I notice a sense of excitement as I begin to type…. there’s so much I’m delighted to share with you.
But first, I’m going to tune in, sense the ground under my feet and the chair under my pelvis, open to hearing sounds around me (mostly the whirr of my space heater and the clicking of keys), and then follow 3 breaths from beginning to end. Care to join me?
Ahh.
In the Embodied Life work we call this simple practice Ground, Sound, Breath. I love it.
Those little pauses throughout the day can be so powerful for me. Stepping off the train of thought, dropping into life.
(a card in my window that reads “The human heart is vast enough to contain all the world.”)
I’m thrilled to announce that we are bringing author and teacher Philip Shepherd to town this summer. Wahooooooeeeeeee!!!
Months ago we posted this link to an interview with him entitled Out of Our Heads: The Brain in the Belly. We loved the article and have since purchased not one but several copies of his spectacular book.
It’s one of the most compelling, well written, exciting books I’ve read in years. Truth be told, it’s dense – and I’m still in the midst of reading it. We had to get two copies because Carl and I are each reading (and underlining) our own copies. I highly recommend the book – and the link I included above will take you to Philip’s site where you can read the table of contents, the intro and the first chapter. See if you get hooked.
He’s coming June 27-29th. On Friday June 27th he’ll be offering a public talk. On the weekend he’ll be offering a workshop for just 16 participants (and you know Carl and I will be snagging 2 of those spots!) Details on the workshop and talk will be coming in the next week or two, and we have a feeling the workshop will fill fast. We’re thrilled to be able to work with him in person and to share him with our community.
Also – we’re still working out exact dates but Russell Delman will also be returning for a weekend this fall in either September or October. Wahoooo! 2014 is lookin’ good. :)
I am so touched and thrilled about my Women Embodied Group which just began this past weekend. I learned so much last year, and this one is off to an amazing, and very different start. I am overflowing with gratitude to share this work with such an intelligent, courageous, beautiful group of women. Still working on a much shorter online version which will come later this spring. I’ll keep you posted.
And lastly – can I share a poem with you?
A dear friend shared this one with me last week. (I love it when people send me poetry. Thanks Allegra!) It’s one of Rumi’s – and since we’re gearing up to hear Coleman Barks’s reading Rumi next week I thought it’d be perfect to share with you.
It highlights for me the amazing truth of what the human heart is capable of. Even ordinary people like us! We can really do all those things….
The Silk Worm by Rumi
I stood before a silk worm one day.
And that night my heart said to me,
“I can do things like that, I can spin skies,
I can be woven into love that can bring warmth to people;
I can be soft against a crying face,
I can be wings that lift, and I can travel on my thousand feet
throughout the earth,
my sacks filled
with the
sacred.”And I replied to my heart,
“Dear, can you really do all those things?”
And it just nodded, “Yes”
in silence.
p.s. Please note that we’ve cancelled our Art of Sitting Well workshop in June – it will be rescheduled for a later date.
p.p.s. I’d love it if you’d like to join me for the two workshops I’m offering for yoga practitioners this year. They’re going to be great! I’m having a blast in preparation. Want to join me? My friend Erin Menut is handling registration. See Avenues Yoga for info. There are spaces open for the public (those not doing teacher training.) You’re most welcome to attend.