tense, and emotion rising within me, but instead of letting it ruin my class, I lay there, in savasana, and observed the reaction within myself. And you know what, I am really starting to enjoy experimenting with the handstand, and I am convinced that the class was just as it should have been.

Monday 11 August 2008

Today

Today is a slow, mellow kind of a day, I cycled to work at a relaxed pace, enjoying the feeling of the wind on my bare arms, and my legs slowly waking up, stretching and enjoying the rhythm of the bike.

I have been thinking about what to write about today, worrying I wouldn't have anything interesting to say, and then I realised that that is ok; that some days there won''t be any startling revelations, or thrilling experiences. So now I am enjoying the meandering day. I had a fairly busy weekend, so it is quite nice to sit at my desk, go through my work, look out the window, and just be.

Friday 8 August 2008

Fridays

A reminder to myself, and others, that Friday is a lovely day in itself, not just an intermediary between Thursday and Saturday, but is a joyful day in itself. Today has been full of green trees, free stickers, beautiful beads, sun salutes, and breakfast in bed with bean! and it is only 1630!

I find that Fridays are also as good a time as any to remember what your grateful for...the first five things to come to mind: quiet moments in the ashdown forest, my Grandma's blackberry pies, my toes, dark chocolate, Bean. I feel better already!

Have a Great Weekend!

Wednesday 6 August 2008

Meditation

I learned a new (to me) meditation technique last night, and wanted to share it, as it really helped me to focus quickly on the now. Sit comfortably, or lie on the floor on your back, and take a few deep belly breaths before you begin. It is a counting technique & the idea is to count your breaths (on the exhale) from 10 to 1, (not audibly, just in your mind) and then begin at 10 again. If you lose count, just start wherever you think you left off, if you prefer visualisation to saying the number to yourself, that is fine, and may lead to a quieter space for you to sit in. I did this for a bout 8 minutes and then spent a further minute or so consciously relaxing my brain, (which feels really good). Eventually the numbers will become unnecessary, (it may not be the first time you try the meditation--wasn't for me) in this case, just let the numbers drop away and sit in the stillness. Give it a try and tell em how you find it!

A New Earth

Ok, so I know I may be getting a little ahead of myself, but I began reading Eckhart Tolle's sequel to The Power of Now, it is called A New Earth, it has been quite a hit, since Oprah chose it for her book club and did a series on online tutorials with Tolle.

The book is beautifully written, and I find it much easier to assimilate, and somehow gentler than PON, although I am still glad I read PON first because it gives a great grounding in the subject. A New Earth is more focused on how to bring the power of now into your day to day life.

The book begins beautifully with a passage on the importance of flowers. Tolle writes that their inherent beauty is due to their impermanence, which allows the brightness of their being to shine through. I love this concept, and it is definitely true that flowers are at their most beautiful and breathtaking when you just observe them, as opposed to labelling them and thinking about them. With that in mind, my camping trip in Sussex Monday and Tuesday took on a new light.

I would like to say that the trip was 48 hours of mindfulness, with no thinking, and a wonderful sense of being, and communing with nature, and in a way that's true....but it isn't the whole truth!

Bean and I forgot a watch, and decided not to bring a phone, this lead to a great sense of freedom, and complete lack of thinking about time, (try counting how many times you look at a clock in a day, how many of those are necessary?). We also spent about an hour on the second day walking in silence. I spent this time focusing on being aware, and observing the beautiful birch forests, the ground littered with bracken, and the occasional babbling brook. This was a beautiful experience and I truly felt the life of the forest in the vibrant greens of the leaves and the damp mosses on the trees. I must admit that I kept singing to myself, I just could not get this song out of my head (I can't even remember what it was now), but that was a gentle reminder of just how in control my mind is -- there is definitely a need for practise! When the song receded, even for a second or two, or when I stopped paying attention to the song, that was when I felt the beauty of the forest most strongly.

The silent walking especially and the whole trip in general was a revitalising and refreshing experience, and I can honestly say I have never seen as much beauty in a cow, a sheep, or a fallen tree trunk than I did whilst focusing on observing them, not labelling them. I also learned to navigate properly which is such a relief as I have lots of adventures planned in the near future for which it will be an indispensable skill. Watch this space!