Connection

The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on

How do I get back into flow?
Is there a kink in the system?
Like a hose with a knot
The full force is slowed.

Not completely stopped,
But there is a definite blockage,
A detour.
And my resourcefulness gets turned on.

It lays dormant when life feels easy,
Downstream, and at one with the current.
Less debris
Less diverged channels.

Life has its interruptions.
Where the flow is now a trickle
Does that mean my journey is at its end?
Am I fixated on the muddy tracks of water,
The stagnant spots?

If I look closer, as the sediment has settled,
Things can be clear when I focus.
Sometimes rest, not resourcefulness,
Is in order.

To lie in the earth
To watch the clouds
To catch my breath
To feel rested and recharged, then I’m ready
To begin the journey again.


kundalini · working mom · yoga

Becoming a Kundalini yoga teacher

After 15 plus years of wanting to take yoga teacher training, including Kundalini yoga, 
I have stopped saying “no” to myself.

I always thought time and money were a deterrent:  
I couldn’t go away for a month-long teacher training with a full-time job and small kids.  
I couldn’t travel an hour plus several weekends a month for a whole year to train.  

For the last couple of years, I’ve received invitations and advertisements to become a yoga teacher online.  
Still, the timing, the money, and the online course didn’t feel like the right fit.  
And, finally I found the right teacher and the right online course.

Today is one of those days when you know that your life is about to be forever changed.  
I am enrolled in a 200-hour YTT online, six-month kundalini training!

My main intention as a kundalini yoga teacher is to be an inspiration to others.  
By being my authentic self, living my life on my own terms, 
l hope to inspire others on their path.
My past kundalini yoga experiences have always made me feel better, even among the challenges.  
And I want to guide my students to have their own profound healing experiences.

All the pieces of my life have clicked into place so I can fully immerse, embrace, embody and experience this training.  Best of all, I have the support of my husband. He said when I better myself, the whole family benefits.

I’m ready to embark on this life-changing journey!

Connection

“There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way” Thich Nhat Hanh

If happiness had a clear, unambiguous course of travel,
Would you follow it to the T?
Would you not get distracted by what lies before you
On the path as you travel to get there?

Would you go by car?  Perhaps that pace is too fast
And one sideways glance away, you might miss
The next mark on the road.

I’d choose to go by foot.  I imagine that happiness is like
A hiking trail with blue square postmarks.
Some are new and bright blue.
They are easy to decipher.

Along the more difficult terrain,
The marks may be dull and faded.
Can we trust that we are being led to happiness?

What means happiness to me
May not be happiness to you.
So we must have a clear definition of what is happiness
Before we embark on this journey.

Or perhaps it is the course of travel itself
That illuminates the path to joy.

Is happiness the end point?

Connection · shared stories

They say

Who understands me but me 
when I say this is beautiful.
When the path looks crooked and torn
with rocks, stumps, roots and uneven ground.
I take the first step.

They say I should be afraid 
and not wander out too far,
not go out of my comfort zone:
the safety net that has become a leash
tethering me to this spot
training me to be okay with this small plot.

They say I am reckless, foolish
and asking for trouble.
I lace on my sneakers and head out the door.
The sunlight streams through the tree branches
A lighted beam pointed toward freedom:
Freedom from thinking small
Lighting the path to discovering my own voice
and inner strength.

They say the path is dangerous.
Its twists and turns unknown
to an untrained eye.
I do not need a compass in my pocket
to show me the way.
I have always known this journey.

I may return to it again and again
Reminding myself of my true worth.
My true north is an innate part of me.
It cannot be scared, beaten or numbed away.

I will always resurface
and be a companion and a guide
to my own suffering 
and fears of being lost,
Filled with doubt or shame,
Guilty for taking the first step.
I am in my corner.

They say it is for my own good.
It is uncomfortable to go against the grain.
I show up again and again
Not only to prove them wrong
But to show up for me.
I am on my own side
and free to be me.