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.

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.

Singing Cyclist

weaving the streets of london;
through the spaces in between,
the streets crowded with walkers, bikers, drivers and hawkers.
she's not fast, she's not slow,
she enjoys the trip and seems to glow.

with a tra la la la off she'll go!

singing as she goes -- heard before she's seen
it may be pop, it may be rock,
sometimes mozart, occaisionally bach


the singing cyclist isn't fast, and isn't slow,
she enjoys the trip and seems to glow
loving her life as the glides along
loving her life and singing her song