25 December 2010

Let Your Presence Be Your Present

by Stephanie F. Earls

Dear Friends,

The sky this week has been heavenly.  I know that sounds cliche, but many of us have noticed it...a glorious sunset on Monday night, a divine solstice and eclipse on Tuesday, a full moon with magnificent halos including a rainbow hued halo with clouds that formed a divine eye above us on Tuesday night. The last few nights a continued vibrant moon, and sparkling stars in the deep and rich midnight blue. There have been cloud patterns that resemble remnants of giant shooting stars as if they were our collective wishes made and held sweetly in the winter sky. Last night, on Christmas Eve I went out to shut a light off in my car and saw a streaming, gleaming, shooting star that lit up the sky from nearly overhead all the way down to the horizon. It took its time making its way so I got a long, calm look at it as I stood in awe on this cold December night.

I know holidays are not always happy or hopeful. There are times when they are downright dark and sad. But despite where you are in your life right now, I have a feeling if you have noticed the sky at all you might have some sense, whether you celebrate a holiday or not, that this has been a holy week. We are being shined down on. Our place in space is at a point where the sky has opened this week and showed us some miraculous sights. And on the chance that you have not noticed then maybe it is the reason you've heard the talk about it on the news or are reading my accounts or heard your friend mention something about it. It has been a heavenly show that we all have a ticket to see, it has given us something to share with each other which we all have access to.

It is as if the universe is saying, it is a time to share, maybe about the sights in the sky or maybe about what is in your heart. For those who feel in the dark, lean on a friend.  You will be giving them a gift. For those feeling relief, share your light and you will receive. However you feel right now, let your presence be your present.

One of the most beautiful messages of being (adapted from the Course in Miracles) is that to give and to receive are one in truth. So if you need to lean, lean. Open, receive the love around you. Receiving someone's gift, whether it be a hug or an ear or a plate of cookies, you are giving that person your presence and letting them share with you. If you feel relief or have extra to give, remember that as you give you too, receive the gift of the one who opens their heart and hands to what you are sharing.  Just as the full moon receives the sun's light and reflects it to us, sharing is the most precious circle of all. It unites us, it unites our ability to give and to receive if we are willing, like a little full moon light in our heart.

If you are in the dark this year, I wish you peace. If you are not feeling lifted, keep the faith, the night is always darkest just before the light. To those who have seen me through my darkness, I love you. The gratitude in my heart defies words.  If you feel the light, may your joy expand and stay rich with you so that you can share and help someone through their dark. Either way remember, we've all been in both places. We are all in this together. As we share, we renew and carry each other.  We move toward wholeness. We let our presence be our present.

Wishing you the peace and love that December brings.

Love, steph

20 December 2010

Letting Go and Opening

by Stephanie F. Earls

Overnight tonight we will experience the winter solstice, a beautiful time of year when we reach the depth of darkness and cross through into the emergence of light.  This is the beginning of longer daylight and our internal opening and unfolding.  This year the solstice coincides with a total lunar eclipse and from several things I have read and heard, this makes for a powerful combination and opportunity to let go of old patterns and renew, to continue to manifest our best selves.  It is a chance to make space.

Whether you take the astrological events into consideration or not, even with moving toward the end of the calendar year, we are all in a place where we understand on some level that certain things are coming to a close and new things are beginning.

We can use these energetic and heavenly events to help us along in letting go of anything that we feel has served us well but which is no longer encouraging our growth. Letting go is a chance to make space for new patterns, new habits, new breath so we can renew and continue to grow.

Take a moment, forget about any big issues or decisions in your life. Just come to notice your breath, anywhere you feel your breath moving in your body. And as I say in class, there is no need to change anything. No need to decide whether your breath is right or wrong. Simply notice your breath.

Now beginning to work with the breath, before you can renew, before you can take in the fresh and beneficial, you must let go of the air inside your body which you've already used. Try this: take a breath in. Exhale only half the breath. Breathe this way a few times. How does it feel?

Next, try this: begin with an exhale, let go of as much air as you can. Exhale completely. Use the power of your naval center and diaphragm to draw the belly in and help you push the air in your lungs all the way out. Empty.  Now, inhale. Inhale completely, fill your lungs all the way into your belly. Take a few rounds of breaths this way, completely letting go of the air in your body and then completely refilling. How do you feel?

By emptying completely we make room for new, fresh vital energy. We make room for growth, for health. We make space which can give us new perspective.

This concept can be practiced with the breath which alone will bring magical change into your body and life.  From the breath, you can extend the concept into your life in any way you feel will be beneficial for you.  You might have a closet full of clothes you do not wear. Let some things go,  make space.  You might make room for things that suit you now instead of how you were 8 years ago.  Or, space alone might give you perspective on what you have.

Check your thoughts. Are they holding you back or encouraging you? Does your mental "soundtrack" tell you how inadequate you are? If anything you hear in your mind weighs you down, see if you can use the breath and exhale those thoughts.  Let go, offer up old, unhelpful thoughts (to the solstice eclipse if that helps) and let that pattern of negative thought go free so that you have space in your brain for new, healthy thoughts.   Inhale the thought that you are perfect just the way you are. Turn toward growth, let your mental "soundtrack" nourish you. Carve a new pattern. Make space, and whether in actuality or in perspective, see what comes in!

Now you do not need me to walk you through too many more examples. By this time you've probably had an old habit or thought pattern or cluttered space pop into your mind and that's the perfect one (or two) to offer up as we come through this change and time of year.  We've all got something to set free so we can free ourselves. Which is not to say it's easy.  It might be a little scary, letting go of something safe and familiar. It might be tough. But not tougher than you.

Be brave.  Be patient.  Be kind to yourself.  Keep your heart open and ask yourself permission to let go of anything which has served you well but which no longer encourages your growth. Inhale through your nose, open your mouth and exhale through your mouth, completely. Try this three times, keeping your intention in mind.  Let go and open to the new strength, deep compassion and the truth of you that you are uncovering. One breath at a time.

14 December 2010

Acceptance

by Stephanie F. Earls

Recently on my way to teach class I was totally pissed. Excuse the lack of eloquence but there is just no beating around the bush on this one. I'm a person, I'm human and sometimes I just get totally pissed! So, that day I was and I had 15 minutes during my ride to recenter myself before I entered the room to teach.

On that particular day what really hit me was how in these 15 minutes I did not want to face myself.  I'd have rather ignored it all. I was tired and at my limit and dealing with myself was ANNOYING!  It took acceptance to get past it all.  As I tried to ignore or deny that I was pissed the feeling just kept getting worse. But as soon as I looked at myself and admitted what I felt, it started to dissipate.

It got me thinking about how when we walk through our lives we may not know what will come up.  Coming into a yoga class (either as a teacher or as a student) we do not know what we are going to find. On the external level you do not know who will show up, how crowded or spacious the class will be, how the practice will unfold. On the physical level you may find that your "tried and true" postures feel different maybe because you fell and banged your knees or are feeling tired from your day. In the same way you might not realize how moving through some things physically might perk you up. But most of all, on the internal level you might not know what from your insides will rise up to ask for attention or healing or, celebration.

It takes acceptance and courage to face yourself. Some days your heart will sing and bubble with joy. Other days the ache inside will be too much to bear. And either may creep up on you. That night I was not prepared for feeling pissed, something had taken me by suprise and though I knew it would pass, I found myself impatient and more mad that it was happening right before I was heading in to teach.

I wanted to be somewhere else. I felt disjointed, my mind in one place, wishing, my body in another.  It made me remember when I was sick and how at that time I wanted to get away from me.  But healing only began when I stuck by myself and faced the way I felt in the moment.   That night, on my ride, I took a  second to check myself and remind my body that I was HERE and not THERE and I could either embrace the HERE, as pissed as it was, or feel disjointed for the rest of the night. I decided to just look at it, remembering how quickly I started to heal when I accepted Crohn's Colitis. And like magic, things started to melt.

Every day, every moment that we sit and wish things were different is a day that our body does not know how to live in the here and now. It's another day we are disjointed, dis-eased. And only in the here and now can we heal, can we experience health, wellness, peace of mind. Ease.

When you practice your craft whether it's yoga or meditation or roofing a house... anything that promotes your understanding of yourself, surely there are ways that will let you skirt around yourself, glancing from a safe distance at who you really are and how you really feel.  But most of the time when you come to a place of practice, there is no way to hide from yourself. It takes courage and acceptance of where you are. There is no practicing a posture the way you did yesterday because you are not yesterday. You are today, you are now. And with that sense of courage to take a look at yourself now, you continue your path to peace of mind, peace of body and wholeness in whichever form you seek. You give yourself the chance to be available to yourself, to unconditionally accept yourself, to be available to your present moment; the only place your truth and beauty can unfold.