“It is not humility to insist on being someone that you are not. It is as much as saying that you know better than God who you are and who you ought to be. How do you expect to arrive at the end of your own journey if you take the road to another man’s city? How do you expect to reach your own perfection by leading someone else’s life? His sanctity will never be yours; you must have the humility to work out your own salvation in a darkness where you are absolutely alone.” —Th

"......allow the breath to guide the movement. In this way our postures are developed from the inside out." Gary Kraftsow You would think that after ten plus years of practicing Yoga that I would have the basics down to a glorious habit, automatically integrating them in to my life. Well, I don’t. I need a reminder like this to wake me up. And, knowing myself the way I do, I will need to be reminded often. Fortunately, I am blessed with the resources, both people a

My friend Christi moved a unique bird like piece to the front gate next to our building the other day. She found it in one of her many excursions through the world of things other people don’t want, or don’t know what to do with. It sat up against a tree in the backyard, and is really heavy. I watched with wonder as she laid it in concrete before the gate that she fashioned too, out of steel, in the shape of a dinosaur. She told me the bird was a Phoenix, and I told her that

Say what?? What is a mantra? Swami Rama defines a mantra this way: “A combination of syllables or words corresponding to a particular energy vibration. The student, when initiated by a qualified teacher, utilizes the mantra as his object for meditation. As he practices over a period of time, the mantra gradually leads his meditation deeper and deeper. Through constant mantra repetition, both during meditation and in active life, the power of the mantra and its inner sig

Pride, Dignity, Honor, Respect: First toward myself, then toward others, then toward all of the Universe. This Ojibway concept is strikingly similar to the Yogic principle of Ahimsa, non-harming. With life in general, I hear most of us struggle with anything to do with self-love. Those of us recovering from addiction seem to encounter a monumental battle with self-love, self-esteem, self-pride, ….. There is a great emphasis on love of others without due energy to love of

There was a post on Facebook today announcing a tribute to Leonard Cohen, on his 80th Birthday. I’m sharing it here, because it was moving, and timely for me. My brother David has cancer, and is in the middle of “aggressive” medical treatment. I imagined David saying these words too, as I’ve come to learn he’s expanded into the grace of loving support and prayer, despite his pain and fear. ~ Leonard Cohen Posted by Allan Showalter: “Here It Is – Letters To Leonard Cohen,” a

A true gift is given without expectations, like a grace. I've received so many of them in my life, you think I'd be more gracious in receiving. This past weekend broke me open to a whole new capacity because that grace showed up in everything I saw around me. I felt like God had kept track of my loves and reflected them back to me in a perpetual experience. Even down to the type of coffee that my friend served, and the behavior of the stray cat whose affection arrested me be

“If I want to meditate, then I need to staple my butt to the matt and meditate.” Meditations from the Matt; Rolf Gates That puts things in perspective for someone like me who is the proverbial procrastinator. My mother said it a bit differently when she often stated: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Regardless of the choice of cliché’s, the point is the same: take action. In recovery and in many aspects of life, many of us voice our intentions for som

"...the wisdom to know the difference." The Serenity Prayer During my earlier developmental stages of life, I viewed wisdom as a distant, lofty, and unattainable aspect of life. I left the statements of wisdom to the saints, sages, priests, and learned ones. I felt quite safe and protected from the potential criticisms I had heard of the ‘wise ones’. I would never be one of them and I was OK with that fact as I lived it. So here I sit with significant, natu

One of my greater joys this winter has been the arrival of a flock of house sparrows to my make shift bird feeder. It all started last summer, with a gift from Ellen, and some instructions from bird lovers along the way. Oh yes, and a whole bunch of waiting. Hopeful waiting. My place is close to the urban core, and my favorite haunt, the City Market. Not many trees around here, except for the ones planted last summer in the new soccer field across the street. In short, a br