15 April 2013
22 March 2013
Mending
by Stephanie F. Earls
and when i dream
it's been
t...h...i...s
long
and i can't (don't want to) remember
if you are coming back
or not
because somewhere along the way
my heart and my head
mixed each other up
again.
(even though i swore i would be careful)
right now i know this:
when i see your face
my heart still leaps
(even though you told me to be careful)
and when i dream
i see your feet
(seriously?)
but not just
see...
feel
and not just
feel...
know
know
like they are my feet
and how could they not be here?
a part of (parting) my legs
when i wake,
everything's together
despite distance
because
somewhere along the way
when our hearts
mixed each other up,
so did
your feet and mine
and your smile and mine
and your laugh and mine
and your wine and mine
and your hands and mine
and your back and mine
and your touch and mine
and your taste and mine
and your song and mine
then your past and mine
(even though we tried to be careful)
so
t...h...i...s
is
what it is.
all of yours there
all of mine here
i am left writing out words
you are left ironing out wrinkles
you are left ironing out wrinkles
and in good hope,
for us,
for us,
a mending.
of all of yours and all of mine
because
each kiss left undone
is still trying to complete itself
because
without a mend
the hole frays
(be careful)
sew in heart tender gestures
toward this mend
yours or mine,
both of ours
because
somewhere along the way
our hearts and our heads
mixed each other up
(we were care-full)
.
.
.
.
(to hell with being careful)
it's clear now
to my head,
only a heart
that knows it's love
would dream of feet
13 March 2013
GANGSTA GARDENERS!
LOVEEEE THIS. life changing! this is healing. this is revolution. this is getting to the root of wellness.
get gangsta people...plant some sh♥t. ♥ ♥ ♥
http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la.html?utm_content=awesm-publisher&awesm=on.ted.com_Finley&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static&utm_campaign&utm_source=facebook.com
get gangsta people...plant some sh♥t. ♥ ♥ ♥
http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerilla_gardener_in_south_central_la.html?utm_content=awesm-publisher&awesm=on.ted.com_Finley&utm_medium=on.ted.com-static&utm_campaign&utm_source=facebook.com
13 December 2012
Purification
by Stephanie F. Earls
you made a wish
and it came true
she is
your present
your possibilities
your answered prayer
 |
| path prepared; boston, ma: sfe 12/1/12 |
but your fear erupts and
in her
you see
your past
so you posture,
preventing progress
if you must linger
on that death
at least permit
her presence
to pacify
your precautions
your presumptions
your puncture
then perhaps
you will
prepare a path
where when your
'wishes come true' appear
they can proclaim
their potential
their pulse
their passion
their preciousness
your pleasure
and perhaps
in time
you
-precarious wounds and all-
will patch,
unleashing
potent character
pliability
perfection
peace
thanks to your (her)
perseverance
and maybe your (her)
participation?...
certainly your (her)
patience
because if you do
permit
this potential
then even
if
she passes
from your perspective,
her promise lives
and the
prosperity
of your wishes come true
will emerge more
prominent
than your
primal
pain
you made a wish
and it came true
pay attention.
29 October 2012
and the storm comes
 |
| sandy storm: sfe 10/29/12 |
it's scary now, in this unknown
where things once set are being blown
and change rolls in whether wanted or not
challenging us to stay open in heart
hunker down or evacuate?
so unsettling not to know our fate
as winds blow deep and broad and long
our will is asked to yoke soft with strong
and sit with patience, staying still
while chaos dances at our sill
i protect mine, you protect yours
it's true: they say, when it rains, it pours
a breaking down will clear the old
perhaps to rebuild with a better mold
but for now unclear we wait and see
which way the storm will let us be
a bit of faith and belief in love
 |
| boston sun: sfe 10/20/12 |
so walls that keep us safe and dry
one day yield when the time is right
now through the darkness of foreign night
an offered prayer that what is, is right
and tomorrow the sun will shine serene
to show us the way back to each other again
14 September 2012
In Time: On Yoga and Marriage
for my parents, STE and JSE
by Stephanie F. Earls
At the end of a recent yoga class a client asked me about a challenging pose. She noticed over time in her practice that this pose, which was at first very challenging, became easier and now had become challenging again.
This is a very common occurrence in yoga, and in life, causing us to ask if we have gone backward or if it is part of the path. The question gets to the heart of why we practice anything and how dedicating ourselves to the things that are important to us (running, yoga, a job, a relationship) is both revealing and revolutionary. With practice we experience ebbs and flows of challenge and discomfort. There are days these fluctuations inspire us. There are days we become discouraged. However if we step back enough we see that the ebbs and flows of ease and effort are really just chances to get information, make space and cultivate relationship with ourselves or our passion or our partner. And the answers to whether we have done right for ourselves, whether we have moved forward or back, come only with practice, repetition, consistency: time.
With practice, resistance shows up. It might be a tight muscle, fatigue, lack of inspiration or anger. If we give it time (dedication) and engage with the challenge mindfully and compassionately we become more clear about how we are doing. This doesn't mean it's easy. But with clear intention and commitment, we find places where we have room to move, room to breathe, a chance to grow.
When we find these spaces it feels like success and we enjoy it, settling for a bit: repeating the mileage, revisiting the pose, enjoying the relationship. We let ourselves be comfortable. And very naturally in time, the body, or the mind, or the spirit starts to realize that there is more room for growth, more space to be made, more happiness to feel, more strength to build. When this happens a new spot of resistance, a new tightness, a new fear, floats to the surface. At a superficial glance this can intimidate us into giving up or thinking (incorrectly) that we have gone backward and lost our growth. Yet if we stay put and look with soft eyes and an open heart at the resistance, we begin to discern whether what has come up is a dead end (and time for us to let go) or a place in need of a little time, a little love, a little understanding, a new perspective.
So we inquire. We ask if resistance is something yielding or unyielding. In yoga there are poses where bone structure will stop our body from moving forward. In running, resistance could be a sprained ankle. These forms of resistance are almost non-negotiable and must be honored. We practice safely or stop and rest. Yet when resistance is potentially malleable as in an under stretched muscle, lack of hydration or an untrue thought process, it is up to us to be patient. We can stretch, get a glass of water, breathe, or open our mind to a new perspective.
This is yoga, this is metaphor. This is relationship.
The answers about whether we have hit a dead end or a new layer of change only come with practice, repetition, consistency: time. In time, everything but the essential falls away. In time you are left with what is real, what is pure, what is true. Because the truth has staying power.
Some call this Love.
So with intention and dedication, our relationships to our passion, our person, our partner, are on-going. They live in and inform us. They bring us face to face with resistance, showing us where we have become tight and can grow. When we engage with what is, they open us up and inspire us, showing us how to be the best version of ourselves, which we might never have imagined on our own.
This Sunday marks my parents' 40th wedding anniversary, an embodiment of this notion about yoga which illustrates my point better than showing any asana. They have practiced a tough pose and had it feel challenging, then easy, and challenging again as they cultivated deeper levels of understanding. They have hit the wall in their run and have also finished a few marathons. My parents have weathered the storms and sailed the calm seas of birth and death, sickness and health, joy and pain, discontent and elation. They have shown that while much of what it means to find partnership hinges on several key elements, the paramount element is time. Their relationship illustrates that despite how anticipatory we are to know the outcome of new endeavors or old habits (Will this pose get easier? Will I finish the marathon? Will this relationship last?), the truth is revealed only through practice, repetition, consistency: time.
This week we honor my parents and the commitment that began like any yoga practice or marathon training: with an intention. Their intention was spoken in word and has evolved into life. It is a commitment they have lived and practiced and continue to live each day, some days with room to breathe and feel strong, some days restrictive and frustrating. But string 40 years of days-in and days-out together and you get a chance like we get this week: to celebrate!
They (and we) get a chance to look at what has been created, each in their own practice and then sharing it with each other and weaving together a life of love that is irreplaceable. Their relationship is a testament of time, with evidence to show for it in the people they've brought into the world and the love they share each day in their work, their play and their rest.
Take a look at what you have put your intentions toward. Notice which commitments (to yourself and to others) you have practiced with consistency, repetition, over time. What can you celebrate? Maybe it's a partnership, maybe it's a passion, maybe it's a new perspective. Surely over time you have found that not just despite but because of resistance (and your compassionate response to it) you have opened up new understanding. Maybe you run another mile. Maybe you find new space in your poses. Maybe you know yourself better. Celebrate!
Mom and Dad, if yoga means to unite, you are true yogis. You know yourselves and share with each other. You extend that sharing to the lives of everyone you know. Time will continue to tell where you go from here. And I salute and cherish you for the people you are, the couple you have become and the example you exude. Better than anyone else I know, you have each other's backs. You are an example for the rewards of practice, repetition, consistency. You show us all there is no substitute for time. You show us the truth and make it possible for us to celebrate.
This is yoga. This is metaphor. This is relationship.
This is Love.
by Stephanie F. Earls
At the end of a recent yoga class a client asked me about a challenging pose. She noticed over time in her practice that this pose, which was at first very challenging, became easier and now had become challenging again.
This is a very common occurrence in yoga, and in life, causing us to ask if we have gone backward or if it is part of the path. The question gets to the heart of why we practice anything and how dedicating ourselves to the things that are important to us (running, yoga, a job, a relationship) is both revealing and revolutionary. With practice we experience ebbs and flows of challenge and discomfort. There are days these fluctuations inspire us. There are days we become discouraged. However if we step back enough we see that the ebbs and flows of ease and effort are really just chances to get information, make space and cultivate relationship with ourselves or our passion or our partner. And the answers to whether we have done right for ourselves, whether we have moved forward or back, come only with practice, repetition, consistency: time.
With practice, resistance shows up. It might be a tight muscle, fatigue, lack of inspiration or anger. If we give it time (dedication) and engage with the challenge mindfully and compassionately we become more clear about how we are doing. This doesn't mean it's easy. But with clear intention and commitment, we find places where we have room to move, room to breathe, a chance to grow.
When we find these spaces it feels like success and we enjoy it, settling for a bit: repeating the mileage, revisiting the pose, enjoying the relationship. We let ourselves be comfortable. And very naturally in time, the body, or the mind, or the spirit starts to realize that there is more room for growth, more space to be made, more happiness to feel, more strength to build. When this happens a new spot of resistance, a new tightness, a new fear, floats to the surface. At a superficial glance this can intimidate us into giving up or thinking (incorrectly) that we have gone backward and lost our growth. Yet if we stay put and look with soft eyes and an open heart at the resistance, we begin to discern whether what has come up is a dead end (and time for us to let go) or a place in need of a little time, a little love, a little understanding, a new perspective.
So we inquire. We ask if resistance is something yielding or unyielding. In yoga there are poses where bone structure will stop our body from moving forward. In running, resistance could be a sprained ankle. These forms of resistance are almost non-negotiable and must be honored. We practice safely or stop and rest. Yet when resistance is potentially malleable as in an under stretched muscle, lack of hydration or an untrue thought process, it is up to us to be patient. We can stretch, get a glass of water, breathe, or open our mind to a new perspective.
This is yoga, this is metaphor. This is relationship.
The answers about whether we have hit a dead end or a new layer of change only come with practice, repetition, consistency: time. In time, everything but the essential falls away. In time you are left with what is real, what is pure, what is true. Because the truth has staying power.
Some call this Love.
So with intention and dedication, our relationships to our passion, our person, our partner, are on-going. They live in and inform us. They bring us face to face with resistance, showing us where we have become tight and can grow. When we engage with what is, they open us up and inspire us, showing us how to be the best version of ourselves, which we might never have imagined on our own.
This Sunday marks my parents' 40th wedding anniversary, an embodiment of this notion about yoga which illustrates my point better than showing any asana. They have practiced a tough pose and had it feel challenging, then easy, and challenging again as they cultivated deeper levels of understanding. They have hit the wall in their run and have also finished a few marathons. My parents have weathered the storms and sailed the calm seas of birth and death, sickness and health, joy and pain, discontent and elation. They have shown that while much of what it means to find partnership hinges on several key elements, the paramount element is time. Their relationship illustrates that despite how anticipatory we are to know the outcome of new endeavors or old habits (Will this pose get easier? Will I finish the marathon? Will this relationship last?), the truth is revealed only through practice, repetition, consistency: time.
This week we honor my parents and the commitment that began like any yoga practice or marathon training: with an intention. Their intention was spoken in word and has evolved into life. It is a commitment they have lived and practiced and continue to live each day, some days with room to breathe and feel strong, some days restrictive and frustrating. But string 40 years of days-in and days-out together and you get a chance like we get this week: to celebrate!
They (and we) get a chance to look at what has been created, each in their own practice and then sharing it with each other and weaving together a life of love that is irreplaceable. Their relationship is a testament of time, with evidence to show for it in the people they've brought into the world and the love they share each day in their work, their play and their rest.
Take a look at what you have put your intentions toward. Notice which commitments (to yourself and to others) you have practiced with consistency, repetition, over time. What can you celebrate? Maybe it's a partnership, maybe it's a passion, maybe it's a new perspective. Surely over time you have found that not just despite but because of resistance (and your compassionate response to it) you have opened up new understanding. Maybe you run another mile. Maybe you find new space in your poses. Maybe you know yourself better. Celebrate!
 |
| sfe- summer love 2012 |
This is yoga. This is metaphor. This is relationship.
This is Love.
31 August 2012
Once In A Blue Moon
by Stephanie F. Earls
During this week, today's moon has been filling out, lingering, reminding us even before twilight that this full moon is extra.
It hung soft and sound over the beach on Sunday. Wednesday it hovered, translucent, over town at dinner time. Last night, bright and nearly full it was pink-tinted and floated up over the tree line outside the window of the studio where I teach. I love how the moon has the ability to stop us in our tracks, hold our gaze and shower light in darkness. I marvel at how the moon reflects the nourishing, sometimes overwhelming rays of the sun, transforming them into a light which is graceful and pure: serene. Today the moon is full and though perhaps at sunset it will be tinted pink, being the second full moon of this month, it is a blue moon.
Full moons represent wish fulfillment. They are dreams coming to fruition. The blue moon in particular signifies a rare and wonderful occurrence. It is beauty and abundance. It is heaven's token representing YES! It is mother nature's message telling us that the foundations we have set over the sweet month of August could certainly have rare, wonderful and abundant potential. This full moon is nature's treat: a bonus!
Tonight as the plump moon rises for the second time this month consider which wishes in your life are coming true. Become receptive, like the moon. Listen carefully, look around and within with soft eyes. Notice what is happening in your life, in your mind, in your spirit. Ask yourself if what you see and hear and feel could be wishes coming true. Perhaps they are hopes never uttered but which have been launched on the most sublime level, from your heart. Realize the places where you've felt a little reprieve, an extra smile, a bit of hope. Consider the message in the sky that there is a little extra available to you now if you just take a moment to be still and lift your gaze.
Wishes (in truth and coming true) are subtle, like the moon. They shine gentle light and grace into our lives. Tonight let's take the chance, once in a blue moon, to open our hearts and be available to our wishes come true. Let's celebrate, say thank you, and ask to see clearly what is happening in our lives. Nature will surely answer and as we become still and gaze upward, hear her...YES!
During this week, today's moon has been filling out, lingering, reminding us even before twilight that this full moon is extra.
It hung soft and sound over the beach on Sunday. Wednesday it hovered, translucent, over town at dinner time. Last night, bright and nearly full it was pink-tinted and floated up over the tree line outside the window of the studio where I teach. I love how the moon has the ability to stop us in our tracks, hold our gaze and shower light in darkness. I marvel at how the moon reflects the nourishing, sometimes overwhelming rays of the sun, transforming them into a light which is graceful and pure: serene. Today the moon is full and though perhaps at sunset it will be tinted pink, being the second full moon of this month, it is a blue moon.
 |
| sfe: Maine Sky 8/2012 |
Tonight as the plump moon rises for the second time this month consider which wishes in your life are coming true. Become receptive, like the moon. Listen carefully, look around and within with soft eyes. Notice what is happening in your life, in your mind, in your spirit. Ask yourself if what you see and hear and feel could be wishes coming true. Perhaps they are hopes never uttered but which have been launched on the most sublime level, from your heart. Realize the places where you've felt a little reprieve, an extra smile, a bit of hope. Consider the message in the sky that there is a little extra available to you now if you just take a moment to be still and lift your gaze.
Wishes (in truth and coming true) are subtle, like the moon. They shine gentle light and grace into our lives. Tonight let's take the chance, once in a blue moon, to open our hearts and be available to our wishes come true. Let's celebrate, say thank you, and ask to see clearly what is happening in our lives. Nature will surely answer and as we become still and gaze upward, hear her...YES!
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