Sunset

 

 

The sky and water

mirrors to each other

illuminated

with radiant hues

a calmness envelops

before beginning anew

 

 

Namaste,

Shobhna

Advertisements

Vulnerability

For a few months, I left this quote on our kitchen wall as a constant reminder:

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage  ~ Lao Tzu

I believe in order to live an authentic life, we have to be vulnerable and in order to be vulnerable, we have to have courage.  To be courageous, we also need to feel safe, which is intricately connected to love  and trust.

Brené Brown has spent years doing research on vulnerability, shame, worthiness, connection and belonging. In this You tube clip she talks about moving past the critics, including the inner critic that don’t truly serve us.

Brené  quotes Theodore Roosevelt  in this talk as being pivotal  in shifting her  own perspective about critics.  The quote is poignant and sheds light on what resilience looks like and the courage it takes to keep trying.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

Namaste,

Shobhna

 

Labyrinth

 

20170630_144939

I came across this Labyrinth recently and practiced walking meditation. Although walking meditations can be done anywhere, a labyrinth reflects  wholeness, balance and coming back to oneself.   Labyrinths invite a person to practice taking steps with gentle awareness.  

Walking Meditation by  Thich Nhat Hahn

Take my hand.
We will walk.
We will only walk.
We will enjoy our walk
without thinking of arriving anywhere.
Walk peacefully.
Walk happily.
Our walk is a peace walk.
Our walk is a happiness walk.

 Then we learn
that there is no peace walk;
that peace is the walk;
that there is no happiness walk;
that happiness is the walk.
We walk for ourselves.
We walk for everyone
always hand in hand.

 Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom under our feet.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on Earth your love and happiness.

Earth will be safe
when we feel in us enough safety.

 

Namaste,

Shobhna

Dance of Aliveness

I did my meditation outdoors today. With cool grass under my feet and a gentle warm breeze under the morning sun, tuning into my own inner self was a gift.

Todays meditation was a guided meditation by Tara Brach, an invitation to relax and awaken the body with an openness  to receive life as it is.

https://www.tarabrach.com/meditation-opening-aliveness/

Cultivating mindful awareness and compassionately viewing our experience is a way to step out of auto pilot.  Although meditations can be done at any time of the day, a morning meditation can set the tone for the day.  Words and phrases from a guided meditation can serve as reminders to bring awareness to our thoughts and actions.   From todays meditation, the phrase “Dance of Aliveness”  resonated from me.  To be aware and at ease in this world.  To be rooted in the present moment and be flexible in each moment.

 

20160808_170707

Hummingbird visiting the Bergamot

Namaste,

Shobhna

 

 

Break Open The Sky

We are not trapped or locked up
in these bones.
No, no. We are free to change.
And, love changes us.
And if we can love one another,
we can break open the sky.
– Walter Mosley

Stephan Bauman, in Break Open The Sky  encourages readers to choose faith over fear in daily life. Bringing relationship with God to the forefront, as the vehicle, to transform a fearful life to one of liberation, love and risk.  He brings his personal experience of working with people from all over the world.
Difficulties and hardships due to health, finances, relationships can all be transformative when courage, indispensable faith, trust and love are put into action.  Examples from modern day challenges and stories from the Bible, together provide a perspective on how to live a life that embodies grace.
We cannot be in the past or in the future, while genuinely being in the present.  This book is a reminder to let go of fears and worries in exchange for unshakable faith.

“Peace is expensive. It requires risk taking. Its personal. It makes you vulnerable. And peace always involves action. Resistance is part of the calling.”  ~ Stephan Bauman
I received this book from blogging for books.  The book review is based on my genuine opinion.

Namaste,
Shobhna