twisting words

Words can confuse. We twist the meaning of words in order to suit our needs. Take for example the word sensitive. How many of us have said, "I can not take the criticism of others. I am a very sensitive person."

If we were really sensitive people we would be flowing, porous, soft and caring. We would let the criticism wash over us. Pass through us. We would learn from the situation.

Think twice about your words. The truth may hurt. And ignorance is bliss. Pick you evil.

why wait be in the now

We live expecting our destiny to present its self to us. We live waiting. If we find our selves waiting know that we have misunderstood entirely. Just take a look at our day. We wait in line at the coffee shop. We wait for a phone call. We wait for dinner to be served to us. The list could go on and on. What does this waiting feel like? We are impatient. We are in a hurry. We want the universe to sing to our tune. Impatience is nothing but our arrogance. We want it our way and now.

If we let go of this anxiety of having to be instantly served we can relax. We can breath in, breath out and begin to see the miracle of life happening all around us. The unfolding of our path or truth will happen on it's very own time not our time. And not the time that we think it should happen, but the time that it needs to happen. So in the meantime enjoy.

If we want love in our lives we can not wait for it to happen we must become love ourselves and then we will have love in our lives. If we want our dreams to manifest we must be patient and enjoy every detail in the planning and know that it is currently unfolding. It is not enough to just have the desire to make our dreams a reality. We have to be in love with the research. We have to be in love with the relationships we make along the way. We have to be centered in the other. We must enjoy each and every moment and slow down such that we can see the right choices to make. Only then will we have clarity of mind to assist the navigation of the unfolding.

So often we miss out because we are impatience, in a hurry and don't want to be available to talk with someone that we don't know. We are rushing off to go home. We are rushing of to be somewhere else. We want to escape the present moment. We are running. We are avoiding relationships and situations. We are guarding ourselves. Well, where is this somewhere else? Why are we running from the present? Relax into the present and see that we are already living our dreams. If we don't like what we have created for our selves change it. It's up to us.

Next time we find our selves rushing off, relax. Settle into the moment a little deeper. Enjoy the air around and maybe have a glass of water. Change the habit. We'll see that there is no where to go. Where we are is where we need to be.

Impatience is just our arrogance. It's okay we all have it! Drop the arrogance and settle into the gratitude of the given moment. Try it next time in the Starbucks line. Every moment can give pleasure.

life has meaning not purpose

Life is not about how much we accomplish. Life is not about how much we have in the bank account. Life is not about how successful we can be. Life is not about keeping up with the Jones'. Life is not about finishing the to do list because there is always more that comes along to do. So why are we choosing to create stress for ourselves and run the rat race?

Life is for us to enjoy. When we shift our awareness and see that the purpose of life is purposelessness then all of a sudden everything we have, say and do becomes meaningful. The smallest task becomes a joy, a pleasure, and our being becomes light and radiant. Try for yourself. Have a friend over for no reason. Serve them for no reason. Enjoy what they have to share and offer for no reason. Find out who they really are. So often our relationships have turned into contracts. We only meet with people because we have a contract with them. We are in relationships in order to get something. Our relationships now have become like business deals. If you give me the comfort and support that I need only then you can be my friend. But the minute you are not there to fulfill that part of the contract as a supporter to my life then I shall move on to the next person who can satisfy my need. But if we drop the purpose we can then start to see the beauty and uniqueness in everything and everyone.

Stop running after goals. See your friends for who they are. Slow down and enjoy the process as it continually unfolds. There is no purpose but meaning. The artists paints for no reason at all. Share, enjoy and create your very own work of art. Start living and stop running.

work as play

It doesn't matter what we do but how we do it. Sometimes we are so caught up in our identity of being a doctor, a musician, or a mother that we forget how we are fulfilling these responsibilities. If we are resentful of our responsibilities then we need to take a moment to look a little deeper into our actions. What is it energetically that has propelled us to stand up into these rolls? Can we uncover the spark that led us down the path?

The intention behind our actions is essential to blissful living. How do we care for our loved ones? How do we address our clients? How do we say "I love you" to our partners when they leave for work in the morning? Our actions speak louder than out words. How we do something implies that we see and understand the relationship in which we exist. How show that we have care for the other or object. How implies that we see beyond our selves. How shows our deep understanding for the whole that we too are part of. Move from what to how and from separateness to unity and the responsibilities take on a whole new meaning.

Everything exists in relationship. What is your relationship to the whole? Your responsibilities are your contracts to the universe. Your responsibilities show that you care. The question is do you really care? If not re-evaluate. Take up something for no reason and do it with loving kindness. You will see the sheer joy that comes with purposeless action. Do something for no reason. The bliss reveals itself as a gift.

Be blissfully responsible. Work becomes play and the marriage, well, it gets a little easier.

there is a safety net

Where does the courage come from to rise above fear and make our dreams a reality? Success and failure can be a deadly trap. We usually want to experience more moments of success and reduce the times that we are in failure. But what really leaves us in in-action or fear of stepping forward? The fear of not knowing. We can handle a little failure hear and there but the fear of not knowing is what gets us in the end. We want to be in control or have security at all times. Only then will we jump! This leaves us paralyzed and left with unfulfilled dreams.

What we don't know is that existence is there supporting us all the time. What we don't realise is that if we jump there is a safety net several feet down. There is nothing to be afraid of, but we will never know this until we jump off the the high diving board.

Take the jump. Risk and see that mother nature holds us in her arms the whole way along. Believe it or not we are actually craving these moments of intensity and risk. We want to be in love, we want to expand our horizons we want to experience new adventures that may appear scary. Our nature is to evolve and grow. Just take a look at nature. The river bed changes shape and form, the trees grow and evolve and the seasons transform from one to the other. Have we forgotten that we too are nature? When we take a chance, have a quantum leap of faith and jump our whole being lights up! And yes, we may skin our knee here and there but that is not the end. There is an experience to share and like our children we just get back up on the bike and ride.

There is nothing to be afraid of. Look in and see what is in your way of taking that risk. See that it may just be your very own mind getting in the way. Know that nature supports you. It's only you that is getting in the way of being and radiating the best you that there is!

Dive in. Share your joy with the joyousness of existence. Mother nature is waiting for you to stand up. She is you mother! She wants you to be your best.

mind is an action

Once we fulfill a desire another comes along right behind it. Fulfilling one gives momentum to the next. This action keeps us running or in motion, like a strand of pearls each bead follows the next. This is beautiful as long as we are not attached to each pearl. Rest your awareness on the larger whole, and the thread that holds the necklace together.

What propels you into action? See the stillness in the action and the action in the stillness.

Look not and find

There is nothing to figure out. The mind desperately wants to solve the beautiful mystery of life. The questions of the mind keep on coming just like that of a small child. Why this? Why that? Just why? Maybe it's like this, maybe it's like that. If I just do it like this then great. What if I were to just do it like that? The mind keeps us searching.

Well, when you have had enough with the questioning mind only then will the answer present itself. The search ends. You must exhaust all the questions so the truth can reveal itself. This is surrender.

When we give up we find what we are looking for. We realize there is nothing to search for.

the art of observation

It's all so easy but we make our lives so complex. In the act of trying we actually get in the way of the happening. If we could just relax then we could experience our potential. Sometimes we want it to be over and sometimes we never want to start. But the truth is it is forever happening.

Next time you engage in a difficult task melt into the difficulty and you'll see that it is only you who is making it difficult. Maybe even give a new name to the 'difficulty' and observe it. You'll see it isn't really difficult at all and it isn't as solid as you think.

Move from difficulty to awareness. Beyond attachment and non attachment. Live like Buddha. You are Buddha.

home sweet home

What is it that makes us feel at home? Is it our fond attachment to our possessions? Is it an accumulation of our past memories? Is home our unique personal history, or the suitcases that we carry throughout our life? And if so, does that mean that we are choosing and selecting the memories that we fancy and call that home?

Can we feel at home anywhere?

For some of us home is a associated with comforting thoughts or nurturing images like mom’s pumpkin pie or our most beloved moment in front of the fireplace nestled in our favorite armchair. Or maybe for some of us home is associated with the relationships to our near and dear ones like the time spent with the kids and the family dog.

So, it seems as though home is not a static object or thing but a living dynamic energy that imbibes a feeling of nurturing, care and love. Remember that saying, ‘home is where the heart is’?

Well, if we look deeply home is inside us. If we are centered and comfortable in our very own skin then we can be home anywhere. Our lives are controlled and run by our habitual actions and patterns and if we find ourselves staying in a hotel room or a friends house and not able to fulfill our daily routine then all of a sudden we feel like we are not at home. If we can drop our attachment to our routine, be open to spontaneity and see the beauty all around us then we can experience that home is everywhere. Being centered in the boundary of our very own skin and having gratitude for everything outside of us allows for the comforts of home to present themselves to us.

Next time you are at a friend’s house and you notice the feeling that you want to run or escape ask yourself why? Simply tell yourself that home is all around nurturing you and see the shift that happens in your very being. See the restlessness transform into peace as you become aware that Mother Nature is providing a home for you everywhere you go.

Take down the boundaries and drop the suitcases. Home really is where the heart is. Be love, feel the caring mother earth and see that in any moment you can have the comforts of home.

Don’t just go home for the holidays be at home with yourself. There are no boarders. So, take down the picket fence.

how not what

What is yoga? The best way to know what something is is to know what it is not. Yoga is not limited to complex body movements or shapes and yoga is not just breathing techniques. To say that yoga aims at optimal health and well being is just not enough. Health and well being happen to be a wonderful bi-product of yoga but yoga doesn't stop there. If we reduce yoga to just the physical plane, or a work out program then it is like using a diamond as a paper weight. But because we are obsessed with body awareness and not consciousness yoga has been reduce to a workout routine. There is more to this wonderful continual happening that we call yoga than meets the eye. Yoga is a holistic science of our inner landscape. It is a beautiful system that reveals our true nature which is one of bliss and creativity.

There is nothing outside of ourselves that we need to acquire in order to become whole and complete. Yoga says that we are already whole and complete unto ourselves. We are divine by our very nature. Just like a sculptor reveals the masterpiece that already exists inside the slab of marble by carefully removing some of the outside layers, the continual process of yoga reveals that at the core of our being lies a masterpiece as well. The journey of yoga asks us to look in and removes some of the external layers that may be blurring our vision. This limited vision of ourselves gives us a limited vision of the world. And therefore our actions are limited.

So how does this work you may wonder? Can one just think that from now on "I am great!" so therefore I am? Ultimately yes! But our minds have a hard time believing this. This is where the practice of yoga comes into play. Yoga is our tool. See our minds are ready and willing to believe everything negative about ourselves. "I am not good enough at this or that." "So and so can do it but not poor me." This is the scrip that is running through our minds and and even our very veins. Yoga is a vehicle for us to observe the flux of the mind and observe these negative thought patterns. In yoga we use the body to get a closer look at the what is happening at deeper layers of our being. For example we can look at our mental layer where our thought rest or our emotional layer to understand and experience deeper truths about our very being.

Yoga, through its dynamic and active practice, gives an experiential understanding that is beyond book knowledge. It is one thing to know an eastern concept from a book on Zen that we are all one and united. But it is whole other dimension to have the very experience that we are all one and united. Yoga is the magical flying carpet for us to be able to have these beautiful understanding via experience. Much like traveling to Africa and merging one's self in the culture is different than looking at a picture of Africa in a book and telling ourselves that we understand all about Africa. Do we really know Africa from a book? Do we know the smells of Africa? Do we know the feeling of Africa? Do we know the sounds of Africa? No. Once the mind labels and defines we have reduces the object (Africa) into something that it is not. Like life itself (Africa included) yoga is dynamic, changing and in constant motion just like our very beings.

Yoga says we are whole and unique. With what ever intention we move the body that intention, that purpose gets inscribed in the being and in the very bio memory of the muscle tissues and muscle fibers themselves. So, if we are running a script of negativity be very clear that we are cultivating a lifestyle that is fulfilling that negative outlook. Yoga imbibes the quality of nature. We are nature ourselves we are not separate from it. Yoga is a tool to bring us back to our true nature, we have just simply forgotten. We may think of ourselves as separate.

All the physical posturing in yoga resembles nature plants, animals and hero's alike. If we practice imbibing there qualities of strength from the image of a warrior, flexibility from the image of the bamboo tree, and courage from the image of the lion be very clear we will have there qualities to serve us in our lives. And the next time we show up to a job interview we will have the courage and strength to share our own unique vision and contribute to the whole.

If we practice yoga postures or asana with the intention of making perfect shapes and having the perfect heal to toe alignment then be very clear that we are imbibing the qualities of a perfectionist. And each yoga class we will inscribe that quality deeper and deeper into our being and muscle memory. Maybe we are even telling ourselves that we are NOT "good" if we can't do a headstand. This negativity is going to the root of your being. Look in. Create the qualities of a nurturing compassion being. It all starts with yourself. If you are negative towards yourself you will be negative with others. You will not know of another way of being.

Yoga is a gift to yourself and therefor the gift to the world. Get on your mat and find a good teacher. Look inside and surely the teacher is there. Reveal yourself to yourself.

red light green light

Imagine that you are in your car waiting at a red light with your eyes fixed preparing to make your move the second the light switches to green. Your patients may be starting to waiver and the intensity is building as everything rests on the one moment when your foot makes contact with the accelerator. The light changes and you don't miss a beat. Off you go. Exhale. Your body now relaxes and you are once again amid the sea of other drivers. What is happening here? Why do we put so much attention and pressure on certain moments or events, possibly creating tension, stress, and anxiety and not other moments? What makes one situation more important than another?

Well, actually one moment in time is no more important than another! We can not say that doing the laundry is more important than getting an oil change. They cannot be compared. They are two separate goals. Depending upon our present life situation one moment may appear to have more value and more importance, but in truth, that is an illusion. You have decided to give a certain task more value than another based on your needs at that given moment in time. But you will notice that your needs are constantly changing. So, one moment, you may think that the goal of changing the oil has more value, but lets say you don't need to get an oil change because maybe you have an electric car, then, the value of the oil change is quite different. So, we can truthfully say, one goal is not better than another.

Goals are solid. They give you a reason to be running. They say that you are important what ever it is that you are chasing. But is this the truth? Is the moment you sit in the car at the red light any more important than the next moment when the light reads green? No, not at all. Just two different situations that are quite similar if you really take a deeper look. Drop the goals.

You may argue that if one drops having goals then one will have no direction in life and the possibility of becoming lazy may manifest. This is the thinking of the rational mind. Actually, the opposite is just the case. If you drop the goals (the object that you are running after) more intelligence opens up to you. The shift is from the narrow view (a goal) to a larger scope including all possibilities. If all possibilities are there, present in front of you, your chances of making clear life decisions is far grater than the narrow view you may have carried earlier.

In having to accomplish a particular task or goal that you set for yourself you may carry underlying emotions of fear and tension because all your effort and energy are now on this one important event. You have now singled out this one event and made it very worthy. If one can widen their lens and accept any task with bliss and joy as the underlying motivators then every opportunity or event has the potential for ease, grace and greatness. Then, it is not a matter of what we do but it is more about how we are doing it. The intention becomes key to truly living. And the more we resonate in the high frequency of joy and bliss we will surly come to understand our very own dharma or unique path. Goals can create tension because they are fixed and they ask us to perform with perfection. Our results are then only results of tension and anxiety due to the pressure to perform.

Be blissful. Find the joy in everything. The car in front of you on the freeway has every right to be there, just like you. Even if they are going 55mph. Be grateful you have a car.

the muse

The beauty of creativity is in the not knowing and the muse reveals herself in the fullness of the present moment. Her grace and beauty leave you demanding for more, but she will never answer your beckon calls. The truth is, she is always herenow, with you, but your house is too full and you are busy rearranging the furniture. Give room for her to enter.

Where the mind is she isn't. Drop the mind and enter stage left: The Muse.

spinning the wheel of karma

Have you ever noticed that when we meet friends for tea or lunch the dialogue has gone drastically sour. We are no longer sharing like two cars on the same road but rather we are dumping our problems on each other like a garbage truck at the landfill. We are complaining about everything from work to lovers alike. And yes, it may feel good for the New York minute but what is happening on the long run?

Our loved ones are now weighted down with our burdens and when we get up to leave from the cafe table we may feel lighter (that is to say we didn't eat the entire pizza all by ourselves) but we must remember that we are leaving behind a heavy footprint. Now our friends must carry what was once our burden and the trail of negativity gets created. So then, what happens? Well, in turn, our friends go and dump a load of complaints on someone else and the cycle continues. And there you have it folks, the seed of karma gets sewn and the world becomes a web of mental garbage and negativity. No wonder why we feel so heavy at the end of the day! Mentally we may be carrying the burdens of many. And that's why is is so refreshing to run into someone who is light, positive, and simply carefree.

You may be thinking, wait a minute! I need this time to talk and complain. I need to get this 'garbage' off my chest. Who, then, can I count on to listen? Well, first and foremost we have to become good listener's ourselves. We need to listen to how we are talking to our near and dear ones. We can talk about anything if are aware of our very own intentions. We must go inside first and come from a spirit of sharing and innocence like children who play show and tell. Words sound different with different intentions behind them. We will be different, and we will resonate at much higher frequency. It's not about 'what' we talk about but it's about 'how' we do it.

See, at the very root of 'blowing off steam' or gossiping unconsciously lives anger, violence or negativity and that becomes the seed that we are sewing in the universe. It may feel good for a spilt second to let it all out in the heat of the moment but that aggression becomes our very muscle memory. We then don't know of any other way to respond and a habit of violence and negativigty is formed. That is why hitting a pillow when we are angry never works. Again, it may feel good momentarily but we are just reinforcing violence in our systems, in our very tissues, and we will respond with anger the next chance we get. The pattern will live on.

Awareness is key. Being aware when we are angry or negative is different than becoming the anger itself. Anger is energy (all our emotions are energy) and it's our ability to be aware that can transform any moment. Next time watch how you do the dishes. Do you caress each mug with with soapy gratitude and kindness? Or are you a bit angry to have to be doing the dishes in the first place? Make life your practice before you dump garbage on your friends. Look in, find out who you really are, and see just what kind of web you are spinning and who is trapped inside.

It all starts with ourselves. Allow your true loving presence to radiate. Help yourself and help others.

surrender

I don't have anything to say. What is there to say any way? Words just create more confusion. Rest in the noise of utter silence. Experience the movement in stillness. Just sit. Be with yourself. Relax into truth.

take 2 and call me in the morning

Seriousness is a disease. If you can't laugh and enjoy you might want to ask yourself if you are really living! Enjoy the weekend. Sing and dance your way to bliss! I don't know of any better medicine. The birds are doing it. Actually, all of nature is singing and dancing. Why are we, humans, the ones watching from the sidelines? Jump in and join the joy of life. Start living.

Try a new prescription. Dance to work. Dance at work. Make your work a dance. Maybe you'll even get a raise!

just part of the whole

We are not separate from our environment. I cannot exist without the earth beneath my feet and the sky above my head. Everything is established in perfect relationship. I can not know what 'short' is unless I know 'tall'.

Short and tall are two opposite ends of the same stick. In this case the stick of height. One is not better than the other, just different. They are placed differently. They are different experiences to have. Just like being a doctor is not better than being a lawyer. They are just different professions. We can't compare then. Yet we do. It's like trying to compare a horse with a dog. You just can't. They are just different.

Our minds like to compare, label and identify because then we feel we are something solid. We exist. I am a lawyer and this is good or bad. I am short and this is good or bad. I am this. I am that. We feel good when we define ourselves because we then have a grip on reality. Our minds can control and make heads or tails of this crazy wonderland we call existence. This labeling gives the mind a reason to be. Well, what if we let go of that grip? What if everything wasn't so solid? What if our minds dissolved into our hearts? What if life was more like surfing or what if the terrain was uneven? (Well, the last time I looked it was!) Are we all trying to be perfect squares in a world that is circular and round? Are we separating ourselves from the very existence that we rely on and need otherwise we would fail to exist? Should we look towards nature to find out about our true selves?

Well, if there was no short we would not know of a tall. If there was no hate we would not know of love. (And if there were no lawyers well then the world we would all be a little happier place!)

So how do we make sense of this all? Well, we don't! But for some reason we just can accept that. There is no purpose. The purpose is purposelessness. So just enjoy all that you have and all that you don't. But this is hard for most of us to grasp. See there we go again wanting to grasp and define! So, if you want food for your mind, ultimately, the best way to understand what something is is to know what it is not.

I am not just my job. I am not just what I do. But yet at the same time I am that also. I am not just my name but yet at the same time I am that also. I am not just a wife but at the same time I am that also. I am not just my emotions but yet I am that also. I am not my mind but at the same time I am that also. I am not just the body but at the same time I am that also.

Is it true to say that I am everything and nothing at the same time? I am overjoyed and saddened all at the same time. It is all beautiful and yet ugly all wrapped up in one. The suffering and the joy happening in perfect harmony and balance.

Live the paradox beyond attachment and non-attachment. Surf the truth in this world where the ground is uneven. Enjoy the crooked lines and accept yourself for all that you are and all that you are not. Accept all that is and all that isn't. You are that. You are everything and nothing.

update your software

Every night when we lay our heads down on the pillow and venture off to sleep we have the opportunity to surrender, to let go of the day and to fully give up. (Throw in the towel so to speak.) There is something so beautiful about this moment. It feels natural, this chance to dissolve, much like the arrival of a long awaited sigh. Our bodies melt and all that we are holding on to disappears. We may even wonder was the stress ever really solid to begin with, or was it all a creation of the mind?

The ancient mystics believe that each night when we fall asleep it is an opportunity to die unto ourselves, a small death, (petite mort) and with the morning sun comes our birth or renewal. A new beginning and a fresh start. This is a beautiful thought to help us fall in tune with our constantly changing universe and let us settle into the reality that we too are constantly changing. Each new day provides us the opportunity to see with fresh eyes as our intelligence is updated and our bodies are made anew with trillions of different cells.

So let's not evaluate ourselves with the old operating system or hold on to the "us" of yesterday. We are no longer the same person. It's like putting the garbage back on the dinner plate and taking a bite. Evaluating ourselves from past experiences only keeps us making the same mistakes over and over again like a record player stuck on the same track. Just see that you are different with each morning sunrise and enjoy the unfolding of the new day, in a new way and with a new you.

Let go. Fall into Egyptian cotton sheets. And wake up! It's all a beautifully changing dream and you are at the root of it.

(Don't forget to update your software!)

habits

When we get out of bed in the morning immediately the mind likes to run down the list of things to do. Sometimes when the alarm goes off the immediate reaction can be one of stress and panic. One day we may feel important and excited if we, let's say, have a meeting with Warner Brothers to pitch our new TV series and, yet, maybe another day we feel dull or tired even at the idea of seeing a friend all the way across town. The zeal is there one moment and gone the next. What is happening? Life is one big mood swing.

The mind likes to keep us busy, throwing us into constant action and caught in emotional responses depending upon whether or not we have decided to enjoy the activity a hand. In actuality, we try to elongate the the moments that bring us pleasure and shorten the moments that bring us pain. But the truth of the matter is that we just become addicted to one state or another, pleasure or pain. (don't think we aren't addicted to pain there are many abusive relations out there) We think our response has to do with the object of our choosing but this is not necessarily the case. For example sometimes eating ice cream may bring about a very favorable or pleasurable experience in our being and yet at another moment in time when it is the dead of winter and we have a severe stomach flu ice cream may not bring about that once desired feeling of pleasure. Food in general when plagued with the flu will probable make us cringe. So, the objects of our desires, like ice cream, or a meeting with Warner Bros. are separate from the feelings that we have associated with them.

Some time these decisions we make and the occuring emotional response are made at such a rapid pace that we are fully unaware that we even made a decision. They are unconscious happenings. We don't even realize that once again we have landed right in front of the candy bowl at work and our hand is greedily digging for chocolate. Our awareness slips in the moment the chocolate hits our lips and we say to our selves "I can't believe it! I did it again, here I am eating the chocolate at work." Then we may spiral down the river of guilt and plead to ourselves that we'll be "better tomorrow". And the whole time have we have not even taken a small pause to ask ourselves consciously if we were even hungry. Moments like these happen all the time and the pattern becomes an unconscious habit.

So is your response to your alarm going off in the morning a habit? Could be! Regardless, think twice about who is running your life. Are you actually in charge? Do you make sound decisions from a space of calm or are your unconscious habits and responses running your life for you?

Try a new rout to work. Break a habit. Be aware.

build it they will come

What does it take to stand up to your friends who don't believe in your dreams? Maybe a good pair of blinders (or ray bans here in LA) and rocket propelled shoes. Just walk on by. We don't know the future but we can get into action. Just start. It's like a maze in a coloring book. Once we start to make our dreams a reality we may come up against a few road blocks but a solution always presents itself. The present moment is pregnant with solutions. We just have to be open to them. The direction may not be as we expected and the journey may take us through unknown waters but in the end it's as easy as putting one foot in front of the other. And just maybe we will wake up one morning and realize that it's actually happening!

Be present. Live in the now and create your own reality. If you don't who will?

attention is energy

The smallest encounter or interaction has the ability to throw us on an emotional roller coaster ride, out of our very own centers and send us into a space irritability and anger. We can go on countless yoga retreats and spend the weekend at the spa but at the end of the day we still come home and react in the same way to our husbands not taking out the trash, our bosses unloading one more project, and our mother-in-law's critique about dinner.

Maybe yoga has turned into just one more thing on our list of things to do and if we miss out on a session we are sent down the path of guilt and shame for not keeping up the perfect routine or practice and our ego gets hurt when we don't looks so good in the designer jeans on Friday night! Have we taken on too much? And has our relationships turned into mere contracts? A 'if you do something for me I'll do something for you' kind of attitude. So when our husband fails to maintain their end of the bargain (like taking out the trash) we are shaken because the deal we made was just not fulfilled.

Just take a look at your life, when you are on the phone with your girlfriend and she doesn't agree with your complaints about your baby sitter what do you do? You then call someone else who will give you a boost and by saying "Oh my gosh yes, you are so right! Yes, yes, I agree that's horrible." Yet really the girlfriend is just waiting to get of the phone and doesn't want to hurt your feelings. But the contract was successfully completed she gave you exactly want you expected or wanted to hear.

It is a boost in energy. Attention is energy. And throughout the whole day we seek the attention of others to keep us running. The truth is, we have enough energy unto ourselves from the very the heart of our beings. Have we looked inside? We have been taught to look outside for the solution in the form of vitamins, caffeine, beauty products and even in our relationships. It's a big industry out there that is selling us energy. Just look at you life and see!

Maybe it's time to look deeper into our relationships and shine some awareness on the lifestyle we have created. Where did the unconditional love go? When was the last time we did something for someone with out a 'contract' or expecting nothing in return?

Gratitude is the attitude. Listen to what your friends have to say. Look into the eyes of your husband and see him for who he is and not who you would like him to be.

Do something for no reason. Enjoy your family. Be enough unto yourself.

little Buddha

the Buddha is
laughing
and you are
waiting for the
kettle to boil

over cooked
vegetables and
enter
stage left
meets right
align
the postman
will deliver
the parcel
packaged perfectly
with paper and string

untie the knot
inside is out
there is no
need to wait
no strings
attached
here and
now

girls become
women
and trees
bear fruit

of thy womb
JESUS
Christ

died and so
will you

change is
the only constant
contact
marketing game

you're it
so how do
you
play?

there are
no rules
only rulers
and margins
color
outside

of the
lines
that are not here
put on your
glasses
and see
care-ful-ly

your reality
is no more
than a dream

where is that
man named
King?

but
inside you
and i

where the boundaries
drop into
the paradox
sit

just sit
and see
the Buddha
in
you and me

go in

I must have the perfect job, I must go to an Ivy League school, and I must have the perfect children who then too should do perfect things. All my life I wast told to search outside of myself and become someone great. Does this sound familiar? Have you felt this way too? Well, if one has the perfect outer world successes, then, as a result one must be 'perfect' and successful, right? This way we will have arrived and then of course, the worrying that is happening inside will drop because all of our achievements in the material world will fulfill us. But is this the truth? Has the worrying stopped after acquiring these objects and labels? Or is it that the more that we run after these goals that we create more worrying because the truth is there is much more to worry about?

If we drop the need to identify with these labels then who are we? Well, we must go inside to find that out. Instead of running outside for the solutions we can turn in. Just who is it that is desiring? Who is it that is craving? Who is it that is 'keeping up with the Jones?' You will see that in asking these questions a liberation of sorts will come. A moment of quiet. A moment of space will descend on that chattering mind. Probe into that space. Fall in love with that space. Befriend that space, that gap in between thoughts.

It's like when you see a beautiful landscape like Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon or the vast Mojave desert. There is this moment, a gap, before you even utter a word like "Wow!" or "It's beautiful" that gap liberates you from the worry or chattering mind. A fleeting moment of stillness or silence. It is this moment that we call meditation. And the beautiful thing is that everyone has been graced with these moments. In these moments truth descends upon us. In these moments our great artists create and our great scientists see the formula. And the same happens when you ask yourself the question "who is it that is wanting?" Make that you meditation. Playfully toss that question around throughout the day.

There is no answer. When the questions die you live. Start living. Drop the chattering mind and simply stop worrying about your worries.