Concealment

Going to the body                                                                     

The bodega of a lifetime of detritus

A place where the bumps and bruises, nicks and bangs

Are hiding

Body knows                                                                             

Body never forgets

Physical, emotional, mental

It is all packed away in the various

Shelves and corners

Of bones and sinew                                                                    

Organs and cells

Have you met your hips yet?

Compensatory information filed when

Conscious mind moves on

Going to the body                                                                     

Making the invitation

Perhaps the specificity of a task

Holds the key

Prana awakens                                                                         

As we move and breathe

As we make time

Create safe space

Only if we listen, only if we can observe

Perhaps it’s the gesture                                                                

Perhaps it’s the fold

Perhaps it’s a mover moving

Perhaps it’s a mover moved

All we have to do is ask                                                             

Invite all that unconscious

Material that is concealed

Into the light of

Our own compassionate eyes

Do we reveal the head                                                               

While the tail is concealed?

Or do we reveal the tail?

Who can see both sides of the quarter

At the same time?

Pondering Shanta

The path of peace anchors my story. It is the first rasa, shanta. Thinking about shanta I wonder about its opposite force and wonder why that element has predominance on our planet. The flavor of peace is so sweet, gentle and has kindness and gratitude as predominant features. Why wouldn’t every living being want to hang out in that place?

Shanta is more easily cultivated living closer to the elemental world, to nature, to earth. The beautiful creations of the Mother offer tranquility simply by luxuriating in her bounty. To live next to water or to trees, to be a speck under the canopy of blue and white sky, to walk on dirt, sand, earth can cultivate a sense of peace. Of course wonder might be inspired and the rasa dance of shanta and abhuta, awe, may well become engaged!

The sankalpa of my devotion is for peace and transformation not only for myself but for our entire planet. Peace, peace, peace, let it begin with me. The kiss of peace stills my heart. Shanta fits well in the anahata chakra. The aaahhhhhh of settling into home. Devotion brings the peace. Bhakta Shanta. Shanta Bhakta. Chillin’. Transformation is for the art, for awakening us all to our own creative potential by stepping into our divine creating selves both on and off the mat, in and out of the practices. That force too returns us to the flavoring of Shanta, of feeling good, relaxed and maybe simply content to be alive and at home in our human experience.

My Yoga is Sacred Art

Today the array of elements that have informed my practices for more than 30 years rush into the center of the circle. The bulls-eye that I have been looking and waiting for seems to be simply this: the unifying element is Art. Perhaps for those who know me, this is a no brainer. However in seeking the thesis, or point of view for the writing that I wish to publish, I have missed this synthesizing tone.

With a Master of Fine Arts in making dances (Choreography), I have shaped a strong multidisciplinary aesthetic. The richness in scope of the Vedic and Hindu sacred art is deliciously compelling for me. It is comprehensive across the disciplines and in its ancient depths, layered with multiplicities of symbols and images.

An epiphany this morning grants me the understanding of why my practice is moving mostly to chanting: it is the way I can go to and sustain being in my heart. I must have a place to go again and again as a reminder. The easiest part is that no matter where I am in my day in a breath I can begin an inner or outer expression! Amazingly this shifts me out of my mind every time. The resonance of Mayan Elder Don Wandering Wolf’s statement “the longest journey is from the head to the heart” (from the film Shift of the Ages) helps me see my immediate path. And the chanting is the Word, the sacred syllables and seeds of manifestation.

Reading and re-reading the Ramayana, also today I connect to the art form of storytelling and the way I am drawn completely into that realm with the detail and the lusciousness of pictures in my mind. Then weaving these threads into me, I find where the truth is in my experience. Right now the connection of mantras to the most powerful and deadly of weapons, the astras, demonstrates again the power of the WORD.

Writing is weaving and integrating into and around my tapas, both as practice and reflecting on practices. Bhakti Bhakta am I. My work is to create a Love Song. My dedication is to the Mother, to Gaia, Pacha Mama, Tierra Madre, Earth. The task at hand is to be a little less precious about what I post on this blog and to simply keep showing words in progress. Svaha!


SRI! Photo by Sarah Tomlinson www.yantratecture.com