I recently came across some words that really spoke to me. I have no idea where they are from, but they fell in to my lap at just the right moment.
"The Rainmaker walks in the middle of the road, neither held back by the past, nor hurrying toward the future, neither lured to the right nor to the left, but allowing the past and the future, the outer world of the right and the inner images of the left all to play upon him while he attends, no more than attends, to the living moment in which these forces meet."
How do we find the middle road in each and every moment? I am sure that if we knew how and did it well, our lives would be very different. I believe our lives would carry a peace, a flow and a contentment that all ancient cultures speak about.
So how do we find balance between having a goal, but not being attached to it? How do we find balance between having confidence and being humble, between ease and effort, between diligence and overwork?
How do we give attention but not so much it becomes obsession? How do we balance considering the past and the future without indulging in it so that we don't lose the present? First we must notice it is happening. Only then can we use the awareness to change it. Its likely you are not walking the middle road when you just plain feel bad. That's generally our first clue that something is off and its time to get back on track. Sometimes, we have to swing far enough in one direction to even realize we have gone too far. That's part of the growing pains until the swings become less. We learn about ourselves and discover through mindful present awareness what our middle road looks and feels like.
Sometimes the middle road means waiting for the right moment. One of the hardest tests in life is having the patience to wait for the right moment. Yet, patience is not the same as passivity, nor is it resignation. Its the ability or willingness to overcome restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay.
Sometimes when things are falling apart, they are actually falling into place. Be at ease knowing that what was meant for you will never miss you, and what misses you was never meant for you. One day you will be at the place you always wanted to be. Keep moving forward, staying patient and seeking the middle road.
Namaste,
Anisha
May 2017 | Choosing To Live
Many people who meet me as a yoga teacher have later told me that their first impression of me was something like "she hasn't had a day of hardship in her life." Or "I'm so surprised to hear these difficult stories about your life”, or “I had no idea, you always seem so happy.”
I think one of the reasons wisdom started to seep out of me was BECAUSE I had witnessed and experienced hardship. Experience became my teacher whether I asked for it or not. My childhood was a long stream of relentless yelling, fear and feeling worthless. When I escaped from that I more than experimented with drugs and alcohol, I didn’t respect my body, and others didn’t respect my body. There was a feeling of deep loss and sadness that stayed with me for most of my young adult life.
So, I haven't quite figured out exactly what it is that creates this impression of a flower in a greenhouse, never encountering the harsh conditions of the world, living a charmed life. And I don't need to. I choose to feel pleased that I don’t infect others with a past that is anything but uplifting.
I do know that at some point in my twenties I decided I didn't want to spend days, weeks, months, or even years sitting alone in a dark corner, over-analyzing events from the past, complaining, sobbing and trying to put the pieces back together, justifying what could have or should have happened so I could try and understand all the suffering from my past. I stopped expressing my woes to anyone who would listen. I didn't want to be stuck in my story and asking why didn't ever help. So I made a conscious relentless effort to climb out of the hole of buried emotions and pain.
So I smile today in front of my students, because I choose to love life, not because it's been easy. I let go and make relationships better so the past doesn't steal my present. My happiness is not the absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them and accept them (when I can do this) without wishing or even demanding that they were different.
Our suffering comes from wishing it were different. How many times do we do this in a day? We don't like the president, we're stuck in traffic, someone didn't say or do what we wanted or expected?
We can't define our intelligence or wisdom by the number of arguments won on the inside or the outside, but rather by the number of times we can say “This needless nonsense and negativity is not worth my time.” I choose to let go, to accept, and I choose to look at what I have instead of what I have lost. I choose to act on what I CAN do about it. This doesn't mean we don't make tough choices, it doesn't mean we don't stand up for our values, it means that we are OK with whatever choice we make and it doesn't disrupt our internal equilibrium any more, or quite as often.
At almost the same moment on my journey, this choice was greatly supported with my practices of Yoga and Qi Gong. Over time it stopped being something that I did, but who I was. It became my life. I’m not exactly sure when that transition happened, but I am certain that the shift has made all of the difference in my willingness to live and appreciate my life and not simply to survive and get by.
This level of understanding is a subtle but palpable contentment that flows through us until it becomes us. We find and build our internal strength through thepractices of yoga and Qi gong ahead of time, preparing us for the unexpected moments life brings us. If we wait until the dam breaks and the water is already flowing, its too late.
When I first heard the mantra or password of Pangu Shengong, words that were divinely transmitted to Master Ou Wen Wei, what I didn't realize at the age of 24 was that these words offered a beautiful way of life, a way of LIVING that was far beyond anything I could have ever imagined. The words carry a stream of healing with them. They have been so well received by so many and I hope you'll use them in your life when you need a little support and guidance.
Take Kindness and Benevolence as Basis
Take Frankness and Friendliness to Heart
Speak with Reason, Treat with Courtesy
Act with Emotion, Accomplish Results
Namaste,
Anisha
April 2017 | The Trees and I
Recently I had a remarkable experience in a grove of holly trees on the south end of the blue ridge parkway. Iset out on a hike with my dog Jade on a trail I frequently walked with her. I always felt there was something special and comforting about the trees there that kept drawing me back.
The fresh aroma overwhelmed me as I parked my car and entered the deep woods; the feelings of love and comfort were unmistakable. I felt like a baby being held and rocked. I felt myself smiling bigger and walking with more confidence. As I basked in this envelopment of nature's medicine I could feel energy move through my heart center from front to back. With deeper curiosity, I stopped to touch the tree's shiny inviting leaves, and the feelings intensified. I felt energy move down the inside of my arms: In Chinese Medicine this is considered the heart channel/meridian. Now it was getting very interesting. I had just come off an intense few days of teaching and felt kind of wrung out; that seemed to change quickly on this hike.
There is a startling vividness in the moment when something internal happens that transforms my intellectual understanding into a felt experience. The form and physiology of the holly tree are vastly different from my own, but we share a number of life processes. For instance, the cells of my own body and the cells of the trees both carry out respiration and synthesize proteins. These processes are basically the same in me and in the trees.
How, despite our obvious differences, had the trees and I come to share so much more? At some point my mind stopped talking to itself, and for a few long moments and most of the remaining hike I was left with a wordless understanding that was of a different kind than the understanding born of intellect. Essential truths cannot be grasped with the mind. For me they occur through deep feeling that flows through my spirit, and then I make sense of it through mind and body. I became a child again, full of wonder and excitement, with a sense of lightness and freedom. I felt so loved.
After returning home and doing some research I found out that holly is regarded as the most universally applicable of plant essences to heal the inner being and to stimulate the basic loving nature of the human soul: "Holly holds a central position among the Bach Flower Remedies, because it embodies love - the highest energy quality through which we all live, and which is our greatest healing power."
(http://www.bachflower.org/holly.htm)
There's nothing mystical about it-- yet there is everything mystical about it. Nature heals. It's up to us how close we choose to be with it.
Our human society and busy lives have left many of us alienated from nature, observing “it” from a distance as an amorphous “other,” at best to be analyzed and described rather than embraced, loved, and cherished as an intimate extension of ourselves. Time in nature can be the perfect antidote to complicated and noisy lives. The Earth provides us with an enormously extended family that we can visit any time we wish, an inexhaustible world of friends (of all shapes and sizes) that, in a sense, are wondering where we've been. They are ready and waiting to receive our recognition, love and respect so they can, in turn, offer their deep love. Perhaps now is the time to come into the open and say hello to all your brothers and sisters. Now is the time to invite them into your inner circle and into your heart. You have been gone so long — now is the time to return home.
This month I offer you a free 11 minute gentle yoga and meditation class (click on link below) to help you feel more connected to your spirit. When we feel a deeper connection with ourselves we can more easily and effortlessly feel it with the whole web of life, and through living things with the whole of the cosmos.
Peace,
Anisha