Intention

  Lily Dougher’s

Yoga intention

 For Yoga Teacher Training

AT GreenerPostures

With Jacqui Bonwell

~……………………………………………………………………………….~

    Since I was a little girl I have looked at the world curiously.  I love the challenges that come my way and the boulders that block my path.  I have struggled to make choices and seconded guessed myself.  I even regret at times.  Though, I will always be proud of the day that I walked into my first yoga class.  I was 11 yrs old with eyes full of inquisitiveness.  There was a beautiful garden and an open gate with a sign welcoming me. Mind you, I am from a small town in NC where I would wonder the streets, knowing I would be home for dinner.  So, after I walked through that gate into a place where I was asked to join, to sit and just be me, find me, learn me.  Or at least try.

   I have always considered yoga a part of me.  Even in the moments of life where I was ‘too busy’ or mainly distracted.  I can come back to my practice on the mat, even if I have been gone for months, and feel warmth, a joy, inspiration, inviting me back to where I know I should be.  Yoga for me is like that warm breeze off the salty ocean.  It can soothe my soul just thinking about it.

It’s a mind, body, and soul adventure for me.

               Yoga brings it together….

    I have worked with kids, and adults of all ages through outdoor education.  When I lead overnight trips we would wake up in the morning before breakfast and practice yoga.  It amazed me how on Monday night most of those kids would complain about waking up at 630am to ‘do something weird called yoga’. Then to them hoping that they would have enough time on Friday morning to practice yoga before they go home.  I love to share and teach others that yoga is for everyone, anyone.  But the most exciting thing is when I teach myself new ways to teach other people, especially people that thought they would never try it.  I try to challenge myself to learn new techniques, new stories, new sequences in order to give just a little bit of relief to other people.  So that when they started to roll up their matt after, they would feel just a little bit better be it in one or all mind, body and spirit.

    I have taken many yoga classes throughout my life.  When someone asked me what type of yoga I practice I would usually say “all kinds”.  I was never one for limiting myself to one type of yoga because every time I went to a different class I loved yoga that much more.  I learned that much more.  I have always wanted to learn more and gain the knowledge to teach yoga. Years ago when I first moved up to Maine I investigated taking a YTT at Kripalu.  I was at cross roads of trying to play the part in society, to get that paycheck, or following my heart while struggling to keep a roof over my head.

So, through twists and turns I finally found a balance.  Of course it took awhile.  I am now in Nursing school and bought a house in South Portland with the man I love.  I am thankful to have my sisters and brother just minuets down the road.

I am happy for the time I have wandered and thankful to be where I am now.  When I found Greener Postures in my backyard, through people I love, I knew, I felt that this is where I should be.

    Once I took Jacqui’s class it was confirmed, in my soul, it is now, it is here. This is the teacher that will help me to grow and allow me to bring my practice off the matt and into the world.  For growth, for love and for strength. I know I followed the road that was intended, that my path allowed for growth and perspective.  I am so excited to incorporate yoga and nursing.  I feel that they both will allow balance and healing through each other.  I can be a better nurse through yoga and I can be a better yoga teacher through nursing.  I intend to learn as much as I can throughout this training, to open myself, my heart, so that I can spread the joy, the strength and love in this world.

Namaste………………………. 

In the Spirit of Christmas...

Don't you love it when something makes your hairs stand up?

Its when you walk through a sent 

that brings you back to 

that one time

Or a new puppy

Or waiting for the one you love

patiently

until the door opens

Or when someone tells you a story 

that you feel 

like you have been there before

or wish you were

When a dream comes back to you in the middle of the day

I get that goose bump feeling 

when I see people doing extraordinary things

It makes me want to do more

be more

Or when I see a friend singing her heart out

When I know that someone is doing 

that thing that they are doing 

for love

for the good of doing good

bringing joy to someone

That's why I love Christmas

I think it means more

more than presents

More than time

It means that you are trying your best to bring a little bit of light into others life

by being 

you

This Movie made me smile...

and think about the hairs that were standing up on my arm...
"
"This week, with the spirit of these wonderful holidays all around you, find inspiration.
Find something that moves you.
Get inspired, and stand up and sing Hallelujah!
Then go out and do something good."

My sisters tell me to let things go...

They say to pick your battles...

but what if I pick all battles...

I grew up in a family

 full of strong willed woman

allowing me to find a strong foot in the ground

now

growing up 

in a world that 'makes you stronger'

causes more tension...

tension in my body, mind, and spirit

because it is so difficult for me to let go...

I have been told that I am a stubborn person

I was born a Bull and have been told that I live up to my astrological forecast

It makes me wonder why I have such a hard time letting go of my battles

I believe that I can

I just don't want to

though if I do let go,

 there needs to be a really good reason...

with all of that said I pondered 

why

Why does it really matter?

I began to think more

when I realized 

I am thinking

 too much

I am creating my hurt, my sorrow, my tension

wrapping up my insides,

twisting myself dry

squeezing

the very essence that makes us human

in a tornado of wind

I stop

with little left 

to live

slowly

I realize I lost my breath

just BREATHE

Breathe out the tension

Breathe out the sorrow 

listen to it

the sound of it

moving like the ocean

waves

up and down through the body

filling

nourishing

the soul

Listen...

just Breathe...

In the years that I have practiced yoga,

since I was in seventh grade

flourishing with curiosity

I was shown

how to listen

listen to my Breath

listen to me, 

my basic element

moves me

Breath in 

Breathe out

Concentrating on the very essence of who we are

Connecting

with myself

with my elements

with the earth

with you

Allowing

Letting go

Letting in that Peace

of myself

It is something that I can always go to

It is always there

allowing for fulfillment

reminding me that we are here

here now

in this moment

to be alive 

For December

And it isn't the thing you do, dear,
It's the thing you leave undone
Which gives you a bit of a heartache
At the setting sun.
    -Margaret Sangster


It is going to be a
tough month
Filled of tasks that are daunting

"A quality we all share,
a very human quality,
is to expect the impossible in all tasks done.
We must celebrate for the good we do.
Pat yourself on the back for a job well done,
Our confidence grows a little bit more."

-Karen Casey

I wish to be on the wings....

I find solace in the past
more in looking at the past that I once loved
There is more to who we are
than we are now

That past is where I loved
where I hurt
yearned
grew

That is where I go when in the present
I hurt
yearn and need to grow
above who I thought I could be

so I know that even as
'I wish I knew then what I know now'
is a typical saying
I believe that I knew something in the past
that I should not let go of
but sometimes
forget

So I opened up a past favorite
She
by Saul Williams
(I saw him perform and he can move that mountain in your heart)

and this is the page that my past self turned reminding myself to look again...


"I rushed home
from life to life
asleep
my dreams waiting
to not be remembered, past

and I yearn
for the strength and courage
to sucker punch moments
so that they may swell
and ripen blackened blue
like sweetest night"

-by Saul Williams

Love is a verb, the more you give it, the more you get it. Practice giving it away every single day.

I found this to be inspiring:

from http://definitivediva.com 

""Lately I have been in such a great upbeat, positive mood. I have taken advice from a friend who is living her best life ever, and I wanted what she had so I asked her what she does on a daily basis to feel so good.

Her answer was this: she starts her mornings off meditating, reading and writing in a journal before she even gets up and rushes to get out of her house. So I tried this and believe me it was hard setting my alarm earlier to get up, however this made all the difference in the world of how my day went. I know that most of us do not have the “extra time” to do even one of these practices in the morning but I am telling you if you just set your alarm 15-30 minutes earlier to do 1 or all 3 of these exercises your day will be amazing & so much better!

She had also gave me a top 10 list that I absolutely loved and I had to share it with you hopefully this will make your day, week and even month so enjoy!

A little piece of advice is this, you will always get what you expect and believe you will receive.

1.    People treat you how you treat yourself. Loving and respecting yourself is the best way to upgrade your life.

2.    Love is a verb, the more you give it, the more you get it. Practice giving it away every single day.

3.    You can only attract someone into your life that matches your vibration. If you do not like who you are attracting, take a look at who you are being.

4.    If you want to find a fun, sexy, loving, honest, and faithful partner, make sure you are willing to be one first!

5.    You will get what you settle for. Don’t settle, trust!

6.    Don’t expect them to change. If you want change, be the change.

7.    You will find what you expect to find. Be clear about what you want and what is important to you. Then forget it all and know it can come in many shapes and sizes.

8.    Know this, whoever you are looking for is also looking for you.

9.    If you want a great love affair, be a great lover.

10.    Whatever is missing in any situation is only what you are not putting in. You are 100% responsible for your happiness.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Kelly Lynn Adams - “Skincare Diva”
http://swissskincare101.myarbonne.com

Uncovering your Passion

What is your PASSION?

you have had passion, you have passion, you will always be passion

If you question your passion or if you even are following yours, I found these tips from mybloomlife.com really inspiring... 
Give it a shot 
You don't have anything to loose

15 Tiny Actions to Strip Yourself Bare and Reveal Your Passion

by BARRIE DAVENPORT on November 7, 2010

in CAREER, SELF IMPROVEMENT

1. Shift your thinking. If you believe, like I did, that you aren’t great at something, or you don’t feel excited about anything and therefor have no passion — then release that notion. If you believe that you are too old, reject that falsehood. Those are excuses which will keep you stuck.

2. Become aware of joy. Get a small pocket notebook and keep it with you. Keep track of the times when you feel happy and fulfilled. What are you doing when you feel good? Write it down in your notebook. Pay attention to what feels good to you.

3. Pinpoint the major drag. What’s causing you the most frustration ? Your job? A relationship? Your leisure time? A general lack of purpose? Isolate the primary cause and the elements of it that bring you down.

4. What were your dreams? When you were younger, or even now, what did you dream of being, doing, achieving, discovering? Write those down in your notebook. Dredge them up and reignite those dreams.

5. Acknowledge your skills. Maybe you aren’t a virtuoso at something, but you have many skills. You may not recognize them as skills, but others do. Ask your friends and family what you are good at — no matter how small. Make a list of your skills, and make note of the skills you really enjoy.

6. Let go of shoulds. Many people hold themselves back from happiness because of the word “should.” I should stay in this job because I can’t find a better one. I should become a teacher because my parents want me to. I should not try something new because I’ll look foolish. Dismiss this word from your vocabulary while on your passion search.

7. Try something new. Anything. Go for a weekend trip to a new location. Take a class on bird watching or painting or dancing. Strike up a conversation with someone you don’t know well. Shake up your life a bit. Peep out past your current existence. It will broaden your perspective.

8. Be a voyeur. Investigate someone else who is living an amazing, passionate life. Check outChris Guillebeau, Steve Chandler, Danielle LaPorte, Carolyn Rubenstein, Mary Jaksch, Leo Babauta, Gretchen Rubin, and Farnoosh Brock. These are all regular people who have learned how to live passionate, adventurous lives.

9. Unlock your past. If you have something holding you back, an old trauma or past anger, do something about it, or you will undermine your efforts at passionate living. How can you live with passion when you have a hole in your heart? Go to a counselor or other helping professional and heal the past so you can create your future.

10. Define your values. What is important to you? What values define you? Your passion must be centered around your primary values so that your life reflects who you are.

11. Sketch out a vision. It’s two years down the road. Who are you now? What are you doing? Start sketching a vision for yourself, as though you have no limitations on who you can be or what you can do. Just pretend for now.

12. Research. Start to create a little curiosity and interest in possibilities. Look online at othercareers, or adventurous travel, or classes in basket weaving. If you’re single, check outeHarmony or Match.com. What do you have to lose?

13. Consider an education boost. You don’t have to go back to get your MBA to change careers. There are many certification programs that train you to begin something brand new. Check this list of programs. You can browse through more certificate programs here. If you have the time and money, then go for the MBA!

14. Weigh your priorities. Money is often the factor that holds people back from their dreams. If I had to choose between a lot of money but living in mediocrity or living with less money but feeling happy and fulfilled — I would choose the latter. How about you? If so, decide the least amount of money you and your family could live on, and work from there. You might have to move, scale back, live lean. Is it worth it to you?

15. Keep trying. The process of finding my passion took a couple of years. You may have to try a few and eliminate a few things before you discover what feels great. It may creep up on you rather than knocking you in the head. Have patience. Keep digging.

You do have a passion, but you can’t wait for it to come to you. You have to go find it. Actually, you have to uncover it because it’s already with you. If you need help on your journey of revealing your own passion and would like to be on the waiting list for my 7-Module course,Discover Your Passion: A Step-by-Step Course for Creating the Life of Your Dreams, please email me at mybloomlife@gmail.com.

The amazing woman who I am hoping will be my Teacher

Here is a little bio for you to understand who the amazing woman is that will (hopefully) be guiding my yoga teacher training.
Through this guidance, I can share the wonderful teachings that she will teach me, with YOU! In that I am so excited!

Welcome all, I am Jacqui Bonwell -a Registered Yoga Teacher, Reiki Healer and Chakra Vinyasa Therapist in the Boston area. I specialize in Yoga Teacher Training programs, Yoga Teacher Apprenticeship programs and personal Yoga Life Coaching.  I feel it is my calling to help others discover that they are their own greatest savior!  I feel passionately about working with yoga teachers to help them up the anty with their teaching and help them to have a profound, healing impact on their students.

After 10 years in Social Services I left the field altogether as a profession.  I continue to do charity in the name of social services but not as a "career."  I am a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with degrees in Psychology, Sociology, and a specialty in Family Violence.  I have travelled extensively through the United States and have been immersed in social services from coast to coast. I lived in Ireland for a brief period working out of a women and children's refuge assisting families and children in Dublin.

My  career eventually left me overweight, overworked, in poor health (ulcers), overstressed and internally really sad. At the same time, there was alot of joy in the field. There were alot of amazing people who I watched grow and transform in ways I never thought I would bear witness to.  I am still floored by the resilience of some of these people! I am grateful for my time as a social worker. I really am.  Eventually the balance of joy could not outweigh the stress and the path of yoga called me. 

I am a  graduate of the Open Doors teacher training program out of Weymouth, MA. This program not only touched on the teachings of yoga (power vinyasa, hatha & restorative yoga) but included strong energy healing components.  I am eternally grateful to Richard Lanza, Pat Iyer, Jene' Rossi and all of the other wonderful teachers who guided me in this direction.  I am also grateful to Sagarika Ghose, my first yoga teacher!

I want to thank Sharon Gannon who has had a major impact on my teaching and my life.  It was just the right place at the right time when I met her.  She has directed me on the path of genuinely preserving what yoga is all about and living it to the fullest extent.  She has been a major inspiration to me.  I am very grateful and touched by all of the yogi's who have gone before me who have passed down these unbelievable teachings.  I am regularly inspired by Jene' Rossi, Shawn Shaw, David Life, Beryl Bender Berch, Rolf Gates (my mentor), David Vendetti, Johny Gillespie, Friday from the book How Yoga Works, Shiva Rea, Bryan Kest, Jerry & Esther Hicks, Louise Hay, Molly Powers, Maureen Hancock, and the list of yogi's and healers that have inspired me really is endless.

It is my mission to direct people back to what they were born with-love, joy and happiness.  I see these very teachings in my 3 year old daughter, Lola!!  My 2nd child in spirit is also a great teacher and guide for me and reminds me of the importance of daily connection to spirit. Both of my children engage me in great divine energy every day. My children have been my greatest teachers along with my husband, my mother, my whole family and all of my friends whom I adore.

side note: To all the mothers who have reached out to me who have children in spirit--I have built another room in my heart where you will forever live!!

*

from http://www.jacquibonwell.com/id1.html

A Zen Habit that I found interesting- CHANGE

Post written by Leo Babauta. 

Change can be a difficult thing. Most people want to change their lives, in some way, but find it difficult to either get started or to sustain the change for very long.

I’m happy to report that after years of studying it, I’ve become fairly good at it (though happily failing all the time). I actually relish change, not because I feel I need to improve my life, but because in change, I learn new things. Constantly.

What have I learned from my changes? I could write a book on this (and probably will someday), but the essence can be found in the space between the inevitable fact of change, and in the incredible resistance to change inside ourselves and in the people around us. We want to change, and yet we don’t. How do we resolve this tension?

It can be incredibly difficult, or it can be wonderfully joyous. I’m here to show you the elements of the joyous path to change. The difficult path … I think we can each easily find that on our own.

My Recent Changes

I’ve made dozens of changes over the last few years (read My Story for a partial list), but here’s a short list of a few I’ve made just this year:

• Lost over 40 lbs since last year. I’ve not cared as much about losing weight — it’s just a number — but more about losing some fat and getting fit. The weight loss has really been a side effect of that focus. I’ve tried a lot of different methods, but I’ve found that only two things matter, and they’re ridiculously obvious: cut back on calories and increase the calories you burn through activity. Finding ways to do those two things has been the fun part.
• Gave up our car and walk, bike or use public transit everywhere. I’ve slowly been reducing how much I use a car, and increasing biking and walking. Then we drastically made the change just a few weeks ago when we sold our van, moved to San Francisco, and have been car-free ever since.
• Began walking more. Obviously this goes with being car-free, but even when we had our van I would walk for an hour or three on many days, just for the simple pleasure of it.
• Eat foods with no or little packaging. From bulk bins or farmer’s market, with reusable containers, if possible. I strive for fresh fruits and a variety of veggies, plus beans and nuts and whole grains and seeds. None of this needs packaging, all of it is great for you.
• Gave up almost all of my possessions. I was slowly whittling away at my possessions, then took a huge leap when we sold or gave away almost everything and moved to San Francisco. We’ve bought some furniture (mostly used) but haven’t come anywhere near the (modest) amount of possessions we had before.
• Started working less. A task needs to meet a high threshold of importance for me to consider doing it these days. This means I work fewer hours but am more effective during those hours.
• Drastically reduced the time I spend online. I love online reading, and connecting with others, but it can really eat up your life if you let it.
• Focused more on being in the moment.
• Stopped setting goals and planning so much. I used to be a rigid planner and goal setter, just a couple years ago. You can see it in my old posts here on Zen Habits. I’ve dropped that habit, mostly.
• Instead, embraced going with the flow.

Again, this is a short list — there are others that are less noteworthy, and probably a few I’m forgetting.

The Elements of Change

So what’s the joyous path to making these changes and others? I’ve broken it down into six elements, many of which overlap and have very blurred lines. They’re useful, though, in considering how to make potential changes in your life.

1. Beating inertia. We all have inertia — that resistance to change, especially major change that disrupts our living patterns or way of thinking. Sometimes it’s not difficult to overcome — we can get excited to make a big change and want to overhaul a certain part of our lives. The joyous path, though, is in the middle ground between no change and drastic change. It’s in small changes — as small as possible. Small changes mean it’s not hard to get started, but also that the change is sustainable. If you make a drastic change, there is a great likelihood that it won’t stick very long.

If you’re feeling that inertia, set out to make as tiny a change as you can — just get out and walk for 5 minutes, or start writing or painting or playing your violin for 5 minutes. You can do anything for 5 minutes — it should seem ridiculously easy, but that’s the point.

2. Beating the resistance of others. This resistance can be even tougher to beat than your own inertia — very often people in our lives do not want change. They’ll be negative, or even actively try to stop us from changing. There are various strategies for beating this: ask for their help and get them on your side, or negotiate a way for you to make change without disrupting their lives too much, or if necessary, cut them out of your life for a little bit. Read more.

3. Finding the joy. Here is the key to it all. Forget the rest of these steps if you need to, but never forget this one. Doing something you hate is possible, for a little while, but you’ll never sustain it. If you hate running, you’ll never keep up the habit for long. You need to find the joy in doing the activity, and when you do, you’re golden. So either choose an activity that you love, or find something to love in the activity, and grab on to that.

4. Keeping the joy alive. Joy can be fleeting, and to keep it going, you need to nurture it. This is an art form, and I can’t give you step-by-step instructions here. If I could, I’d be a billionaire, as it would change the world. But some advice: be grateful for your joy, every day. Be in the moment with that activity, instead of having your mind drift elsewhere. Refresh your joy often, by starting over or approaching things from a new angle or doing something a bit differently. Find new people to share this joy with, people who love it as much as you.

5. Celebrating the little victories. We often get discouraged because we’re not as far along as we’d like: we don’t have those six-pack abs yet (after a month of exercise!) or we’re not a full-time blogger yet (after three months of blogging!). But we forget how far we’ve come. Every step along the path is a victory, not because we’ve accomplished a goal but simply because we made the step. Celebrate those steps — jump up and down in joy, scream Halelujah, brag about it on Facebook, post a victorious message in bold marker on your fridge. You rock.

6. Making it a part of your life. Whether a change stays with you forever or not, making a change has value, in the momentary joy you get from doing it, and in what you learn from it. But making a change stick can be a great thing. To integrate change into your life, it must become a part of your daily routine. If you want to meditate, you need to do it at a regular time: right after having your coffee and before showering for work, for example. Having the coffee becomes your trigger for this new habit, and as the coffee is already integrated into your life, it becomes an anchor upon which this new habit will be grounded. The more times you do the new habit after this trigger, and the more regularly you do it, the more firmly it will stick.

And lastly

One last note, to anyone making changes: you will fail. I don’t say that to discourage you, but to release you from the fear of failure … because if you already know it will happen, then there’s no pressure to avoid it. Failure is an inevitable part of change, and in fact it should be celebrated — without failure, we’d learn nothing. Fail, fail often, and learn. Then you’ll be better equipped for the next attempt. Find joy in every attempt, in every victory, in every failure, and the change will be a reward in itself.

‘Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’ ~Samuel Beckett

The elements of change

‘Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer.’ ~Shunryu Suzuki

“It all depends on whether you have things, or they have you.” ~Robert A. Cook

“It all depends on whether you have things, or they have you.” ~Robert A. Cook

did you know...

That we all have something to offer
to everyone that we meet

Even if it is the man waiting in line behind you

we dont know who he is or where he is going
or where he has been

but all you know is that you can make a slight
but amazing
difference in his life by just being mindful of what you are doing

a smile
a hello
a helpful hand

in the book Be Free Where You Are by Thich Nhat Hanh
 he talks about the art of being mindfull
it sounds like a lot of work... but really its just about being you
being who you have always been and will always be
being a friend
having joy
opening yourself up to whatever it is that life has for you


here is a clip

 

A Mountain of Gold and True Happiness?

I ask for happiness everyday
through myself
through others
sometimes I think I might not deserve the happiness that I am given
Sometimes I think I don't get the happiness I deserve

Why do I make myself stressed about Happiness?!
  Do they counteract each other?

A piece about True Happiness-

  "A wise man I met in India put it to me this way: You're living on a mountain of gold and you don't even realize it.

   Every time it rains, the dirt and muck are washed away and the gold is revealed.  

And you run out into the rain, scooping up fistfuls of gold and dancing around.   

   But you mistakenly think that the rain is bringing the gold,

 so you worship the rain, 

and you make sacrifices with your schedule to please the rain.  

When there is a drought, you become poor, starve, and bemoan the absence of rain. 

   But the gold is always there, just beneath the surface, and the rain has simply been revealing it.  

If you'd just dust off the mountain the slightest bit, you'd see it for what it is.

Scratch the surface! 

Look deeper! 

There's no need to rely on the rain to reveal your happiness."

from
-Happy Yoga  by Steve Ross

today I go to the farm

I have learned some of the most valuable lessons from just
listening
to others
being open and honest
to others
and myself

Christmas 2000 I recieved a book from my Aunt F
she incribed on the inside cover
"I hope you'll treasure these thoughts as much as I have."

and I have:

"I found one of my best teachers on the boardwalk at Coney Island many years ago.  It was December, and I was doing a story about how the homeless suffer in the winter months.  He and I sat on the edge of the wooden supports, dangling our feet over the side, and he told me about his schedule, panhandling the boulevard when the summer crowds were gone, sleeping in a church when the temperature went below freezing, hiding from the police amid the Tilt-A-Whirl and the Cyclone and some of the other seasonal rides.

But he told me that most of the time he stayed on the boardwalk, facing the water, just the way we were sitting now, even when it got cold and he had to wear his newspapers after he read them.  And I asked him why.  Why didn't he go to one of the shelters? Why didn't he check himself into the hospital for detox?

And he stared out at the ocean and said, 

"look at the view, young lady. Look at the view."

And every day, in some little way, I try to do what he said.  I try to look at the view.  That's all.  Words of wisdom from a man with not a dime in his pocket, no place to go, nowhere to be. Look at the view. When I do what he said, I am never disappointed."

-A Short Guide to a Happy Life   by Anna Quindlen

a path

The yogi knows that the path towards satisfaction of the senses by sensual desire is broad, but that it leads to destruction and that there are many who follow it.

The Path of Yoga is like a sharp edge of a razor, narrow and difficult to tread, and there are few who find it.

The yogi knows that the paths of ruin

or of salvation

lie within himself.

-B.K.S. Iyengar

the start of washing my dishes

When I was lost

My mother gave me a book,

The book was given to her,

Peace Is Every Step

I remember when i read it I started to wash the dishes

not because I liked washing dishes 

but because I knew that I could learn from it

"To my mind, the idea that doing dishes is unpleasant can occur only when you aren't doing them.  Once you are standing in front of the sink with your sleeves rolled up and your hands in the warm water, it is really quite pleasant.  I enjoy taking my time with each dish, being fully aware of the dish, the water, and each movement of my hands.  I know that if I hurry in order to each dessert sooner, the time of washing dishes will be unleasant and not worth living.  That would be a pity, for each minute, each second of life is a miracle.  The dishes themselves and the fact that I am here washing them are miracles!

... Washing the dishes is at the same time a means and an end- that is, not only do we do the dishes in order to have clean dishes, we also do the dishes just to do the dishes, to live fully in each moment while washing them."

(Peace is Every Step by Thich Nhat Hanh)

This part of my life, now, where I am,

I try to be fully aware of the miracles that I have been given