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Newsletter: Spring,
2002 - Being Present
Maui
is green and lush these days and it has been an active
winter of
growth at Hale Pule. I have had the great honor to
work with people
who are sincere and enthusiastic about their
personal growth and
awakening. As we awaken and open to our
truth, we have more to
contribute to our local community and
the world.
The
spring season is an excellent opportunity to enhance the
practices of
Saucha (purity). Practicing awareness in all of
life’s activities develops
clarity and a greater sense of Self.
Engage in positive thoughts and
actions and clear out the old
negative patterns. This requires conscious
attention in our
practices and in all of life’s activities.
Recently, I had an opportunity to be with a very special
teacher from France.
The session was quite remarkable and
very long, going through the night into
the early morning.
As I lay on the floor surrounded by people and their sounds
of rest and sleep, I had trouble relaxing in anticipation of
not having enough
sleep for the new day. Certainly, concern
for my well being is important
and I want to be responsible
to my commitments, and yet, my mind was
like a ping pong
ball bouncing back and forth about whether to get up and
leave or stay and see what was going to happen next. I
became quite irritated
in my mind and was then able to
come back to the moment. I had a good
chuckle at myself
and calmed my mind. Everything worked out perfectly,
as it always does. The right time to leave became
apparent, my day was a
very special time with an
abundance of energy.
It
seems our culture has become primarily oriented
toward rushing to a
specific outcome rather than
growing in the process of learning. Think
about how
you approach educational opportunities in any arena.
Are you willing to be a beginner and allow yourself to
learn? Do you have
all of the answers before you are
halfway through the questions? Do you
focus on the end
result like the grade or passing the examination, rather
than the actual beauty of the learning process? Do you
toss out anything that
isn’t obviously connected to what
you want? Are you sure you want what you
think you want?
Mmmm. I encourage you to slow down, pause and enjoy
the intricacies of life’s processes and experience the
unknown of the moment.
The endangered Hawaiian
Monk Seal ~ pausing to enjoy
the sites at Hamoa Bay,
Hana, Maui
Often
we make a decision about what is or isn’t going to happen in a
Yoga pose, or life, before we have explored it.
Consequently, the door
to learning and miracles is closed.
Keeping the door open, witnessing the
fears that hold us
back and moving through them leads to new opportunities.
There
is a special opportunity to learn more about living
when going in and
out of Yoga poses (asana). Consider that
the traveling in and out of poses
and the space between
them is just as important as being in the still point
of the
pose. It gives us an opportunity to develop focus, continuity
and clarity in our actions. Likewise, striving for the end result
breeds an
attitude of performance, accomplishment, and ego
rather than the unique
experience of exploring what is going
on with me today and learning more
about who I am. In the
experience of exploring, weaknesses and strengths
show
up ~ with an open mind we have an opportunity to learn and
make real
lasting change. If we look only for what is easiest
or quickest to get to an end
result, for example ‘the pose or
practice looking a certain way,’ then growth
is limited.
With
the transition into spring, take the opportunity to open
the mind to
possibilities and create opportunities for growth. As we are willing to be fully
present in our practices, we can
open to the possibilities of exploring and
adventure in all of
life.
Wishing you all much peace and sweetness.
Namaste,
myra
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